Jazz News: Rob Mullins on new Ronnie Laws release; Berklee releases stats on women in jazz education; Isaiah J. Thompson brings Guaraldi to Vail
This is Jazz News, a look at what’s news in jazz, music, and the arts.
Keyboardist Rob Mullins visited KUVO last week with news of an upcoming single, a fresh cover of Stevie Wonder’s 1982 hit “Ribbon in the Sky.” The session was led by reedman Ronnie Laws, with vocalists Debra Laws and Howard Hewett, keyboardists Mullins and Larry Dunn, and producer-guitarist Craig T. Cooper. When Stevie Wonder heard about the project, he asked to contribute harmonica to the recording. The new “Ribbon in the Sky” will be released on December 15. Producer David Chatfield posted a reel with studio footage and sound from the session on his Facebook page. (SOURCE: Harmony Records - David Chatfield’s Facebook reel)
I’m going back through the year to review stories that need follow-up, but here’s a story I missed altogether from June. The Berklee College of Music Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice released a study on the actual numbers of women in jazz education, and the statistics are predictably poor. Reviewing 200 universities, colleges and conservatories, only 15 percent of the faculty are female identifying. The disparity exists in teaching the most popular jazz instruments, leading ensembles and teaching academic subjects, such as music history, music theory, and composition. (SOURCE: College.Berklee.edu/jazz-gender-justice/jazz-counts-study)
Young piano virtuoso Isaiah J. Thompson is touring the Vince Guaraldi songbook and he brings his show to the mountains this season, performing “A Guaraldi Holiday” with his quartet. Thompson happens to be an alumnus of the Vail Jazz Workshop – class of 2014, and the event is at the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Vail on December 22. (SOURCE: Vilar Performing Arts Center-Guaraldi Holiday)
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