Archives for December 2007

The French Jazz Academy has awarded pianist Roger Kellaway its Le Prix Du Jazz Classique for his 2007 CD Heroes.The album is by Kellaway's trio with guitarist Bruce Forman and bassist Dan Lutz. Nat Cole had such a drummerless trio and inspired Art Tatum to use the same instrumentation. Oscar … [Read more...]

The Canadian broadcaster Len Dobbin sent this Oscar Peterson anecdote to the Jazz West Coast listserve: Oscar, after having visited friends outside of London, was waiting for a train back. The train station platform was on the foggy side when he spotted a man who looked familiar. He approached him … [Read more...]

A new web site, The Sound, is devoted to Stan Getz and his music. The site is in its early stages but already has much of interest, including three pages of photos, ten videos and several full-length audio performances by Getz. The brief biography needs work. In the mold of the 21st Century show … [Read more...]

I am adding to Other Places a link to Night Lights, a fine web log by David Brent Johnson of WFIU at Indiana University. The current offering at JazzWax is a moving account of Jelly Roll Morton's last recording session and his shameful, racist, mistreatment by ASCAP. I don't know if film of Moton … [Read more...]

For those interested in knowing more about Oscar Peterson, the British journalist Steve Voce, in the British newspaper The Independent, provides a 2700 word obituary-as -essay. Among his anecdotes is one that illustrates the regard in which Peterson was held by other pianists. It also captures Duke … [Read more...]

The sad news from Canada on this Christmas Eve is that Oscar Peterson died yesterday at home in Toronto. He was 82. One of the great piano figures of his time, Peterson was an inspiration to virtually every jazz pianist who followed him, his influence equaled only by his slightly younger … [Read more...]

Kate McGarry, The Target (Palmetto). McGarry's singing evaded me. I don't mean that I didn't get it. I mean that I had never heard it. Then, during a recent engagement at Jazz Alley in Seattle, Luciana Souza mentioned that the guitarist appearing with her, Keith Ganz, was married to "the wonderful … [Read more...]

Don Redman was an important big band arranger and leader in the 1920s, '30s and '40s. He was not a bebop musician, but Redman may well have provided a catalyst for the creation of modern jazz in Eastern Europe following World War Two. With the help of pianist Emil Viklický and the venerable Czech … [Read more...]

Following a succession of deaths in the top ranks of jazz, it is a pleasure to tell you about an elderly musician who is getting attention because he is alive.The veteran rhythm guitarist and teacher Lawrence Lucie has passed the century mark. Here is an excerpt from today's New York Times story … [Read more...]

As nearly everyone in the jazz community knows by now, Joel Dorn died of a heart attack on Monday at the age of 65. Joel's work as a producer covered a broad swath of popular music, but many of us admired him for the integrity of his efforts with jazz artists when he was a key figure at Atlantic … [Read more...]

Frank Morgan, an alto saxophonist who lost and then found himself, died yesterday in Minneapolis, his hometown. He was a few days short of his seventy-fourth birthday. In his last two decades he was productive and relatively contented, rid of his bedeviling habits and living with family members who … [Read more...]

Tom Harrell, Dado Moroni, Humanity (Abeat). In six duets, the incomparable American trumpeter and the veteran Italian pianist achieve the most elusive of artistic goals, beauty through simplicity. Moroni's title tune is good company for five classic standards. I'm glad that this is a CD, not a vinyl … [Read more...]

Marc Myers' current venture on his blog JazzWax is a conversation with the respected writer Dan Morgenstern, who says: You have to be very careful not to let the bonds between you and musicians cloud what you're saying. If you're a writer, your responsibility always is to the reader or listener. If … [Read more...]

Jazz historian Ted Gioia has launched an ambitious new web site. It is called Jazz.com. It encompasses a blog, a forum and an interview section. Its Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians feature has enormous potential for listeners, musicians and researchers, indeed for the entire jazz community. In its … [Read more...]

Truth is rarely pure, and never simple. -- Oscar Wilde Simple isn't easy. -- Red Mitchell … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Duncan Reid responds to our recent suggestion that trumpeter Jack Sheldon gets less recognition than his talents warrant. A thought on Jack Sheldon's lack of recognition. Like Cal Tjader, Vince Guaraldi, Shorty Rogers, Jim Hall, Conte Candoli, Paul Horn, Jimmy Giuffre and many … [Read more...]

I don't mind being the butt of a joke, if it's a funny joke. --Kenny G I hear that Kenny G is going make a jazz album. It will be called 'Round Noon. --Brad Terry … [Read more...]

Marcus Printup, Emil Viklický Trio, Jazz na HradÄ• (Jazz at Prague Castle) (Multisonic). Trumpeter Printup spent a substantial part of the year touring Europe with pianist Viklický's impressive group. They reached a peak of intensity in this concert introduced by Czech President Vaclav Klaus. … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Ken Deifik writes: Thanks for pointing out the Bill Evans Newsletter availability. It's not easy to download the entire set of 26 PDFs, so I've uploaded an archive of them to this web site. They will be available for only a few days. It's a large archive, over 300 Megs, so dialup … [Read more...]