Archives for 2008

The release of a new CD, The Film Music Of Ralph Rainger, is the occasion for my piece in today's Wall Street Journal. Coupled with an article about the contemporary motion picture composer A.B. Rahman, it is headlined," Another Who Has Been Unjustly Forgotten and begins:"  For years, Jack Benny … [Read more...]

Rainger was a very good pianist. In 1933, Paramount featured him playing his music in a" promotional short subject that included cameo appearances by Bing Crosby and Maurice Chevalier. It ends with superimposed shots of Rainger improvising separate parts simultaneously on three pianos. Sound … [Read more...]

For a comprehensive Freddie Hubbard obituary, see Peter Keepnews's article in this morning's New York Times. … [Read more...]

Freddie Hubbard died this morning in the Sherman Oaks district of Los Angeles. He was hospitalized there since he had a heart attack on November 26. Hubbard was 70." From the trumpeter's first recording with the Montgomery Brothers in 1958, it" was evident that reports coming out of Indianapolis … [Read more...]

My PC-to-iMac conversion project is coming along nicely. I should have the new computer figured out any year now. It will be nice if that year turns out to be 2009."  … [Read more...]

User, n. The word computer professionals use when they mean "idiot." ~Dave Barry"  But they are useless. They can only give you answers. ~Pablo Picasso"  Man is still the most extraordinary computer of all. ~John F. Kennedy … [Read more...]

With so little video of Lester Young, every foot of him performing on film is precious. Loren Schoenberg calls attention to a performance by Young that showed up recently on You Tube. Whoever submitted the clip from a kinescope of Art Ford's Jazz Party television program provided no information … [Read more...]

Whatever your language, the Rifftides staff wishes you a Merry Christmas, a happy holiday season, a rewarding 2009 and good listening." "  "  … [Read more...]

While probing the mysteries of the Macintosh universe and meeting with frustrations, roadblocks and delights (man, this thing is FAST), I have continued to listen. Here are impressions of two of the CDs that have kept me company during my slam-bang self-tutorial and late-night iMac school."  Carla … [Read more...]

Christmas week is underway, time to listen to the only vocal performance Bill Evans is know to have recorded. I wish I had thought of posting the audio clip, but full credit goes to Jan Stevens of The Bill Evans Web Pages. Rifftides reader Russ Neff called it to our attention. Click on this link. … [Read more...]

All I can tell you about this is that the violinists are Katica Illenyi and Csaba Illenyi.The Hungarian Wikipedia entry did not help me learn more. I only wish that Jimmy Giuffre had heard this version of his best-known composition and arrangement."  " "  "  "  "  "  " "  Thanks to Bobby Shew for … [Read more...]

Posting will resume after I have spent a little time getting to know my new iMac. After beginning on a KayPro 2 and spending more than twenty years with PCs, I have switched to Macintosh. So far, it is exhilarating, but there is a lot to learn. I feel like the audience in the commercial that … [Read more...]

On Tuesday, Dave Brubeck was inducted into the California Hall of Fame along with eleven" others including actors Jane Fonda and Jack Nicholson, fitness maven Jack LaLanne, musician and producer Quincy Jones, chef Alice Waters and -- posthumously -- Theodore Geiss (Dr. Seuss), scientist Linus … [Read more...]

Shortly after I posted the Doug's Picks selection of Wadada Leo Smith's new CD, Tabligh (see the center column), I was in a meeting with Daron Hagen. I casually mentioned Smith. "What?" he said, full of excitement. "You know about Leo?" It turns out that Hagen, a distinguished composer of operas, … [Read more...]

From San Francisco comes news of the death of Frances Lynne, the singer who worked with Paul Desmond and Dave Brubeck before there was a Brubeck Quartet. Ms. Lynne went on to sing with Charlie Barnet and Gene Krupa as the big band era wound down. Her first recording, however, was not until 1991 with … [Read more...]

Among Rifftides readers in Europe are the proprietors of three web logs helpful to those who wish to keep up with developments on the continent. Tony Emmerson's Prague Jazz concentrates on music in the Czech Republic. George Mraz, Emil Viklický, Frantisek Uhlir, Gustav Brom, Miroslav VitouÅ¡ and a … [Read more...]