Steve Cerra, pictured on the left, is the proprietor of the endlessly informative and entertaining Jazz Profiles blog. His latest profile is of Paul Desmond, concentrating on Desmond’s RCA Victor recordings with Jim Hall. Desperate for material, Steve fills out the feature with liner notes I have written over the years to accompany Desmond albums. At the end is a montage of portraits of the artist with a soundtrack from the Desmond Blue album. Cerra excels at those video constructions. To see (and listen to) the Desmond profile, go here.
Following the Desmond opus, be sure to scroll down for Steve’s profiles of two great arrangers, Robert Farnon and Manny Albam. As always, he incorporates musical examples.