Archives for February 2008

If you live in or plan to visit the Washington, DC, area, you may be interested in this communique from a Rifftides reader: There is a fabulous exhibit titled "Jam Session: America's Jazz Ambassadors Embrace the World" coming up at the Meridian International Center in Washington, DC. Aside from … [Read more...]

Whether sponsored by the State Department or off to see the world on their own, the Dave Brubeck Quartet practiced their share of cultural diplomacy in the 1950s and '60s. You Tube, that never-ending source of surprises and occasional frustrations, has come up with video of the DBQ on a 1962 … [Read more...]

Dave Frishberg asks in one of his songs, Do You Miss New York? Yes, I do, every day. So it was a pleasure to get a small New York fix from an unexpected source, an e-mail ad from a clothing store. The tour through a favorite part of lower Manhattan made me homesick for one of my many former … [Read more...]

Several years ago, I quit the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in frustration over the academy's treatment of jazz. I returned my dues statement with the notation that I needed the $75 more than Celine Dione did. If anything, jazz has been shoved further down the ladder since then. … [Read more...]

The artsjournal.com shop foreman tells me there is a good chance that the Rifftides comment section will be repaired and back in action by the end of the week. In the meantime, please use e-mail (that's a link) to send your comments. … [Read more...]

While the Rifftides comment capability is being repaired, we are relying on e-mail to receive your comments. Jim Brown writes from Santa Cruz, California: From my rather distant perspective as a Baker fan, this very real spat seems to be the result of a big corporate entity (You Tube) being … [Read more...]

I'm curious about how you determined that Al Porcino was playing lead on the clips in question. He is sitting on the left side of the section (looking at the band) and thus not in the lead chair. I agree with you that Al is formidable -- in fact I think he's probably my all time favorite lead … [Read more...]

I wanted to add this to the last comment posted about Sue Raney: Joe Morello told me Paul Desmond did not like chick singers. I wonder if Sue Raney could have been an exception. Joe does enjoy her singing. If Sue happens to read this, I' m very eager for another newly recorded CD. And, maybe even … [Read more...]

Back in the antediluvian era of jazz blogging (early 2005), there weren't many of us. Terry Teachout thinks that when Rifftides debuted, it was the first jazz blog. Maybe so. At any rate, now there are jazz blogs galore. Some are promotional vehicles for musicians, record companies, magazines, … [Read more...]

When the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra flourished, one of the complaints by the guys in the band was that Jones didn't assign himself enough solos. They loved to hear him play. Who wouldn't? A video has just surfaced in which at a 1970s concert in Germany the band plays "Cherry Juice" and Thad … [Read more...]

It is a pleasure to find Poodie James mentioned with fellow artsjournal.com blogger Alex Ross's landmark book The Rest Is Noise. Richard Kamins of the Hartford Courant managed to put my little novel and Alex's study of twentieth century music under the same roof in his column "See! Hear!" … [Read more...]

In a moment of enthusiasm or weakness, I agreed to give a speech. The deadline is looming, and if I don't set aside other things and prepare, a large roomful of listeners will be hearing me read my driver's license. Blogging will have to slow for a while. As it turns out, this isn't a bad time for … [Read more...]

Marc Myers writes. Wonderful post on George Russell. Hal McKusick told me a great story re: where he found Russell in the mid-1950s and how he brought him back onto the scene. "Not long afterward I walked into a drugstore in Greenwich Village. There, behind the counter working was George Russell. I … [Read more...]

In 1966 on Jazz Review on WDSU-FM in New Orleans, I devoted five programs to a survey of George Russell's music. It opened with these words: Over the next few weeks we're going to consider the recorded work of George Russell, not only because Russell's music is interesting, absorbing listening, but … [Read more...]

Next door -- that is, in the right-hand column -- you will find recommended new listening, viewing and reading under the heading Doug's Picks. Your comments are always welcome. For now, please use the e-mail address, also in the right-hand column, under Contact. … [Read more...]