| Feb 14, 2013

Jazz acts must embrace some new standards

by Sean Smith

Drop by your local jazz club and on an average night there’s a fair chance the band will at some point play a rendition of “Autumn Leaves,” “My Favorite Things” or ” ‘Round Midnight” — or maybe all three. You might hear an inspired ...

Miho Hazama starts a journey

Jan 23, 2013

Miho Hazama starts a journey

by Sean Smith

It’s believed that time spent living abroad can be a journey of self-discovery, and for Miho Hazama that has certainly been the case. Moving to New York to study for a master’s degree in jazz composition at the Manhattan School of Music (MSM) was ...

| Jan 10, 2013

Building off that four-letter word — 'jazz'

by Sean Smith

Something I’ve noticed recently when browsing the jazz sections of record shops is the proliferation of sub-genres among the Japanese artists. Just hearing the names is enough to get a fan excited about the apparent explosion of creativity. For example, postrock jazz acts such ...