Recently the subject of Ella Fitzgerald and her immense fame and recognition has come up in conversation amongst friends. Why is it that Ella still reigns as the queen of jazz while other singers of her time gained far less recognition for their art? Why is hers the household name? No one can deny her [...]
Beantown Jazz Festival Spotlight: Snarky Puppy
September 27, 2013 | By
Snarky Puppy began as a Texas-based group comprised largely of former University of North Texas students. Led by bass player Michael League, the group is ever changing and features almost 30 musicians, sometimes referred to as “The Fam.” The group released their first album, Live at Uncommon Ground, in 2005 and began touring soon after. [...]
Beantown Jazz Festival Spotlight: Meshell Ndegeocello
September 22, 2013 | By
This year’s Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival audience is in for a serious treat: bass player, rapper, singer, songwriter, and all around badass Meshell Ndegeocello. Though she is not a “jazz” musician by traditional standards, her music incorporates many different influences, jazz among them, as well as hip hop, r&b, soul, rock, and funk. Ndegeocello [...]
Commencement 2013: Carole King
April 8, 2013 | By
The Berklee College of Music commencement ceremony for the class of 2013 is coming up on May 11th. Receiving an honorary doctorate from the college will be the one and only Carole King. King, along with Willie Nelson and Annie Lennox, will be appearing and speaking at the ceremony; the music of all three artists [...]
Interview: Ned Rosenblatt
February 27, 2013 | By
Ned Rosenblatt is a former high school band director and current Berklee College of Music Associate Professor whose groups competed in the Berklee High School Jazz Festival. Ned has a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Music Education from the University of Connecticut at Storrs and a Master’s Degree in Jazz Pedagogy from The Boston Conservatory/Berklee [...]
Empathy and Music: Intertwined or Independent?
November 15, 2012 | By
Recently, in one of my classes, we were asked to take an empathy quotient survey online. A lot of the questions pertained to social situations and how you react to them, the ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, and many other human nature type questions. I found this survey to be pretty interesting, [...]
Ick… The Music Industry
October 30, 2012 | By
I must admit that the music business has never been something I have taken much interest in. I have a lot of friends in the music business major, and when they talk about what they are learning in their classes, I really don’t find any of it compelling or exciting. Truthfully, I find it completely [...]
Jazz and Eastern Practices: Part 2 - Yoga
October 27, 2012 | By
ut two years ago I discovered Gretchen Parlato and I absolutely fell in love with her voice. She quickly became my favorite vocalist and a huge influence on my music, and I was so taken by her intense connection to the music and the intimacy of her sound. I discovered that she was an avid [...]
Going To Concerts Solo: Why It’s No Big Deal and Totally Worth It
October 20, 2012 | By
I’m an only child, so independence comes pretty naturally to me. That, paired with the fact that my hometown isn’t exactly a jazz-loving place, meant I ended up going to a lot of shows alone growing up. Our one and only jazz club had shows every weekend, and of course none of my teenaged friends [...]
Five Vocalists Every Jazz Musician Should Know
September 14, 2012 | By
A lot of times in jazz, vocalists can get stuck listening exclusively to vocal jazz, and instrumentalists get stuck listening exclusively to instrumental jazz. I believe that the best instrumentalists are the ones that listen to vocal jazz and understand singers and what it takes to accompany them. On the other hand, I believe that [...]
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