Broadcast tributes to Hank Jones continue. Jim Wilke of Public Radio International’s Jazz After Hours alerts Rifftides that he is preparing two for this weekend. From the Jazz After Hours alert:
Jim remembers the rich legacy of pianist Hank Jones, who died last week at the age of 91. Hank Jones’ career spanned over sixty years, from Jazz at the Phil with Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, and others to the present decade; he was to play with Joe Lovano at Birdland next week. There will be two or three selections by Hank Jones in each hour of Jazz After Hours this weekend.
To find whether there is a Jazz After Hours station in your listening area, go here. If there is not, Wilke’s home station, KPLU in Seattle, streams the show on the web from midnight to 5:00 AM PDT Saturday and Sunday. To tune it in, or whatever you call tuning in on the internet, go here.
I’m happy to send listeners to Jim, but in part this item was an excuse to use a wonderful picture that he sent with the message.
The nonagenarian pianist presented de Barros with every biographer’s hope, unrestricted access to his subject’s personal papers and nearly unrestricted access to her private thoughts. He made the most of it, turning exhaustive research and hundreds of hours of interviews into a true story with the sweep of a novel. From the early discovery of McPartland’s musical gift through her wartime service, her ecstatic and stormy marriage to Jimmy McPartland, her growth as a pianist, her deep affair with Joe Morello, and the radio show that made her a national figure, she has had a fascinating life. It makes a splendid read.
Mulligan’s Concert Jazz Band had three fewer musicians than most big jazz outfits. Its size permitted precision, flexibility and subtlety, yet the band had the power of sprung steel. In this concert from a half century ago, the CJB is as fresh as yesterday. Arrangements by Mulligan, Bob Brookmeyer, Al Cohn and Johnny Mandel set standards to which big band writers still aspire. Bassist Buddy Clark and drummer Mel Lewis inspired Mulligan, Brookmeyer, Conte Candoli, Gene Quill and Zoot Sims to some of the best soloing of their careers. This beautifully produced issue of the complete concert is a basic repertoire item.
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