There are so many options that it is difficult to know what to bring you today to observe the great saxophonist John Coltrane’s (1926-1967) 90th birthday. Among Coltrane’s hundreds of recordings and videos, no doubt everyone who listens to him has at least one favorite. The Rifftides staff has chosen two. In the spring of 1957 Miles Davis had fired Coltrane from his quintet because his heroin habit was causing problems on and off the bandstand. A month or so later, Coltrane stopped using heroin. … [Read more...]

In the early 70s when I was anchoring at Channel 11 in New York, I took a film crew (remember film?) to Lincoln Center to do a feature about the Giants Of Jazz, the group with Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Stitt, Kai Winding, Al McKibbon and Art Blakey. Let’s set the scene with a piece written by Monk and introduced by Gillespie on the band’s 1971 world tour.   Returning to New York during the same period, the Giants were rehearsing in late morning for a concert. We … [Read more...]

The weather continues magnificent in the US Pacific Northwest. Many thanks to a surprisingly high number of Rifftides readers for their good wishes following this week’s self-indulgent health reports. My doctor today put me on a course of antibiotics. I have taken the first installment and persuaded myself that I feel better already. Longtime reader Jim Brown sent a comment that led to the embedding of an encounter between Art Tatum with Ben Webster. It observes our weather theme. To read … [Read more...]

Fair weather continues. So, too, does recuperation, if that's what it can be called. For such details as exist, see yesterday's Rifftides installment. For “Fair Weather” from 1958, click on the arrow below. Benny Golson is the composer. The doctor is going to have a look tomorrow. I’m knocking on a large piece of oak. … [Read more...]

“Under the weather” is not quite the right phrase to describe what the Rifftides senior staff is experiencing this week. Who could ask for a better forecast than this one for the region east of the Cascade mountains? The problem may be a virus inhaled early last month on the flight from the US to Sweden. The Ystad Festival staff doctor made that as a possible diagnosis. “Let your body heal itself,” he said. The body is not rushing to complete the task. I am giving it all the help I can, … [Read more...]

Listeners rarely have the opportunity to witness world-class musicians prepare for a performance. In the autumn of1966, pianist Bill Evans toured Europe with his regular bassist, Eddie Gomez. Danish drummer Alex Riel joined them for a concert in Copenhagen that also included the Swedish singer Monica Zetterlund. New to Evans and his repertoire, Riel met him and Gomez in the studios of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. In our age of quick-hit internet videos, this 45-minute rehearsal may seem … [Read more...]

In the United States this is Labor Day, since 1894 a national holiday that celebrates working peoples’ contributions to the nation. Although the calendar says that summer doesn’t end until September 22 this year, many Americans and our close neighbors in Canada consider that Labor Day, or Labour Day, marks the close of the season. This three-day weekend, they pile into their automobiles. Now that regular gasoline averages around $2.20 per gallon, motor trips are considerably less of a pain in … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Frank Roellinger reports that a YouTube watcher who goes by the handle Swel1954 has identified a quote in Desmond's celebrated solo on "The Way You Look Tonight" from Jazz At Oberlin. Swel1954 may not be the first to think he recognized a bit of "La Cucaracha"* in that masterpiece of joyful improvisation. Still, Mr. Roellinger's message gives us a perfect reason to let you hear the solo. Here is the introduction to it from a May, 2013 Rifftides post. For decades, only … [Read more...]

…just because it has been too long since you’ve heard it, even if you heard it a few minutes ago. It is a B-flat blues called “Honesty,” composed by trombonist Dave Baker and played by a sextet led by George Russell (pictured). We hear seven musicians thoroughly experienced in the post-bop mainstream who were also immersed in the freedom that in 1961 was introducing new colors into jazz. Indeed, Russell had been an encourager and trailblazer of that freedom since he wrote for Dizzy Gillespie in … [Read more...]

Jim Wilke alerts us that his Jazz Northwest  broadcast this weekend features two drummers who at different times drove Woody Herman’s Herd.  Jeff Hamilton and Joe LaBarbera will co-lead an all-star big band that includes another Herman alumnus, baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan. Herman was known as “The Road Father” because he mentored countless young musicians who later became stars in their own right. The concert was recorded at this summer’s Jazz Port Townsend on Washington state’s Olympic … [Read more...]

Rudy Van Gelder, who recorded thousands of albums by musicians including some of the most important in jazz, died today at 91. As a young man, Van Gelder began recording in a room in his parents' house in Hackensack, New Jersey. Among his recordings were early albums by Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk. He was a practicing optometrist, but he said in recent years that when he first found himself in a recording studio, he had a feeling that "this is what I should be doing." He went on to acquire … [Read more...]

Steven Lugerner, Jacknife: The Music Of Jackie McLean (Primary Records) After his studies at The New School in New York ended a couple of years ago, alto saxophonist Steven Lugerner returned home to the San Francisco Bay area and took Jackie McLean with him. Not in person, of course; McLean died in 2006, and Lugerner never met him, but the young man became immersed in McLean’s music. The audacity of McLean’s attack is apparent in everything that Lugerner plays. The aggressiveness, rough edges … [Read more...]

Toots Thielemans, the man who made the harmonica a well-known jazz instrument died today in Brussels, Belgium, his hometown. He was 94. Thielemans was recently hospitalized after a fall that resulted in a broken arm, but neither his family nor management representatives specified the cause of his death. On an instrument often dismissed as a novelty, Thielemans’ advanced musicianship and individuality made him a respected colleague of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman and George … [Read more...]

The Rifftides wrapup report on the Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival included a brief, enthusiastic comment about a performance by the Kathrine Windfeld Big Band of her piece “Aircraft.” This young Danish composer, arranger and pianist writes for 15 young musicians from Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Poland. They negotiate her demanding charts with aplomb, intensity and obvious appreciation for one another’s talents. Following the video, I’m including their names for you to remember because we are … [Read more...]

Bobby Hutcherson, whose vibraphone playing developed deep and complex harmonies, died on Monday at home in Montara, California. He was 75. When Hutcherson came to prominence in the early 1960s, he was in the forefront of young musicians already adept at bebop but seeking greater freedom. He expanded his instrument’s range of tonal colors, with particular attention to dramatic use of resonance, and he was open to ideas pioneered by free jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman. Along with saxophonists … [Read more...]

In fifty years the New Orleans JazzFest has evolved from a three-day pure jazz event into a musical spectacular that also encompasses rock, folk, zydeco, gospel, and genres that may not yet have names. As a weeklong citywide gala, it is second only to Mardi Gras. Ellis Marsalis was there from the festival’s birth in 1968 and has matured into one of the city’s celebrated patriarchs—in more than one sense. He is the father of Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo and Jason, themselves celebrated musicians. … [Read more...]

It was impossible to hear all of the music at the Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival. I came as close as allowed by festival scheduling and the need for a minimal amount of sleep. Here are brief notes wrapping up this series of Rifftides reports on Ystad 2016. Swiss harmonica player Grégoire Maret reached peaks of excitement when he and drummer John Davis faced off in rhythmic flurries that amounted to mutual solos. They were particularly gripping in Maret’s “The Angel Gabriel.” The British singer … [Read more...]

Nearly as old as jazz itself, Svend Asmussen celebrated his 100th birthday in February. The Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival honored him in a concert by two violinists, Bjarke Falgren and Gunnar Lidberg, who were inspired by the centenarian. Asmussen’s longtime guitar colleague Jacob Fischer was also a part of the band, along with bassist Mattias Petri and drummer Andreas Svendsen. Above, we see Petri and Fischer, with Lidberg in the background. The concert was in the ancient Per Helas Gard courtyard, … [Read more...]

As the Rifftides staff flies home, digital magic allows us to continue reporting on highlights of the 2016 Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival. In the first of two Ystad appearances accompanying soloists, Sweden’s formidable Bohuslän Big Band backed singer LaGaylia Frazier. The Bohusläns opened the concert with “St. Louis Blues” in an arrangement that had touches reminiscent of Thad Jones and incorporated a reference to Fletcher Henderson’s “King Porter Stomp.” It had a peak moment in a Joakim … [Read more...]