Please go to the center column and scroll down to Doug's Picks. There, you will find recommendations for two tenor saxophonists, a pianist who sings (or a singer who plays the piano), a pianist and a poet. Yes, a poet. … [Read more...]
Archives for June 29, 2009
CD:Grant Stewart
Grant Stewart Plays The Music of Duke Ellington And Billy Strayhorn (Sharp Nine). If you like the way Sonny Rollins played the tenor saxophone in 1955, you'll like the way Grant Stewart plays it now. Stewart masters the harmony, phrasing and tone that Rollins applied in Work Time and other albums … [Read more...]
CD: Joe Lovano
Joe Lovano Us Five, Folk Art (Blue Note). As noted in the Rifftides coverage of the Portland Jazz Festival, the saxophonist's Us Five band is a playground of reaction and interaction among diverse but finely attuned musicians. The ages of the other band members, who include two drummers, no doubt … [Read more...]
CD: Daryl Sherman
Daryl Sherman, Johnny Mercer: A Centennial Tribute (Arbors). So, you think you know all of Johnny Mercer? If you can recite the words to "The Bathtub Ran Over Again" and "Here Come the British," you probably do. Ms. Sherman also sings Mercer's lyrics to better-known songs, "Midnight Sun" and "Come … [Read more...]
DVD: Fred Hersch
Fred Hersch, Let Yourself Go (Aha!). This skillful documentary delves into what makes Hersch one of the most distinctive pianists of his generation. It includes generous sequences of his playing and his articulate reflections on music. Among other admirers, his teacher, Sophia Rosoff, discusses the … [Read more...]
Book: Miller Williams
Miller Williams, Time and the Tilting Earth (Louisiana). I have been a committed Williams fan since I first encountered his poetry in the 1960s. This little volume of new poems from late in his career is essence of Williams, a concentration of his brevity, warmth, wisdom, humor and absolute command … [Read more...]