Archives for 2010

A year ago almost to the day, a Rifftides post called "The Art Of Art Farmer" featured three videos from Farmer's 1982 concert at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. It also had some of my musings on the great trumpeter and flugelhornist. Two of the videos were later disabled by those … [Read more...]

Gail Pettis is an orthodontist turned singer (you may supply your own puns) who has commanded considerable notice in her brief new career. She has won awards, toured in Europe and Japan and recorded two albums praised by critics, including this one. Pettis's warmth and intelligence translate into … [Read more...]

By any assessment, jazz in the 21st century is a minority music. Depending on whose statistics are accurate, it accounts for somewhere between 1% and 3% of record sales, right in there with string quartets and Gregorian chants. Some of the music's best American players find that they are in greater … [Read more...]

Last night, millions of Americans watched the San Francisco Giants submerge the Texas Rangers in game one of the World Series. They also saw Tony Bennett sing—of course—"I Left My Heart in San Francisco" and at the 7th inning stretch, "God Bless America." If you missed it or if you are in … [Read more...]

Some of the best new work of prominent American jazz artists is not on US labels, and not all of it is easy to find. Stars is a case in point. The pianist in the band known as the December 2nd Quartet is Dena DeRose, who sings on several tracks of this charming album. Bassist Ray Drummond and … [Read more...]

From an upstairs window … [Read more...]

My biography of Paul Desmond includes Desmond solos that Bill Mays, Bud Shank, Brent Jensen, Gary Foster and Paul Cohen transcribed for the book. They analyze or comment on the solos and John Handy analyzes Cohen's transcription of "Take Five." In the text I suggest that playing the recordings and … [Read more...]

Trombone players are generally the nicest brass players. However, they do tend to drink quite heavily and perhaps don't shine the brightest headlights on the highway, but they wouldn't hurt you and are the folks to call with all your pharmaceutical questions...It's a little-known fact that trombone … [Read more...]

Note: If this item looks familiar, it is because I mistakenly posted it on October 17. Today, October 21, is the correct date of Dizzy's birth, so the Rifftides staff is moving the piece to where it belongs and adding a couple of links—DR. This is the birthday of Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993). In … [Read more...]

Trumpeter, flugelhornist and composer Kenny Wheeler, now in his 80s, is a man of so few words that he is nearly silent, but John Fordham of The Guardian managed to persuade Wheeler to talk about himself for an article. Anyone interested in the unceasingly searching trumpeter, flugelhornist and … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Mike Paulson writes: Looked up this clip on YouTube after watching Scott Robinson play "Isfahan" with Martin Wind at The Seasons the other evening. I am amazed at how timeless this arrangement is. Hard to improve on perfection. Not sure why Duke had to hold the sheet music for … [Read more...]

Alto saxophonist Marion Brown, who came to prominence in the 1960s and '70s, died yesterday at age 79. He had been in an assisted living home in Hollywood, Florida, since 2005. Although some references list his birth year as 1935, he was born on September 8, 1931, in Atlanta, Georgia. Brown's career … [Read more...]

Hours before Friday night's concert at The Seasons Fall Festival, bassist Martin Wind's trio lost a third of its roster when drummer Matt Wilson returned home to attend to a family medical situation. Wind called Greg Williamson, who drove 150 miles from Seattle to Yakima across the Cascade Mountains … [Read more...]

There is more coming soon about the festival at The Seasons, but to clear the mind it was necessary to hop on the bike for a couple of hours. I came across this scene near the end of the ride. Naches River, 3:56 pm, October 16, 2010 … [Read more...]

Mark Murphy may have had his problems the past few years, but rumors that he is not singing well appear to be unfounded. Rifftides reader and occasional correspondent Jim Brown sent a report with evidence. A year or two ago, there were suggestions that Mark was in bad health, perhaps had dementia, … [Read more...]

Following four days of downtime forced by computer and internet problems, Rifftides offers a brief summary of the first five days of The Seasons eight-day Fall Festival. In the first of two appearances, the Tom Harrell Quintet opened the festival Friday evening in The Seasons' acoustically … [Read more...]

It wasn't sludge (see yesterday's entry), but it did get worse. The problem was intermittent and untraceable even with cable company equipment so sophisticated it might be on loan from the CIA. Now, however, after a pair of two-hour visits from techs, long, baffling phone calls with two other techs … [Read more...]

It could have been worse—toxic red sludge, for instance. The technician just left after performing CPR on the internet connection, which was out of commission for 48 hours. The Rifftides staff will resume posting soon. Now, ears open wide and notebook in hand, we're off to The Seasons for the … [Read more...]

The Rifftides global headquarters' internet connection is currently flooded. We'll be back when the water recedes … [Read more...]