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Alphonso Johnson: A Great Talent
The history of jazz is filled with musicians who died prematurely, disappeared, or stepped away from the scene for various reasons. Into this last category falls Alphonso Johnson (Philadelphia, 1951), a bassist who rose to prominence in the mid-1970s as a member of Weather Report. Though best known as an electric bassist, Johnson began on the double bass at an early age, encouraged to take up the instrument partly due to his tall stature. He studied at the Philadelphia Music Academy with John Lamb, the double bassist in Duke Ellington’s orchestra from 1964 to 1967. At just seventeen, the precocious talent embarked on his professional career. His first major engagement came in 1972 with Woody Herman’s Orchestra, with whom he recorded The Raven Speaks (Fantasy). The following year he appeared on Land of Make Believe (Mercury) with trumpeter Chuck Mangione. But his big break arrived in 1974, when Joe Zawinul […]
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One Step Forward, Two Steps Back. Mike Mainieri’s Debut
At the age of 87, Mike Mainieri certainly needs no introduction. The American vibraphonist, composer, and record producer, whose father came from Ravello, has...
Crime, Words, Time: Anatomy of an Outdated Detective
Just one more thing...
One late autumn afternoon, the lopsided, absent-minded figure of Lieutenant Columbo entered my memory. Rete4, ever generous with surprises, was airing...
Andy Bey: a tribute to the great singer who recently passed away
The early 1990s marked the return of great singers. Many who had lived in near anonymity during the 1970s suddenly came back into view....
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Ran Blake: a poet in black and white
Let’s start with a song: “Laura.” David Raksin composed the music for the film of the same name (released in Italy as Vertigine), and...
Cinema, Music and galloping Memories
Sixties Rome had a couple of easily recognizable symbols among many others: Cinecittà and the Piper. Two recently published books and a few albums...
Roy Ayers: “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”
Ayers died on March 4 in New York. The warm sound of his instrument has fallen silent, leaving an empty void. He was eighty-four...
Steven Wilson: In a Fragment of the Cosmos
Steven Wilson: In a Fragment of the Cosmos. One of the busiest musicians of our time reflects on the vastness of the universe
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A Lost Item in Hamburg: The 1975 New Jazz Festival Album
The 1. New Jazz Festival Hamburg '75 album remains a lost item today. It contains four long tracks from a festival whose lineup, half a century later, is still difficult to reconstruct: Terje Rypdal, Liebman & Beirach, Eberhard Weber, and Tomasz Stańko.
Tenco Faces
For years, it has been no secret that there is considerable crossover between the Sanremo Festival and the Tenco Prize. This year, the overlap...