Rifftides

Composer, arranger, educator and jazz authority Jeff Sultanof occasionally honors Rifftides with his insights. This is one of those happy occasions. Jeff has seen a restoration of  King Of Jazz, a pioneering film from the days when motion picture studios had decided that sound was here to stay. King Of Jazz: A Guest Review By Jeff Sultanoff Until 1926, the only sound the movie-going public heard in a theatre was the accompaniment of a piano, organ or symphony orchestra if they went to one of … [Read more...]

News has arrived that the pianist Jack Reilly (pictured) died of a massive stroke on Friday at his home in New Jersey. Mr. Reilly, 86, was an accomplished classical and jazz pianist who returned to his native New York in 1954 following Navy service and pursued graduate studies at the Manhattan School of Music. His early experience in jazz was with John LaPorta, Sheila Jordan, Ben Webster and George Russell, among other prominent figures in the bebop and post-bop eras. From the biography on … [Read more...]

In Monday’s posting revisiting an early <em>Rifftides</em> piece about Tom Talbert (pictured ca. 1956), the staff was remiss in not including examples of Talbert’s music. Let’s remedy that. From his remarkable Bix Duke Fats album, we will hear his transformation of two Duke Ellington compositions. The first is “Do Nothing ‘Til You Hear From Me,” one of Ellington’s best-known popular hits; the second, “Ko Ko,” is perhaps his most celebrated pioneering of bitonal harmonies).  Both were … [Read more...]

Denny Zeitlin, Wishing On The Moon, Live At Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola In New York City Pianist Zeitlin has recorded three albums with bassist Buster Williams and drummer Matt Wilson, beginning in 2001 with Stairway To The Stars, then the adventurous Slickrock in 2003 and In Concert, in 2009. Wishing On The Moon, recorded earlier but just released, revisits several items that Zeitlin has recorded before, including “Slickrock.” Inspired by his and his wife’s mountain-biking adventures, Zeitlin … [Read more...]

Noah Preminger, Rob Garcia Dead Composers Club Chopin Project (Connection Works Records) If I were going to be in New York City tomorrow evening—alas, I won’t be—I would be at the Cornelia Street Café in Greenwich Village hoping that Preminger's and Garcia’s Chopin CD release concert would be as fascinating as the album itself. Preminger’s tenor saxophone and Garcia’s drumming have support from guitarist Nate Radley and bassist Kim Cass in their interpretations of nine of Frederic Chopin’s … [Read more...]

On Call: Peter Erskine & The Dr. Um Band (Fuzzy Music) Erskine’s quartet luxuriates in excitement that recalls and updates his achievements as Weather Report’s keystone drummer.  Later when he was with Steps Ahead,  that group further contributed to electronica as a legitimate jazz movement. The band features saxophonist Bob Sheppard, John Beasley playing keyboards, and the ebullient electric bassist Benjamin Shepherd. As it has for decades, Erskine’s drumming incorporates rhythmic … [Read more...]

Fred Hersch Trio, Live In Europe (Palmetto) Hersch opens his new trio album with Thelonious Monk’s “We See” and closes it with an unaccompanied performance of “Blue Monk.” A longtime source of inspiration for the pianist, bassist John Hébert and drummer Eric McPherson, Monk seems to trigger renewed stimulation and interaction whenever they play his compositions. In “We See,” Hersch maintains a flow of stimulating ideas even as he fragments the melody line that he develops so brilliantly. … [Read more...]

Matthew Shipp, Zero, ESP For years pianist Shipp has gone his own unconventional way. Critics have shunted him into the avant garde piano category. That’s not where he belongs. He is the sole occupant of the Matthew Shipp category. The listener with open ears will understand that individuality is the core of Shipp’s approach. The title of his new solo album, Zero, may suggest metaphysical implications. My advice is, don’t worry about metaphysical implications. Simply listen to Shipp’s … [Read more...]

  Trumpeter, baritone horn player, vocalist, broadcaster and blogger Steve Provizer turns his attention this afternoon to Burt Bacharach on the songwriter’s 90th birthday. Provizer’s DuPlex program will present performances of Bachrach tunes by Bill Evans, Wes Montgomery, Rahsaan Roland Kirk and other jazz artists. Duplex streams live from 5 to 6 PM Eastern time at WZBC.ORG, 90.3 FM. … [Read more...]

Todd Strait, There’ll Be Some Changes Made (Todd Strait) Drummer Todd Strait has spent significant stretches of his career in New York and Portland and freelanced with a cross-section of world-class musicians. Having toured extensively, Strait is back in his Kansas City home territory. His first album as a leader demonstrates not only the flexibility and power of his drumming, but also the connections he has established over the years. The veteran pianist Bill Mays worked hand in glove with … [Read more...]

Listen to Thomas Waller: Whatever’s bothering you, don’t let it. Hope you're having a happy Sunday. … [Read more...]

Following our April 24 remembrance of Duke Ellington’s 70thbirthday party at the White House, be aware that Jim Wilke has prepared a special Ellington broadcast on his Jazz Northwest. Here is part of the Jazz Northwest alert and instructions for listening: These unique performances combine excerpts from Shakespeare's plays with Duke Ellington's musical portraits of the featured characters. The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra is conducted by Michael Brockman with guest actors from The Seattle … [Read more...]

This is the birthday of two men who had significant effects on jazz and popular music. Bing Crosby was born on May 3, 1903 in Spokane, Washington, John Lewis seventeen years later in LaGrange, Illinois shortly before his family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he grew up. Crosby became the world’s best-selling recording artist, a title he holds 40 years after his death. According to his Wikipedia biography, Crosby has sold around the world more than one billion records, tapes, CDs and … [Read more...]

...because of a family celebration, there will be no Monday Recommendation this week. Please accept this springtime view facing south down the Rifftides World Headquarters side street. We're in bloom around here. (That's Ahtanum Ridge in the background.)   … [Read more...]

  New Orleans is mourning the death on Friday of Charles Neville, saxophonist and ever-smiling presence in the Neville Brothers band from 1977 to 2015. Charles was a focal point with his brothers Cyril, Art and Aaron in the family band that became one of the city’s most successful and celebrated musical groups. For years, they were a fixture of the New Orleans Jazz And Heritage Festival. Neville died at home in Huntington, Massachusetts.He moved to New England in the 1990s, returning … [Read more...]

In the aftermath of Bob Dorough’s death on Monday, increased attention is going to his extensive body of songs. Among Dorough’s greatest admirers is the Swedish trumpet player and singer Mårten Lundgren. With bassist and vocalist Helle Marstrand, pianist Sven-Erik Lundequist and drummer Espen Laub von Lillienskjod, Lundgren recorded an album of Dorough’s music and made a video version of “But For Now,” one of Dorough’s loveliest songs. The memory of Bob Dorough is alive in Sweden. … [Read more...]

Forty-nine years ago this evening at the White House in Washington, DC, the president of the United States hosted a party honoring Duke Ellington on his 70th birthday and presenting him with the Presidential Medal Of Freedom. The United States Information Agency produced a short film about the occasion. The soundtrack of the film is a sort of collage incorporating bits of the evening’s music. The narrator is Willis Conover of the Voice Of America, who played an essential role in putting the … [Read more...]

Word has arrived that Bob Dorough died today at his home in Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania. He was 94. Dorough’s greatest fame in popular culture stemmed from his central role in the enormously successful television series Schoolhouse Rock. The program informed and entertained children, and many adults, from 1973 to 1985. Within the jazz community, Dorough was a beloved singer of literate and witty songs that he wrote and performed, usually accompanying himself as a skilled and harmonically … [Read more...]

CATCHING UP When albums come out of the mailbox in batches of five, six, eight a day—or more—it is possible to overlook, set aside or misplace some that are worthy of mention. Here are recommendations of a few that have languished on the shelf, some briefly, others for a while. Joe Lovano & Dave Douglas Sound Prints, Scandal (Greenleaf Music) Years of playing together have refined the compatibility that saxophonist Lovano and trumpeter Douglas have displayed since their initial … [Read more...]

Until the past couple of days, spring around here was a date on the calendar and a rumor. But now there are tulips in front of the house. And magnolia blossoms 15 feet from the kitchen window. Next on the list was azaleas, but during my cycling expedition, there was not an azalea to be found. Then, I remembered this one: The enlightened regular Rifftides audience doesn’t need IDs, but just in case someone new dropped by, these were the players: Louis Armstrong, trumpet and voice; … [Read more...]

Danny GreenTrio Plus Strings, One Day It Will (OA2) Pianist Green’s earlier album Altered Narratives put strings with his trio on three tracks. The melding with a string quartet worked nicely. One Day It Will carries the idea to album length, with excellent arrangements by Green and smooth interaction among a string quartet and the trio featuring bassist Justin Grinnell and drummer Julien Cantelm. Among many highlights: the evocative languor of Green’s “October Ballad,” Cantelm’s accents … [Read more...]

Leave it to readers to keep the Rifftides staff up to date. Otherwise, it might have skipped my attention that this is Denny Zeitlin’s 80th birthday. As you will momentarily see and hear, Zeitlin has retained the vigor and style that have helped keep him one of the most consistently interesting pianists of his generation; indeed, of any generation. In one of his recent annual concerts at the Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland, California, Zeitlin featured works of Thelonious Monk. Here, he … [Read more...]