102.2 Jazz FM

Falling into Grey In both “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin and “The Red Convertible” by Junot Diaz the authors accurately depict two men who have suffered through many conflicts and painful experiences. The issues both Sonny and Victor face trigger painful thoughts and leave them craving a way to escape; sadly the easiest way to escape is through finding something that will block out the rest of the world by constantly forcing their attention. For Sonny, the easy access and use of drugs was…

“...There ain’t no causes - there ain’t nothing but taking in this world, and he who takes most is smartest - and it doesn't make a damn bit of difference how.”(3(Act).1(Scene).) A Raisin in the sun is a play that is written by Lorraine Hansberry. She also wrote The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window and Les Blancs.The first play produced based on A Raisin in the sun was in 1959, which is considered a landmark in American literature and drama. This play took place in Chicago’s South Side. In this…

Dance has circulated throughout history by articulating different movements and connecting styles together. For example, in the jazz dance module, movements first created during World War One were created and then changed moving forward. The creation of the lindy hop was one of the earliest swing dance forms that was a motion created within jazz and tap influences. This was created by African Americans in social dance settings. Connecting the lindy hop's movements, the movement of the jitterbug…

In 1974, Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters performed live in Germany. Pianist Herbie Hancock was accompanied by Bennie Maupin on saxophone, Paul Jackson on electric bass, Mike Clark on drums, and Bill Summer on percussion. The group performed a total of 5 songs including “Palm Grease”, “Sly”, “Butterfly”, “Spank A Lee”, and “Chameleon”. The second track performed in the concert is “Sly” and runs for ten minutes. The song begins with saxophonist Bennie Maupin playing while the rest of the group…

Janelle Monáe Robinson was born and grew up in Kansas City in which she idolized The Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy as like her, she dreamed of a place over the rainbow somewhere. She later moved to New York so that she could study theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy as she planned to try to have a career on Broadway but she later changed her mind and went back to music as she said in her Atlantic Records biography: “There was a lot of confusion and nonsense where I grew up, so I…

Sara Kotwicki History of Jazz Jazz is defined as “a type of music of black American origin characterized by improvisation, syncopation, and usually a regular or forceful rhythm, emerging at the beginning of the 20th century”. () Jazz incorporates two major aspects of both African and European music. The instruments, like the trumpet, piano, or saxophone, are taken directly from European influence. However, the most important aspects of Jazz, including, rhythm, feel, and the extension of…

Baldwin, was first published in 1957 in Partisan Review and was later published again by Baldwin in a collection of short stories called Going to Meet the Man. “Sonny’s Blues” is the story of two brothers, one an Algebra teacher in Harlem and the other a jazz musician tuned heroin addict and drug dealer both suffering from the inequalities faced by African Americans before and during the Civil Rights Movement. The story does not begin with background information, but instead begins with the…

Eddie, Ike, and Freddy, and a half sister Joyce Coles. When Cole was four years old his family moved to Chicago, Illinois. Cole’s first performance was “Yes! We Have No Bananas”, at age four he began formal lessons and at age 12 he learned not only jazz and gospel music, but also Western classical music. The family lived in the Bronzville neighborhood in Chicago. Coles would sneak out of the house and hang outside the clubs, listening to artist such as Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, and Jimmie…

Originally from London, the saxophonist Will Vinson is a frequent presence in the fervent New York jazz clubs like the Smalls, where he recorded a live album in 2012 with a quintet that included the guitarist Lage Lund, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Brewer, and drummer Marcus Gilmore. For his latest release, “Perfectly Out of Place”, Vinson not only convenes a new quintet but also extends it by adding a few guests for the strings, vocals, and percussion. The cats that follow him are also…

Born to a poor family in France, Claude Debussy arrived into the world on August 22, 1862. He became the oldest of five children. By the time he turned nine, he showed gift as a pianist. Madame Maute de Fleurville encouraged him and in 1873 he entered the Paris Conservatory. He studied piano and composition. While living in poverty, Nadezhda Filaretovna von Meck discovered him. She engaged him to play duets with her and her children. He often traveled with her throughout Europe during the summer…