Archives for August 2006

The other day, I sent DevraDoWrite a note about one of her postings. She used my message--that's how things work in the blogosphere--and wrote: In response to my mention of the Army's PsyOps division having used music as a weapon, Mr.Rifftides sent this message: I remember that a few years ago there … [Read more...]

The preceding item about using good music as punishment has an unintended connection to a piece in one of Gene Lees' latest JazzLetters. With Gene's permission, here it is. TORTURE Kenny Drew's angst over the state of popular music put me in mind of a news story that came out about a year ago. The … [Read more...]

To provide harmonic guidance, bands in early jazz, swing and bebop included banjos, guitars or pianos. There were exceptions, notably some of the New Orleans bands that rode in the beds of trucks or marched for funerals and parades, That practice continues with outfits as traditional as the Onward … [Read more...]

In the notes for Bill Evans: The Secret Sessions, I observed of certain Free Jazz or New Thing players, The movement did attract a fair number of poseurs enchanted by the idea of playing music without having to know anything about it. Today, most of them are otherwise employed. At least, they had … [Read more...]

When you begin to teach jazz, the most dangerous thing is that you tend to teach style...I had eleven piano students, and I would say eight of them didn't even want to know about chords or anything - they didn't even want to do anything that anybody had ever done, because they didn't want to be … [Read more...]

A nice appreciation of Evans. Is Monk really sui generis? I think there is a second piano tradition born of the Harlem pianists like James P. Johnson, and it runs to Duke and then to Monk, and appears in amalgamated form with the other tradition in folks like Elmo Hope and Barry Harris. And there … [Read more...]

I rarely pass along promotional announcements, but this one is too intriguing not to deserve an exception. STANLEY CROUCH, GEORGE AVAKIAN AND MICHAEL JAMES WITH CHRISTOPHER LYDON TONIGHT AT 7 PM (EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME) TO DISCUSS DUKE ELLINGTON, NEWPORT JAZZ AND THE AMERICAN CENTURY On Open Source … [Read more...]

Bill Evans was born on this day in 1929. Gratitude for that gift to music is not merely in order, it is mandatory. Here is a little of what I wrote a decade ago in an essay for the CD box, Bill Evans: The Secret Sessions. The evolution of jazz music as a distinct form of creative expression is … [Read more...]

There is less than a month until a concert in New York to benefit Dick Sudhalter, the multi-talented musician and writer who needs all the help his friends (I am one) and admirers can give. Here is what I wrote in June about Dick's dilemma. Richard M. Sudhalter, the gifted cornetist, biographer of … [Read more...]

This is a vacation week. Blogging will be intermittent at best, but I will, of course, be thinking of all of you, wherever I may be. I hope that you, too, are enjoying the summer. Unless, of course, you are in the southern hemisphere, in which case I hope that you are enjoying the winter. … [Read more...]

Thanks to Ty Newcomb for alerting me to a remarkable performance of John Coltrane's "Giant Steps." The tenor player is an ugly cat, but he has Trane's solo down cold (term used advisedly). To hear and witness it, go here. Do not ask where you can hear this player in live performance. You can't. Have … [Read more...]

Duke Jordan died on Tuesday in Copenhagen. The news summons thoughts of the beauty of his piano playing and the gentleness of his personality. Jordan's touch, harmonic sensitivity and gift for the creation of melodic lines made him a favorite colleague of Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Gene Ammons and … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Mel Narunsky writes: Now that I've had a chance to see the Monica Zetterlund & Bill Evans videos, I think that "Lucky To Be Me" was outstanding - and far superior to the "Waltz For Debby" effort which I'm sure they subsequently improved upon. I have always thought that the Tony … [Read more...]

Steven Bernstein writes from New York regarding my piece in the July 27 Wall Street Journal about trumpeter Randy Sandke (You can read it here if you're an online WSJ subscriber). He is concerned about my speculative aside that in Sandke's Subway Ballet, Bernstein plays..."what may be this … [Read more...]

Our Girl In Chicago, Terry Teachout's partner in blog, reminds us that that yesterday was Philip Larkin's birthday. I admire Larkin's poetry more than his reactionary jazz criticism, so I celebrate him half enthusiastically. Nonetheless, it is a reason to call your attention to a Larkin poem we … [Read more...]

Jan Stevens, the proprietor of the Bill Evans Web Pages, wrote: I enjoyed Marc Myers's observations regarding the rare video of the late Danish vocalist Monica Zetterlund with Bill Evans, performing "Waltz for Debby". Some clarifications: about two weeks after the October 1966 recording sessions … [Read more...]

While I am meeting deadlines for writing that pays even more than Rifftides, why not have reader Marc Myers guide us to a fascinating video. He writes: Talk about one of those video clips that just stops you cold: Go here and dig Monica Zetterlund and Bill Evans on "Waltz for Debby." This must … [Read more...]

It was a weekend of contrasts. I reread All Quiet on the Western Front, recovered from it on a long road bike trek that began with a one-mile climb up a steep grade (I refuse to submit to a testosterone exam), picked a few quarts of blackberries and played in a jam session in which, at one point, … [Read more...]

Too many pieces of music finish too long after the end. - Igor Stravinsky You might try taking the horn out of your mouth. - Miles Davis, after John Coltrane said he found it difficult to play short solos … [Read more...]