Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

Darrell Grant And The Territory

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="S5WESJfTK5g0yBhV8N78NspebE7b8FUl"] According to the Oregon Encyclopedia, Darrell Grant moved to the state in 1997, “in search of a place where his music could have a greater impact.” Not that the pianist had been ignored. He had worked for Roy Haynes, Tony Williams … [Read more...]

Ahmad Jamal At The Newmark

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="nh9K9YapbrE4zywFJaT9rF9bs0gw1Ga7"] Ahmad Jamal’s Portland Jazz Festival concert focused primarily on pieces from his recent Saturday Morning CD. Since early in his career, Jamal has been a master at making rhythm work for him. That hasn’t changed, although in his … [Read more...]

Brian Blade Fellowship

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="wOJIrcSCgzazzWflLpdBluHg5GbHW0Ps"] For the 2014 Portland Jazz Festival’s second concert, drummer Brian Blade reassembled his band called the Brian Blade Fellowship. Some of the music was from the past of the group that he founded in 1997. Other pieces previewed their … [Read more...]

Elias Gives Festival A Joyous Launch

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="Y3XakZtwscTwzk6yecBPyH8HXCQYT78z"] Last evening’s opening concert of the 2014 Portland Jazz Festival found the pianist and singer Eliane Elias in joyous spirits that led her to, but never quite over, the edge of giddiness. With bassist Marc Johnson, guitarist Graham … [Read more...]

Gorge Update

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The Columbia River Gorge looked like this today, only wetter. Motoring through the Gorge even in a driving rainstorm is one of the world's great travel experiences. Portland is only a bit rainy at the moment—par for the course at this time of year. The Rifftides staff is off to listen to … [Read more...]

To Portland

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="49WlZad9P8KUxbp8Ls9Txd7Rub1gzEyD"] Tomorrow morning, I will have the thrill of driving through south central Washington State and along the Oregon side of the magnificent Columbia River Gorge (pictured) to the Portland Jazz Festival. My schedule permits attending only … [Read more...]

Other Matters: Bernstein, Seriously

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="FX82O5JvxUdb1nA2djAzSAzV480vrCXQ"] Leonard Bernstein took a bit of a thrashing here recently in the Sid Caesar spoof and some of the comments that followed it. So, it is only fair to let Maestro Bernstein (1918-1990) redeem himself. The Rifftides recommendation of Rudy … [Read more...]

Compatible Quotes: Sid Caesar

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="HU00ai7YYJBZAe0ExvAWn1IysVA0yPJK"] The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the other three, HE was a genius. The remote control changed our lives, ... The remote control took over the timing of the world. That's why you have road … [Read more...]

Weekend Extra: Another Dorough

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="lapUkO86aSrxeQtf9LEN5GoQMEoYKAzr"] The new Rifftides recommendation of Bob Dorough’s CD Eulalia mentions that his daughter Aralee, who appears on the recording with him, is a symphony musician. Ms. Dorough has been the principal flutist of the Houston Symphony since … [Read more...]

New Recommendations

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="N8ta7NTF9rwU0dvzoCNTq6uJmnZrrIZ5"] The latest Rifftides recommendations include four CDs, three by established artists and one by a young drummer who has captured the attention of major musicians and a wide audience. We also call your attention to a book about a pianist … [Read more...]

CD: Bob Dorough

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Bob Dorough, Eulalia (Merry Lane Records) In addition to endearing vocal performances of several of his best songs, Dorough gives listeners what may come as a surprise to many; his ingenuity as an arranger. The deceptive simplicity of “Eulalia,” the album’s sole instrumental, is one of … [Read more...]

CD: Rudy Royston

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Rudy Royston, 303 (Greenleaf Music) In his debut as a leader the young drummer from Denver (area code 303) fronts a septet of his generation’s more adventurous players. The eclecticism of the music encompasses Radiohead’s “High and Dry,” the Mozart motet “Ave Verum Corpus,” a drum … [Read more...]

CD: Alan Broadbent

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Alan Broadbent, Heart to Heart (Chilly Bin) Broadbent’s first solo piano album, recorded in 1991, was a highlight of Concord’s Maybeck series. He has continued to perform with a trio and with Charlie Haden’s Quartet West, but to many he is known primarily as the arranger-conductor for … [Read more...]

CD: Frank Wess

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Frank Wess, Magic 201 (IPO) The final track of the great tenor saxophonist and flutist’s final album is a lovely performance of Sammy Cahn’s 1937 standard “If it’s the Last Thing I Do,” giving the CD added poignancy. Wess died in October, 2013, after decades as one of the most respected … [Read more...]

Book: Derrick Bang

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Derrick Bang, Vince Guaraldi at the Piano (McFarland) Bang’s 2012 book is less a full-fledged biography than a comprehensive survey of Guaraldi’s career loaded with anecdotes. The pianist was a committed jazz artist who became famous through indelible identification with a major phenomenon … [Read more...]

Passings: Alice Babs, Dick Berk

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="3NM20mGoxXkQHajU57Nqf2HhgTo7BxuX"] Alice Babs, the Swedish singer whom Duke Ellington once called “probably the most unique artist I know,” died today in her native Sweden. She was 90. Her breakthrough came in 1940 in the Swedish film Swing it magistern (Swing It, … [Read more...]

Kerouac On Gaillard

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="92brL0LqS78k0MCnlJHqmjyhS3iic4hh"] Before we leave our Slim Gaillard phase (at least for now), it seems appropriate to recall that he is a transcendental presence in Jack Kerouac’s definitive Beat Generation novel On The Road, published in 1957. One hallucinatory … [Read more...]

Vout! Meet Slim Gaillard

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="zM5a8Ti6hcMfFbnN8aenImwnrEy8mM6l"] In a gathering of people even younger than I, when I mentioned Slim Gaillard three of them said in unison, "Who?" "Flat Foot Floogie," I explained, "Cement Mixer, Putti Putti," "Matzoh ball Oroony," and—just to make sure they … [Read more...]