Louis Armstrong was born on this day in 1901. When he was 26, he recorded King Oliver’s “West End Blues†with an opening cadenza that put the world on notice that this new music was an art form to be taken seriously. How big was Armstrong’s impact on the development of jazz in the late … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2013
Bill Mays, Historian: Surprise Video
In one of my Rifftides posts on last October's Oregon Coast Jazz Party, I told you a little about the remarkable program in which Bill Mays traced the development of modern jazz piano. Here's that section from October 12, 2012 Bill Mays’ History of Jazz Piano concert for a morning audience … [Read more...]
Weekend Listening Tip: The Clayton Brothers
As reported in this Rifftides coverage last fall, a concert by the Clayton Brothers is likely to become a party. John and Jeff Clayton and their band partied again at the recent Jazz Port Townsend festival on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula. Jim Wilke, a fine recording engineer as well as an … [Read more...]
Recent Listening: Woody Shaw
Woody Shaw: The Complete Muse Sessions (Mosaic) In a couple of record dates when Woody Shaw was 21 and in a dozen years through the 1970s and ‘80s, Muse Records captured some of the trumpeter’s most innovative and inspired work. When Shaw emerged, it was clear that Freddie Hubbard had … [Read more...]