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Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

Archives for April 6, 2011

Mulligan’s Birthday

Today is the 84th anniversary of Gerry Mulligan’s birth. He died in 1996 at the age of 68. There are many contexts in which to remember Mulligan—as a precocious teenaged arranger for Tommy Tucker, Elliott Lawrence and Gene Krupa; one of the key figures in the Birth of the Cool recordings; the leader of groups from quartets to big bands; a writer who made the Stan Kenton band swing; and, of course, a splendid baritone saxophonist. Here he is in Rome in 1956 with his sextet: Bob Brookmeyer, Zoot Sims, Jon Eardley, Bill Crow and Dave Bailey, playing to a backdrop of appreciative orchestra members.


If that merely whetted your appetite for Mulligan’s music, Lester Perkins of Jazz On The Tube has assembled 13 Mulligan videos. You may view them here.

Jazz Relief For Japan—On Two Coasts

The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra played to a packed Village Vanguard in New York in its Japan earthquake and tsunami benefit performance on Monday Night. The event streamed live on the internet and had hundreds of viewers, many of them in Japan. Guest artists included Barry Harris, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Lew Tabackin, Lou Soloff and, in a memorable flugelhorn solo on Slide Hampton’s Frame for the Blues, Tom Harrell. The evening’s three sets may be viewed again on this page of the VJO’s website.

The VJO organization is continuing to encourage donations for earthquake/tsunami relief and has set up a special page on its website for making them. Please go to this web address for instructions.

On Saturday, April 9, in Los Angeles, Vitello’s Jazz Club and the Los Angeles Jazz Society are teaming in a 12-hour performance to raise funds to benefit victims of the triple disaster. Peter Erskine, Joe LaBarbera, Terry Trotter, Larry Koonse, Bob Sheppard, the Wayne Bergeron big band, Chuck Berghofer, Tamir Hendelman and the Yellowjackets will be among the musicians donating their talents. The L.A. Jazz Society will transmit all the money collected to the Japanese Red Cross. Dick McGarvin, a favorite radio host of southern California jazz listeners, will be the MC. For time, location and further details, see Vitello’s website.

Doug Ramsey

Doug is a recipient of the lifetime achievement award of the Jazz Journalists Association. He lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he settled following a career in print and broadcast journalism in cities including New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Antonio, … [MORE]

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