From time to time, John Birchard of the Voice of America news staff shares with Rifftides his impressions of musical events in the District of Columbia and environs. Can a ghost band make art? For example, does one consider a Glenn Miller Orchestra led by Sam Donahue capable of creating music that … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2006
Correspondence: Cannonball 2
Continuing the Adderley theme, a Rifftides reader who identifies himself as El Destiny, sent the following message, which includes a link. This article includes a rare mp3 of Cannonball Adderley jamming with a novelty act of singing squirrels. The article tells the story of jazzman Don Elliott and … [Read more...]
Comment: Life Imitates Art
After reading the Rifftides item about Josef Skvorecky's novel The Bass Saxophone, the British bassist, composer and leader Graham Collier wrote: Some years ago I suggested to BBC radio that they adapt The Bass Saxophone, which they duly did with my music. Art Themen, best known as a tenor sax … [Read more...]
Other Matters: October
Any day now could be the last good one of the year for cycling, so I said goodbye to work and took advantage of a late October afternoon so perfect that to have left it out there by itself would have been a shame. Deciding not to pit the road bike against heavy, skitterish Friday traffic, I left it … [Read more...]
Freedom
Jazz expresses a yearning for freedom that survives the worst oppression. In his essay "Red Music," the Czech novelist Josef Skvorecky wrote about an urge that even the most brutal tyranny cannot fully extinguish. Skvorecky grew up under Nazi occupation in World War Two. He was a budding tenor … [Read more...]
New Picks: Guitar DVD
The latest DVD recommendation has joined the other new Doug's Picks in the right-hand column. … [Read more...]
The Artist’s Dilemma
. . .this is my dilemma. I'm a guy who makes things up as I go along so nothing is ever finished--there are so many layers. So when you solo, yeah, you might get into one thing, but then, hey, everything has implications! You can hear the next level. And that's how I feel about improvising--there's … [Read more...]
New Picks: CDs And A Book
In the right column under Doug's Picks, you will find three recommended new CDs and a book of photographs to keep you company. Soon to come: a new DVD pick. … [Read more...]
CD
Sonny Rollins, Sonny, Please (Doxy). A canny balance between new compositions and show tunes he loved in his youth. The great tenor saxophonist proves that since 2001's Without a Song, and following the loss of his wife two years ago, his strength, imagination and intensity are undiminished. Steady … [Read more...]
CD
Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri, Simpático (ArtistShare). Lynch, trumpeter for Eddie Palmieri, is the leader in this immensely satisfying album. He also works for Phil Woods and brings in both of his bosses as sidemen. At the piano, Palmieri ignites the proceedings spectacularly on Lynch's "The … [Read more...]
CD
Alan Broadbent, Every Time I Think of You (Artistry Music). The pianist applies his keyboard elegance and arranging talent to an album featuring his piano, Brian Bromberg's bass, Kendall Kay's drums and a string section. Broadbent's treatment of "Blue in Green" is a highlight, as haunting in its … [Read more...]
DVD
Vic Juris, Corey Christiansen, Live at the Smithsonian Jazz Café (Mel Bay). Relaxation and amiable swing characterize two-and-a-half hours with the veteran Juris and the relative newcomer Christiansen. The guitarists are close listeners and thoughtful improvisers more concerned with line, chords … [Read more...]
Book
Lee Tanner, The Jazz Image: Masters of Photography (Abrams). The veteran jazz photographer assembles under one roof 150 examples of the best work of twenty-seven of his peers. Many of the prints are familiar--Herman Leonard's image of Dexter Gordon and a cloud of backlit smoke at the Royal Roost, … [Read more...]
Weekend Extra: Cecil Taylor And Henry Grimes
We get a lot of notices about concerts and club appearances. We don't publish them ("post them," in blogese). Rifftides is not, and will not be, a publicity clearinghouse. However, the Rifftides staff is making a one-time exception, partly because Margaret Davis, Henry Grimes' manager and ranking … [Read more...]
Weekend Extra: Fun And Games
I have long been convinced that one of the predominant reasons listeners took the classic Dave Brubeck Quartet to their hearts was visual. In the late fifties through the sixties, it was hip for jazz musicians to turn their backs--literally or figuratively--on the audience and each other. In … [Read more...]
Correspondence: Golson And Kelly Blue
Eric Felten writes: On the "Kelly Blue" post: There's another reason to cherish Wynton Kelly's Kelly Blue. The title cut has what I consider to be Benny Golson's finest solo on record, and one of the great tenor solos of all time. It starts out bluesy and easy-going and builds relentlessly (and … [Read more...]
This Just In…
a href="http://www.arsc-audio.org/"target="_blank">The Association for Recorded Sound Collections is pleased to announce the winners of the 2006 ARSC Awards for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research. BEST RESEARCH in RECORDED JAZZ MUSIC Best History: Take Five: The Public and Private … [Read more...]
Busman’s Holiday
Once in a while it is necessary to take a day off and listen for the pleasure of the music, ignoring assignments and deadlines, including those that are self-imposed. Randomness is the key, letting one piece of music lead to the next. Sometimes the results are a surprise. I took a day off. Here's … [Read more...]
Comments And Response: Evans and Burrell
A couple of faithful Rifftides readers comment on the posting about the Bill Evans- Kenny Burrell video on YouTube. Ted O'Reilly counters my supposition that Evans and Burrell recorded together only one other time. He writes: Bill and Kenny are both sidemen with Chet Baker on Chet -- The Lyrical … [Read more...]