Graham Collier died last night at home in Greece. A British composer, author and bandleader on the forward edge of modern music, Collier was 74. Early reports are that he succumbed suddenly to a massive heart attack or stroke. From the announcement by Birmingham Jazz: Graham Collier had a major … [Read more...]

Dick Bank has produced a dozen albums led by or featuring the pianist Jan Lundgren. He sends a communiqué about a Lundgren performance in tandem with Bengt Hallberg, a fellow Swedish pianist 34 years his senior. In the bebop years, Hallberg was a favorite pianist of visiting players including Stan … [Read more...]

Jimmy Rowles is an idol of a broad range of musicians and listeners. For more than four decades, he was in demand by premier jazz artists and conductors of studio orchestras. He was a favorite pianist of Ben Webster, Zoot Sims, Al Cohn, Benny Carter, Barney Kessel, Gary Foster and Harry Edison, to … [Read more...]

SONNY, PLEASED Terri Hinte provides this piece of news: Sonny Rollins is one of five individuals who have been selected to receive the Kennedy Center Honors of 2011, it was announced today by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. These individuals' "collective artistry has … [Read more...]

Requests keep coming for photographs from cycling expeditions. Here’s one from the latest. A number of people in the countryside hereabouts raise llamas for fun or profit. High on a hilltop, I came across this herd grazing, which is what llamas do when they’re not sleeping, packing or curiously … [Read more...]

As a followup to the Blue Note story below, here is a brief item from this morning's Los Angeles Times. In this photo, pianist Tom Ranier, bassist Chuck Berghofer, saxophonist Gary Foster and drummer Joe La Barbera perform recently at Charlie O's. The club's wall of jazz stars is on the left. … [Read more...]

Judith Schlesinger writes about one manifestation of a trend that is not confined to New York. For many years, the Blue Note club in NYC, except for Monday night fill-ins, was pretty much booking people who could call themselves "jazz artists" without anybody snickering or throwing … [Read more...]

Bill Crow sent an alert to a clip of the amazing musician Damian Draghici. Tricked by memory, I could have sworn that I had posted the video a few months ago, but the staff’s thorough search of the Rifftides archive turned up no trace of it. Draghici is a Romanian Gypsy as celebrated in his … [Read more...]

Here’s something to engross you as you prepare for a new week. A man named Dan Cohen animates music in the most fundamental and entertaining way. You have no doubt heard the Miles Davis Sextet playing “So What” often enough that you can sing along with the solos. Well, in fairness, it would … [Read more...]

Here is a weekend roundup of diversions or attractions for those Rifftides readers with nothing better to do on an August weekend; dodging Hurricane Irene, for instance. 1: Lester Young. This is one of the rare instances of The President performing on film. It is a kinescope of an episode of … [Read more...]

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Harry Connick and Branford Marsalis vowed to see that New Orleans musicians affected by the storm would get long-term help. Six years of their hard work and the cooperation of hundreds of others are about to make a tangible difference in the city’s musical … [Read more...]

Kristin Korb, you may recall, plays the bass as she sings or sings as she plays the bass. Take your pick; she does both equally well. This video is from a house-party concert she gave last year. The event was called Spring Soiree. The house provided a splendid view of the lights of Los Angeles. … [Read more...]

I had hoped to include in the post below something from André Previn, who was Mr. Rasey’s colleague in the studios and, like him, is one of the few remaining members of the remarkable MGM orchestra of the 1940s and ‘50s. My request for a few words from Maestro Previn made its way to him a day … [Read more...]

Today, trumpet players the world over are celebrating Uan Rasey's 90th birthday. Listeners and moviegoers might be celebrating, too, if they knew that Rasey’s horn is the one they have heard gracing the sound tracks of some of the best-known films from the glory days of Hollywood. Among the … [Read more...]

My peripheral involvement in Bob Belden’s Miles Español project has refired a longstanding interest in music that combines Latin and jazz elements. A story by Larry Rohter in today’s New York Times added more fuel. It is about the restoration and DVD release of a film that played an influential … [Read more...]

At this hour in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Laurie Verchomin is celebrating the 82nd anniversary of Bill Evans’ birth. She is at Alberta College reading from her book about the brief, intense relationship with the pianist that inspired him to write “Laurie.” The composition became a central … [Read more...]

There is more to jazz in Montreal than the sprawling festival that takes place in the Canadian city every summer. Keeping up with developments there is easier because of the work of filmmaker Randy Cole (pictured). Cole’s latest short film is about the influence of a new daughter on the life and … [Read more...]

Gordon Jenkins (pictured) wrote the music and Joe Bishop the words to “Blue Prelude” in 1933. Shortly after, the Isham Jones band introduced the song on record. In the reed section was a young saxophonist and clarinetist named Woody Herman, who ultimately became leader of a cooperative band that … [Read more...]