Archives for 2006

A last-minute contribution from a Rifftides reader who identifies himself only as John. Worked: Don Pullen and the Chief Cliff Singers. (Sacred Common Ground, a collaboration between the pianist's avant garde African Brazilian Connection and a Native American vocal group. DR) Didn't (at least for … [Read more...]

I would gladly give all my symphonies, had I been able to invent the locomotive. —Anton Dvo"ák “Happy Go Lucky Local”...told the story of a train in the South, not one of those luxurious, streamlined trains that take tourists to Miami, but a little train with an upright engine that was never … [Read more...]

Very good site! Poishi … [Read more...]

This week, Jackie Cain, the surviving member of the vocal duo Jackie and Roy, sang with some of their arrangements from nearly half a century ago. Ms. Cain’s angelic voice, an instrument of purity and tonal accuracy rarely equaled in any area of music, has seldom been heard since Roy Kral, her … [Read more...]

Eric Felten—trombonist, singer, bandleader and occasional Wall Street Journal contributor—is asking for Rifftiders’ suggestions, to wit: The other day I heard a cut that I had heard a time or two before, "Shine On Harvest Moon," with that remarkably odd combination of Jimmy Rushing and the … [Read more...]

I saw a sign, beautifully hand-lettered, in front of a garden apartment not far from my house. WELCOME: FRIENDS BUTTERFLIES LADYBUGS BEES A good thought on a frigid January day. … [Read more...]

Several Rifftides readers have written that they regret not having been at the International Association of Jazz Educators bash in New York. Many of them were disappointed at not hearing the conversation between Ira Gitler and Sonny Rollins. Because of that session’s overlap with one I did, there … [Read more...]

The web site jazzstandards.com has added a Paul Desmond page with a biography and links to Desmond CDs and books. The site offers resources to researchers and entertainment to browsers. Fair warning: one thing leads to another on jazzstandards.com. Be prepared to spend time. … [Read more...]

In the current issue of The Village Voice, critic Francis Davis assesses venerable jazz survivors. Here's his lead: The votes are in: Monk and Coltrane at Carnegie Hall in 1957, my choice as the best jazz CD released in 2005, is the winner in JazzTimes' critics' poll, scoring 165 points to 87 for … [Read more...]

Once in a while, the Rifftides staff checks the traffic report to see where our postings are being read. The most recent sampling includes: Cremorne, Victoria, Australia Manchester; London; Elsfield, Oxfordshire; and Hampstead Norris, West Berkshire, England Bors, Vastra Gotaland, Sweden Beijing, … [Read more...]

A man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly to it. —Samuel Johnson No writer ever truly succeeds. The disparity between the work conceived and the work completed is always too great and the writer merely achieves an acceptable degree of failure. —Phillip Caputo … [Read more...]

Tim DuRoche's response is also posted as a comment to Dave Frishberg's Page Three story, but I didn't want to risk its being lost in the blog backwater. He wrote: I read Page Three a while back when I was doing a profile of Dave for a Portland magazine that went broke before they ever published … [Read more...]

The Rifftides staff is racing a deadline for a large article that, unlike the blog game, will result in remuneration. More on that later. Posting this week will be done in proportion to progress on the project. We know that you understand. … [Read more...]

I will be a guest this (Monday) evening on Michael Atleson's Point of Departure program on WPMG, Portland, Maine. We will discuss Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond, recent CDs and whatever else comes up. Air time is 9:00 pm EST, 8:00 pm Central, 6:00 pm PST. In the Portland … [Read more...]

Before Dave Frishberg the pianist became Frishberg the celebrated songwriter, singer and wit, he was a journeyman musician. When he had established himself in New York in the late 1950s, he played with Al Cohn and Zoot Sims, Ben Webster, Jimmy Rushing, indeed, a cross section of the best jazz … [Read more...]

HOW HISTORY ALMOST HAPPENED AT THE PAGE THREE By Dave Frishberg Around the time I first came to New York, during the late fifties, I got a call from a piano player named Johnny Knapp. He asked if I would be interested in replacing him with the band at The Page Three. It was a two piece band--piano … [Read more...]

Our posting about pianist Denny Zeitlin’s recording debut on Jeremy Steig’s 1963 Flute Fever coincided with critic Owen Cordle’s review in the Raleigh News and Observer of a rarity, a new CD by the flutist. Sample sentence: Steig is a busy soloist, and his tonal palette ranges from ravishing … [Read more...]

While he was in New York to accept his award as a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, John Levy talked with National Public Radio's Sara Fishko. The result was a beautifully produced seven-and-a-half-minute piece that highlights the emotional side of a 93-year-old man who went from bassist … [Read more...]

I completed the Yakima-Seattle-New York-Seattle-Yakima odyssey Tuesday evening, only slightly the worse for wear, now rested and restored. Here's a wrapup of some of my experiences at the IAJE conference and elsewhere in New York: Buddy DeFranco, approaching his eighty-fourth birthday, played in … [Read more...]