Rifftides Washington, DC correspondent John Birchard is attending one of the city's major music festivals. Here is his report on the first night. 13th ANNUAL THE KENNEDY CENTER MARY LOU WILLIAMS WOMEN IN JAZZ FESTIVAL May 15, 2008 Review by John Birchard They tried to find a longer name for the … [Read more...]

I took a break from writing this morning and went for a ride with my friend Bianchi Vigorelli (pictured). Here in the lee of the Cascades, it was the first truly hot day of the year. Melted snow is rushing off the mountains, filling the rivers to the tops of their banks, running them fast and muddy, … [Read more...]

After David Remnick took command as editor of The New Yorker in 1998, he curtailed the late Whitney Balliett's contributions to the magazine, relegated him to writing about celebrities like Barbra Streisand and eventually dropped the pre-eminent jazz writer altogether. Characteristically, Balliett … [Read more...]

(Chet) was so sweet when he played, so mysterious. Somehow he was able to express the question mark of life with so few notes. In Italy, we're more sentimental, and we felt that very much. --Enrico Pieranunzi Well, if I could play like Wynton (Marsalis), I wouldn't play like Wynton --Chet … [Read more...]

Chet Baker's life of beauty and pain ended twenty years ago tonight on an Amsterdam sidewalk. He may have killed himself. That is unlikely, in my opinion. He may have fallen from his hotel window. He may have been thrown or pushed. Either way, as hard as Baker was on nearly everyone else in his … [Read more...]

If I had the speed and fluidity of, say, Terry Teachout, I might have finished a spate of non-Rifftides writing assignments sooner--and a book or two on the side. As it is, there's a good chance that I'll return to blogging this very week.   Learn to write well, or not to write at all.--John … [Read more...]

Nine years ago, the clarinetist, improvisational whistler and musical educator Brad Terry hosted in the United States three young musicians he had worked with in Poland. I mean young. Mateusz Kolakowski, the pianist, was thirteen. In this picture from that period, we see him with Terry. Bassist … [Read more...]

One of the pleasures of my trips to New York has been to drop in to the Waldorf-Astoria during the cocktail hour to hear Daryl Sherman. She has perfect taste in songs, seems to know every good one ever written, plays the piano with a repertoire of satisfying and often surprising chord changes, and … [Read more...]

While the staff at Rifftides world headquarters labors over outside writing obligations, Washington, DC correspondent John Birchard fills the gap with his impressions of a concert by a major pianist and his new trio. KENNY BARRON TRIO AT THE KENNEDY CENTER May 3, 2008 Review by John Birchard Any … [Read more...]

Mrs. Rifftides and I spent her birthday far from the madding crowd--and from blogging. We arrived at the Sleeping Lady Mountain Retreat just after a hundred or so conferees had checked out. The sixty-seven enchanted acres on Icicle Creek in the foothills of the Cascades were almost exclusively ours … [Read more...]

Silence is a source of great strength.--Lao Tzu One of the greatest sounds of them all - and to me it is a sound - is utter, complete silence.--Andre Kostelanetz Choose silence of all virtues, for by it you hear other men's imperfections, and conceal your own. --George Bernard Shaw … [Read more...]

Emil Viklický, Ballads And More (ARTA). Writing the other day about FrantiÅ¡ek Uhlí" triggered a search through recently arrived CDs for the latest collection by Emil Viklický's trio. Viklický is the pianist in whose group Uhlí" has long been the bassist. He has collaborated with his … [Read more...]

Jimmy Giuffre could play the tenor saxophone with a rhythm and blues raucousness that reflected his Texas origins. For a time in the 1950s, though, the low-register intimacy of his clarinet was one of the most identifiable sounds in jazz. Giuffre died last Thursday of complications from … [Read more...]

From time to time Rifftides Washington, DC correspondent John Birchard favors us with reviews of musical events in his bailiwick. Here is his latest. JAZZ AT VOA Willis Conover Memorial Concert with a Tribute to Quincy Jones April 26, 2008 Review by John Birchard Quincy Jones is an icon, a legend. … [Read more...]

You may have heard but not seen FrantiÅ¡ek Uhlí", the Czech bassist who works in the Emil Viklický Trio. The Rifftides staff is anticipating a copy of a new recording by Uhlí"'s own trio, a group he has been touring with for five years. In the meantime, video of the Uhlí" trio has shown up on … [Read more...]

In the center column under Doug's Picks you will find a new roundup of recommended listening, viewing and reading. … [Read more...]