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Riffs: Music News from Out and About

Riffs: Music News from Out and About

By Patricia Myers

Suspicions confirmed. I’ve always considered modern jazz the most inventive of all music genres. Its early influences of Prez, Diz, Duke and Miles are never-ending, but each new configuration offers newly creative elements. So when I saw an article about how similar country music hits are becoming, I thought, “Suspicions confirmed.”

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Lewis Nash performs on friend’s album-tribute to young daughter

Lewis Nash performs on friend’s album-tribute to young daughter

By Patricia Myers

Phoenix-born jazz drummer Lewis Nash was the drummer on tenor saxophonist Jimmy Greene’s newly released tribute album, Beautiful Life (Mack Avenue Records). The CD is a remembrance celebration of Greene’s 6-year-old daughter, Ana Márquez-Greene, who was among the 20 children and six educators killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, on Dec.14, 2012.

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Famed jazz piano duo performs Feb. 28 for Lakeshore Music series at Tempe Center for the Arts

Famed jazz piano duo performs Feb. 28 for Lakeshore Music series at Tempe Center for the Arts

By Patricia Myers

For the “month of lovers,” the Lakeshore Music jazz series brings the wife-husband duo of pianists Renee Rosnes and Bill Charlap to make beautiful music together at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28. These world-renowned jazz pianists have had stellar solo careers, and recently recorded their first collaborative album, “Double Portrait,” for Blue Note. Their four-hand piano duets feature superb individual styles that flow into a sparkling integrated sound.

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Papa John DeFrancesco: A swinging journey in music.

Papa John DeFrancesco: A swinging journey in music.

By Patricia Myers

World-renowned organist John “Papa John” DeFrancesco was a professional trumpet player when he heard Jack McDuff playing a Hammond B3 organ. “Hearing all those harmonics, the organ took my heart,” he said in an interview with MusicSceneAZ. He’s widely known for his infectious, bluesy, swinging style.

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Riffs: Music News from Out and About

Riffs: Music News from Out and About

By Patricia Myers:

A major highlight of January is the first Tucson Jazz Festival, a 13-day event from Jan. 16-28 that features both national and Arizona musicians. The impressive event, organized by Yvonne Ervin, founding executive director of the Tucson Jazz Society, features four Grammy-winning musicians: Burt Bacharach, Billy Childs, Dianne Reeves and The Robert Glaspar Experiment.

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Riffs: Music News from Out and About

Riffs: Music News from Out and About

By Patricia Myers:

My new all-Arizona music website, www.MusicSceneAZ.com, has been growing in content and dimension since its launch last month. The Calendar and Venues segments are filled with live-music bookings, as many as 30 on some days of the week, mostly jazz and blues.

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