Archives for July 2015

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="eGxRcvVQFic9wKOSYOo58rUtp34trGII"] The Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival is into its third full day. The concerts are scheduled so tightly that this is my first chance to break away to post a report. The weather in southern Sweden has alternated between rain, overcast skies … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="KcrXnhaMGCVFoGplnCs6dZwdEou9LDF6"] Thanks to Michael Cuscuna and Mosaic Records for the reminder that yesterday, Johnny Hodges (1906-1970) would have celebrated his 109th birthday. Hodges’ alto saxophone (and in his early career the soprano sax) were so closely … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="FCTyPILNGWghYDMrUj0pzfzNIMIfhuw3"] JD Allen, Graffiti (Savant) Intrepid as ever in his power, cohesiveness and brevity of expression, tenor saxophonist JD Allen returns to the trio format that gives him all he needs as a soloist and a composer. Allen, bassist Greg … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="7U9ecVRuCI3nvOz9NgwRdBaTGcwdoWTV"] Excitement about the impending trip to Sweden for the Ystad Jazz Festival grew a bit when the festival’s Itta Johnson sent Lucas Gohlen’s photographs of the monastery known as GrÃ¥brödraklostret (Greyfriars Abbey). It is one of … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="XhJm9sqoTcALAYgcGsq0bBddfKXvasUh"] Answering one word in my Wall Street Journal piece yesterday about Willis Conover, Matt Armstrong (pictured) posted on his blog a clarification of the effect of the Smith-Mundt Act. Mr. Armstrong is a member of the Broadcating Board … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="1L2mASMHch6L96KsT61GAObUX5o7sQjl"] Howard Rumsey, the 1940s Stan Kenton bassist who went on to become a key figure in southern California jazz, died on July 15. He was 97. Although he continued to play the bass, Rumsey became famous as the entrepreneur who led the band … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="zbZpy4ORjfdOHJwduuZdr0Pz4Te9uLkR"] In a week or so, I will be heading to the Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival. Now in its sixth year, the festival in this ancient town on the Baltic shore has become one of Europe’s prime summer music events. The schedule includes … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="CnOSQhsVS95Clt7jeRono6Bo9Im29stB"] This is the 90th birthday of Cal Tjader (1925-1982). Tjader may have been best known for his pioneering Latin jazz, but in the late 1940s and early ‘50s with the Dave Brubeck Trio, he was respected for his mainstream drumming. … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="TZoxnqwOyksm4hvgrqsAI9vPzvwJrbyZ"] Patrick Goodhope reports that on this evening's broadcast of his program Avenue C his guest will be Maria Schneider. He will talk with her at 9:00 pm EDT about her recent album The Thompson Fields. To hear the discussion, go to … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="rNlup2zO1VNkePGfUuq6DhtoDwx4ohqE"] Steve Provizer’s comment about Bill Hardman’s off-center trumpet embouchure in last weekend’s Horace Silver video reminded me of other trumpeters with unconventional mouthpiece placement. There are many examples. Hardman’s, … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="5CmKLz89MiZp0hOSmYugrCc4XZEMEGkG"] In art, there is a bright line of quality above which categories do not matter. The best works of Mozart, Picasso, Charlie Parker and Laurence Olivier—to pick four names out of the stratosphere—are at a level of … [Read more...]

In the course of his career as a leader, Horace Silver (1928-2014) included in his band many of the most prominent young jazz musicians of the twentieth century. The quintet he took to Denmark in 1968 for the Jazz Omkring Midnat (Jazz Around Midnight) series was not together long, but the chemistry … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="3xxFBGJblDfpL1YA8SzgMmZvu25ge6qJ"] Organist Eddy Louiss died on June 30 in a Paris hospital. He was 74. His long career included widely praised albums with tenor saxophonist Stan Getz and pianist Michel Petrucciani. Louiss became an organist when he was a member of the … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="Ng3P59k8dqaUlOEzGI2gD4dhUmx4L977"] On his weekly broadcast today, Jim Wilke presents a band of New Yorkers and Seattleites whose performance was a highlight of an increasingly important Seattle jazz festival. Here is Jim's announcement: The Lucas Pino No Net Nonet … [Read more...]

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. –Benjamin Franklin America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves. –Abraham … [Read more...]