Archives for March 2013

Vacationing in Santa Barbara, Ojai and environs does not preclude observing Thad Jones's 90th birthday. There's no better way to do that than with Thad conducting the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra's extraordinary version of Jerome Richardson's "The Groove Merchant." This is from a European … [Read more...]

The Rifftides staff is on vacation, but we took a vote and decided that Sarah Vaughan’s birthday warrants a break. We came across a couple of videos from Sarah’s 1985 appearance at the Satin Doll in Tokyo. They have not had the hundreds of thousands of YouTube hits awarded some of her other … [Read more...]

I was saddened to learn this morning of the passing of Anthony Lewis, the New York Times columnist and, earlier in his career, nonpareil Supreme Court reporter. Lewis had a nearly unmatched ability to make complex issues clear and understandable. He set standards. For a comprehensive obituary and … [Read more...]

Journalist, trombonist and bandleader Eric Felten continues his multifaceted ways. He has added internet television to his repertoire, presenting, interviewing and sometimes sitting in with prominent jazz artists. His latest Wall Sreet Journal op-ed piece recalls how a tax rule now nearly forgotten … [Read more...]

No sooner do I review the new Ian Carey album (see the previous exhibit) than “Nemuri Kyoshirō” pops up on YouTube with moving pictures of another installment of that Evan Francis (tenor sax)-Kasey Knudsen(alto sax) blues chase and fresh solos by Carey and pianist Adam Shulman. We get a bonus … [Read more...]

It’s time to catch up with a few of the CDs that make their way into my house from what is often described, puzzlingly, as the dying jazz scene. If jazz is dying, the people recording and distributing all this music haven’t noticed. Hey, at least I got the piles of recordings off the floor. Now … [Read more...]

I missed Marian McPartland’s birthday. Now, she’s 95 plus one day, and I wish her all the best. Here she is in 1955 with her Hickory House trio, Bill Crow on bass, Joe Morello on drums (courtesy of Steve Cerra's Jazz Profiles), then in solo with her ballad “Afterglow” at the Monterey Jazz … [Read more...]

The Brubeck Institute Festival—underway since Monday—gets into full swing tonight in Stockton, California, with a concert by the Tom Harrell Quintet. Other major musicians involved include The Brubeck Brothers Quartet, Gunther Schuller, Wynton Marsalis and Joe Gilman. Paul Conley reports … [Read more...]

...it's another; in this case that pesky gremlin. Rifftides finally banished him after two weeks of intermittent computer attacks, so he moved on to disrupt power to the western data center that provides the energy artsjournal.com blogs need to get on the internet. Rifftides was out of business for … [Read more...]

Twitter and I are not strangers, but I recognize the addictive potential of tweeting and try not to get hooked. Still, occasional Rifftides announcements via Twitter turn up followers whom I, in turn, follow. A new one is Ken Pickering, the artistic director of the Vancouver, Canada, Jazz Festival. … [Read more...]

The new batch of suggested listening and viewing—a long time coming—will be posted in the main column for a day or so before the recommendations move down for new exhibits. They will be in the right column under Doug's Picks until the staff can be persuaded to post new ones. This time … [Read more...]

I’ve been busy in my continuing battle with the tech monster you see on the right. He won’t leave my computer system alone. I was so occupied with his depredations that I didn’t realize until the day was all but gone that this is Roy Haynes’ 88th birthday. It would be wrong to let it go by … [Read more...]

Just because: Michael Brecker, tenor saxophone Joey Calderazzo, piano Jay Anderson, bass Adam Nussbaum, drums “Peep” Juan Le Pins Jazz Festival, 1990 … [Read more...]