Archives for September 2007

Those of you who have become addicted to Carol Sloane's blog, SloaneView, may have been concerned -- as was I -- that she had posted nothing for more than a month. I just spoke with her and learned that she is fine and that her husband is recovering. It was a near thing. Here is one line from Sloane's new posting: Labor Day, 6 AM: My husband Buck wakens me to complain of chest pain. To read the whole story, go to SloaneView. Get well, soon, Buck. … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Don Emanuel writes from Gillingham, Kent, in England: There is a fascinating six-part thing on YouTube (obviously from a British TV programme) by Dick Hyman on a brief history of jazz piano, which I managed to miss when it was originally broadcast. I missed it, too. As far as I know, it did not run in the US. Hyman long ago established himself as a wizard at replicating other pianists' styles. He could easily have done the program alone, but the writer and musician Russell … [Read more...]

The Seasons Performance Hall opens its Fall Festival tonight with Miguel Zenon's quartet. The nine days of music-making include James Moody, Bill Mays and Marvin Stamm with Alisa Horn, Matt Wilson, Martin Wind, Karrin Allyson, David Friesen, the world premiere of a new classical work by Daron Hagen played by the Finisterra Trio and, as the promoters say, much more. For full information, go here. If you are in or near Yakima, Washington -- or can get there -- you're in for an exciting week in a … [Read more...]

Jessica Williams is in love with Glenn Gould and doesn't care who knows it. Here's an excerpt from the latest entry in her blog, The Zone: One night I was on a popular video sharing site (YouTube) and decided to watch and listen to Glenn Gould. I was dumbstruck. His music entered me and stayed there. It wasn't what he was playing, it was the way he was playing it. I had never heard Bach played with such fullness and passion and gentleness. He caressed Bach, where most pianists play Bach like … [Read more...]

A man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly to it. -- Samuel Johnson That's what I'm doing, with reasonable doggedness. I'll be back soon, continuing a survey of recent CDs. … [Read more...]

If you are interested in jazz and journalism (isn't everyone?), I suggest that you check in once in a while with John Stoehr at Flyover: Art In The American Outback, since June part of the artsjournal.com bloggerhood. Some days Stoehr writes about music, some days about the news business, many days about both. Here's a recent sample: The first time I interviewed one of the organizers of the Savannah Jazz Festival, I was told to shut up and listen -- you write what I tell you to write, son. I was … [Read more...]

The Rifftides piece on Monk In North Carolina brought this response from the painter Norman Sasowsky. I lived in NYC in the 50s and 60s and went to the Five Spot to hear Monk and others. Jazz music had a great influence on my painting and I did a few paintings influenced by my experiences. Visit my web site, if you are interested in seeing them. I went to his site, was intrigued by Sasowsky's paintings, then did a web search to learn more about him. Among the items I found was a piece of video … [Read more...]

Matthew Shipp, Piano Vortex (Thirsty Ear). Nearly twenty years ago, Shipp chose the jazz avant garde over the classical career he had prepared for at the New England Conservatory. For the most part, he has applied his formal technique to music that observes few traditional boundaries and guidelines. Keeping company with such intrepid explorers as David S. Ware, Roscoe Mitchell, Daniel Carter and Joe Morris, he has left the impression with some listeners that he is a Cecil Taylor disciple. I have … [Read more...]

As the fiftieth Monterey Jazz Festival wound down, we received this communique from Rifftides reader and Montery veteran Robert Walsh. Thanks for passing along the NPR coverage of the 50th anniversary of the Monterey Jazz Festival, venue of many of my most cherished memories. (Jimmy Lyons and I worked together on the American College Jazz Festival sponsored by American Airlines in the early 1970s,) Here are some of those memories: Saturday afternoon blues shows. Black ladies in red jump suits … [Read more...]

If you are not at the Monterey Jazz Festival's fiftieth anniversary celebration this weekend -- even if you are -- we can direct you to a report that captures some of the festival's history and flavor. Occasional Rifftides contributor Paul Conley of KXJZ in Sacramento, California produced a Monterey piece for National Public Radio's All Things Considered. When you get to the site (that's a link), click on the red and white "Listen" button. … [Read more...]

Thelonious Monk's importance and influence keep growing. As they do, his value to the culture at large gains deeper recognition. A major university is honoring Monk in the most meaningful way, erecting a monument made of his music and other arts it influences. Thirty-seven years ago, Monk appeared with his quartet at the Raleigh, North Carolina, nightclub called the Frog & Nightgown. His performances there were the only times that Monk played in his home state. He was born in Rocky Mount, NC, in … [Read more...]

Finally, there is a Carmen McRae web site. It's creators call it a tribute site. That designation smacks of fanzinedom, but don't be misled; the McRae site is put together with knowledge as well as appreciation. It does not have a formal discography, but it lists, describes and in some cases illustrates her recordings decade by decade. It borrows an adequate short biography from the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz and has a chronology excerpted from Leslie Gourse's biography of McRae. Gourse's … [Read more...]

The veteran singer Bob Stewart's stock in trade is superior ballads delivered with intelligent interpretation, good phrasing and deep feeling. His new compilation CD, Did I Remember? gathers tracks from several of his collections and finds him generally at his best. Stewart's support troops include pianist Hank Jones, saxophonist Frank Wess, bassist Michael Moore and drummer Mel Lewis. His backing on two tracks is by the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, on others by string ensembles and studio … [Read more...]

A few of the things that are keeping my ears and eyes busy: Bud Shank and Bill Mays: Beyond The Red Door (Jazzed Media). Old friends and co-conspirators in alto saxophone/piano duets at the highest level. Their melding of Russ Freeman's "The Wind" and Jimmy Rowles' "The Peacocks" is exquisite. Sam Yahel: Truth And Beauty (Origin). Yahel's Hammond B-3 Organ, Joshua Redman's tenor sax and Brian Blade's drums. They were good when they were known as Ya Ya. They're better now. Miles Davis Quintet … [Read more...]

Mark your calendars, set your clocks. Rifftides Washington, DC, correspondent John Birchard reports that next Monday's concert in tribute to Willis Conover will be broadcast live on the Voice Of America. Start time is 7:30 pm EDT, September 17. You can hear the concert on the VOA's live internet stream (that's a link). Paquito D'Rivera will lead the band with Milcho Leviev, George Mraz, Valery Ponomarev and Horacio Hernandez. Birchard reports one other important fact: He, John Birchard, will be … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Scott Mortensen has created two web sites worth investigating. One is dedicated to the vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, a major figure in jazz since the 1960s. The site includes a discography, photos, a substantial biography containing links to information about Hutcherson's recordings, and suggestions of additional resources for scholars and listeners. Among the things Mortensen writes about Hutcherson are these: Hutcherson's work remains entirely compelling. He brings something … [Read more...]

No blogging for the next few days. I'll be visiting the town that is the model, more or less, for the one in Poodie James. If I'm not jailed or assaulted, I'll be back in action on Monday. … [Read more...]

Willie Tee (Wilson Turbinton) died yesterday in New Orleans, the same day on which his close friend Joe Zawinul died in Vienna, both of cancer. See the next item for a remembrance and a picture of them together. Willie's death comes barely a month after that of his brother Earl, another member of the Turbinton-Zawinul-Adderley mutual admiration society. To read the New Orleans Times-Picayune story about Willie, go here. … [Read more...]

In the endless parade of departing musicians, now we've lost Joe Zawinul, dead of skin cancer at seventy-five. The obituaries are stressing his fusion work with Miles Davis on In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew, his partnership with Wayne Shorter in Weather Report and all the hits they had; "Birdland," the Heavy Weather album and the Grammy for the one called 8:30. As Herbie Hancock is being quoted everywhere, Zawinul was a force. Whatever world music is, Joe took it into the realm of … [Read more...]

Bertholt Brecht and Kurt Weill gave the world The Threepenny Opera (Die Dreigroschenoper) in 1928. When it was running in Berlin, the artist George Grosz said, "You would hear those songs wherever you went in the evening." Long before Louis Armstrong made "Mack the Knife" a universal hit, theater critics were calling The Threepenny Opera the greatest musical of all time. Walter Kerr wrote, "I think the most wonderfully insulting music I have ever come across was composed by the late Kurt Weill … [Read more...]

Sonny Rollins is seventy-seven years and three days old. I thought of acknowledging his birthday on Friday, but Rifftides traffic is down on weekends and I wanted to point more of you to his web site for previously unissued recordings of Rollins's work from 1956 with the Max Roach-Clifford Brown Quintet. The site will be playing a different piece each day now through September 18. Today's recording is identified as "Lover," and it is, harmonically, but the riffish melody is George Handy's … [Read more...]

Stumbling around the internet, I was pleased to find that Henry "Red" Allen's World On A String is still available on CD, as well it should be. A few years after the 1957 album appeared, the young trumpeter Don Ellis called Allen, "the most avant garde trumpet player in New York." Allen's slurs, slippery phrasing, unconventional interval leaps and surprising stabs may have aroused fellow feeling in Ellis, but the great New Orleanian first made his mark in the 1920s, sounding essentially as he … [Read more...]

That's the name of a piece Italian trumpeter and fluegelhornist Franco Ambrosetti's quartet played on a Swiss television program in 1977. With him were pianist Hal Galper (USA), bassist Dave Holland (UK) and drummer Daniel Humair (France). Galper accurately describes the performance as "burnin'." To see and hear "Hot Diggety Dam!" go to Galper's web site and scroll down to the daily motion screen. Trumpeters may be fascinated by closeups that show Ambrosetti's embouchure. It's off-center. It may … [Read more...]

It is a pleasure to announce that Libros Libertad has added a banner headline to the Poodie James page at the publisher's web site: Poodie James By Doug Ramsey LIBROS LIBERTAD'S BEST-SELLING BOOK! Thanks to all who made that possible. … [Read more...]

Marc Myers is doing good things on his new blog JazzWax. His most recent posting is about a listening session with fellow blogger Terry Teachout. Before that, he and Danny Bank tell the sad story of Billie Holiday's last recording session. To read both pieces, go here. … [Read more...]

Recent Rifftides visitors are from all sectors of the United States, including most major cities, and smaller places with wonderful names like Blooming Glenn and Avondale, both in Pennsylvania; Bloomington, Indiana; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Newton, Lower Falls, Massachusetts; and Morro Bay, Camarillo and Altadena, California -- to name a few. There are also lots of Canadian Rifftides readers, from Surrey, British Columbia in the west, to La Baie, Quebec in the east. In the past few hours, folks have … [Read more...]