Archive » Jazzy Ways

Get Your Fix Of Miles Quick Before It's Gone

 

As a satellite radio subscriber, I first loved the lack of commercials, then hated the loss of stations once XM and Sirius merged. But there are a few reasons to tune in, even though my beloved Jazz fusion station is...

ill Mami  |  11/19/2009 at 3:00 PM  |  Leave a Comment  |  Permalink

Wayna's Tribute To Lady Day Is A Beautiful 'Heartache'

 

Wayna is definitely no stranger to the genres of Jazz and Blues. She's said many times that she owes her sound to the late, great Billie Holiday, a voice to whom she's regularly compared. It's no accident. The Grammy-nominated singer...

Harlem  |  10/20/2009 at 12:00 PM  |  Comments (1)  |  Permalink

Michelle Obama Keeps It Jazzy At The White House

 

Forgive me for not sounding as impartial and professional as I usually do, but Michelle Obama rocks so friggin' hard right now. Not to be outdone by bringing Stevie Wonder to The White House to "jam it on the one"...

ill Mami  |  06/17/2009 at 11:00 AM  |  Comments (4)  |  Permalink

Indigo Jam Unit Reimagines Common In The Jazziest Of Ways

 

Indigo Jam Unit is likely a band whose music you may have never heard of. This jazz group has released three albums so far in their native Japan, but it is their fourth album that is truly special. Re: Common...

ill Mami  |  03/23/2009 at 12:00 PM  |  Comments (6)  |  Permalink

Blame It On Mike Phillips

 

Mike Phillips, aka "A Jazzer with Swagger" (his words, not mine), is not only one of the premiere saxophonists of his generation, but he is famous for mashing up Jazz with Hip Hop and making it accessible to a new...

Butta  |  03/19/2009 at 4:00 PM  |  Comments (4)  |  Permalink

Are Soil & 'Pimp' Sessions 'Rejects'?

 

The answer unequivocally is absolutely not. As if we haven't dropped enough hints that Soil & "Pimp" Sessions is a band whose music you want, nay, need to get your hands on, now comes their second single "Satsuriku Rejects." Think...

ill Mami  |  03/11/2009 at 5:00 PM  |  Comments (1)  |  Permalink

Soil & 'Pimp' Sessions Bring You A Funky 'Fantastic Planet'

 

Since discovering my new favorite Japanese Jazz fusion band, Soil & "Pimp" Sessions, I have been steadily bumping their album to enhance just about any situation I happen to be in. Their first album to be made available in the...

ill Mami  |  02/26/2009 at 2:30 PM  |  Comments (3)  |  Permalink

What's In A Name? Soil & 'Pimp' Sessions Force Our Hand

 

I know what you're thinking. A band named Soil & 'Pimp' Sessions? Except that when we really thought about it, is this really that much different than Dirt McGirt a/k/a Ol Dirty Bastard? Or the late and beloved Pimp C?...

ill Mami  |  02/12/2009 at 3:00 PM  |  Leave a Comment  |  Permalink

David 'Fathead' Newman (1933-2009)

 

David "Fathead" Newman [Official][Wiki] Jazz musician David 'Fathead' Newman dies in NY [ND]...

Butta  |  01/21/2009 at 10:30 PM  |  Leave a Comment  |  Permalink

Freddie Hubbard (1938-2008)

 

Freddie Hubbard: Jazz Great Dies After Heart Attack [BV] Freddie Hubbard [Wiki]...

Butta  |  12/29/2008 at 5:00 PM  |  Comments (5)  |  Permalink

Get in the Christmas Spirit with a Freebie From Kirk Whalum

 

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas, and if you haven't caught the spirit yet then maybe Kirk Whalum will help you out. The world-renowned jazz saxophonist is giving his fans a special musical gift in the form...

Butta  |  12/08/2008 at 3:30 PM  |  Leave a Comment  |  Permalink

Happy Birthday, Dizzy Gillespie!

 

Like many a youth whose childhood does not provide the unconditional love they expect from a parent, in this case his father, John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie took to getting into trouble and often found himself fighting his peers to tame...

ill Mami  |  10/21/2008 at 6:00 PM  |  Comments (5)  |  Permalink

Quincy Jones Calls Wynton Marsalis Out On His Musical Myopia

 

According to the New York Daily News, Quincy Jones recently cited famed trumpeteer Wynton Marsalis as having a narrow-minded view of the varied musical landscape. Jones was quoted as saying "Wynton doesn't want to hear any other kind of music"...

ill Mami  |  10/06/2008 at 4:20 PM  |  Comments (5)  |  Permalink

Happy Birthday, John Coltrane

 

John William Coltrane, or "Trane," as he was better known, is considered one of the leading saxaphonists and composers of his time, in what turned out to be a time cut way too short by liver cancer at the age...

Harlem  |  09/23/2008 at 4:00 PM  |  Comments (6)  |  Permalink

Madlib x Brasil = Tropicalismo

 

As much as I have written on sometimes elusive Madlib (pictured above) on this website, it stands to reason that I think the man is a musical genius. For others, you only "get" Madlib and his several incarnations, or you don't. That...

ill Mami  |  06/19/2008 at 1:00 PM  |  Comments (3)  |  Permalink

Go Behind the Groove of Hidden Beach Unwrapped Vol. 5

 

A few weeks ago we featured the latest offering in the Hidden Beach Unwrapped series. Unwrapped Vol. 5.0: The ColliPark Cafe picks up where the last installment left off and gives those hungry for jazzy versions of urban radio and...

Butta  |  06/18/2008 at 2:00 PM  |  Permalink

Boney James: 'Syesha Mercado is the Best Thing Next to Faith Evans'

 

I do not watch American Idol, mainly because it's corny, stunty, and reprehensible. I think I'm all the better for it, though I'll admit I voted for Ruben like this many times back in the day because he seemed like...

nOvaMatic  |  05/22/2008 at 2:00 PM  |  Comments (2)  |  Permalink

Crank Dat Jazz With Hidden Beach

 

Are you a closet fan of the Ying Yang Twins? Do you find yourself reciting the lyrics to "Ay Bay Bay" when no one is looking? Or perhaps you think you'll lose your street cred amongst your neo-soul loving friends...

Butta  |  05/20/2008 at 2:40 PM  |  Comments (2)  |  Permalink

Jazz Appreciation Month

 

April is officially Jazz Appreciation Month. We would be remiss if we did not mention it, even on this last day of April. Given this has been the seventh year of Jazz being officially celebrated, there has been much celebrating,...

ill Mami  |  04/30/2008 at 1:30 PM  |  Permalink

Have A Jazzy Christmas With Boney James And Friends

 

With Christmas two weeks away, the sounds of the season will be playing a little bit longer in our ears. In the event that you're tired of your Quad City All-Star Christmas CD (don't act like I'm the only one...

Butta  |  12/11/2007 at 1:30 PM  |  Permalink

'A Love Supreme' Goes To Church

 

If you ever find yourself in San Francisco on a Sunday, it might be worth your while to make it over to the Saint John Will-I-Am Coltrane African Orthodox Church. John Coltrane's works, including his best-known A Love Supreme, which he...

ill Mami  |  11/14/2007 at 2:00 PM  |  Permalink