Next week (Dec. 4) I’ll be making a hit up in East Harlem at Creole with a very old friend and one of the jazz world’s truly great drummers, Otis “Killer” Ray Appleton. We go back a long way; Killer Ray played on my senior recital at the Wisconsin Conservatory Of Music. At the time, he was a part of Buddy Montgomery’s Trio (Buddy, a Milwaukee resident throughout my formative years, was a great influence on me as well as other Milwaukeeans such as David Hazeltine). I think he was the best drummer I had ever played with at that time, and I still can’t think of anything more swinging than his cymbal beat. He is a master of the art of swing, a philosopher of rhythm in jazz music, an architect of group orchestration in the tradition of Art Blakey and Philly Joe but with his own lexicon of thunder. Read the rest of this entry »
In Praise of Phil Woods & the Quintet…
October 26th, 2009I just finished a five night gig here at home (NYC) with the Phil Woods Quintet, who I’ve been playing with for almost 18 years now (I started with Phil in March 1992 at Chicago’s Jazz Showcase, the one in the Blackstone Hotel). We haven’t been playing as much in the last few years as when I started with Phil, and this was the first gig in a few months for us. It’s always an occasion for me to play with Phil, and every time the Quintet convenes special music is made. A few thoughts about this unique group: Read the rest of this entry »
Unsung Heroes – a little sneak preview
October 24th, 2009Here’s a little taste of what the Unsung Heroes record will sound like. This is a tweak or two away from the final master print, but I’m getting a little impatient and want to have a few people hear something from the project. This is Tommy Turrentine’s “Big Red”; for personnel check the Unsung Heroes page .
Introducing Hollistic MusicWorks
October 17th, 2009Hello jazz fans and music people, trumpeter Brian Lynch here to announce the genesis of Hollistic MusicWorks, the online (and eventually corporate) manifestation of my musical activity in all its aspects. I’ve been wanting to get this thing going for a while already, but I’ve had trouble with how exactly to translate my ideas for a new online presence (I already have an artist website at www.brianlynchjazz.com, hosted by JazzCorner) to a designer, perhaps because I keep “flipping the script”, as my buddy Edward Palmieri 2nd refers to my propensity for letting my imagination run riot until the original idea is unrecognizable. I’ve finally decided that I might as well do it myself, and spare others the muddle. Starting out as an humble blog, this site will hopefully extend out to cover the many aspects of my musical world I aim to present and make available to you all. Read the rest of this entry »