Bing Crosby introduced “Love Thy Neighbor” in a scene with Ethel Merman and Leon Errol when Crosby co-starred with Carol Lombard (both pictured left) in the 1934 motion picture We’re Not Dressing. Crosby followed up with a hit record of the song for Brunswick. The record was on the charts for … [Read more...]

Carla Bley, Andy Sheppard, Steve Swallow, Andando el Tiempo (ECM) As Carla Bley looks forward to her 80th birthday on May 11, ECM is releasing one of the most absorbing albums of her career. From the first notes of her three-part title suite, the Brahmsian gravity of Bley’s writing transfixes … [Read more...]

Just three weeks after Bill Holman conducted the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra in three concerts of his works, this Sunday Jim Wilke’s Jazz Northwest will broadcast portions of the final concert. Here are details from Jim. One of the world's most widely known and respected jazz arrangers, … [Read more...]

It would accomplish nothing to detail the struggles of the past week and a half that have kept the Rifftides staff occupied. It is enough to report that I spoke with perhaps every technical expert, supervisor and engineer of a major printer manufacturer— several of them many times. What started as … [Read more...]

Rifftides has every intention of getting back into full swing as soon as possible. Endless negotiations, tests and conversations (no shouting, so far) with technical experts of a hardware manufacturer have consumed hours that would have been better spent listening, writing and posting. I hope to … [Read more...]

With his 89th birthday a month away, the master composer, arranger and band leader Bill Holman is working as much as he cares to, which seems to be a lot. In recent years, Holman has frequently led bands in the US and Europe in works of his that are universally considered classics. Last weekend, the … [Read more...]

Today’s cycling expedition took me through the upper reaches of apple country where the orchards are in bloom. It was a fairly mild winter around here but there was plenty of snow in the mountains, so there’s a good flow of irrigation water and the blossoms are signaling that there will be a … [Read more...]

Vinyl is becoming the preferred medium of listeners to a variety of genres, particularly of young people who counter the traditional youthful notion that anything from their parents’ generation must be shunned, even ridiculed. Come to think of it, for people under 30 music on vinyl is more likely … [Read more...]

In January, Rifftides reader Donna Shore sent a remembrance of Bryce Rohde, the pianist and music director of the Australian Jazz Quartet. Outside of Australia the talented musician's achievements received too little notice when he died in January. Updated slightly, here is Ms. Shore's tribute, with … [Read more...]

The Charles Lloyd Quartet having a good day in Europe 50 years ago. Listen for the Stravinsky quote at 1:46. Charles Lloyd, tenor saxophone; Keith Jarrett, piano; Cecil McBee, bass; Jack DeJohnette, drums. From Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française, ca. 1966. The quartet also … [Read more...]

Bill Crow has played bass with several of of the world's leading jazz artists, Stan Getz, Art Farmer, Marian McPartland and Gerry Mulligan among them. A terrific writer, he has developed a sidebar career as a story teller. His books of anecdotes, great fun to read, are standard reference works, but … [Read more...]

Every day is a special day. That is not a random feel-good statement; it reflects the reality that most, if not all, days on the calendar are co-opted in the name of a cause, a movement or an aspiration. Today—April 7—for instance, is World Health Day. It is also No Housework Day, Beaver Day and … [Read more...]

Early this year I had the privilege of writing notes for Forrest Westbrook's only album as a leader. The CD was released five-and-a-half decades after it was recorded and two years after the pianist's death at 86. The album is bringing overdue notice to Westbrook, a quiet, almost secretive figure in … [Read more...]

The Jazz Journalists Association has announced its 2016 roster of “Jazz Heroes.” JJA president Howard Mandel describes them as, “activists of positive influence—in collaborations with grassroots groups and supporters in 23 U.S. communities.” The numbers in the photograph correspond to … [Read more...]

It’s April First. We have no Rifftides April Fool jokes, tricks, cartoons or gag shots. We have Billie Holiday. This is a 1937 recording with Buck Clayton, trumpet; Buster Bailey, clarinet; Lester Young, tenor saxophone; Teddy Wilson, piano; Freddie Green, guitar; Walter Page, bass; and Jo Jones, … [Read more...]