NBA: Bojan Bogdanovic's career-high 48 points carries Jazz past Nuggets

Bojan Bogdanovic scored a career-high 48 points, Jordan Clarkson had 21 points and eight assists, and the host Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 127-120 in Salt Lake City on Friday night.

Rudy Gobert had 14 points and nine rebounds, Georges Niang had 13 points and Joe Ingles had 10 points and nine assists for Utah (49-18).

Michael Porter Jr. scored 31 points, Nikola Jokic finished with 24 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds, Paul Millsap scored 19, Austin Rivers added 18 and Aaron Gordon 10 for the Nuggets (44-23).

The Jazz came out strong to start the fourth quarter. Niang made an 8-footer and a 3-pointer to go in front, and after two free throws by Porter, Bogdanovic made two more from deep to give Utah a 109-103 lead.

Rivers' 3-pointer cut the deficit to three, but a dunk by Gobert and Bogdanovic's eighth 3-pointer increased the lead to 114-106 with 4:39 remaining.

Denver scored the next five points out of a timeout to get within three. Clarkson hit a 3-pointer and Gobert a layup to make it 119-112.

The Nuggets got within three with a minute left but Clarkson's sixth 3-pointer ended the comeback attempt.

Both teams cooled off after a scorching first half, and things stayed close throughout the third quarter. 

Utah took a 78-77 lead on two free throws from Bogdanovic but Millsap made two foul shots and Porter hit a 25-footer to give the Nuggets a four-point lead.

The Jazz again went ahead by one but Rivers hit two 3-pointers to put Denver back up by five. 

After Utah retook the lead, Jokic made two free throws with 1.5 seconds left in the third to give the Nuggets a 99-98 lead heading into the fourth.

Denver shot 60 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the arc in the first half and the Jazz shot 56.5 and 47.8 percent, respectively, during an offensive 24 minutes. 

The Nuggets led by as many as 11 in the first half and took a 73-69 advantage into halftime.

-reuters-

Jazz great Ellis Marsalis dies aged 85 after virus 'complications'

Jazz great Ellis Marsalis died Wednesday at the age of 85 after contracting the coronavirus, his son Branford said.

The acclaimed American pianist and teacher -- who featured on dozens of records over a musical career spanning several decades -- was the father of trumpeter Wynton and saxophonist Branford.

"It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of my father, Ellis Marsalis Jr., as a result of complications from the coronavirus," Branford said in a statement published on his website, adding he was admitted to hospital on Saturday.

"My dad was a giant of a musician and teacher, but an even greater father," Branford said. "He poured everything he had into making us the best of what we could be."

Wynton posted photographs of him with his father on Twitter alongside a brief statement: "Ellis Marsalis, 1934 -- 2020. He went out the way he lived: embracing reality."

Born in New Orleans -- the epicenter of the jazz world -- in November 1934, Ellis recorded with heavyweights such as Cannonball and Nat Adderley, Marcus Roberts and Courtney Pine.

As well as mentoring his sons Wynton and Branford to becoming two of the world's most famous musicians, he was a leading figure at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, the University of New Orleans, and the Xavier University of Louisiana.

Ellis was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2018.

New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center, where Wynton is managing and artistic director, said: "With sadness and a heavy heart, Jazz at Lincoln Center says goodbye to Ellis Marsalis, one of the most renowned artists and music educators in his time—or any time.



"Ellis' profound impact on the lineage of the music is embodied by the many musicians whose lives he has informed, inspired, and educated."

2020 Agence France-Presse

US jazz virtuoso Kamasi Washington to perform in Manila

MANILA – Kamasi Washington is set to perform in Manila for the first time this year.

The acclaimed American jazz saxophonist and songwriter will have a show at SM City North EDSA Skydome on September 11 as part of his Asia tour.

Tickets are available via SM Tickets. 

Washington is known for representing a new face of modern jazz, with his music littered with elements of hip-hop, classical, and R&B. 

He has collaborated with the likes of Snoop Dogg, John Legend, and Herbie Hancock, and has performed at leading festivals including Coachella, Glastonbury, Fuji Rock, Bonnaroo, and Primavera. 

Washington’s Asia tour also includes stops in Mumbai, New Delhi, Tokyo, Osaka, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, Shanghai, and Beijing. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Review: Ely Buendia releases new band's debut album on vinyl

The cocktail glass has been empty for a while. Juan Pablo Dream, once a glimmer of hope, has gone up in smoke. It’s been several years since the free jazz of the Radioactive Sago Project, biting and dripping with its social commentary by its sonnetist, dropped its fourth salvo on a fashionista society. The Cappuccino Kid – God bless him wherever he may be -- has packed up and gone leaving us thinking that they were the best thing that ever happened and they were simply ahead of their time.

The hunt for darn good music in a digital world that warms your soul like good martini has bordered on the search for proof that Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his mastery of the blues.

But there something stirs into the quiet night.

The brass, the tickling keys, and the free flowing riffs -- they waft and usher in a beat. You know, like a prayer offered to the Blessed Lady of Acceleration. Suddenly, the music explodes.

You nod. You tap your feet. You ask for a drink that when added to the music fires up every fiber of your being.

Is it hip?

Oh, no. It’s sweet, sweet soul. Laced with jazz and the blues. I think of Al Wilson, Major Harris, the Free Movement -- except it’s Ely Buendia who channels his inner Stephen Bishop or in the case of “Careless Love” calls to mind, Dylan’s “Gotta Serve Somebody”.

The other soul brother, Jay Ortega, doesn’t forget his roots. Memories of Rico J. Puno and the way we were come flooding back. I swear there’s a tinge of George Benson in there as well.

So much for being surreptitious. Apartel, the band’s name is, well, suggestive. I instantly thought of that scene in “Jerry Maguire” where Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger have sex and the music of Coltrane is blaring.

“What is that music?” asked Cruise. Well, Apartel evokes something sexy, smoky, and seductive. Their debut offering, “Inner Play,” sounds like your favorite soul, jazz, and rhythm and blues records but it is at once different because the band finds its own groove and voice. And there is no scrimping on the brass here. You have to appreciate someone who loves his brass.

Because of that, this is a record that demands you pay close attention to every one of the 12 songs on the album. As Ortega sings in the last track, “On the Other Side”: “Free your soul. On the other side.”

Just soak in the words and the music, man. I guarantee its intoxicating.

From the delicious mélange of music to the album packaging itself, “Inner Play” is impressive. That it is printed and manufactured in Japan on virgin vinyl makes this is all the more a special and landmark album. It’s expensive, I’ll admit (P2,800 for two discs) but it’s good music and it’s on vinyl, effendi. Vinyl! This is one of those albums that you simply must possess as only 500 copies were printed.

And to crib that crooner Frankie Valli, Apartel’s “Inner Play”, well, “it’s got groove, it’s got meaning.”

Apartel’s debut record, “Inner Play” is available at the Grey Market and Treskul Records while supplies last. Or give the band a listen to in Spotify.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

British jazz band Acoustic Alchemy to perform in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - British contemporary jazz band Acoustic Alchemy and other world-class musicians will perform next week at the ABS-CBN Jazz Gala, which is part of the annual Philippine International Jazz and Arts Festival (PI Jazzfest).

The gala will be held on February 24 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater of Resorts World Manila in Pasay City.

For 25 years, Acoustic Alchemy has embraced a spectrum of musical styles, from straight-ahead jazz to folk and rock.

"For a lot of people, instrumental music is just a sound that plays in the background," said guitarist Greg Carmichael. "But we put a lot into it -- not just with this record but with every record we've ever made.

"I'd like to think that after all these years, we've learned how to take people on a journey. A lot of our fans have said that we do that for them. As long as they keep coming back, and as long as they want to stay on that journey, we'll keep doing what we're doing," he added.

Acoustic Alchemy's newest recording is "Roseland," which took four years to create.

Meanwhile, other musicians who are part of the ABS-CBN Jazz Gala include Yaron Gottfried, and Israeli conductor who bridges classical, contemporary and jazz; and Filipino-American Charmaine Clamor, who was cited as "a gifted vocalist" and "one of the most important and original new jazz singers of the decade" by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, respectively.

Also set to perform are Dave Eggar, and Filipinos Tateng Katindig and Abe Lagrimas.

The PI Jazzfest, which will run until February 29, is considered this year's biggest gathering of local and international artists.

Tickets for the PI Jazzfest are sold in all Ticketnet outlets nationwide. For inquiries, log on to www.pijazzfest.com or e-mail pijazz@gmail.com.

source: abs-cbnnews.com