My Three Weeks with the Workshop (Part 1 of 2)

This piece is the second in a series by guest music critic Tyler Brooks. It is part one of a two-part story on the Stanford Jazz Workshop and Festival.

I had the privilege of covering the 2013 Summer Jazz Workshop and Festival (SJW/F) for its duration – following the international cast of students, staff and faculty who make up the immersive three-week world of summer jazz camp at Stanford. The first two weeks of the Workshop (part one of my two-part SJW/F coverage) are…

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My Three Weeks with the Workshop (Part 2 of 2)

This piece is the third in a series by guest music critic Tyler Brooks. It is part two of a two-part story covering the Stanford Jazz Workshop and Festival (SJW/F).

I had the privilege of covering all programs that ran the last week of SJW/F’s concurrent weeks, Aug. 3-10. In that time, I attended concerts including Savion Glover and His Trio, Jazz Guitar Night with Julian Lage and Larry Koonse, Taylor Eigsti Quintet Featuring Julian Lage, Chris Potter and Larry Grenadier, the SJW All-Star Jam,…

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Listening in on Tyler Brooks at the 2013 Stanford Jazz Festival

In the first of a series of reviews and notes from the seats, guest music critic Tyler Brooks checks out the Calvin Keys Quartet.

Omaha-native and Oakland-based guitarist Calvin Keys is the definition of a serious musician. Quiet, husky-voiced, and concealed behind dark auburn shades, Keys wore a steady, sagacious cool that warranted the opening line of Tuesday night’s program which frankly and endearingly read: “Calvin Keys doesn’t call a lot of attention to himself.” And true enough to…

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A year of high notes for Stanford’s Chocolate Heads

In this third and final installment of the Chocolate Heads series, the students and director of the movement band reflect on practice and performance.

The Chocolate Heads movement band had a banner year, by any measure. They collaborated with jazz great William Parker, workshopped with neuroscientists and synesthetes, staged an underground performance at Cantor Arts Center, dazzled an audience at Bing Concert Hall, partnered with the a cappella group Talisman on an original composition, and finished the year with a spring…

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