Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, The Partyka Brass Quintet, Carla's Christmas Carols (Watt). Bley arranges nine classic carols with tenderness, wit, harmonic brilliance, wide dynamic range and a wry sense of nostalgia. She adds two of her own pieces, the gorgeous "Jesus Maria" and "Hell's Bells", a joyous … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2009
Here’s Looking At Picture Books, Kid
On the Jazzhouse web site, W. Royal Stokes posts a valuable column recommending recent jazz, blues and pop photography and art books. It is an extensive list, just in time for Christmas. Stokes gives each book a thorough paragraph of review and a link to an online source for purchase. Here is some … [Read more...]
CD: Chris Potter, Steve Wilson, Et Al
Chris Potter, Steve Wilson, Terell Stafford, Coming Together (Inarhyme). This was to have been the recording debut in 2005 of the young tenor saxophonist Brendan Romaneck. That year he died at 24 in a traffic accident. In his memory, saxophonists Potter and Wilson, trumpeter Stafford and a fine … [Read more...]
CD: Miles Davis
Miles Davis, Kind of Blue (Columbia). Okay, this is the zillionth reissue, and it's not the first to include alternate takes, false starts or a second CD of performances by the classic Davis sextet. The difference? Columbia got the sound right - no forced reverberation, echo, clipping, compression … [Read more...]
DVD: Woody Herman
Woody Herman, Live in '64 (Jazz Icons). This captures Herman on British television long after he stopped naming or numbering his Herds. It was one his most exciting bands, driven by drummer Jake Hanna and bassist Chuck Andrus. Upstate New York terrors Joe Romano and Sal Nistico are fascinating in … [Read more...]
Book: Scott La Faro
Helene La Faro-Fernández, Jade Visions: The Life and Music of Scott La Faro (North Texas). There will be other books about the most important young bassist of the last half of the twentieth century. Their authors will mine this invaluable first biography. The insight La Faro's sister gives into … [Read more...]
Weekend Extra: What Is Jazz? Part 438
Thanks to Bill Royston for calling our attention to a strange turn of events at a jazz festival in Spain. Here is beginning of The Guardian's story about the incident: Jazzman Larry Ochs has seen many things during 40 years playing his saxophone around the world but, until this week, nobody had ever … [Read more...]
President And Friends
The Kennedy Center Honors ceremony held last Sunday will be televised on CBS December 29. In the meantime, the White House has released a clip of President Obama's informal talk at the reception before the event. It runs about 18 minutes, with the camera on the President the whole time. The … [Read more...]
Bill Evans: Autumn Leaves
It was six degrees above zero here last night, but the calendar says we have eleven more days until winter. Before autumn leaves, let's enjoy Bill Evans playing his signature arrangement of one of his favorite pieces. This was Copenhagen in 1965, with Eddie Gomez on bass and Alex Riel playing drums. … [Read more...]
Speaking Of Vince Guaraldi…
Indiana Public Media's Night Lights has posted on the internet a one-hour program about Vince Guaraldi. The host, David Brent Johnson, traces the pianist's career, plays a broad selection of his recordings and talks with guitarist Eddie Duran, Charlie Brown specials producer Lee Mendelson, … [Read more...]
The Kennedy Center Honors
The Kennedy Center Honors for 2009 went last night to Dave Brubeck on his 89th birthday, and to Mel Brooks, Grace Bumbry, Robert De Niro and Bruce Springsteen. CBS-TV will broadcast two hours of highlights from the ceremony at 9 pm EST on December 29. This morning's papers and tonight's newscasts … [Read more...]
We Are All In This Together
It has been a long while since the Rifftides staff acknowledged the extent of our readership. These are just a few of the places where you have recently allowed us into your computers. EUROPE Cagliari, Italy Luxembourg, Belgium Andover, Hampshire, UK London, England Dublin, Ireland Viskafors, … [Read more...]
Listening Tip: Christlieb & Caliman
The Rifftides staff thought you would be interested in this announcement from Jim Wilke of an imminent broadcast pairing. Besides, the photographs by Jim Levitt are too good not to use. Tenor saxophonists Hadley Caliman and Pete Christlieb first played together in LA in the 60s and have remained … [Read more...]
Recent Viewing: Art Blakey
Art Blakey, Live in '65 (Jazz Icons). The Blakey entry in the new Jazz Icons DVD release will come as a surprise even to many of the drummer's most persistent fans. The band it presents in France was not an edition of Blakey's celebrated Jazz Messengers, but a short-lived quintet billed in the … [Read more...]
Compatible Quotes: Art Blakey
Jazz is known all over the world as an American musical art form and that's it. No America, no jazz. I've seen people try to connect it to other countries, for instance to Africa, but it doesn't have a damn thing to do with Africa. Music washes away the dust of every day life. … [Read more...]