Celebrate Brooklyn!

Mandela Day African music fest, Brooklyn

July 22, 2009 by Howard Mandel

Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Cyndi Lauper with Li'l Kim, Dave Stewart and French first-lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy celebrated Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela's 91st birthday July 18 at a heavily reported Radio City Music Hall concert, but in Prospect Park Nigeria's King Sunny Adé headlined a free five-act, seven-hour pan-African Celebrate Brooklyn! show drawing some 20,000 people. No reviews have been forthcoming, but hey, it was pretty nice, so you should know. … [Read more...]

In lieu of JVC Jazz festivals

June 30, 2009 by Howard Mandel

Did you miss the "festivity" of June jazz concerts in major Manhattan venues -- or did you find ways of coping without them? There's so much fine music -- jazz and beyond -- in nearby festive settings, many of them out-of-doors, that the absence of a 38-year-old institution doesn't seem to have made much stir. Perhaps you didn't even notice? Here's my most recent City Arts - NYC report on how George Wein responded to his perennial presence in New York City's jazz summer being suspended, upcoming classic jazz alternatives in Kent, CT, Katonah NY … [Read more...]

I'm a Chicago-born (and after 32 years in NYC, recently repatriated) writer, editor, author, arts reporter for National Public Radio, consultant and nascent videographer -- a veteran freelance journalist working on newspapers, magazines and websites, appearing on tv and radio, teaching at New York University and elsewhere, consulting on media, publishing and jazz-related issues. I'm president of the Jazz Journalists Association, a non-profit membership organization devoted to using all media to disseminate news and views about all kinds of jazz.
My books are Future Jazz (Oxford U Press, 1999) and Miles Ornette Cecil - Jazz Beyond Jazz (Routledge, 2008). I was general editor of the Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz and Blues (Flame Tree 2005/Billboard Books 2006). Of course I'm working on something new. . . Read More…

Howard Mandel on The Jazz & Blues Art Box — instant collection, rare data trove: “I dont know about the publicfunding for the Bern jazz festival OR the videos; the Box itself seems to be…” Jul 31, 00:13
William Osborne on The Jazz & Blues Art Box — instant collection, rare data trove: “The Swiss have made similar collections of recordings of their contemporary classical composers -- not that large, but very comprehensive.…” Jul 30, 20:52
Afifah Rachmawati on Great new jazz photography: Sánta’s faces of Northsea Jazz Fest: “It's great!!” Jul 24, 15:28
Dee on Great new jazz photography: Sánta’s faces of Northsea Jazz Fest: “My visual soul-mate, this Santá-seer!!! Hope to meet him in one of our lifetimes...” Jul 24, 15:19
Ralph A. Miriello on Great new jazz photography: Sánta’s faces of Northsea Jazz Fest: “Great and insightful post Howard. Jazz photgraphy often catches rare glimpses into the artist's soul.” Jul 24, 14:52

ESP Disks — origins of jazz beyond jazz

Reviewing a sleeping giant, ESP Disks before its early '00s revival Howard Mandel c 1997, published in issue 157, The Wire It was a time before psychedelics. Following the seismic cultural disruptions of the mid '50s, rock 'n' roll had hit a … [Read More...]

William Parker, my DownBeat feature from 1998

Howard Mandel c 1998/published by DownBeat, July 1998, under headline Beneath the Underdog (the editor's reference to Charles Mingus's autobiography): There's an anchor for New York's downtown free jazz and improv "wild bunch": his name is William … [Read More...]

Matthew Shipp, my feature for The Wire, 1998

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="IFeXJPobvykRyuU4dU68FilRPv0EE8oC"] This is a complete version of the feature on pianist Matthew Shipp I wrote for The Wire, published in February, 1998 Is this the face of New York's jazz avant now? Pianist Matt … [Read More...]

Rashied Ali (1935 – 2009), multi-directional drummer, speaks

A 1990 interview with drummer Rashied Ali, about his relationship with John Coltrane. … [Read More...]

On The Corner program notes, Merkin Hall concert 5/25/09

Miles Davis intended On The Corner to be a personal statement, an esthetic breakthrough and a social provocation upon its release in fall of 1972. He could hardly have been more successful: the album was all that, though it has taken decades for its … [Read More...]