Wednesday, May 27, 2009

AAJ Tops 4 Million MP3 Downloads

All About Jazz recently topped 4,000,000 free MP3 downloads.

AAJ has offered a free daily download since November 2005 from artists spanning all genres of jazz including Gary Burton, Brian Blade, John Hassell, Kenny Garrett, Dave Holland, Aaron Parks, Terence Blanchard, Rob Reddy, Ted Nash, Mingus Big Band, Exploding Star Orchestra, David Weiss, Bob Mintzer, Microscopic Septet, Ron Horton, Ben Allison, Greg Tardy, Ingrid Jensen, John McNeil, Wycliffe Gordon, Mario Pavone, Scott Kinsey, Billy Kilson, Upper Left Trio, Cuong Vu, Darcy James Argue, Charlie Hunter, Erik Friedlander, Maria Schneider, Rez Abbasi, Rick Parker Collective, Brooklyn Jazz Underground, Paul Bollenback, Wayne Horvitz, Joel Harrison, John Ellis, Christian McBride, George Colligan, Club d'Elf, Jeremy Pelt, Vic Juris, Hiromi, Jonathan Kreisberg, Eddie Gomez, Bern Nix, Either/Orchestra, Moutin Reunion Quartet, Dave Phillips and Freedance, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Alan Pasqua, Jenny Scheinman, Roberto Magris, Ken Vandermark, Dave Stryker, Bill Carrothers, Buck Hill, Bob Brookmeyer, Marc Copland, Mark Egan, Charles Gayle, Donald Harrison, Lonnie Plaxico, Joe Locke, Scott Amendola, Claudio Roditi, Eddie Daniels, Tom Christensen and many more.

Download a Free MP3!

Readers can download MP3s from the main download page, from a musician's profile page (example, see right column), from an event page or by searching for top downloads.

If you're a musician, this is one of the most effective ways to spread the word about your music. Submit a track for consideration today.

Related Links

Monday, May 25, 2009

Vibraphone Icon Gary Burton Interviewed at AAJ

Since emerging in the 1960s, Gary Burton has quickly become one of the primary litmus tests for four-mallet vibraphonists in jazz. From his early days with Larry Coryell through to his groundbreaking ECM albums featuring a young legend-in-the-making, guitarist Pat Metheny, Burton changed way that the vibraphone could be used, with music that ranged from ethereal to fiery and deeply grounded.

Since then his career has been a case of milestone after milestone, whether it's his longstanding duet with pianist Chick Corea or his mentoring of young artists like guitarist Julian Lage.

Following what was to be a one-time reunion of his quartet with Metheny, bassist Steve Swallow and newcomer Antonio Sanchez on drums as part of Metheny's "By Invitation" series at the 2005 Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, the quartet decided it was having far too much fun to leave it at just one performance. A 2008 tour has resulted in Burton's latest release, Quartet Live (Concord, 2009), and the quartet will be touring this summer in support of its May 26, 2009 release.

Veteran AAJ contributor R.J. DeLuke spoke at length with Burton about his history, his innovations and his new release, in his in-depth interview, Gary Burton: Forging Ahead, published today at AAJ.

To celebrate the release of Quartet Live, AAJ is also making a number of other features available today:

  1. Read AAJ Managing Editor John Kelman's insightful review of Quartet Live.
  2. Download and/or listen to Burton speaking with AAJ contributor and host of The Jazz Session, Jason Crane, this week's The Jazz Session Podcast.
  3. Download and/or listen to Burton's "Walter L," a complete track from Quartet Live, today's AAJ Daily Download.
  4. Watch the Gary Burton Quartet perform Carla Bley's "Olhos De Gato" live at the 2008 North Sea Jazz Festival, today's AAJ Daily Video.
  5. The Jazz Session will be giving away 5 copies of the new Burton CD together with five copies of the reissued Dreams So Real from the ECM Touchstones series. To enter,href="mailto:contest@thejazzsession.com?subject=BURTONAAJ">send an email to contest@thejazzsession.com with "BURTONAAJ" as the subject line.

AAJ is committed to providing the most extensive coverage available surrounding new releases, so be sure to check out all the buzz about Gary Burton and Quartet Live at AAJ today!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

More Jazz Widgets for Your Website or Blog!



All About Jazz widgets can help you build your website's traffic and keep your readers coming back for more.

Our three latest widgets: jazz interviews, the Jazz Session weekly podcast and Contest Giveaway are completely customizable and a piece of cake to add.


Place any or all of these free content widgets on your website or blog:

Articles
Birthdays
CD Reviews
Contest Giveaways
Interviews
MP3 Download of the Day
Musician of the Day
News
Podcasts
Upcoming Releases


What are AAJ Widgets?
AAJ Widgets are dynamically updated content boxes that are pushed from AllAboutJazz.com to a user's website or blog. If you know how to copy & paste, you can use our daily jazz content on your site in a matter of minutes. Check out how they appear at the Jazz Excursion website, the Montreal Jazz Festival website or the AAJ News Blog. See them all in action on a single page.


How do I place AAJ Widgets on my website?
For the MP3 Download of the Day box, click here.

Adding an article, birthday, cd review and release schedule content box to your website is simple, but it does require some knowledge of HTML. To get started, click one of the live content links above, then follow the instructions.

Once the code is copied to your web page, upload the page, and you're done. AAJ will then automatically update your content once every 15 minutes, once an hour, or once a day. this sample page.


What are the benefits of using AAJ Widgets?
If you want to build "stickyness", then you need to frequently update your website. AAJ can help by providing new content in the form of daily downloads, daily news, articles, cd reviews and upcoming releases. AAJ Widgets gives your readers a reason to come back.


Who should use AAJ Widgets?
If you're looking to retain visitors, the answer is you. Musicians, bloggers, radio stations, venues, festivals, general purpose sites, fan sites, record stores, publicists... everyone can benefit.

Monday, May 18, 2009

All About Jazz and The Jazz Session Announce Partnership



World's Top Jazz Website Teams with Top Jazz Podcast 18 MAY 2009 -- AllAboutJazz.com has joined forces with the popular jazz interview show The Jazz Session to bring high-quality interviews with jazz musicians to a wider audience.

"Jason Crane and I have worked together for several years and closely aligning our two properties makes perfect sense as we move forward," said All About Jazz founder and publisher Michael Ricci. "AAJ already publishes weekly interviews, and including The Jazz Session to our roster will raise the entertainment value at the website and further add to our already impressive coverage of jazz."

"There aren't many people doing in-depth audio interviews with jazz musicians," said Jason Crane, host and producer of The Jazz Session. "On The Jazz Session, we focus on the music and also the stories behind the music. And we let the musicians do most of the talking. I'm very excited to bring the show to All About Jazz, and integrate what I do with their weekly Monday feature. The Jazz Session and All About Jazz are a very good fit.

"The partnership launches with South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela. Masekela had a chart hit in the 1960s with his tune, "Grazin' In The Grass," and his career spans five decades. Upcoming shows will feature vibraphonist Gary Burton, vocalist Claudia Acuna, bandleader Arturo O'Farrill, and pianist and songwriter Dave Frishberg.Crane has taken The Jazz Session to the Rochester International Jazz Festival in Rochester, NY, and the Tanglewood Jazz Festival in Lenox, MA. He and Ricci plan to increase the show's profile at festivals across the country, starting with a return to the Tanglewood Jazz Festival this summer."Our idea is conduct interviews right in front of the same crowds who show up to listen to the music. Then those interviews will be online, so even if you can't make it to the festival, you can feel like you were there."


About All About Jazz

AllAboutJazz.com is the leading and longest running jazz music website, attracting both enthusiasts and industry professionals while reaching nearly one million unique visitors per month.

A daily resource of impressive depth and breadth, AllAboutJazz.com publishes and syndicates a variety of jazz-oriented content and is the only jazz website capable of serving geo-targeted advertisements and news.

As a social enterprise, AllAboutJazz.com is committed to raising the awareness of jazz's cultural significance and historical legacy while playing an essential role in promoting the creative leaders of today.

AllAboutJazz.com is a 7-time winner of the prestigious Jazz Journalist Association award, and is the highest ranked jazz website according to Alexa.com, Quantcast.com, Google, Yahoo and Ask.com. All About Jazz is an AOL Music Network partner and its content appears weekly at Spinner.com.

About The Jazz Session

The Jazz Session, is a weekly jazz interview show hosted and produced by jazz broadcaster Jason Crane. The online show has seen well over 200,000 downloads of its 60 episodes. The show features interviews with jazz masters such as Sonny Rollins and Chico Hamilton, along with musicians from more recent generations such as the trio Fly, Kate McGarry, John Ellis = 13644 and Jason Moran.

Vocalist J.D. Walter Interviewed at AAJ


J.D. Walter is a jazz singers' singer--a purist and an innovator. Although his style has been compared to many vocal titans, it is in the same breath, uniquely his own, and he has become a singular phenomenon on the music scene.

Walter has thus far recorded five CDs as a leader and co-leader and has attracted an international audience from the shores of America to Europe, Russia, and the Far East. He is also a featured member of pianist Orrin Evans' Luv Park Band (Imani Records, 2004), as well as making guest appearances on numerous other recordings.

AAJ Contributor Victor L. Schermer spoke with Walter about his unique approach to singing, his varied musical influences, and where he see himself going in the near future.

Check out J.D. Walter: Being a Verb at AAJ today!

Industry Professional? Bookmark the AAJ PRO page

All About Jazz has developed a convenient page for industry pros to quickly access forms and reports at AAJ as well as handy links to other relevant jazz sites, blogs and resources around the internet.



Bookmark AAJ PRO

Saxophonist David Sanborn Interviewed at AAJ

Saxophonist David Sanborn is one of the most recognizable instrumentalists in modern music. From his many television appearances--on his own show, Night Moves, and with David Letterman's band--to his popular records and tours, Sanborn is among the few names in jazz that non-jazzheads can recognize.

In 2008, Sanborn released Here & Gone (Decca, 2008), an album that pays tribute to saxophonist {{Hank Crawford = 5970}}, who was a key part of the {{Ray Charles = 5648}} band through many of its greatest years. Crawford inspired Sanborn to play the saxophone, and it's fitting that Sanborn is now using his notoriety to shed a little light on an under-appreciated jazz master.

AAJ Contributor and host of the popular The Jazz Session series of podcasts, spoke with Sanborn about the making of Here & Gone and pushing oneself to new places after decades on the bandstand

Check out David Sanborn: Sound and Silence at AAJ today!

New ECM Group Cyminology Interviewed at AAJ

After forming in 2002, Berlin-based Cyminology has been exploring the rich musical territory bound by the backgrounds of members Cymin Samawatie, pianist Benedikt Jahnel, drummer Ketan Bhatti and bassist Ralf Schwarz. Holding the foursome's unique tapestry of styles together is Samawatie's vocal and compositional work, built around classical Persian poetry, as well as her own writing.

The band began forging its sound after Samawatie started exploring her Iranian musical heritage. Moved by the power of the Persian music and poetry, Samawatie discovered new directions to pursue in her melodies. The elemental sounds of her Farsi lyrics, combined with the band's grounding in modern jazz styles, led to recognition and a host of awards for Cyminology, including winning the Jazz and Blues Award Berlin in 2004 and 2006, and the New Generation international jazz competition in 2003.

Now signed with ECM, As Ney delves further into the soundscapes Samawatie has written for the poems of Rumi, Hafiz and Forough Farrokhzad.

AAJ Contributor John Patten spoke with Samawatie about the evolution of the band, the differences recording with ECM's Manfred Eicher, and the roots of inspiration in his enlightening interview, Cyminology: Exploring New Compositional Frontiers, up at AAJ today.

You can also read John Kelman's review of As Ney.

Check out AAJ's coverage of this remarkable multicultural group today!

Download Three Free MP3s by Trumpeter Jon Hassell

Learn more about Jon Hassell, then download three free tracks (see below), including one from his latest release Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street on ECM Records. Enjoy!


Free MP3 Downloads

Power Spot
Jon Hassell
Power Spot
7:07
Maarifa Street
Jon Hassell
Maarifa Street: Magic Realism 2
7:08
Last Night the Moon Came
Jon Hassell
Last night the moon came dropping its clothes in the street
8:16

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Flugelhorn Legend Hugh Masekela Interviewed at AAJ



"I think it is incumbent, not just on every artist, but every person who has as their source communities that are disadvantaged, to give back," says Hugh Masekela, antiapartheid champion, friend of the downtrodden and musician extraordinaire who is still going strong at the age of 70. "If you don't give back, I think you end up somewhere down the line looking at yourself in a mirror that will eventually crack."

He's spent his life doing just that. Playing his flugelhorn with force and finesse, he's traveled the world spreading a message of concern for those around the globe--especially in Africa--who are under duress and oppression. He grew up in the apartheid of South Africa, but spent time going to music school in London and New York City, getting a chance to meet some of his musical jazz heroes in the process. But he never stopped caring about his countrymen back home and his zealous passion for freedom for all people--not just governmental freedom, but freedom from poverty and the feeling of hopelessness.

Veteran AAJ Contributor R.J. DeLuke spoke with Masekela about his new album, Phola (Time Square Records, 2009), the difficulties that apartheid imposed on his life and career, and the African heritage that imbues his music, no matter where he is.

Check out Hugh Masekela: Strength in Music and Character at AAJ today!

Monday, May 4, 2009

Trumpeter/Composer Jon Hassell Interviewed at AAJ... Free Downloads!

He may well be one of the most insidious influences in modern music. Trumpeter, composer and deep thinker Jon Hassell may not have the same name recognition as, say, Miles Davis, but his unmistakable approach to music--he calls it Fourth World music--has affected musicians around the globe, ranging from now friend/co-conspirator Brian Eno, British post-rock crooner David Sylvian and singer/songwriter Tim Elsenburg (aka Sweet Billy Pilgrim), to jazz-centric artists including trumpeters Arve Henriksen, Nils Petter Molær and Matthias Eick, as well as guitarist Eivind Aarset, and samplers/producers Jan Bang and Erik Honoré.

This week All About Jazz is providing the most comprehensive coverage anywhere of Jon Hassell and his latest recording for ECM, Last night the moon came and dropped its clothes in the street (2009):

For even more coverage, go to NPR's World Cafe, broadcasting out of Philadelphia, on May 6, 2009, to hear Jon Hassell's live performance and interview. It goes live at 4:00 PM EST and will be archived for streaming so you can tune in anytime.

AAJ strives to provide the most extensive, in-depth coverage on the web, so be sure to check out all the buzz surrounding Jon Hassell at AAJ this week!