The ease with which one can cling to keyboardist Javier Santiago is very reminiscent, oddly enough, of the better corners of smooth jazz. Santiago as a leader melds the best elements of jazz, R&B, and soul in very contemporary senses while maintaining an accessibility that can please many. This is an album that celebrates nature, so why would a human connection to tones not be … [Read more...]
Nicholas Payton Is Chillin’ On Our Nutz: How One Musician Misrepresented the Facts And Bullied the Jazz Narrative Off Course
Author's Note: This is my last feature-length piece as a staff writer for Nextbop before taking an extended break from jazz. Payton's Black American Music, or BAM, has been a lot on my mind since hitting the jazz internet headlines last year; I got caught in one of Payton's rhetorical catch-22's and wrote several angry posts about him at my blog. This piece, which I … [Read more...]
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 household ones should be endless, and are what fundamentally define for what America stands at its core. Instead, these names represent a reality which has been carved out … [Read more...]
Nicholas Payton Sexxxtet Jams, Swings, and Funks Up San Antonio
Originally written for African-American Reflections There had to have been many who didn’t know what to expect on Sunday, February 20, when they entered the McAllister Auditorium on the campus of San Antonio College. The theater was the setting for another concert in the ongoing Musical Bridges Around the World series, now thirteen years running, but Sunday afternoon’s … [Read more...]