Michael West

Nov 22, 2024 | washingtoncitypaper.com | Michael West

Thanks for being a member of City Paper! Fifty years ago, Nasar Abadey learned his first lesson in composition—the hard way. “I was warned not to try to put everything that you know in one song, which I made a mistake of doing in my first composition,” the drummer-composer-bandleader recalls. He’s referring to the song “India,” a tune he recorded in 1975 with his then-band, Birthright, on their long out-of-print second album, Breath of Life.

Oct 23, 2024 | washingtoncitypaper.com | Michael West

Thanks for being a member of City Paper! The best jazz soloist, they say, is one whose solos “tell a story.” Muneer Nasser has more than one story to tell—but they’re not all his own. Chances are you’ve heard Nasser on trumpet somewhere around town. In just the past two months, he played the D.C. Jazz Festival, Blues Alley, and Westminster Presbyterian Church, all in service of his new album, Blue House Session.

Oct 1, 2024 | washingtoncitypaper.com | Michael West

Two conversations I had in September: Thanks for being a member of City Paper! The first was with a much-loved D.C. jazz musician, as we stood together watching tenor and alto saxophonist BJ Simmons play at the Wharf’s Transit Pier during the DC Jazz Festival. “Wow, he sounds great,” the musician said. “I think I first heard him 10 years ago, and he was good then, but man.

Aug 22, 2024 | washingtoncitypaper.com | Michael West

Thanks for being a member of City Paper! The DC Jazz Festival isn’t really 20 years old until next year, if you want to get pedantic about it. Its first edition was in 2005, back when it was still the Duke Ellington Jazz Festival and ours was a very different city. Still, the 2024 iteration is its 20th festival event. And I suppose if I’m getting pedantic, I should also concede that the fest was incorporated in 2004, which makes it 20 years old after all.

Jul 26, 2024 | washingtoncitypaper.com | Michael West

Thanks for being a member of City Paper! The richest jazz scenes are those that comprise a bunch of subscenes—the smaller jazz communities that operate around a specific geographic hub. Capitol Hill is a strong subscene these days, and some argued that in its day, the late, lamented venue HR-57 on 14th Street NW constituted a scene all its own.