A friend asked me to bicycle through the Yakima River canyon with him this morning. I said I had too much work to do, so he rode the 40 miles north to Ellensburg alone. When he got back, he sent a message, "The canyon is nice today," with evidence. Photo by Michael Grim … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2009
Other Places: Stryker & Primack on Marcus Belgrave
Trumpeter Marcus Belgrave, admired within jazz circles but little known outside them, has received tangible recognition for his work as a player and a teacher. Belgrave left Ray Charles in the early 1960s ago to settle in Detroit. In today's Detroit Free Press, Mark Stryker reports on the award and … [Read more...]
Other Places: Rollins On “Way Out West”
Marc Myers, the resourceful and indefatigable king of the verbatim interview, posts a JazzWax conversation with Sonny Rollins about one of Rollins's most unusual and successful albums. An excerpt: JW: How did you pick the songs?
 SR: All the songs I knew. By going to the movies so much as a child … [Read more...]
Recent Listening: Martin, Strickland, Felten
Brand New: In Brief Joe Martin, Not By Chance (Anzic). Martin is a versatile and rounded bassist who has collaborated with a wide range of musicians at the heart of the 30-something generation of jazz players in New York. Here, he enlists two fellow members of that generation's elite, pianist Brad … [Read more...]
Recent Listening: Graham Collier, Efrat Alony
Graham Collier, directing 14 Jackson Pollocks (GCM). Long before he wrote his recent book, Graham Collier's music made it plain that Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Gil Evans were profound influences on his work. Collier followed Ellington's and Mingus's lead in fashioning pieces with his … [Read more...]
Weekend Extra: The Art Of The Held Note
From the Wikipedia entry about the saxophonist known as Kenny G: In 1997, Kenny G earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records for playing the longest note ever recorded on a saxophone. Kenny G held an E-flat for forty five minutes and 47 seconds in the Hopkins-Bright Auditorium (named after … [Read more...]
Compatible Quotes: Harry Carney
This is the worst day of my life. Now I have nothing to live for. - Harry Carney on the death of Duke Ellington Harry Carney died of bereavement. - Whitney Balliett … [Read more...]