This and That by JL

Jazz people love labels. They just can’t help themselves. That’s probably because their music defies explanation and often challenges logic. Ask Gerry Malkin, the 63-year old tenor sax player, who calls his ensemble “post bop.” Hard to explain, he told me. He used the old Alec Baldwin line: “it’s complicated.”  He threw out themes like stretching harmonies and aggressive interpretation of bebop. Finally, he invoked […]

Alysa Haas is a chip off the old block…in a good way. She comes by her musical talent through her genes, so to speak. She is the daughter of  Bira Rabushka, a violinist for 40 years with the New York City Ballet orchestra and the founder of the sorely missed Northern Westchester Center for the […]