An Interview with Tigran Hamasyan
I met Tigran Hamasyan at a Montreal Starbucks hours before his solo piano show at L’Astral on February 11th. He exuded a quiet composure, his thoughtful answers offering a counterpoint …
Interviews
‘The Thompson Fields’ – An Interview with Maria Schneider
On Wednesday, June 24th, 2015, we spoke with Maria Schneider at length about her new album The Thompson Fields, her musical upbringing, the future of big bands, the ArtistShare platform, …
Relevant to His Time: An Interview with Robert Glasper
Read our 2012 interview with jazz pianist Robert Glasper discussing his then-upcoming album Black Radio, his musical influences, and the future of jazz music.
Harish Raghavan on ‘Calls for Action’, his Creative Process, and his Advice for Young Musicians
Bassist Harish Raghavan has had a prolific career playing sideman to some of the biggest names in modern jazz music. Yet it took him over ten years since establishing himself …
Dan Weiss on ‘Utica Box’, his Career, and Music in General (Interview)
Drummer and percussionist Dan Weiss released Utica Box last month on Sunnyside Records (read our review here) featuring Jacob Sacks on piano, and Thomas Morgan and Eivind Opsvik on bass. …
Brian Lynch on ‘The Omni-American Book Club’, the State of Jazz Music, and his Advice for the Next Generation
At the very end of August, Grammy award-winning trumpeter Brian Lynch announced the impromptu release of his latest creation, The Omni-American Book Club, a big band album inspired by over …
Trumpeter Russell Gunn Discusses his Latest Album, Ancient Dogon Knowledge, and his Quest for Truth
Pyramids, Russell Gunn’s newest album with The Royal Krunk Jazz Orkestra, came out last month on the Ropeadope label. We caught up with the trumpeter, composer, and bandleader to discuss …
Nextbop Interviews Hailey Niswanger of MAE.SUN
There is a new energy awakening among a select few jazz musicians, whether explicit as in Marquis Hill’s latest EP Meditation Tape or implicit as in the album covers to …
Nextbop Interviews Rudresh Mahanthappa
Last October, alto saxophonist and composer Rudresh Mahanthappa reunited his trio, the Indo-Pak Coalition which features guitarist Rez Abbasi and tabla player Dan Weiss, for a new LP entitled Agrima, …
Nextbop Interviews Brian Blade
Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band are celebrating their 20th anniversary as a unit with the release of their fifth studio album on Blue Note Records entitled Body and Shadow. …
Nextbop Interviews Marquis Hill
Trumpeter and sensei Marquis Hill is set to drop a brand new EP, aka bomb, on us December 1st. Meditation Tape EP is a seven-track succinct endeavor rooted in jazz …
Nextbop Interviews Sarah Elizabeth Charles
Vocalist Sarah Elizabeth Charles just released her newest album Free of Form at the beginning of the month. Co-produced by Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah and featuring her long-time band SCOPE …
Nextbop Interviews Kendrick Scott
Last Friday, Blue Note Records dropped Our Point of View featuring its All-Stars, namely trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, keyboardist Robert Glasper, bassist Derrick Hodge, guitarist Lionel Loueke, drummer Kendrick Scott, and …
Nextbop Interviews Fabian Almazan Founder of Biophilia Records
You all know pianist Fabian Almazan as an accomplished musician, but what you may not know is that he also runs a environmentally-conscious music label named Biophilia. I caught up …
Nextbop Interviews Chet Doxas
Chet Doxas, arguably one of Montreal’s most illustrious saxophonists, left my endearing hometown three years ago, off to pursue his dream in the bigger and better pastures of the Big …
Marc Cary on the Fender Rhodes, Influence, and Individualism
The Marc Cary Trio hit le club l’Astral at 9 p.m. on Friday, July 3 as part of the 36th edition of the Montreal International Jazz Festival. The band drove …
Leaving Room for Magic: Ben Williams on Inspiration, Balance and the Synergy Behind ‘Coming of Age’
Black rimmed Ray Bans and a 10pm hit set the atmosphere as Ben Williams steps onto the bandstand. He picks up his bass and pauses. After a moment of silent …
Steve Wilson: Notes to a Young Player
In a quiet room in a quiet hall, facing a framed print of a ’57 Blue Note record, Steve Wilson folds his hands into his chin, and stares across the …
An Interview with John Raymond
I’ve been a fan of up-and-coming trumpet player John Raymond for a while now, pretty much ever since he became a Nextbop artist. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview …
Marcus Miller: Suspending the Rules (Interview)
As Marcus Miller catches me up on a major project he’d been working on over the last couple years, he stops mid-sentence to give me some background, humbly explaining, “I …
Orrin Evans Releases ‘Flip the Script’
At an impressive nineteen albums in, pianist Orrin Evans sets out to do exactly as the title of his latest suggests. Flip The Script (Posi-Tone), out this month, refers not …
Jazz Community Responds to Trayvon Martin Tragedy
Sean Bell. Amadou Diallo. Danroy Henry. Ramarley Graham. Orlando Barlow. Aaron Campbell. Timothy Stansbury. Oscar Grant. In the land of freedom and opportunity, the possibilities for these names to become …
A Message In Our Music Part 2: Christian McBride
Simply put, there are bassists, and then there’s Christian McBride. With a career as a musician, composer, arranger, and producer, which began two decades ago, McBride has since set the …
A Message In Our Music Part 1: Jason Moran
After digesting the phenomenon which is Jason Moran, his eminence in music is even more mind-blowing once you consider the fact that he is just 37 years old. In addition …
On the Rise: A Conversation With Kris Bowers
At the start of the second set at Greenwich Village’s Jazz Gallery last week, pianist Kris Bowers was playing for a packed and eager house. A packed, eager, young, and …
Geri Allen On Her First Christmas Album and Embracing It All
Geri Allen is, with all certainty, the renaissance woman of Modern Jazz. Musician (and more pointedly, instrumentalist), scholar, professor, mother, African American, and female, Allen has deepened the complexities (and …
Ali Shaheed Muhammad: On Life and The Low End Theory
This past September marked the anniversaries of some of the most pivotal music of my generation. It has been twenty years since Nirvana shook up the pop culture macrocosm with …
The Mentality of Music: An Interview with Marcus Miller
On Monday, February 7, I did a phone interview with Marcus Miller. He was in Los Angeles and I was in Montreal. It was quite cold that night in Montreal. …
Matt Kassel sit down with Ari Hoenig and Gilad Hekselman
On the night of Friday, November 19, I sat down to talk with guitarist Gilad Hekselman and drummer Ari Hoenig between sets at Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill. (Find the …
Aaron Parks Interviewed by Matt Kassel
On Friday, October 22, I sat down with pianist Aaron Parks between sets at Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill where he was performing for the Montreal Jazz Festival. He was …