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Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

You are here: Home / 2007 / Archives for May 2007

Archives for May 2007

Waste Land

May 31, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Flying east, two experiences melded into a thought around a phrase. Forty-six years and ten days ago, Newton Minow spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association of Broadcasters, the organization of people who ran television and radio in the United States. Minow was the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates broadcasting. Today broadcasting seems to regulate the FCC, but that's not my point. Here's the section of Minow's speech that contained the phrase. When … [Read more...]

Due East

May 30, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

The Rifftides Staff is off to the The Commission Project's Swing 'n Jazz X. I will send reports from the road when possible. In the meantime, please enjoy browsing the archives, which reach back to the beginning of this endeavor, nearly two years ago. That may seem a short time to YOU. … [Read more...]

A Jessica Williams Premiere

May 28, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Time out of the writing crunch to hear successive Jessica Williams concerts was time well spent. Williams has taken a liking to The Seasons and returned there with her new trio for two evenings. On Saturday,Williams, bassist Doug Miller and drummer John Bishop played a Duke Ellington program. The repertoire, except for the infrequently heard calypso "Angelique," was made up of sixteen of Ellington's most familiar pieces. She opened with "C-Jam Blues," closed with "Take the 'A' Train" and … [Read more...]

Weekend Extra: DBQ In Germany

May 27, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

A contributor with the internet handle Astrotype just sent YouTube five videos taken from a 1966 Dave Brubeck Quartet concert in Germany. If you're thinking of Paul Desmond on this thirtieth anniversary of his death, you may remember him even more kindly as you listen to a "Take Five" solo unlike any other I've heard from him, and a four-minute Desmond rumination on the minor blues of "Koto Song." Brubeck, Desmond, Wright and Morello were in great form, collectively and individually. Rebutting … [Read more...]

Weekend Extra: Jazz Licks

May 26, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

You needn't be a demon sight reader to enjoy Rifftides reader Andy Wiliamson's blog called Jazz Licks. Wililamson transcribes phrases from solos, mostly by saxophonists (he is one). He posts the transcriptions and provides audio clips so that you can read along with the licks as you listen to them. You can check out licks by Stan Getz, James Carter, Wardell Gray, Hank Mobley, Joe Henderson, Miles Davis and others by going here. Even if your music reading development stopped after the first John … [Read more...]

Rollins And Reich Triumphant

May 25, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Sonny Rollins has returned home from Stockholm, where he was awarded the Polar Music Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy. Terri Hinte, publicist nonpareil, traveled with him and alerted us to the web site that carries photographs of Mr. Rollins and his co-winner Steve Reich receiving their prizes from the king of Sweden. The site also has a section of pictures of the beautiful people who attended, a history of the prize and its previous winners, and a forty-seven-minute video. I wish you better … [Read more...]

Take Thirty

May 25, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

We're heading into Memorial Day weekend, the thirtieth anniversary of Paul Desmond's death. Musically, what I remember about Paul is how hard he could swing in that really understated way. He had the most amazing time feel in his playing. People never really talked about that part of his playing. He could really swing. There's a lot to Paul Desmond besides that beautiful sound and those beautiful melodies. He was a really strong cat. --Don Thompson I more or less said that found him the best … [Read more...]

Iva Bittova

May 21, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Posting will be scant and seldom this week. I am still cranking on a flurry of assignments that must be completed before I take off for the Swing 'n Jazz fiesta in Rochester, New York. One of the pieces is for the next George Mraz CD, which involves the remarkable Czech singer, violinist and actress Iva Bittova. This piece of video has her with the Stampa quartet in what appears to be the St. Nicholas Church in Prague, performing two Janacek songs. I have listened extensively to Bittova and … [Read more...]

Correspondence: Small World Department

May 19, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

A message from Rubén González: I´m reading regularly with pleasure Rifftides from Rosario, Argentina... Sr. González includes a link to his web site and the story of his encounter with jazz in Dublin, Ireland. His account is in Spanish and English and includes video of three Irish musicians named Buckley playing, and playing well. … [Read more...]

Holy Cow, Where’d All Those Legends Come From?

May 18, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

News releases from publicists come in waves by snail mail, e-mail and that ancient technology the fax machine. By rough estimate, at least half concern the latest CDs, concerts or club appearances of legends: ...the legendary _____________(fill in the blank) ...a legend of the (piano, drums, bass, trumpet, oboe ____________(fill in the blank). Let's consult a dictionary. The one in the answers.com dictionary will do; it essentially agrees with the definitions in the Random House and … [Read more...]

Rifftides In The World

May 18, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Welcome to Rifftides readers in: Sydney, Melbourne and Berkeley Vale, Australia Moscow, Russia Stockholm and Vastra Gotaland, Sweden; Baden-Wurttemberg and Niedernhausen, Hessen, Germany Lisbon, Portugal Vaud, Switzerland Marbella, Spain London, Birmingham and West Ham, Newham, UK Toronto and York Mills, Ontario, Canada an unspecified location in Nigeria Places in the United States from Ephrata, Washington to Ephrata, Pennsylvania … [Read more...]

Sheldon Followup

May 17, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

In the Jack Sheldon piece (see the next exhibit), I forgot to mention his work on the most recent Tierney Sutton CD. To read about it, go here. Sheldon brought interesting comments, including one from a man who went to school with him. Click on the "Comments" link at the end of the next piece. … [Read more...]

Jack Sheldon

May 16, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Some time ago, Rifftides reader Steve Sherman wrote, more or less in haiku form: Jack Sheldon, unpretentious, one of the best living singers, trumpet players, always swinging, often touching. Maybe write something. I agree with Mr. Sherman's evaluation of Sheldon. I am happy to write something, but first here are passages from a message that came even longer ago from the trombonist, singer, bandleader and alcoholic beverage maven Eric Felten (he is the author of the the "How's Your Drink?" … [Read more...]

Patience, Please

May 15, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Deadlines galore: Lead review for Jazz Times (Ron Carter's next CD). Notes for two CDs, George Mraz's Moravian Gems, and Mad Duran's Simply Mad. I'm reading and evaluating the manuscript of a new book by a major jazz biographer. Nonetheless, I have something in mind to post tomorrow or the next day. … [Read more...]

Weekend Extra: Jump For Joy

May 13, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

If you never had the good luck to see Ray Nance, Now, thanks to YouTube, you have the chance. … [Read more...]

Erik Lawrence On Rod Levitt

May 12, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

The item in the next exhibit was, I thought, the last Rifftides posting about Rod Levitt. Then Erik Lawrence sent the following message and his obituary of Rod, which is too thorough, touching and well written not to pass along to you. Erik refers to his late father, the multifaceted saxophonist, leader and educator Arnie Lawrence. (Your piece was) So well put. I knew Rod when I was a child, as my father played alto in the last incarnation of the Rod Levitt Orchestra. Years later my family and I … [Read more...]

Rod Levitt R.I.P.

May 11, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

It was a phone call I wished never to receive and knew was inevitable. Rod Levitt's wife Jean called to report that he died peacefully in his sleep the night of May 8. A composer and arranger of inventiveness, warmth and resourcefulness, a trombonist whose kindness and humor radiated in his playing, Rod had Alzheimer's. He was not warehoused in an institution, as so many Alzheimer's patients must be. Jean kept him with her at home in Vermont. She said that although much of his past had slipped … [Read more...]

Teachout, Librettist

May 11, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

As if our friend and fellow artsjournal.com blogger Terry Teachout weren't polymath enough, he's extending his cultural breadth. On his blog, About Last Night, he announces: I'm writing an opera. What? I'M WRITING AN OPERA. That's what I thought he said. To get the details, go here. … [Read more...]

Picks

May 9, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

The Rifftides staff is pleased to announced that (finally) we have posted a new group of Doug's Picks in the right-hand column. A reminder: We now archive the Picks. To see past entries, click on "More Picks" at the end of the current crop. … [Read more...]

CD: Bill Holman

May 9, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

The Bill Holman Band, Hommage (Jazzed Media). On the verge of his eightieth birthday, Holman retains the energy, wit, freshness and multi-layered conception that have made him a standard-setting arranger for fifty years. "Hommage á Woody," is a three-part suite that captures aspects of Woody Herman and his bands of five decades, with Bob Efford exuberant and touching in his central role on clarinet. Holman also honors Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk and Tadd Dameron with brilliant variations on … [Read more...]

CD: Anat Cohen

May 9, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Anat Cohen, Poetica and Noir (Anzica). Two new CDs illuminate several facets of the remarkable Israeli reed artist who has become a star of the New York jazz scene. In Poetica, she plays only clarinet, with a rhythm section on some tracks, a string quartet on others. In Noir, with a medium-sized band, Cohen also plays tenor, alto and soprano saxophones. On all of her horns, fullness of tone, richness of conception and joyful presence make her one of the most compelling soloists to emerge in the … [Read more...]

CD: Roland Kirk

May 9, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Roland Kirk with Jack McDuff, Kirk's Work (Prestige). This reissue in the Rudy Van Gelder Remasters series presents Kirk long before he added "Rahsaan" to his name, before he became famous, when he was a tornado roaring out of the Midwest playing three saxophones at once, whistles, flute and siren at the ready on a chain around his neck. Kirk was organized turbulence stirring the air with music. Kirk's Work didn't get nearly the attention it deserved when it came out. It is one of his greatest … [Read more...]

DVD: Chicago Underground Trio

May 9, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Chicago Underground Trio, Chronicle (Delmark). The music is from the trio's Delmark CD of the same name. The latest expression of the avant garde Chicago cornetist and composer Rob Mazurek, it is alternately explosive and reflective and somehow leaves the listener with a sense of calm. The video by Raymond Salvatore Harmon is muted, layered in shifting pastel splashes and patterns over sequences of Mazurek, percussionist Chad Taylor and bassist Jason Ajemian playing. The visual aspect is as … [Read more...]

Book: Miles Davis

May 9, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Richard Cook, It's About That Time: Miles Davis On and Off The Record (Oxford). Yes, another book about Miles Davis. Neither a biography nor a discography, Cook's book has elements of both. The best way to read it is sitting next to your CD player with the fourteen Davis albums Cook analyzes as points of departure in considering the trumpeter's career and importance. It would be helpful to also have the 105 others that he references. Whether or not you do all that listening, Cook is a reliable … [Read more...]

Other Matters: Robert Schumann

May 8, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Confession: Until recently, I could not get with Robert Schumann. I found him dull. The nineteenth century composer and pianist is, by general agreement, in the front rank of German romanticism, so I assumed that the shortcoming was mine. I was right. I wasn't paying attention. What caused me to turn the corner on Schumann was "Waldesgesprach," a piece of his lieder based on the work of the poet Joseph Freiherr von Eichendorff. I heard the song for the first time at a recital by Phil Grothaus, … [Read more...]

Sloane On Rowles, Slava and Cannonball

May 8, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Carol Sloane, long one of my favorite singers, now also my favorite new blogette, is telling marvelous stories. Do yourself a favor. … [Read more...]

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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, Cleveland and Washington, DC. His writing about jazz has paralleled his life in journalism... [Read More]

Rifftides

A winner of the Blog Of The Year award of the international Jazz Journalists Association. Rifftides is founded on Doug's conviction that musicians and listeners who embrace and understand jazz have interests that run deep, wide and beyond jazz. Music is its principal concern, but the blog reaches past... Read More...

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Doug’s Books

Doug's most recent book is a novel, Poodie James. Previously, he published Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond. He is also the author of Jazz Matters: Reflections on the Music and Some of its Makers. He contributed to The Oxford Companion To Jazz and co-edited Journalism Ethics: Why Change? He is at work on another novel in which, as in Poodie James, music is incidental.

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Doug’s Picks

Monday Book Recommendation: Lilian Terry’s Jazz Friends

Lilian Terry, Dizzy Duke Brother Ray And Friends (Illinois) Lilian Terry’s book is full of anecdotes about her friendships with the musicians mentioned in the title—and dozens of others. Enjoying modest renown in Europe for her singing, Ms. Terry has also been involved in radio and television broadcasting and is a cofounder of the European […]

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Monday Recommendation: Oscar Peterson Plays 10 Composers

Oscar Peterson Plays (Verve) In this five-CD reissue, the formidable pianist plays pieces by ten composers who dominated American popular music for decades. Peterson had bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Barney Kessel, succeeded by Herb Ellis. It’s the trio that made Peterson famous with Jazz At The Philharmonic and–by way of the 10 albums reproduced […]

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Monday Recommendation: DIVA At 25

The DIVA Jazz Orchestra 25th Anniversary Project (ArtistShare) It has been a quarter of a century since Buddy Rich’s manager and relief drummer Stanley Kay found himself conducting a band whose drummer was young Sherrie Maricle. Intrigued by her playing, Kay set out to find whether there were other women jazz musicians of comparable talent. […]

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Monday Recommendation, Keith Jarrett Trio: After The Fall

Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette, After The Fall (ECM) In 1998 Keith Jarrett was emerging from a siege of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that had sidelined him for two years. As he felt better, he was uncertain how completely his piano skill and endurance had returned. He decided to test himself. He gathered his longtime […]

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Monday Recommendation: Gerard Kubik, Jazz Transatlantic

Gerhard Kubik, Jazz Transatlantic, Vol. I and Vol. II (University Press of Mississippi) The first volume of Kubik’s work is subtitled, “The African Undercurrent in Twentieth–Century Jazz Culture;” the second, “Jazz Derivatives and Developments in Twentieth-Century Africa.” The descriptions indicate the depth and scope of the Austrian ethnomusicologist’s research, which has taken him to Africa […]

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Monday Recommendation: Magris In Miami

Roberto Magris Sextet Live in Miami @ the WDNA Jazz Gallery (J Mood) Widely experienced and recorded in Europe, pianist Magris demonstrates in this club date that he knows how to reach an American audience steeped in Latin and Caribbean music. The front line has trumpeter Brian Lynch at his fieriest, and the imaginative young […]

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More Doug's Picks

Blogroll

All About Jazz
JerryJazzMusician
Carol Sloane: SloaneView
Jazz Beyond Jazz: Howard Mandel
The Gig: Nate Chinen
Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong
Don Heckman: The International Review Of Music
Ted Panken: Today is The Question
George Colligan: jazztruth
Brilliant Corners
Jazz Music Blog: Tom Reney
Brubeck Institute
Darcy James Argue
Jazz Profiles: Steve Cerra
Notes On Jazz: Ralph Miriello
Bob Porter: Jazz Etc.
be.jazz
Marc Myers: Jazz Wax
Night Lights
Jason Crane:The Jazz Session
JazzCorner
I Witness
ArtistShare
Jazzportraits
John Robert Brown
Night After Night
Do The Math/The Bad Plus
Prague Jazz
Russian Jazz
Jazz Quotes
Jazz History Online
Lubricity

Personal Jazz Sites
Chris Albertson: Stomp Off
Armin Buettner: Crownpropeller’s Blog
Cyber Jazz Today, John Birchard
Dick Carr’s Big Bands, Ballads & Blues
Donald Clarke’s Music Box
Noal Cohen’s Jazz History
Bill Crow
Easy Does It: Fernando Ortiz de Urbana
Bill Evans Web Pages
Dave Frishberg
Ronan Guilfoyle: Mostly Music
Bill Kirchner
Mike Longo
Jan Lundgren (Friends of)
Willard Jenkins/The Independent Ear
Ken Joslin: Jazz Paintings
Bruno Leicht
Earl MacDonald
Books and CDs: Bill Reed
Marvin Stamm

Tarik Townsend: It’s A Raggy Waltz
Steve Wallace: Jazz, Baseball, Life and Other Ephemera
Jim Wilke’s Jazz Northwest
Jessica Williams

Other Culture Blogs
Terry Teachout
DevraDoWrite
Alex Ross: The Rest Is Noise
On An Overgrown Path

Journalism
PressThink: Jay Rosen
Second Draft, Tim Porter
Poynter Online

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