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...]
Archives for May 2007
Due East
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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?
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Carol Sloane, long one of my favorite singers, now also my favorite new blogette, is telling marvelous stories. Do yourself a favor. … [Read more...]