• Home
  • About
    • Doug Ramsey
    • Rifftides
    • Contact
  • Purchase Doug’s Books
    • Poodie James
    • Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond
    • Jazz Matters
    • Other Works
  • AJBlogs
  • ArtsJournal
  • rss

Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

Archives for June 10, 2008

Ooh

Mark Stryker of The Detroit Free Press sent the following comment about the current DVD in Doug’s Picks:

In honor of your DVD – Sinatra and Peggy Lee. “Ooh.”

Among all the other good things in this clip: Sinatra’s chops. How about that effortless low F at 1:54.

Ooh.  

Picks, Illustrated

Please direct your attention to the center column, where under Doug’s Picks you will find new recommendations for three CDs, a DVD and a book.

CD: Jovino Santos Neto

Jovino Santos Neto, Alma do Nordeste (Adventure Music). Based for some years in Seattle,
Santos Neto.jpgthe pianist, flutist and composer returns to his native Brazil and collaborates with eleven of his countrymen. The music is based in the baiãos, forrós, xotes and other rich forms of Northeastern Brazil. It is intensely rhythmic, melodic and full of adventure. Indigenous percussion and stringed instruments meld beautifully with Santos Neto’s jazz concepts. Once you’ve heard Toninho Ferragutti’s playing in the tradition of the great Sivuca, you may think twice before you tell your next accordion joke.

CD: Ed Reed

Reed.jpgEd Reed, The Song Is You (Blue Shorts). His career was derailed by a troubled life, but as he approaches his eightieth year, Reed’s second CD confirms that he is a singer who serves the song. Not a great vocal technician, he specializes in phrasing and interpretation that penetrate to the heart and meaning of lyrics. Among thirteen well-chosen songs, the title tune and “Lucky To Be Me” are essential performances. The small band led by Peck Allmond includes Russell George, once a superb bassist, now an equally good violinist.

CD: Brubeck Brothers

Bru Bros.jpgBrubeck Brothers Quartet, Classified (Koch). The band headed by bassist/trombonist Chris and drummer Dan Brubeck is in top form on seven new quartet compositions, an impressive chamber suite and a stirring ensemble version of their father’s “Blue Rondo a la Turk.” Guitarist Mike DeMicco, pianist Chuck Lamb and the brothers have become one of the tightest ensembles in jazz without losing their sense of surprise, even abandon. When they combine with the Imani Winds for Chris Brubeck’s three-movement “Vignettes for Nonet,” they introduce a substantial new concert piece full of rich textures and rhythms.

DVD: Peggy Lee


Lee.jpgFever, The Music of Peggy Lee
(Capitol). This quasi-documentary sketches Peggy Lee’s life and career. Its greatest contribution is the use of performance clips, interviews and informal films to create a portrait of a gifted artist whose human warmth matched her talent. She was terrific even in a shampoo commercial. Her first husband, the guitarist Dave Barbour, remained her great love even beyond their divorce. The bonus clip of Lee singing “I Only Have Eyes for You” to Barbour as he accompanies her underlines the heartbreaking story better than the script does in the main section.

Book: Glenn Gould

Katie Hafner, A Romance on Three Legs (Bloomsbury). The story of Glenn GoulHafner.jpgd’s search for the perfect piano allows us to know the great pianist–and great eccentric–a little better. The book is a superb piece of reporting, its subtext a meditation on the compelling nature of music and its ability to inspire obsession.

Doug Ramsey

Doug is a recipient of the lifetime achievement award of the Jazz Journalists Association. He lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he settled following a career in print and broadcast journalism in cities including New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Antonio, … [MORE]

Subscribe to RiffTides by Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Archives

Recent Comments

  • Rob D on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • W. Royal Stokes on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • Larry on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • Lucille Dolab on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • Donna Birchard on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside