Barry Harris on the importance of Thelonious Monk
Barry Harris, piano 7/27/16 “I tell some of the young kids in order to be a jazz musician you have to play a Monk song. You don’t play a Monk song, I feel there’s something funny about you being…
Jamie Breiwick
The Milwaukee Jazz Scene is still not Dead or Dying
Having been deeply rooted in the MKE jazz scene for my entire performing career, I have a pretty clear picture of the state of the scene. I have seen it’s ebb and flow and have witnessed multiple waves of growth…
Inspiration and humanity in music
My own feelings about the direction in which jazz should go are that there should be much less stress on technical exhibitionism and much more on emotional content, on what might be termed humanity in music and the freedom to…
Clamnation
Every musician has a number of experiences that form who they are to become, from inspiring teachers to live concert performances that leave a lasting impression. I was fortunate at a young age to have teachers that exposed me to…
Why Thelonious Monk?
Never before has the music of a particular artist taught me more about myself. Maybe more importantly, that it is OK to be myself. Two years ago, I began a “journey” studying the music of Thelonious Monk. I was talking with…
Manty Ellis, Midwest Jazz Master
Manty Ellis is certainly what you call a treasure. His perspective on life and music is what we all hope to attain as musicians. He has recently formed a new project – The Milwaukee Jazz Foundation – as a means…
Spirits
If you wonder if Milwaukee can sound like New York, give the latest by this trumpeter a spin and wonder no more. – Midwest Record Jamie Breiwick | Spirits (BluJazz 2013) Open the album cover and you enter the Jazz Estate, a…
Serenity
“At first, in music, there are open fields, oceans, forests. Later they build structures, edifices of harmonic and melodic materials, walls. Rhythm is solid, inflexible, stone. Oceans freeze, forests are razed for lumber and paper is filled with arcana, math,…