Sam Rivers News

Talking Cows may be the world's only bovine-themed jazz group. Titles of previous CDs include Bovinity and Dairy tales .

Laurence Cook studied painting at the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston and later learned to play piano, vibraphone, and drums.

Davis' transformations were often stylistic, but this collection puts the bulk of its emphasis on a progression more simply conceived, the exchange of one artistic setting for another, from the studio to the stage for a series of almost satirically manic live performances.

No one could argue that jazz didn't have a tumultuous 2011. For the better, bassist/vocalist Esperanza Spalding 's Grammy for Best New Artist marked the first time a jazz musician was awarded that honor, and veteran tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins was honored for his lifelong achievement at the Kennedy Center.