Barak Schmool is the relatively unsung organiser and ideas man behind the F-IRE Collective, the coalition of like-minded groups and musicians who have organised themselves into a musical force to reckon with. The saxophonist and percussionist continued his work very recently with a performance at the F-IRE festival in London. As two of his bands are set to release new albums, one brand new and the other a reissue, Barak explains his thinking to Daniel Spicer. 25.01.08

Penumbra is the long awaited new album by Bennie Maupin, best known for his work on Head Hunters and Bitches Brew. The saxophonist and bass clarinettist talks to Tom Barlow about why his new album has taken so long, his Nichiren Daishonin Buddhist beliefs, recollections of Eric Dolphy and mentor Yusef Lateef
10.08.06

1img style="float:left;padding:5px;" alt="Bennie Maupin - Dark side of the sun" src="http://www.jazzwise.com/p2/jazzmag/images/stories/180wide/bennie-maupin-2007-01.jpg">When Stuart Nicholson’s biography of Billie Holiday was published in the USA it was nominated a "Notable Book of the Year" by The New York Times Review of Books and praised by Pulitzer Prize winner for Music, composer Ned Norem, for its musical insights. Here, prompted by the release of Verve’s Billie Holiday: The Complete Verve Studio Master Takes, Nicholson reflects on the enduring artistry of the singer they called Lady Day, talks about how he discovered some of the previously unknown facts he discovered researching her life and discusses the sensational conclusion he came to after his book was published.
11.01.06

Best-known for his work with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet, Sextet and Concert Jazz Band, for his time with Stan Getz, his quintet with Clark Terry, and the trio with Jim Hall and Jimmy Giuffre, trombonist Bob Brookmeyer is in the UK for a rare series of gigs this month. Alyn Shipton talks to him 17.04.07

Bobby Hutcherson stands tall in the pantheon of the vibraphone in jazz, his name is up there will all the greats stretching back to Lionel Hampton and Milt Jackson and inspiring later generations of players such as Orphy Robinson and Stefon Harris. In a rare interview, Hutcherson talks to Keith Shadwick about his heyday with the Blue Note label, the great friendships he built up with Andrew Hill and Eric Dolphy and the way his music has developed over a long career in jazz

27.07.07

Bobby Wellins is 70 this year and to celebrate the occasion Peter Vacher chews the fat with Bobby, hearing the great tenor player’s tales of early days back in Glasgow, high jinks with Buddy Featherstonehaugh, great music with Stan Tracey and the highs and lows of drug addiction and what has often been a tough life playing jazz 02.02.06

Something to brag about? Well, that’s what Branford Marsalis would like you to think he has achieved on his latest release Braggtown. A white knuckle ride with drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts punishing his drums time and time again, especially on the tune ‘Blakzilla’ inspired by the music from the Japanese horror film Godzilla. But the latest recording by his seasoned band, whose line up is completed by bassist Eric Revis and pianist Joey Calderazzo, also exposes another melancholic side of Branford’s musical psyche, inspired by the unlikely Teutonic figure of Richard Wagner. 17.01.07