Archives for November 2008

We may as well keep the Desmond string running through the weekend. After the Dave Brubeck Quartet disbanded at the end of 1967, Desmond did not play for more than a year. It wasn't a matter of simply not performing in public or not recording. He did not take his saxophone out of the case, allegedly … [Read more...]

Ted O'Reilly, the Toronto broadcaster, sent a recording of an interview he did with Paul Desmond in 1975. O'Reilly asked if there was a moment when Desmond realized the astounding degree of popularity the Dave Brubeck Quartet had achieved. Not really, Paul said, but that reminded him of a favorite … [Read more...]

Jack Nimitz," Yesterday And Today" (Fresh Sound). "Yesterday" was 1957, when the distinctive baritone saxophonist recorded a long-playing album for ABC-Paramount. The LP sat unissued for half a century. "Today" was early last year, when Nimitz went into the studio to record new music to add to the … [Read more...]

Bill Evans had precise intellectual understanding of everything he did in his playing. However, like most superior improvisers, he developed his skill and knowledge to the point where he could set aside concentration on keyboard technique and the elements of musical language in order to … [Read more...]

The Rifftides staff is still catching up with recent CDs, some more recent than others. Sheila Jordan, Winter Sunshine (Justin Time). The first word in the CD's title may refer toJordan's age, the second to the quality of her singing. She is seventy-nine and sounds thirty. Part of her schtick in … [Read more...]

Murray Fromson has issued the first plea I've seen from a heavyweight journalist to president-elect Obama for a rescue of the Voice of America. Rifftides has often written about that" broadcast agency's central role in cultural diplomacy during the Cold War, particularly about the vital part Willis … [Read more...]

When Marc Myers at JazzWax.com decides to solve a mystery, he goes into full Sherlock Holmes mode. He has done that in an attempt to track down the complete personnel of the Shorty Rogers combo in the Looney Tunes cartoon Three Little Bops, which ran last week on Rifftides. I agree with critic Larry … [Read more...]

David Sherr, OtherWorld Music (Bel Air Jazz). Sherr is a composer and player of reed instruments and flutes. His background includes work with Sonny Criss, the San Francisco Ballet, Nelson Riddle, Lalo Schifrin, Don Ellis, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Frank Zappa, Oliver Nelson, Robert Craft, Ray Charles … [Read more...]

In today's Washington Post, Matt Schudel writes about Frank Wess. The 86-year-old tenor saxophonist and flutist is still active and about to play in Washington, D.C., where he spent much of his early career. Schudel quotes pianist Billy Taylor, Wess's contemporary, about the saxophonist's influence … [Read more...]

The You Tube heading for this video clip of Toots Thielemans at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1992 says that it has been viewed 40,422 times. Do yourself a favor and make it 40,423. Quincy Jones was the conductor of the WDR Big Band. He was enamored of Toots's musicality, wit and warmth. Who … [Read more...]

And if I have a strong point, it's that I like to believe it's not cheap or schmaltzy sentimentality. You can be in Tokyo or Alberta at four in the morning in your hotel and you can still practice if you feel like it. A trombone cannot do that at four in the morning. … [Read more...]

The Rifftides staff is attempting to keep ahead of the CD tsunami described in this recent post. It's an impossible assignment, but" they're a game bunch. Herewith, brief reviews of approximately 0.06% of the accumulated mass of discs. Sonny" Rollins, Road Shows, Vol. 1" (Doxy/Emarcy). In some of … [Read more...]

Some readers have reported a problem with the links to CD sources in the recent Rifftides piece about Kenny Wheeler and Don Thompson. The links have been remade and should be working fine. … [Read more...]

Sometimes comments about Rifftides pieces show up considerably after publication. We just got one from reader Dave Mackey about an animated cartoon we linked to on April 30, 2007. Bless the readers. We wouldn't have known about the cartoon if a reader hadn't sent an alert in the first place. The … [Read more...]

Jazz isn't dead or dying. It's just waiting to be heard. The photograph shows an eleven-foot line of CDs on the floor of my music room. There are 352 of them. They are some of the review copies that have arrived in the past couple of months. Boxes and shelves in my office hold at least three times … [Read more...]

Kenny Wheeler, Other People (Cam Jazz). Perenially adventurous, always on the leading edge of music, Wheeler was seventy-five when this was recorded in 2005. Hisplaying on trumpet and flugelhorn is brilliant, with little of the lassitude that has sometimes crept in as he aged. The even more striking … [Read more...]

As usual, things are happening in jazz in Philadelphia, the town that produced John Coltrane, Ray Bryant, Red Rodney, the Heath brothers, Richie Kamuca, Christian McBride, Joe Venuti, Shirley Scott, Jaleel Shaw, Luckey Roberts, Mary Ann McCall, Kenny Barron, Benny Golson, Philly Joe Jones and … [Read more...]

In Boston they ask, How much does he know? In New York, How much is he worth? In Philadelphia, Who were his parents?" -- Mark Twain The streets are safe in Philadelphia, it's only the people that make them unsafe.--Frank Rizzo Yes, I'd like to see Paris before I die. Philadelphia will do.-- W.C. … [Read more...]