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Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

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

Archives for October 2007

Aftermath

October 30, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Thanks to all of you who have sent condolences. Some of you were friends of Jack Brownlow (see the next item). Others knew him only by his music. A few have asked if his CDs are available. This web site says it has them. I'm doing the things an executor does. It will take full attention. Blogging will be intermittent, if at all, for a few days. … [Read more...]

Jack Brownlow

October 27, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Rifftides will be in suspension for a while. I don't know for how long. Two years ago, I wrote this about a great pianist: Jack Brownlow, at 81, has doggedly refused to let a round of health problems put him out of commission. He is gigging less, but a stream of colleagues comes to his house to play music with him and learn from him. He is an inspiration to them, as he has been to me since I was sixteen. This evening, the health problems won. I've lost my best friend, a wise teacher, the older … [Read more...]

Jazz Icons II, Part 2

October 27, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

We continue the Rifftides survey of the second release of Jazz Icons DVDs. For earlier reviews of the Mingus and Ellington discs, go here. In addition to their first-rate musical material and high production values, the Jazz Icons discs--unlike far too many DVDS--provide background about the music and the artists. Each includes a booklet with discographical information, photographs, and program notes by knowledgable experts. Patricia Willard wrote essays for the Ellington disc and for the Sarah … [Read more...]

Compatible Quotes: On Louis Armstrong

October 25, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Miles Davis: You know you can't play anything on a horn that Louis hasn't played. Dizzy Gillespie: No him, no me. … [Read more...]

Jazz Icons II, Part 1

October 24, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

A few weeks ago, writing at length about a new CD of music by the Charles Mingus Sextet, I referred to a forthcoming DVD of that remarkable band on its '64 European tour. The disc is one of a set of eight in the second release of Jazz Icons DVDs. I am viewing and reporting to you about them as time allows. Charles Mingus Live in '64 (Jazz Icons). It is a revelation to see this edition of the Mingus sextet at work during one of his happiest periods. Explosive temperament under wraps, the bassist … [Read more...]

A Benny Carter Concert

October 22, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

No longer being in New York has disadvantages--not being able to attend a concert of Benny Carter's music, for instance. Carter died in 2003. He would be 100 years old now. The concert over the weekend was the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra's season opener. Ben Ratliff's account in The New York Times makes me sorry to have missed it. If there was a star, it was a whole bloc within a band: the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra's saxophone section, playing the tightly harmonized passages that … [Read more...]

Recent Listening: Kolakowski, Finisterra, Ogerman

October 22, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Mateusz Kolakowski, Ad Libitum, 1st Warsaw Jazz Concert (Zaiks). When I first heard Kolakowski, he and two of his Polish contemporaries were touring the United States with their mentor, the clarinetist Brad Terry. That was in 1998. At thirteen, the boy was an impressive jazz pianist. He has continued to develop his jazz sensibility as a student at the Music Academy of Katowice while winning international awards for his performances of Chopin. Mateusz Kolakowski Now twenty-one, Kolakowski is … [Read more...]

World News

October 20, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Rifftides has readers today in Ecuador, France, New Zealand, Italy, Japan, the UK, Brazil, South Korea, France, Portugal, Austria, Finland, Sweden, Mexico, Australia, Switzerland, Spain, Canada, Iceland, and across the United States from Federal Way, Washington, to Swoope, Pennsylvania and Hollywood, Florida. Thank you all for joining us. … [Read more...]

CDs: Pettis, Brubeck, Chindamo

October 19, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Gail Pettis, May I Come In? (Origin). In her recording debut, the Seattle singer chooses a mixture of familiar standards and less-well-known songs, delivering them with warmth and intelligent interpretation. Pettis concentrates on serving songwriters' intentions, but her delighted treatment of Jimmy McHugh's "I Just Found Out About Love" includes one of two scatting episodes in the collection. She scats with musicianly understanding of harmony. There is not a lot of that going around among … [Read more...]

The Bird And Ron McCroby

October 18, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Former Down Beat editor Jack Tracy has always had an ear for fresh young talent. He sent this link to video of a blues-singing bird - the avian variety. Could it be the reincarnation of Rob McCroby (1934-2002)? McCroby's recordings for Concord, something of a sensation in the 1980s, have never been reissued on CD. To see a compilation of his television appearances, go to this web site. You may not want to sit through all twenty minutes, but there's no denying that McCroby could blow. … [Read more...]

Compatible Quotes

October 17, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Piano. n. A parlor utensil for subduing the impenitent visitor. It is operated by depressing the keys of the machine and the spirits of the audience. -- Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary Nothing soothes me more after a long and maddening course of pianoforte recitals than to sit and have my teeth drilled. -- George Bernard Shaw Get up from that piano. You hurtin' its feelings.-- Jelly Roll Morton … [Read more...]

Bill Evans: Your Story

October 17, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Bill Evans redeems the piano from Bierce's and Shaw's disdain in this video clip, made in Norway in August of 1980 when Evans was mortally ill and undoubtedly knew it. Thanks to Jan Stevens of The Bill Evans Web Pages for finding it. The bassist and drummer are Marc Johnson and Joe LaBarbera. … [Read more...]

The Heroic Legion

October 17, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

In his blog, About Last Night, Terry Teachout quotes Whitney Balliett's incomparable tribute to the ability of most jazz musicians to maintain their unbreakable spirit despite being cold-shouldered by the culture. Whatever the reasons, these musicians form a heroic legion. They work long hours in seedy and/or pretentious places for minimum money. They make sporadic recordings on unknown labels. They play for benefits but are refused loans at the bank. They pass their lives pumping up their … [Read more...]

More CDs From Smalls

October 16, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Harry Whitaker, Thoughts (Past And Present) [Smalls]. Whitaker has been a working pianist since he was fourteen, but for much of his career he has concentrated on producing, arranging and serving as musical director for others, including singer Roberta Flack and vibraphonist Roy Ayers. In nine of his compositions, Whitaker's firm touch, careful chording and absence of pyrotechnics add up to what musicians often call arranger's piano. In that category he is in good company with people like Gerry … [Read more...]

Correspondence: About Gil Coggins

October 16, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Rifftides reader Sam Stephenson writes from North Carolina: I'm excited to hear this new Gil Coggins record. Thank you for the tip. I only wish it could have been released before he passed. In 2002 I interviewed Gil as part of my loft project. He was a veteran of the 6th Ave. loft I'm researching and is recorded on a few of W. Eugene Smith's tapes circa 1960-61. I went to hear Gil at his regular gig in the East Village, where he played beautifully the night I heard him, and a few days later we … [Read more...]

Gil Coggins

October 15, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Gil Coggins, Better Late Than Never (Smalls). The first phase of pianist Coggins' career tapered off in the mid-1950s after he recorded with Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Jackie McLean. Although his work was distinct from his contemporary John Lewis, he shared with Lewis a spare approach to soloing, and chords in his accompaniments that often formed complementary melodies. Coggins went into real estate in 1954, continuing to work in jazz occasionally and recording with McLean as late as … [Read more...]

October

October 15, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Sunday, we harvested the last of the blackberries, cut back the spent canes from the arches and tied down the canes that will produce next year's crop. That pleasant task out of the way, my Italian friend and I went for a thirty-mile ride through farm and orchard country. The route had early autumn scenery of a kind that might have inspired Ralph Burns and Johnny Mercer. I looked down on a little valley below the road into a field bordered by a perfect white fence. On two adjoining sides, rows … [Read more...]

Other Voices: McKusick On Cohn

October 12, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

Following the August Rifftides piece about Hal McKusick, Marc Myers, aka Mr. JazzWax, sought out McKusick and is running a multi-part interview with the veteran reed man. The 83-year-old McKusick reminisces about a life in music from his debut as a teenager in the big bands to his teaching today. The gifted saxophonist, composer and arranger Al Cohn was among his colleagues. Al and I worked in Elliot Lawrence's band in the early 1950s. Al was the most unbelievable arranger. He could write … [Read more...]

Other Voices: Davis on Rollins

October 12, 2007 by Doug Ramsey

I did not attend Sonny Rollins' Carnegie Hall concert last month and had not heard or read much about it until a review by Francis Davis in the current issue of The Village Voice. Davis calls it "this year's be-there-or-be-square event" and gives it a thorough going-over, reporting the good and the better; unsurprisingly, there seems to have been no bad. Rollins, who is seventy-seven, performed with his current band. He also played with a pianoless trio, as he did at Carnegie Hall fifty years … [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

We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside

As Rifftides readers have undoubtedly noticed, it has been a long time since we posted. We are creating a new post in hopes  that it will open the way to resumption of frequent reports as part of the artsjournal.com mission to keep you up to date on jazz and other matters. Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s stunning new trio album […]

Recent Listening: The New David Friesen Trio CD

David Friesen Circle 3 Trio: Interaction (Origin) Among the dozens of recent releases that deserve serious attention, a few will get it. Among those those receiving it here is bassist David Friesen’s new album.  From the Portland, Oregon, sinecure in which he thrives when he’s not touring the world, bassist Friesen has been performing at […]

Monday Recommendation: Dominic Miller

Dominic Miller Absinthe (ECM) Guitarist and composer Miller delivers power and subtlety in equal measure. Abetted by producer Manfred Eicher’s canny guidance and ECM’s flawless sound and studio presence, Miller draws on inspiration from painters of France’s impressionist period. His liner essay emphasizes the importance to his musical conception of works by Cezanne, Renoir, Lautrec, […]

Recent Listening: Dave Young And Friends

Dave Young, Lotus Blossom (Modica Music) Young, the bassist praised by Oscar Peterson for his “harmonic simpatico and unerring sense of time” when he was a member of Peterson’s trio, leads seven gifted fellow Canadians. His beautifully recorded bass is the underpinning of a relaxed session in which his swing is a force even during […]

Recent Listening: Jazz Is Of The World

Paolo Fresu, Richard Galliano, Jan Lundgren, Mare Nostrum III (ACT) This third outing by Mare Nostrum continues the international trio’s close collaboration in a series of albums that has enjoyed considerable success. With three exceptions, the compositions in this installment are by the members of Mare Nostrum. It opens with one the French accordionist Galliano […]

Monday Recommendation: Thelonious Monk’s Works In Full

Kimbrough, Robinson, Reid, Drummond: Monk’s Dreams(Sunnyside) The subtitle of this invaluable 6-CD set is The Complete Compositions Of Thelonious Sphere Monk. By complete, Sunnyside means that the box contains six CDs with 70 tunes that Monk wrote beginning in the early years when his music was generally assumed to be an eccentric offshoot of bebop, […]

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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