By now baseball season is in full swing, if you pardon the pun. And it is taking place in two brand new stadiums. Now don’t forget that you as taxpayers helped finance these sporting cathedrals. No one asked you and good luck getting tickets to any of the games. For those that believe in karma, a big drain of this precious commodity has occurred. In order to restore some balance to the universe, support an activity that takes place far away from stadiums and public financing forums and see some jazz. Two things that jazz and baseball do have in common are an international profile and appreciation of history. This month we feature both. On The Cover is the seminal bassist Barry Guy, an Englishman-turned-world citizen very much responsible for expanding the language of his instrument. Our Interview, drummer Al Foster, was the engine that drove the many bands of Miles Davis from 1972 until the trumpeter’s 1991 death. And trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith (Artist Profile) has been an important voice as a composer and player since the late ‘60s. Filling out our major league coverage are profiles on the Californiabased label Posi-Tone and its efforts to support a number of New York City-based musicians and the Queens venue Flushing Town Hall.
Baseball is America’s pastime and jazz its classical music. We’ll spare you clich teamwork analogies between the two but will remind you that these are two of our countries’ most beloved exports (though the trade gap is closing as Japan wins the World Baseball Classic and musicians from all over the world adapt and expand upon jazz’ original ideas and ideals). Since you probably won’t make it to a game this season, see some live jazz (peruse our Event Calendar for hundreds of options) or buy a CD, maybe one reviewed this month. But if you can afford tickets to a game and have extras, our emails are below. We’ll see you out there...
We’ll see you out there...
For more information contact All About Jazz.
