We in the Western world suffer from too many categories and classes; we've forgotten that we all still have diapers on. We've separated music from life.—Ornette Coleman If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn.—Charlie Parker What we play is life.—Louis Armstrong To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else.—Emily Dickinson … [Read more...]

Thelonious Monk with Charlie Rouse, Butch Warren and Frankie Dunlop in Japan in 1963, playing “Epistrophy.” *la·gniappe (lan-yap), noun Chiefly Southern Louisiana and Southeast Texas . 1.a small gift to a customer by way of compliment or for good measure; bonus. 2.a gratuity or tip. 3.an unexpected or indirect benefit. … [Read more...]

Here's a first: trumpeter, composer, teacher, blogger and frequent Rifftides correspondent Bruno Leicht (seen here) has dedicated a new composition—a suite, no less—to this weblog. Mr. Leicht, who is based in Cologne, explains on his own blog that he bases the composition on several important pieces of music sharing certain harmonic characteristics. The piece has yet to be premiered or recorded. How did Rifftides get involved? Go here for Bruno's explanation and a lead sheet. Then, … [Read more...]

The first annual International Jazz Day came and went on April 30 with no mention on Riffitdes, a lapse I regret. Fellow arts journal blogger Howard Mandel, president of the Jazz Journalists Association, has a fine report at his Jazz Beyond Jazz site. Howard includes a great quote from United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon (pictured) and a tribute to Herbie Hancock, who came up with the idea of such a day. A video posted on YouTube gives a scattershot idea of some of the events at the UN … [Read more...]

It may have been news to many that there was a trace of jazz left anywhere on AM radio, but that doesn’t make a report from Los Angeles easier to take. Here’s the lead paragraph from Kirk Silsbee’s story in today’s L.A. Times. A silence has descended on Los Angeles' AM radio band. On April 2, KABC's longtime morning man, Doug McIntyre (pictured), acquiesced to his management’s request that he no longer program jazz. Although he hosts a current events show 5 to 9 a.m. weekdays, … [Read more...]