Before attending this concert, I had never been to Duke University Chapel. I had heard of its splendor, of the peace found within its walls, and of the reverence that its architectural design inspires. As I entered on Thursday...
Read MoreCelebrating the Incredible Career of Frank Bongiorno with the Cape Fear Jazz Society and UNCW
With love, appreciation, and Big Band tunes, the Cape Fear Jazz Society and the UNCW Department of Music celebrated the long and inspiring career of Frank Bongiorno in the Beckwith Recital Hall on the UNCW campus. Bongiorno is...
Read MoreGregg Gelb, one of our region’s great resources with regard to jazz history and traditions, has produced a powerful new music video with his Heart of Carolina Jazz Orchestra, taped (in HD) at the Duke Energy Pavilion in...
Read MoreNCSU’s Jazz Ensemble I Swings Hard with Big Band Standards
It was a thrill to return to Stewart Theatre after almost exactly a year to the day to enjoy band director Wes Parker’s superb NCSU’s big band Jazz Ensemble I. From their opening piece “On Green Dolphin...
Read MoreJazz Drummer Tommy Igoe and Birdland All-Stars at NCSU’s Stewart Theatre
Tommy Igoe has followed in the footsteps of his late father, the renowned drummer Sonny Igoe, who was a member of numerous big bands from the 1940s and 1960s, such as those of Woody Herman, Benny Goodman, as well as television...
Read MoreThe second annual collaborative concert featuring the Durham Symphony Orchestra and John Brown’s “Little” Big Band, celebrating the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., was presented in Duke’s...
Read MoreMLK and More at Duke: “Yes (It’s Going to Be a) Wonderful World”
The second annual collaborative concert featuring the Durham Symphony Orchestra and John Brown’s “Little” Big Band, celebrating the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., was presented in Duke’s...
Read MoreThe Great Jazz Holiday Tradition Continues in Chapel Hill
Christmas musical traditions come in all shapes and sizes, yet an annual celebration featuring a big band and a Grammy nominated singer is as rare as grits in New York. Luckily for us here in the Triangle, we have the North...
Read MoreJazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) with Wynton Marsalis at Memorial Hall, Chapel Hill
If any in attendance at UNC for the sold-out program on Wednesday were expecting a concert of uncharted explorations in contemporary jazz, they would have been sorely disappointed. Instead they were treated to the combined work...
Read MoreWimington’s CAM Hosts Cape Fear Jazz Orchestra’s Debut
It was a pleasant surprise to hear the (unexpected inaugural) concert by the Cape Fear Jazz Orchestra at the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington. The audience for this sold-out event was highly enthusiastic with their nearly...
Read More37th Annual Carolina Jazz Festival: North Carolina Jazz Repertory Orchestra (NCJRO) with Guest Artists Rahsaan and Roland Barber
What a pleasure to hear such a well-rehearsed and enthusiastic big band, surely the jewel-in-the-crown of North Carolina’s jazz community, under the direction of the irrepressible trumpeter Jim Ketch! He and co-founder...
Read MoreGets Even Better Each Year: Jazz for the Holidays at UNC Chapel Hill
By now most of us have endured an unavoidable assault of Christmas (or “holiday” for the PC police out there) songs. The saving grace of this situation is that most of these classic carols and songs are actually...
Read More
