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Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

You are here: Home / 2014 / Archives for September 2014

Archives for September 2014

Monday Recommendation: Dee Daniels

September 29, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Monday Recommendation: Dee Daniels

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="eLGqKTVu9BcEJMc9dg6KFgrxMenyWU3E"] Dee Daniels, Intimate Conversations (Origin) Accompanied only by Martin Wind’s forthright bass lines, the singer sets her story-telling course with the imperishable 84-year-old “Exactly Like You.” She and Wind are so convincing again in “I Wish You Love” that this listener found himself wishing for an entire album with just the two of them. However, Daniels is equally effective accompanying herself on piano and coloring “All … [Read more...]

Recent Viewing And Listening: Charles Lloyd

September 26, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Recent Viewing And Listening: Charles Lloyd

Charles Llloyd, Arrows Into Infinity (ECM) Charles Lloyd, Manhattan Stories (Resonance) The steadfastly independent saxophonist and flutist Charles Lloyd stepped out of the limelight more than once, but even when he was inactive his recordings remained in demand. Lloyd is drawing renewed attention because of a film about his life and music, and an album of previously unreleased performances from a fertile early period of his career. His million-selling 1966 album Forest Flower and the … [Read more...]

Compatible Quotes: Autumn

September 25, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Compatible Quotes: Autumn

No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face.—John Donne, The Autumnal But then fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and then fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he has done … [Read more...]

Autumn Comes

September 23, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Autumn Comes

In most of the Northern Hemisphere, this is officially the first day of fall. In a weblog devoted primarily to jazz, it seems fitting to welcome the advent of the new season with music. The pleasant problem is that there are so many wonderful recordings of songs with autumn themes, it’s impossible to choose just one. So, here are three. Nat Cole, 1948 Woody Herman, 1948 Johnny Hartman and John Coltrane, 1963 Have a pleasant autumn season or—if you’re in the Southern … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: Ali Jackson

September 22, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Monday Recommendation: Ali Jackson

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="ISZxkrkQhOkAlato9pn6SY8rSH7uQvje"] Ali Jackson, Amalgamations (Sunnyside) In this appropriately titled collection, the irrepressible drummer and 13 colleagues from the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra and elsewhere combine in groups as small as two. Jackson's precision and drive stimulate trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, pianist Eldar Djangirov and saxophonists JD Allen and Ted Nash, among others. Performances include the laconic “Done Tol’ You Fo’ Five Times” in … [Read more...]

The Way Kenny Wheeler Worked

September 20, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

The Way Kenny Wheeler Worked

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="4dY9MWCUJx2hVkKp17XAOLYbCLBq7Rf5"] Anne Braithwaite alerted me to Kenny Wheeler’s account of how he prepared when he was searching for inspiration. The trumpeter and composer died this week. See yesterday’s Rifftides post for details. The story came from Ken Schaphorst, chairman of the Jazz Studies Department at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Mr. Schaphorst told me this afternoon that in the fall of 2002, Wheeler gave a master class at NEC. Famously … [Read more...]

Kenny Wheeler Is Gone

September 19, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Kenny Wheeler Is Gone

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="3h16qsoi29nhGo0KHDo5c6BrUrZd2qlK"] Kenny Wheeler, a Canadian who became a towering figure in British music and an icon of jazz musicians around the world, has succumbed to a long illness. He was in a London nursing home for several months and was moved recently to the hospital where he died. He was 84. Wheeler's brilliance as a composer and arranger, dating from from the 1960s, came to be generally acknowledged fairly late in his career. From the 1968 suite … [Read more...]

Report From Russia: Арфа и джаз (Take Five)

September 18, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Report From Russia: Арфа и джаз (Take Five)

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="qLx8WNFCTupNSc9FZVw6VR4dnH1CUSPQ"] Rifftides reader Svetlana Ilyicheva (pictured right) brings us up to date from time to time on musical events in and around Moscow. Her latest report concerns an organization founded by and for jazz listeners, and one of its concerts by an unusual group. Recently, the Moscow 'Jazz Art' Club celebrated the closing session of its 20th concert season. The club has presented nearly 1,500 weekly concerts, to say nothing of its … [Read more...]

Losses: Jackie Cain, Joe Sample

September 17, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Losses: Jackie Cain, Joe Sample

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="kgkKxndiGsEr4q2r1Bj00SwKi8H0TICH"] Following a long illness, Jackie Cain died Monday afternoon in her New Jersey home. She was 86. She and Roy Kral combined their talents in 1946. They incorporated the spirit of bebop in their work with Charlie Ventura’s sextet, capturing the public imagination with “East of Suez” and “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles.” Recorded with Ventura at a concert in Pasadena, California, in 1949, the records received widespread radio airplay in … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: Mark Turner

September 15, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Monday Recommendation: Mark Turner

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="5qRmd8CplKQ3LDavL9URbHBQZpmNzSx8"] Mark Turner, Lathe Of Heaven (ECM) The tenor saxophonist bases the CD’s title on an Ursula K. LeGuin sci-fi novel in which dreams seem to change reality. Her story line turns on unclear perceptions, but Turner’s music is unambiguous in its extension of modern mainstream jazz tradition. Though the harmonized lines he plays with trumpeter Avishai Cohen bear intimations of Miles Davis and Wayne Shorter, Turner’s compositions and … [Read more...]

Three Listening Tips And A View

September 13, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Three Listening Tips And A View

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="wYWxo88Vzu1jpr9Z28eIwV3ORzVulWvV"] Tip 1. Jim Wilke’s Jazz Northwest program on Sunday will broadcast the tribute given pianist and composer George Cables at this summer’s Centrum Jazz Port Townsend festival on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Mr. Wilke recorded the concert in July. For years, as performer and teacher, Cables has been an integral part of the festival and its jazz workshops. From Mr. Wilke’s announcement: Three pianists, Geoffrey Keezer, Benny … [Read more...]

Gerald Wilson And Harmony

September 11, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Gerald Wilson And Harmony

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="ZVuNAz4PuZiWnW61NbrwhdQMptuPXFbX"] In the September 8 Rifftides post about this week’s passing of Gerald Wilson, I mentioned his enhanced harmonic palette and its importance to modern jazz arranging (Photo courtesy of Gordon Sapsed). It is one aspect of the Wilson craftsmanship that continues to influence those who write for big bands. When I was working on the essay that accompanies the Mosaic box set of his Pacific Jazz recordings, Mr. Wilson and I discussed his … [Read more...]

Gerald Wilson, 1918-2014

September 8, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Gerald Wilson, 1918-2014

Word has come that Gerald Wilson died today in Los Angeles. A swing era trumpeter, he became the pioneering leader, composer and arranger of a modern big band that was a significant presence for more than sixty years. Wilson enriched the language of large ensembles by employing expanded harmonic structures. He was noted for, among other things, his colorful music inspired by Mexican bull fighting. For an obituary, see Don Heckman's article in today's Los Angeles Times. In a post to come, … [Read more...]

We’re Back

September 7, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

We’re Back

Web server problems resulting in massive slowness interfered with Rifftides today and, evidently, with all other blogs under the artsjournal.com umbrella. As a result, it was not possible to prepare and post new items. I would be happy to report that the crack Rifftides technical staff wrestled the problem to the ground and eliminated it, but there is no Rifftides technical staff. The difficulty seems to have fixed itself, and we're back up and running, witness the next exhibit. I believe the … [Read more...]

Thad, Mel And Co. In Belgium

September 7, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Thad, Mel And Co. In Belgium

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="uJr78HEchQJJoWsb2wylj0F9TynOSU4o"] In response to the recent Rifftides recommendation of the new album by the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Bill Kirchner sent a link to video featuring the VJO’s progenitor. About the clip of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis band in Belgium, in 1973, Bill writes: So-so, though acceptable, sound, but great playing and interesting camera work. Note the repair tag hanging from Knepper's trombone. The program includes one of Brookmeyer’ greatest … [Read more...]

Other Matters: Finger-Pickin’ Good Sousa

September 6, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Other Matters: Finger-Pickin’ Good Sousa

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="ywZdHeg0j94153bDEynmwkgewClS3h7v"] Bobby Shew sent a link to a performance by a guitarist named Doug Smith. After listening to Smith’s introductory story about his dad, no former Marine could be expected to ignore the video. Anyone who can finger-pick Sousa’s famous piccolo part in “Stars and Stripes Forever” while also playing the harmony and melody must be taken seriously. This is an opportunity to see and hear a man who enjoys his work. I must confess to … [Read more...]

Recommendation: Brookmeyer For The Vanguard

September 2, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Recommendation: Brookmeyer For The Vanguard

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="67ncgR1vvlmj1hiIh5BAhDnIaOTTmnBY"] The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Over Time: Music of Bob Brookmeyer (Planet Arts) This is the album Bob Brookmeyer was preparing for the Vanguard orchestra before he died at the end of 2011. As a composer and arranger, Brookmeyer was a creative force in the Vanguard’s predecessor, the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra, and its forerunner, the big band co-led by Lewis and Thad Jones. With Jones-Lewis, he was also a principal soloist, on … [Read more...]

Labor Day # 2: Workin’

September 1, 2014 by Doug Ramsey

Labor Day # 2: Workin’

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="XcJn6d3gJ0cB6BaNQrcnegJaxA7D0ffW"] As pointed out in the previous exhibit, Americans and Canadians are taking a three-day holiday to observe Labor Day, which this year is Monday, September 1. On this occasion established nearly a century-and-a-half ago, they do their best to get sunburned, exhausted and happy—the latter with or without the aid of beer, which sells in oceanic quantities as summer winds down and people populate beaches, mountain meadows, … [Read more...]

Doug Ramsey

Doug is a recipient of the lifetime achievement award of the Jazz Journalists Association. He lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he settled following a career in print and broadcast journalism in cities including New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Antonio, Cleveland and Washington, DC. His writing about jazz has paralleled his life in journalism... [Read More]

Rifftides

A winner of the Blog Of The Year award of the international Jazz Journalists Association. Rifftides is founded on Doug's conviction that musicians and listeners who embrace and understand jazz have interests that run deep, wide and beyond jazz. Music is its principal concern, but the blog reaches past... Read More...

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Doug’s Books

Doug's most recent book is a novel, Poodie James. Previously, he published Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond. He is also the author of Jazz Matters: Reflections on the Music and Some of its Makers. He contributed to The Oxford Companion To Jazz and co-edited Journalism Ethics: Why Change? He is at work on another novel in which, as in Poodie James, music is incidental.

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Doug’s Picks

Monday Recommendation: Oscar Peterson Plays 10 Composers

Oscar Peterson Plays (Verve) In this five-CD reissue, the formidable pianist plays pieces by ten composers who dominated American popular music for decades. Peterson had bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Barney Kessel, succeeded by Herb Ellis. It’s the trio that made Peterson famous with Jazz At The Philharmonic and–by way of the 10 albums reproduced […]

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Monday Recommendation: DIVA At 25

The DIVA Jazz Orchestra 25th Anniversary Project (ArtistShare) It has been a quarter of a century since Buddy Rich’s manager and relief drummer Stanley Kay found himself conducting a band whose drummer was young Sherrie Maricle. Intrigued by her playing, Kay set out to find whether there were other women jazz musicians of comparable talent. […]

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Monday Recommendation, Keith Jarrett Trio: After The Fall

Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Jack DeJohnette, After The Fall (ECM) In 1998 Keith Jarrett was emerging from a siege of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that had sidelined him for two years. As he felt better, he was uncertain how completely his piano skill and endurance had returned. He decided to test himself. He gathered his longtime […]

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Monday Recommendation: Gerard Kubik, Jazz Transatlantic

Gerhard Kubik, Jazz Transatlantic, Vol. I and Vol. II (University Press of Mississippi) The first volume of Kubik’s work is subtitled, “The African Undercurrent in Twentieth–Century Jazz Culture;” the second, “Jazz Derivatives and Developments in Twentieth-Century Africa.” The descriptions indicate the depth and scope of the Austrian ethnomusicologist’s research, which has taken him to Africa […]

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Monday Recommendation: Magris In Miami

Roberto Magris Sextet Live in Miami @ the WDNA Jazz Gallery (J Mood) Widely experienced and recorded in Europe, pianist Magris demonstrates in this club date that he knows how to reach an American audience steeped in Latin and Caribbean music. The front line has trumpeter Brian Lynch at his fieriest, and the imaginative young […]

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Monday Recommendation(s): Three From ECM

Andy Sheppard, Romaria (ECM) The title tune, written and first recorded by the Brazilian Renato Teixeira, was made still more famous by the singer Elis Regina’s 1977 recording. It has been a beloved standard song in Brazil for four decades. British saxophonist Sheppard and his quartet hew to the spirits if not the letters of […]

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More Doug's Picks

Blogroll

All About Jazz
JerryJazzMusician
Carol Sloane: SloaneView
Jazz Beyond Jazz: Howard Mandel
The Gig: Nate Chinen
Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong
Don Heckman: The International Review Of Music
Ted Panken: Today is The Question
George Colligan: jazztruth
Brilliant Corners
Jazz Music Blog: Tom Reney
Brubeck Institute
Darcy James Argue
Jazz Profiles: Steve Cerra
Notes On Jazz: Ralph Miriello
Bob Porter: Jazz Etc.
be.jazz
Marc Myers: Jazz Wax
Night Lights
Jason Crane:The Jazz Session
JazzCorner
I Witness
ArtistShare
Jazzportraits
John Robert Brown
Night After Night
Do The Math/The Bad Plus
Prague Jazz
Russian Jazz
Jazz Quotes
Jazz History Online
Lubricity

Personal Jazz Sites
Chris Albertson: Stomp Off
Armin Buettner: Crownpropeller’s Blog
Cyber Jazz Today, John Birchard
Dick Carr’s Big Bands, Ballads & Blues
Donald Clarke’s Music Box
Noal Cohen’s Jazz History
Bill Crow
Easy Does It: Fernando Ortiz de Urbana
Bill Evans Web Pages
Dave Frishberg
Ronan Guilfoyle: Mostly Music
Bill Kirchner
Mike Longo
Jan Lundgren (Friends of)
Willard Jenkins/The Independent Ear
Ken Joslin: Jazz Paintings
Bruno Leicht
Earl MacDonald
Books and CDs: Bill Reed
Marvin Stamm

Tarik Townsend: It’s A Raggy Waltz
Steve Wallace: Jazz, Baseball, Life and Other Ephemera
Jim Wilke’s Jazz Northwest
Jessica Williams

Other Culture Blogs
Terry Teachout
DevraDoWrite
Alex Ross: The Rest Is Noise
On An Overgrown Path

Journalism
PressThink: Jay Rosen
Second Draft, Tim Porter
Poynter Online

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