Dave Brubeck is spending his 90th birthday in the midst of his sizeable family and many close friends. Chances are that they will take time out to watch the documentary about his life. As they reminisce, it's almost certain that Dave will tell a Blackhawk story or two. The club in San Francisco's Tenderloin district was his quartet's headquarters for years before and after they became famous. It was the location of a pilot for a television series that never get off the ground. Mort Sahl, a … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2010
…With A Beard On
The Christmas season is underway. This makes it official. Happy holidays … [Read more...]
Weekend Extra: “Blue In Green” In Blue And Green
Someone went overboard matching the color scheme of this video to the name of the tune, and the sound is distorted, but here is an exquisite 1962 version of "Blue in Green" by Bill Evans with Chuck Israels and Paul Motian. Be patient while the YouTube poster gets his commercial out of the way. There was a time when the big three television networks had programs that presented music of quality. CBS-TV's Camera 3, the original source of this clip, went out of business in 1980. Thanks to Evans … [Read more...]
The New Brubeck Documentary
Dave Brubeck is getting a lot of attention. With his 90th birthday three days away, he is the subject of performance reviews, articles and editorials in dozens of newspapers from The New York Times to The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times and Britain's Guardian. His music is being played over the air to a degree unprecedented since the early 1960s, when "Take Five" was a popular hit. On National Public Radio, Terry Gross replays her 1999 Fresh Air interview with Brubeck. Viewers of … [Read more...]
Recent Listening: Randy Weston, McNeil/McHenry Quartet
Randy Weston, The Storyteller (Motéma). This is the latest chapter in the 84-year-old pianist's long-running love story about Africa. Weston's African Rhythms Sextet includes the great trombonist Benny Powell in one of his last recordings, alto saxophonist T.K. Blue, bassist Alex Blake, drummer Lewis Nash and conga specialist Neil Clarke. He made the album almost exactly a year ago in performance at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola in New York. With the rhythm section generating heat near combustion … [Read more...]
Dave Brubeck At 90: Was He Cool Or What?
With Dave Brubeck's 90th birthday five days away, anticipation of the event is materializing in news stories, interviews, radio airplay, web tributes and accolades from colleagues and admirers. Marc Myers' piece in The Wall Street Journal includes this paragraph: Clean living, a happy marriage and global popularity have made Mr. Brubeck a media darling--and a target of envy. "Even in the '50s I'd hear critics and musicians say, 'Oh, Brubeck, he's different'--meaning separate from the rest," Mr. … [Read more...]
Other Matters: Weather Report, Part 1
21 days until winter … [Read more...]
Other Matters: Weather Report, Part 2
Woody Herman First Herd, December 10, 1945 Neil Hefti, arranger Woody Herman, vocal Sonny Berman, trumpet solo Bill Harris, trombone solo … [Read more...]