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JoAnne Brackeen
Whatever the musical setting—whether solo, duo, trio, quartet, or quintet—pianist Joanne Brackeen's unique style of playing commands attention. In addition to her captivating and complex improvisations, she has written intricate, rhythmically daring compositions in a wide stylistic range. She is a full-time professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and a Berklee guest professor at the New School in New York City. Brackeen was a child prodigy who at age 11, learned to play the piano in six months by transcribing eight Frankie Carle solos.
By 12, she was already performing professionally. Some of her musical constituents at the time were Art Farmer, Dexter Gordon, Charlie Haden, Billy Higgins, Bobby Hutcherson, Scott Lafaro, and Charles Lloyd. Simultaneously, the Los Angeles Conservatory heard of her musicianship and offered her a full scholarship. She attended classes less than one week before deciding the bandstand was more significant. Brackeen married and moved her family, including four children, to New York in 1965. She began her career there with such luminaries as George Benson, Paul Chambers, Lee Konitz, Sonny Stitt, and Woody Shaw among others. She joined Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1969, becoming the first and only female member of the group, staying until 1972. Brackeen then performed extensively with Joe Henderson (1972-75) and Stan Getz (1975-77).
After leaving Stan Getz' quartet, she emerged as a leader. Traveling and performing mainly with her own band was a delightful and enriching experience for both Brackeen and her band members, which included Terence Blanchard, Michael Brecker, Ravi Coltrane, Jack DeJohnette, Eddie Gomez, Billy Hart, Horace "El Negro" Hernandez, Branford Marsalis, Cecil McBee, John Patitucci, Chris Potter, and Greg Osby. She has recorded more than two dozen recordings as a leader, which include 100 of her 300 original compositions. She appears on nearly 100 additional recordings. Sharing her musical knowledge and passing on the tradition have been important parts of Brackeen's career. In addition to teaching at Berklee College of Music and the New School, she has led clinics, master classes, and artistic residencies worldwide.
Berklee College of Music has recognized Brackeen with the following prestigious honors: a Distinguished Professor Award, an Outstanding Achievement in Education Award, and the Berklee Global Jazz Institute Award. Worldwide, she received an Outstanding Educator Award from the International Association for Jazz Education, a Living Legend Award from the International Women in Jazz, and the BNY Mellon Jazz 2014 Living Legacy Award.
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Joe Henderson: Consonance: Live At The Jazz Showcase
by Mike Jurkovic
All About Jazz loyalists will most certainly recall the excitement that accompanied the manic energy of the not-too-distant Blue Note release of Forces of Nature: Live at Slugs (2024), pitting saxophonist Joe Henderson and McCoy Tyner onstage in the Bronx in 1966. There is a great deal of that same joie de vivre captured here on Consonance: Live at the Jazz Showcase, Resonance's first release from the Jazz Showcase archive Twelve years down the line, Henderson ...
Continue ReadingJoe Henderson: Consonance: Live At The Jazz Showcase
by Joshua Weiner
After 15 years in the vaults, Consonance: Live at the Jazz Showcase represents the first fruits of “Jazz Detective" producer Zev Feldman's expedition into the tape archives of jny: Chicago club owner Joe Segal. Working with Joe's son Wayne Segal, Feldman and Resonance Records founder George Klabin have prepared a quartet of vinyl sets, recorded live at The Jazz Showcase, for Record Store Day 2026, with CD and digital releases to follow a week later. Joining Joe Henderson's triple LP ...
Continue ReadingJoe Henderson: Consonance: Live At The Jazz Showcase
by Pierre Giroux
Some live recordings capture a set. Others capture a feeling. Joe Henderson's Consonance: Live At The Jazz Showcase, Resonance Records' newly discovered limited edition 3LP Record Store Day release, followed shortly by a 2CD version, is more than just another archival find. It feels vibrant from the very first notes, reminding us how Henderson could turn a club date into a lively conversation. Henderson is a gravitational force here, with his tenor's sound that is warm, muscular, slightly ...
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Box sets are back, baby! Some of us old timers thought they might be gone for good after the CD crash (remember when Joe Henderson's The Milestone Years was going for twenty-bucks at your local mall?) But companies have realized that for those happy few who continue collecting “physical media," the big-ole stack of music still holds an appeal. In these later days, when the audience for such extravagance is both smaller and crazier than that in the ...
Continue ReadingTerry Gibbs, Joanne Brackeen, Tim Berne
by David Brown
This week on the Jazz Continuum we compare two takes on the 1936 tune “I'm An Old Cowhand," one from Jack Teagarden and the other from Sonny Rollins. The vibes will be our focus for this next set with recent releases from Chien Chien Lu and Warren Wolf. Works from living legend Terry Gibbs will follow in celebration of the vibraphonist's upcoming 100th birthday. 1950s piano pieces will follow from Patti Bown, Jutta Hipp and Dorothy Donegan. Our Bud Powell ...
Continue ReadingNew Midsummer Releases Plus A Pride Of Jazz Leos
by Mary Foster Conklin
This broadcast presents midsummer releases from pianist Bobby West and vocalist Carmela Rappazzo, plus a single of a new collaboration from vocalists Lucy Yeghiazaryan & Vanisha Gould, with birthday shoutouts to a pride of Jazz Leos: Nnenna Freelon, composer Pamela Baskin-Watson, pianists Joanne Brackeen and Shamie Royston, vocalists Camille Bertault, Fay Victor and Luba Mason, among others. Thanks for listening and please support the artists you hear by purchasing their music during this time of pandemic. Playlist Bobby ...
Continue ReadingRalph Peterson & the Messenger Legacy: Onward & Upward
by Paul Rauch
Generally speaking, legacy bands are created to preserve the music of an artist. They feature innovative interpretations of an artist's compositions or past performances to share with future generations of listeners. In the case of drummer Ralph Peterson, his ambitious efforts to honor the continuum of his mentor Art Blakey are forward thinking, about a collective gathering of resources that stress creative thought and individuality. Just as the true legacy of the Jazz Messengers portends, contributors are charged with replenishing ...
Continue ReadingJazz Musician of the Day: JoAnne Brackeen
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating JoAnne Brackeen's birthday today!
Whatever the musical setting—whether solo, duo, trio, quartet, or quintet—pianist Joanne Brackeen's unique style of playing commands attention. In addition to her captivating and complex improvisations, she has written intricate, rhythmically daring compositions in a wide stylistic range. She is a full-time professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and a Berklee guest professor at the New School in New York City. Brackeen was a child prodigy who at ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: JoAnne Brackeen
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating JoAnne Brackeen's birthday today!
Whatever the musical setting—whether solo, duo, trio, quartet, or quintet—pianist Joanne Brackeen's unique style of playing commands attention. In addition to her captivating and complex improvisations, she has written intricate, rhythmically daring compositions in a wide stylistic range. She is a full-time professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and a Berklee guest professor at the New School in New York City. Brackeen was a child prodigy who at ...
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JoAnne Brackeen + Art Blakey
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
JoAnne Brackeen is a jazz pianist with thunderous talent. She's an original who soars as a soloist, in duets, in trios, quartets and beyond. Her hands hit the keyboard with enormous power and her churning style mixes abstraction, bop and hard bop, turning standards inside out and setting her own originals on fire. I love her playing. It's daring, fierce and doesn't take prisoners. She's all in and always finds her way out. Born in Ventura, Calif. in 1938, Brackeen ...
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Jazz Musician of the Day: JoAnne Brackeen
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating JoAnne Brackeen's birthday today!
Whatever the musical setting—whether solo, duo, trio, quartet, or quintet—pianist Joanne Brackeen's unique style of playing commands attention. In addition to her captivating and complex improvisations, she has written intricate, rhythmically daring compositions in a wide stylistic range. She is a full-time professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and a Berklee guest professor at the New School in New York City. Brackeen was a child prodigy who at ...
read more
Jazz Musician of the Day: JoAnne Brackeen
Source:
Michael Ricci
All About Jazz is celebrating JoAnne Brackeen's birthday today!
Whatever the musical setting—whether solo, duo, trio, quartet, or quintet—pianist Joanne Brackeen\'s unique style of playing commands attention. In addition to her captivating and complex improvisations, she has written intricate, rhythmically daring compositions in a wide stylistic range. She is a full-time professor at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, and a Berklee guest professor at the New School in New York City... Read more.
Place our Musician of the ...
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Joanne Brackeen Receives BNY Mellon Jazz 2014 Living Legacy Award
Source:
Ted Ricci
Jazz pianist, educator, and composer Joanne Brackeen was honored with the BNY Mellon Jazz 2014 Living Legacy Award in a special ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, October 10, 2014. The Living Legacy Award honors jazz masters from the mid-Atlantic region who have achieved distinction in jazz performance and education. Guests enjoyed a gala reception in the Kennedy Center Atrium including music by the Blues Alley Youth Orchestra Combo. In honor of the ...
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Joanne Brackeen Feb. 13th at Iridium Jazz Club Sets at 8:30 & 10:30PM
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
IRIDIUM JAZZ CLUB 1650 BROADWAY (Corner of 51st) NEW YORK, NY 10023 RESERVATIONS: 212-582-2121 Sets At 8:30 & 10:30PM Feb. 13 JOANNE BRACKEEN Ugonna Okegwo-bass, E. J. Strickland-drums plus Special Guest TBA “One of the most distinctive, exciting jazz pianists in the world" --Down Beat “The pianist is an exuberantly hearty romantic whose bright, aggressive touch produces a clear ringing tone." --The New York Times “I found Joanne Brackeen to ...
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Joanne Brackeen's International Appearances
Source:
All About Jazz
Arkadia Records All-Star Jazz Pianist Joanne Brackeen will embark on a three-country tour this winter. Joanne Brackeen is one of jazz's most prized possessions: a virtuoso pianist and master composer who epitomizes the history and evolution of jazz from traditional to free, and everything in between; all with a contemporary edge. Joanne's unique sound was honed through a period of apprenticeship with some of the world's greatest names: Art Blakey ...
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Berklee Piano Week 2002 To Feature Associate Professor Joanne Brackeen And Visiting Artists Larry Goldings And Alon Yavnai
Source:
All About Jazz
BOSTON, February 28, 2002 -- Berklee College of Music will present Piano Week 2002 from Monday, March 4, through Thursday, March 7, 2002. The annual series will feature concerts and clinics by visiting artists, Berklee's world-renowned piano faculty, and some of the college's top student pianists. All events are free except Tuesday and Wednesday night concerts in the wheelchair-accessible Berklee Performance Center. BPC events are $5.00 -- $2.00 for seniors. Tickets are available at the box office, 136 Massachusetts Ave., ...
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BERKLEE PIANO WEEK 2001 TO FEATURE ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR JOANNE BRACKEEN AND VISITING ARTISTS RUSSELL FERRANTE OF THE YELLOWJACKETS AND ARMEN DONELIAN
Source:
All About Jazz
BOSTON, February 27, 2001 -- Berklee College of Music will present Piano Week from Monday, March 5, through Thursday, March 8. The annual series will feature concerts and clinics by visiting artists, Berklee's renowned piano faculty, and some of the college's top student pianists. All events are free except Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night concerts in the wheelchair-accessible Berklee Performance Center. BPC events are $4.00 -- $1.00 for seniors. Tickets are available at the box office, 136 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, ...
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