Art Pepper, Unreleased Art, Vol V (Widow's Taste). Laurie Pepper continues to bring forth CDs of previously unreleased works by her husband. An alto saxophonist who hurled himself into his music, Pepper's astonishing energy did not flag in this concert recorded in Stuttgart, Germany in 1981, the … [Read more...]
Archives for June 2010
CD: Gail Pettis
Gail Pettis, Here in the Moment (OA2). Pettis's second album makes firm the promise of her first. To her deep contralto, clear diction and centered intonation she adds phrasing and tonal fillips that give her vocals identifiable personality. Among the indicators of her command, maturity and … [Read more...]
DVD: Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins, Live In '62 & '64 (Jazz Icons). Cameras caught the patriarch of the tenor saxophone (1904-1969) during a final period at the top of his game. The concert in Belgium suffers slightly at the hands, and sticks, of drummer Kansas Fields, who plays well but has difficulty containing his … [Read more...]
Book: Jack Fuller
Jack Fuller, What Is Happening To News (Chicago). Concerned about the fragmentation, dilution and manipulation news? So is Fuller. The veteran journalist worked his way up from reporter to CEO of a media conglomerate, then stepped out of the profession. Now he is using his Pulitzer Prize-winning … [Read more...]
Announcing The New Set Of Recommendations
The latest Doug's Picks appear in the center column. They are: • CDs by two fiery alto saxophonists and a satisfying singer • A concert DVD by the man who first poured jazz into a tenor sax • A book that considers the shallowness of so much of the news we watch, hear and read—and what … [Read more...]
More From Holland
The Rifftides staff is feverishly preparing a new batch of Doug's Picks. (Well, all right, langorously preparing.) In the meantime, part three of that 1972 Brubeck concert in Rotterdam has appeared. If you have missed the previous installments, it's the Brubeck Trio with Jack Six, bass, and Alan … [Read more...]
Video: Truth Finally Comes Out
The YouTube contributor who posted the Dave Brubeck-Paul Desmond-Gerry Mulligan "All The Things You Are" video we brought you last month promised that there would be more. He is as good as his word. The piece that Brubeck announces seems likely to be from his 1972 oratorio Truth Is Fallen, or in … [Read more...]
The ECM Old Masters Series
Manfred Eicher's ECM label, still celebrating the 40th anniversary it observed late last year, has reissued some of its landmark recordings. Many of them are on CD for the first time. Over the decades, ECM has achieved nearly infallible sound reproduction of a broad and eclectic range of musicians … [Read more...]
Weekend Extra: Wilson & Nash Play Gillespie
Steve Wilson, alto saxophone, and Lewis Nash, drums, playing Dizzy Gillespie's "Con Alma" at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania … [Read more...]
Other Places: Can You Hear Him Now?
With his permission, I occasionally steal from Bill Crow's "Band Room" column of anecdotes in the American Federation of Musicians Union Local 802 newspaper Allegro. The latest theft is below. First, a preamble for those who have been living in a box for several decades: Maynard Ferguson (1928-2006) … [Read more...]
…The Sincerest Form
Bill Mays, on tour in Japan, sent a link to a Japanese web log called... Rifftide:後藤 èª ã®JAZZ and other matters.. What a surprise. The blog seems to be operated by someone identified as Makotogotoh. If you go there—and if you know Japanese—you can read a review of a Mays performance … [Read more...]
Kellaway In Boston And L.A.
When Roger Kellaway isn't performing in a club or concert, or practicing and composing at home, chances are he's out collecting honors. Recently, he picked up two in the city where he grew up, Boston. For one event, he and his friend Quincy Jones dressed in black gowns and medieval hats to receive … [Read more...]
A Desmond Followup
For those still thinking about Paul Desmond, Iola Brubeck sent a lovely comment with a poem. To read it, click here. … [Read more...]
Other Places: The Poetry Of Jazz
Devotees of jazz and poetry or of poetry about jazz will want to read Ed Leimbacher's new entry on his I Witness blog. He wraps together several samples and a review of a poetry collection, and offers this: Like any other art at its best, certain pieces about Jazz can make you "stop breathing" for a … [Read more...]
Compatible Quotes: Poetry And Jazz
The form is not going to revolutionize either jazz or poetry but it is going to stay with us, and both jazz and poetry are going to have one new way of expressing themselves, and so are going to be just a little richer.—Kenneth Rexroth I never drowned out one word of whatever Jack was reading … [Read more...]