#nicole-glover

#nicole-glover

Samara Joy sings with old-school phrasing and a modern calm that makes the Great American Songbook feel freshly alive. Her tone is warm and centered, her control is ridiculous, and the swing is the real flex, every line shaped with patience and purpose.

Chaka Khan criticized modern female popstars for 'doing any and every damn thing on stage' while trying to sing, suggesting they are compensating for vocal weaknesses.

"Doing It Too' is about confidence in motion. Cortland brought a clean, elevated touch that kept everything feeling so effortless. There's a rhythm to this song that people have been picking up on."

All but one of the song titles on Body Sound, the debut album from experimental string trio Whitney Johnson, Lia Kohl, and Macie Stewart, line up nicely-a few words, usually two, usually nouns, separated by a vertical line. The straight line in the middle means different things in different disciplines. In computing, it's called a 'pipe' and serves as a conduit. In poetry, it denotes a pause or break. In music, it marks the beginning and end of measures.

Fearing for her safety, Lisette Model buried her photos of artists like Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong, but a new book reveals them to the world. Lisette Model was targeted by the FBI during the Red Scare, like so many other leftist Jewish refugees. The book is one front, not least because of the systematic exclusion of women from art historical narratives and institutions.

Celebrated by the BBC as one of the city's top 8 literary destinations, The Urbane Arts Club is more than just a venue-it's a vibrant hub for culture and creativity. Through an eclectic mix of literary launches, musical showcases, and theatrical performances, it fosters an environment rich in conversation and artistic expression.

When Norman Sylvester was 12, long before he garnered the nickname "The Boogie Cat" or shared a stage with B.B. King, he boarded a train in Louisiana and headed west, toward the distant city of Portland, Oregon. He'd lived all his life in the rural South, eating wild muscadine grapes from his family's farm, fishing in the bayou and churning butter at the kitchen table to the tune of his grandmother's gospel singing.

Fujiwara's hustling brushes set up a churning guitar hook on the title track that sounds infectiously like a kind of highlife bebop, before Reid's superb pizzicato cello solo takes off with Halvorson comping the tune in the background. Her own seamlessly skimming improvisation is then followed by a spontaneous counter-melodic dance between the two of them.

Often referred to as "The Rockin' Chair Lady" after one of her early hits, Bailey was the first woman to sing with a jazz big band, touring with the Paul Whiteman Orchestra from 1929-33. Along with Louis Armstrong, she played an essential role in shaping Bing Crosby's jazz-inspired phrasing, which is to say, American pop music.

At the turn of the 1960s, when free jazz was making its initial seismic impact, multi-instrumentalist Phil Cohran-he later added the name Kelan-was living in Chicago and playing trumpet for Sun Ra's Arkestra. He contributed to crucial recordings by the band during his tenure, including We Travel the Space Ways, but Cohran was a restless autodidact who never stuck with any one project for long.

Other Dimensions in Sound is our Friday music series curated and hosted by Boohaabian multi reed player extraordinare David Boyce. Each week David will be inviting different musical guests to join him in our galeria for a night of sonic sustenance. This month: fiery Filipino-American guitarist Karl Evangelista performs the entirety of Sonny Sharrock's "Guitar" album - solo, as intended. The trio of Ari Brown, Elango Kumaran, and David Israel Katz joins.

January is the month where music is moving underneath the surface, feeling out the venues, plotting and planning for those great days under the sun, at a festival. If you are a globe-trotting DJ or band, January is the month you're finishing up those FaceTime calls with managers and bookers, and plotting out which month you'll be on the road playing the Empty Bottle in Chicago, the Iron Horse in Northampton, MA, or the Continental Club in Austin, TX.

Designed by Korean up-and-comer Woojin Yang, Everglow is a handheld mini-keyboard that fits into any bag. The "musical sketchbook" of sorts allows artists to quickly jot down ideas when they're not in front of their instruments or computers. The sleekly-designed device comes with a generative AI-based sound system that allows them to iterate and develop a song on the spot, not just transcribe the initial tune.