Rifftides

Wynton Kelly Trio, Wes Montgomery, Smokin’ In Seattle (Resonance) The Resonance Records label’s stream of previously unreleased music includes a collaboration of guitarist Wes Montgomery (1925-1968) and pianist Wynton Kelly (1931-1971) that is a major addition to the discographies of both musicians. The recording captures them in the spring of 1966 at The Penthouse, a Seattle jazz club that managed to flourish in an era when the Beatles invasion and the steady inroads of rock and roll were … [Read more...]

  Pete Turner, the photgrapher whose work became cover art for dozens of memorable jazz albums,has died at 83. His pictures, including the one above, often appeared on albums of Creed Taylor’s CTI label in the 1960s and ‘70s. Following the digital revolution, CTI also used them on CD reissues of classic albums. For more about Turner, including photos of some of his other covers, see Nate Chinen’s article on WBGO’s website. While we acknowledge Turner’s artistry, let’s listen to a … [Read more...]

Dick Titterington, The 3 Trumpet Band Live at The 1905 (Heavywood) The 3 Trumpet Band recorded their third album before an audience at The 1905, an upscale pizza emporium on the east side of Portland, Oregon. Some reviewers have called the place the successor to the belated Jimmy Mak’s club. That’s a stretch, but the night Dick Titterington and his sextet recorded this album there, listeners might have been persuaded that it was so. Trumpeters Titterington, Paul Mazzio and Thomas Barber are … [Read more...]

Bob Dietsche, Tatum’s Town (Bobson Press) Most Art Tatum devotees know that Toledo, Ohio, was his hometown. It was where his genius became evident when he was a teenaged Fats Waller disciple. Many Tatum fans may not know that Toledo’s active jazz community in the 1920s and ‘30s included a number of musicians destined to become important jazz artists. Among them were trombonist Jimmy Harrison, guitarist Arv Garrison, Count Basie saxophonist Candy Johnson and, later, younger musicians like … [Read more...]

Victor Gould, Clockwork (Fresh Sound New Talent) A Los Angeles native now in New York, pianist Gould debuts as a leader in an album showcasing him and an impressive collection of established musicians. He apprenticed as a sideman with, among other leader, Vincent Herring, Wallace Roney and Ralph Peterson. As a composer and arranger Gould works in a wide instrumental spectrum. His pieces range from the fleet “Sir Carter” in a trio with E.J. Strickland and bassist Ben Williams, to compositions … [Read more...]

Thanks to Steven Cerra of Jazz Profiles for including, in his recent profile of Stan Getz, notes that I wrote for the box set reissue of Getz’s recordings for the Roost label. As Steve mentions in his introduction, Getz’s elegant work toward the end of his life tends to obscure what he achieved with his Roost sessions in the early 1950s. His recordings with groups featuring guitarist Jimmy Raney and pianist Horace Silver are from an important early period in his success. The collection has a … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader and audio chronicler Mike Harris writes: 37th anniversary of death of pianist Bill Evans. Worth a tip of the cap? Worth more than that. It’s worth reminding us all, if we need reminding, of how much we lost on this day in 1980. Here’s Bill Evans recorded secretly by Mr. Harris at the Village Vanguard in 1967. Eddie Gomez is the bassist. Philly Joe Jones is the drummer. Mike Harris’s surreptitious, long-since-approved, recordings of Bill Evans are contained in an … [Read more...]

Rifftides readers asked if it would ever be available, so Bill Mays and I offer a performance of our History Of Jazz Piano project at no charge. Following a good deal of attention to technical detail and a thorough audio remastering, the concert is a free download on Bill’s website at this internet address (that link will take you there if you click on it). We have performed the History three times in various parts of the world and plan to do further versions of it at festivals. The … [Read more...]

Jason Rigby Detroit-Cleveland Trio, ONE (Fresh Sound New Talent) The simplicity of the Rigby Trio’s cover design matches the uncomplicated instrumentation—saxophone, bass and drums. It is a configuration used to great effect by Sonny Rollins and Ornette Coleman in classic recordings when they were at the height of their powers. Whether the 42-year-old Rigby has reached that stage in his career remains to be heard, but in this 2016 album he affirms his skill as an improviser on tenor and … [Read more...]

Tim Hagans, NDR Bigband, <em>Faces Under The Influence: A Jazz Tribute to John Cassavetes</em/>, Waiting Moon Records In this work inspired by American independent film pioneer John Cassavetes (1929-1989), Hagans triumphs as composer, trumpet soloist and producer. He bases his tribute in impressions of characters in six Cassavetes films, plus a piece named for the director. Devotees of Cassavetes’ movies will recognize the names of the characters, beginning with “Lelia” from … [Read more...]

Sometimes, you just want to hear a good old-fashioned unadulterated blues. And sometimes—fairly often, actually—the members of Savoy Brown feel like playing one. Here they are in 2013 on the Clocktower stage at the Kitchener, Ontario, Blues Festival. Since it was founded in 1965 the band has gone through almost too many personnel changes to keep track of, although that is possible if you go to this web page and scroll down to Members. Today’s Savoy Brown is led by guitarist Kim Simmonds with Pat … [Read more...]

Jim Wilke writes that he will feature trombonist, trumpeter and vocalist Wycliffe Gordon Sunday on Jazz Northwest. Here is Jim's announcement: Wycliffe Gordon celebrated the music and soul of jazz great Louis Armstrong in concert at Jazz Port Townsend last July. The concert was recorded for radio and will air Sunday, September 10 at 2 PM Pacific on 88.5 KNKX and stream at knkx.org. Wycliffe Gordon is well known as a trombonist, but is also adept with trumpet and vocals in this concert including … [Read more...]

Demanding to be heard, now and then one of the LPs in the surviving Rifftides collection of vinyl records sends vibes—appropriately in this case. The album called Sunstroke appeared in 1979 on the Muse label with Charlie Shoemake on vibraharp in his first album as a leader. His stellar rhythm section had Kenny Barron on piano, Cecil McBee on bass and Al Foster playing drums, with David Schnitter on tenor saxophone. For the occasion, Shoemake wrote a piece commemorating how jazz transformed as … [Read more...]

This is Labor Day or, if you prefer the Canadian spelling, Labour Day. There is official observance of the day established in Canada in 1872 and the US in 1887 to honor the economic and social contributions of working people. It long ago expanded to a three-day holiday weekend that marks the unofficial end of summer, the return of children to school and huge sales at department stores, automobile dealerships and sellers of electronics. Millions of Americans celebrate Labor Day by grilling and … [Read more...]

Less than a month after he amused a huge audience at the opening event of the Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival, the Swedish actor, comedian and drummer Janne “Loffe” Carlsson has died. Carlsson was a surprise performer at Ystad, included because of his close relationship with the late singer and actress Monica Zetterlund, who was honored at the festival. Carlsson was 80. For the Rifftides review of his Ystad appearance, go here and scroll down. A Facebook entry by Martin Klasch includes video … [Read more...]

Curious about the name of a small, imaginative jazz record company called Cuneiform, I asked Joyce Feigenbaum, the company’s publicist, who is married to the owner, how the label’s name came about. This is her reply: I'm actually an art historian by academic training (B.A. & M.A.), not an archeologist, a modernist. BUT I'm not the one who came up with the name - Steve Feigenbaum, Cuneiform's owner and founder, did. Here's how it happened. Steve wanted a different, a distinctive, name—not … [Read more...]

The most recent visit to Sweden stays with me more than three weeks after my return. In great part, that is because music I heard at the Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival refuses to leave my head. A piece played in Ystad by more than one group hangs on persistently and delightfully. It is “De Sålde Sina Hemman,” also known in Sweden as “Imigrantvisa.” It is a traditional song associated with Swedish people who joined the migration to The United States from the late 19th century into the 1920s—well more … [Read more...]

Clark Terry and Bob Brookmeyer co-led one of the great small bands of the last half of the twentieth century. In the group Terry (1920-2015) concentrated on the flugelhorn, which he played—as he did the trumpet—with fluency, feeling, technique and humor that make him to this day a model and inspiration for brass players. Brookmeyer (1929-2011) had equal eminence as a valve trombonist, beginning as he rose to prominence in the early 1950s with Woody Herman, Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan and Jimmy … [Read more...]

John Abercrombie, a guitarist of stylistic flexibility and uncompromising musical vision, died today in a hospital in New York’s Hudson River Valley. He was 72. Abercrombie suffered a stroke early this year and succumbed to heart failure. For an extensive obituary that incorporates videos and a lengthy transcribed interview, see Peter Hum’s article in the <em>Ottawa Citizen</em>.   Bea Wain, who achieved popularity in the late 1930s when she sang with Larry Clinton’s band, … [Read more...]

As summer progresses and the rose garden takes on a certain fetching raggedness, it’s time for a Rifftides tribute to the season. There may be dozens of pieces of music that would be appropriate. The staff has chosen three classics. Dave Brubeck wrote “Summer Song,” with lyrics by his wife Iola. Louis Armstrong sang it—perfectly—on the 1961 Brubeck album The Real Ambassadors. For reasons known only to whoever posted this on YouTube, the embedded photos include shots of Ella Fitzgerald, who … [Read more...]

Bill Mays and I have frequently been asked whether our History Of Jazz Piano project would ever be available to the public. After a good deal of discussion, attention to detail and audio remastering, the answer is yes. The concert is now a free download on Bill’s website. We have performed the History three times in various parts of the world and may do further versions of it at festivals. For now, the 2015 presentation lives as a digital presence on the web. Go here to see Bill’s … [Read more...]

There are several jazz pieces called “Eclipse.” Tenor saxophonist Gato Barbieri, the Japanese group called Kyoto Jazz Massive, and the Mexican singer Bere Contreras, among others, have performed or recorded compositions with that name. The best known “Eclipse,” though, remains the one that Charles Mingus first recorded in the 1950s and revived for a 1972 concert at Philharmonic Hall in New York. In the ‘72 concert, Mingus performed with a 21 piece all-star band conducted by Teo Macero. The … [Read more...]

It is an open secret long acknowledged nearly everywhere: the best jazz musicians in other parts of the world are in a league with top players from the United States. Evidence of that excellence—if further evidence was needed—surfaced this summer in Prague when visiting American trumpeters Marcus Printup and Greg Gisbert sat in with pianist Emil Viklický (pictured) and his quartet of fellow Czechs. Printup and Gisbert were on tour with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. They … [Read more...]

The Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival ran six days and was packed with so much music that there was no chance of hearing it all. Here are brief impressions of a few more performances. Gilbert Holmström New Sextet In the Per Helsas Gard courtyard, the 80-year-old tenor saxophonist led five younger musicians in pieces that drew in equal measure on late bebop and on free jazz of the Ornette Coleman school. Holmström blended with trumpeter Magnus Broo, at times incisively, at others floating and … [Read more...]