All jazz articles
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Blogs
‘How do you make that first mistake?’ - Jazz violinist Scott Tixier on the power of improvisation
The French violinist on his journey into jazz and how the principles of improvisation broaden expressive capabilities and encourage flexibility, imagination and a deeper connection to music, regardless of genre
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Focus
The art of the violin slide: Exploring shifts in different musical styles
Julie Lyonn Lieberman describes how different slides can enhance your string playing, from oozing your way in the true blues style to the Klezmer 'bend'
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Focus
Technique: Crawl, walk, run
Bass player Danny Ziemann illustrates how to build an improvised solo line from a simple bass accompaniment
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Feature
Masterclass: Jazz style and technique for violinists
Taking time to explore a tune from all angles helps the player to perform it. Jazz violinist Chris Garrick takes bebop favourite Donna Lee and works from the bottom up. Taken from the September 2007 issue
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Feature
Masterclass: Jazz bowings on the violin
Do you sound uninspired when you try alternative styles? How should you interpret the printed notes? Julie Lyonn Lieberman reads between the lines to bring life to your right hand Taken from the April 2005 issue
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News
Jazz bassist Eugene Wright dies aged 97
As part of the Dave Brubeck Quartet, the musician performed on more than 30 albums and tracks including Take Five and Blue Rondo à la Turk
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Review
Book review: The Strum Bowing Method and 22 Groove Studies for Strings
Max Grosch reviews two books by fellow jazz violinist Tracy Silverman
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Video
Olivier Babaz on bass and thumb pianos
French jazz bassist Olivier Babaz has been experimenting with playing kalimba along with his double bass - here he combines two kalimbas, otherwise known as mbiras or thumb pianos, for an impressionistic arrangement of the Cole Porter standard ‘Night and Day’
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Video
Vivaldi's Spring in Gypsy jazz and folk style
Dutch violinist Tim Kliphuis with Nigel Clark, guitar, and Roy Percy, double bass, play ‘Spring’ from Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons as viewed through a prism of gypsy jazz and celtic folk. This clip is from the DVD Live at Iford Manor, filmed in June 2011, and available from Kliphuis’s website ...
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Video
Fiona Monbet & Gustav Lundgren perform Django Reinhardt's 'Nuages'
Fiona Monbet, violin, and Gustav Lundgren, guitar, performing ‘Nuages’ by Django Reinhardt at the Stockholm Django Festival 2017.
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Video
Stéphane Grappelli & Django Reinhardt in 1939: J'attendrai Swing
Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt perform J’attendrai Swing in 1939 as part of the enormously influential Quintette du Hot Club de France
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Video
Stéphane Grappelli live in 1978
In this video from 1978, legendary French jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli plays live on Canadian television talk show 90 Minutes Live
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Article
Jazz violinist Aaron Weinstein performs Cheek to Cheek
Jazz violinist Aaron Weinstein performs Cheek to Cheek at the 23rd International Bohém Ragtime & Jazz Festival in Kecskemét, Hungary in March last year.The New York City musician and comedian is due to perform at Crazy Coqs at Brasserie Zedel in London from 14-18 July 2015 in a ...
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Feature
Introducing the 'chop': a rhythmic accompaniment for jazz and pop music
Darol Anger finds a solution for string ensembles performing contemporary music without drums or percussion
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Article
Violinist Stéphane Grappelli performs 'It Had To Be You'
Legendary jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli performs 'It had To Be You' with guitarists Martin Taylor and Louis Stewart, and double bassist Jack Sewing in The Grand Opera House, Belfast in April 1986.Subscribe to The Strad or download our digital edition as part of a 30-day free trial. To ...
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News
New international jazz violin competition awards first €10,000 prize
Bartosz Dworak has won the €10,000 first prize at the inaugural Zbigniew Seifert International Jazz Violin Competition. The 26-year-old received the award on 19 July at a gala concert in Kraków, Poland. The competition was held as part of the city’s 2014 Summer Jazz Festival. Second ...
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Article
Pioneering jazz cellist Fred Katz dies aged 94
American cellist and composer Fred Katz has died at the age of 94. Classically trained, Katz was credited as the first musician to explore the cello's potential for jazz improvisation.Born in New York in 1919, Katz studied piano and cello as a child, and took lessons with Leif Rosanoff, who ...