James Carter, Caribbean Rhapsody (Emarcy) Carter tailors his saxophone virtuosity to “Caribbean Rhapsody” and “Concerto for Saxophone and Orchestra,” by the American composer Roberto Sierra. Sierra studied with György Ligeti, the Hungarian master of tone clusters and chromaticism, but … [Read more...]

Chris Brubeck writes about the death of jazz film producer and director Bruce Ricker: The entire Brubeck family shares in the sorrow and shock of Bruce's death. We were aware of his hospitalization but felt comforted that modern medicine would triumph as usual. This time it didn't and I … [Read more...]

The cycling schedule is full again. So are the rivers around here, swollen with snowmelt from the mountains, and roaring. Here's some of what I saw on a ride this afternoon, a section of the Yakima roaring along muddy and almost into the fields and towns. In the upper center, you see an enormous … [Read more...]

The veteran writer and broadcaster Ted Panken has joined the burgeoning community of folks who blog about jazz. His weblog is called Today Is The Question. I have added it to the blogroll in the right-hand column. If you want to be sure Ted knows what he’s blogging about before you punch him up, … [Read more...]

We are happy to report that the artsjournal.com technical wizards have tracked down and liquidated the gremlin that was disabling the "Older Posts" function at the bottom of the main page. Now, when you click on that command, it will take you to the previous 20 posts. Click on it again, you will see … [Read more...]

There was a sad changing-times story this week in New York City, where it was big news. Elaine’s, the Upper East Side restaurant that for nearly five decades has been a meeting place and hangout for writers, theater and film people and a few musicians, is closing. Elaine Kaufman, who founded the … [Read more...]

Bill Kirchner is a saxophonist, arranger, composer, teacher, editor and historian who finds time to also be a broadcaster. Since 2002, he has been a host on Jazz From The Archives, a highlight in the schedule of WBGO-FM, the Newark, New Jersey, jazz station. He has devoted 99 programs to the work of … [Read more...]

Woody Shaw died 22 years ago this month. A trumpeter of power, taste, a subtle harmonic sense and admirable originality, Shaw was long burdened with critiques that described him as a disciple, if not a copy, of Freddie Hubbard, who was six years his senior. This recording they made together—out of … [Read more...]

The members have voted and the Jazz Journalists Association awards ceremony will be held on June 11 in New York City. Winners will be announced in 39 categories of musicians, writers, bloggers, videographers and photographers. Nominees for Lifetime Achievement in Jazz are Jimmy Heath, Muhal Richard … [Read more...]

Bruce Ricker, the producer-director of a series of documentaries about American musicians, has died. He succumbed to pneumonia on Friday, May 13, at a hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was 68. Ricker’s most recent release was last year’s Dave Brubeck: In His Own Sweet Way. Among his other … [Read more...]

The Miguel Zenon Quartet with Luis Perdomo, piano; Hans Glawischnig, bass; and Henry Cole, drums, play “"¿Que Sera de Puerto Rico?” in 2009 at the Teatro Central de Sevilla, Spain. This was the year following Zenon's winning one of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowships … [Read more...]

In what may have been her motion picture debut, here is Ella Fizgerald at 25 in the 1942 Abbott and Costello comedy Ride ‘Em Cowboy. With her in the sequence are the Merry Macs singing and the Lindy Hoppers lindy-hopping. This was at about the time she had stopped fronting the Chick Webb band and … [Read more...]

Rifftides Reader Andrew Dowd writes: You may recall me as the fellow who hosts a jazz show on KMHD in Portland OR, on Saturday nights. A few weeks ago I got out an old dusty copy of The Dave Brubeck Quartet's Jazz Goes to Junior College, (Columbia CL1034, 1957), that I had in my collection … [Read more...]

Intial reports that Snooky Young died on May 5 were in error. He died on Wednesday, May 11, at home in Newport Beach, California. He was 92. The cause of death was a lung disease that developed recently. Young was that rare combination, a great lead trumpeter who was also a soloist of exceptional … [Read more...]

In January, after looking over the lineup for this year’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, which was laden with rock and pop, I wrote: More than five years after Katrina, with the city recovering but much of it still resembling a post-war nightmare, a party called a jazz festival … [Read more...]

A Rifftides archive browser who identifies himself only as Hank wrote to take me to task: I feel certain you are friends with Miller Williams. My main comment is that if you are going to publish online his poetry, it seems you would want to get it right. There are numerous errors in the … [Read more...]

Lately, readers have asked how to sign up for Rifftides RSS feeds and be notified of new posts and comments. On the right side of the blue bar at the top of the screen, you will see a pair of symbols like this. Click on the one next to "Posts" or the one next to "Comments," or both, and then click … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Debra Kinzler’s notice that a quartet of Clifford Jordan's admirers will revive his Glass Bead Games prompts me to post a slightly revised version of a 2007 piece about a landmark recording that became unavailable for too long. Ms. Kinzler informs us that tenor saxophonist Seamus … [Read more...]