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Benny Reid new album “Escaping Shadows”
Benny Reid, 29, is an saxophonist, composer, teacher, and recording artist who studied at Indiana University and now resides in New York. (Find him on Twitter, All About Jazz, Myspace, or Youtube). He recently released his second album, Escaping Shadows, on the Concord Jazz label. It features Benny Reid (alto saxophone & keyboards), Richard Padron…
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New Composition: Misha’s Song
Last summer I attended the Victoria Conservatory’s jazz workshop and one of the highlights was taking some classes with New York jazz pianist Misha Piatigorsky. One of the exercises of the composition class involved making up some chords to a melody, and can you believe it, the song from that exercise is still stuck in…
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Concert review: Steve Swell, Hamid Drake, Jemeel Moondoc
I have just witnessed one of the most spectacular live performances I have ever seen, of improvised music. The band was the New York trombonist Steve Swell’s group, with Hamid Drake on drums, Jemeel Moondoc on alto saxophone, and William Parker on bass. They gave a stunning performance at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, after…