People seem not to know what to expect when you sit down in a band with a cello. Many after a concert come and tell me 'Oh, Cello is my favorite instrument!' It is both a compliment and a curse: they ...

The cello has never been a prominent instrument in jazz, but for decades there have always been musicians who have tried to explore its potential in improvisational contexts. Here are current releases ...

There's a musician onstage bending into his instrument with a look of feverish concentration on his face. He's plucking the strings, pulling faces and letting loose uncontained chord clusters ...

Mysteries of Taste, Vol. XVII: Why are there some instruments we simply can't resist? Or: Anything you can do, a cello can do better. Sweeping statements are always wrong, but I do feel that if I ...

When you’ve been around music for a while, it’s fun to realize how far you go back with some artists. Case in point: Rebecca Roudman and her band Dirty Cello play Kuumbwa Jazz Friday night. In a ...

A family relic passed down to a youngster. A trip to a special event. It’s impossible to know the impact of such simple gestures.

Simply sign up to the Life & Arts myFT Digest -- delivered directly to your inbox. Imagine a photo of a cellist. The chances are that it shows an attractive young woman in the full flow of making ...

Fred Katz, a musician, composer and educator who helped introduce the cello to jazz, died Sept. 7 in Santa Monica from complications of kidney failure and liver cancer. He was 94. His death was ...