The image to the left captures a moment in a short, happy period in the histories of two major figures in the jazz of the late twentieth century. In 1970 bassist Red Mitchell joined Dizzy Gillespie's quintet for a European tour that included concerts in Holland and France. When I recently visited … [Read more...]

The National Endowment for the Arts today announced the class of 2014 NEA Jazz Masters to be inducted early next year. Here are the Endowment’s profiles. JAMEY AEBERSOLD* Educator, Saxophonist, Pianist, Bassist, Banjo player Born in and currently resides in New Albany, Indiana * … [Read more...]

The latest edition of Steve Cerra’s Jazz Profiles features an extensive illustrated history of Supersax. The group of saxophone virtuosos dedicated themselves to performing transcriptions of intricate Charlie Parker solos. In addition, band members played top-grade improvisations of their own. … [Read more...]

As of today, of Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond begins its new existence as an ebook. The hardcover edition has sold out. Used copies are going for as much as $150 on book and auction sites, but new hardbound copies are history. The electronic transformation is good news on … [Read more...]

Five years ago, I started what I intended to be a series of Rifftides pieces about little big bands. This was the rationale: Six to eleven pieces allow arrangers freedom that the conventions and sheer size of sixteen-piece bands tend to limit. Medium-sized groups have been important since the … [Read more...]

Following its May announcement of awards to musicians, the Jazz Journalists Association this week disclosed the winners of its journalism awards for 2013. Congratulations to Willard Jenkins, winner of the award for Lifetime Achievement in Jazz Journalism, to Patrick Jarenwattananon of National … [Read more...]

Risking the appearance of Rifftides becoming an obituary service, I must note the deaths in the past week of two supreme artists of the bebop era, flutist Sam Most and guitarist Johnny Smith. Each of them blazed trails on his instrument and was a major influence on generations of players who … [Read more...]

From time to time, Rifftides reader Svetlana Ilyicheva (pictured) reports about music she hears in Moscow. Here are her impressions of the June 12 concert by the visiting American group known as the Aperturistic Trio and their guest, the trumpeter Eddie Henderson. They played at a royal estate … [Read more...]

Earl "Fatha" Hines, Berlin, 1965, with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, bass; and Alan Dawson, drums. … [Read more...]

Bert Wilson was an undersung musician and an extraordinary man who died earlier this month. An underground hero of saxophonists far beyond the Pacific Northwest where he lived, he was so unusual and so little recognized that Rifftides is departing from our policy of not publishing verbatim … [Read more...]

Ben Tucker, RIP There has been a civic outpouring of affection for bassist Ben Tucker, who died on June 4 in his adopted hometown, Savannah, Georgia. Tucker was killed when a car smashed into his golf cart. He was 82. He moved to Georgia four decades ago after establishing himself as a valuable … [Read more...]

Herb Geller is at home in Hamburg, Germany, recovering from a health setback. Until fairly recently, the octogenarian alto saxophonist’s demanding schedule had him in clubs and at festivals throughout Europe. One of those events was the Darmstädter Big Band’s Kentomania tour featuring music … [Read more...]

The singing was something I got from my father. There were a lot of times where there was a great deal of fodder recorded and played, because there was a market for it - just as there is today. And there were more bad bands than there were good bands - I think that should always be … [Read more...]

My early morning cycling expedition took me nowhere near the Alamo or a Navajo, but I stopped to look at this fella looking at me… …and, naturally, I remembered a recording. That song with words and music by Joe Greene was a big hit in 1947 not only for Woody Herman but also for … [Read more...]

Terence Blanchard, Magnetic (Blue Note) Even in tracks orchestrated with layers of electronic mysteries, a fine sense of chance-taking permeates Blanchard’s return to the Blue Note label. “Don’t Run,” the piece with the least contrivance, is to a considerable degree the album’s most … [Read more...]

Imagine the president of the United States regularly presenting jazz in the East Room of the White House; that is the level of recognition Václav Klaus gave the music. President of the Czech Republic from 2003 to March of this year, Klaus succeeded the Republic’s first president, Václav Havel. … [Read more...]

The story goes that a friend who hadn't seen the great tenor saxophonist Al Cohn in a long time encountered him on the street in New York and said, "Hey, Al, where are you living these days?" "Oh," Al said, "I'm living in the past.” Looking over a string of recent posts, it is clear that … [Read more...]

“Groovin’ High”: James Moody, alto saxophone; Al Haig, piano; Ray Brown, bass; Kenny Clarke, drums. That is from a PBS Sound Stage program, Dizzy Gillespie’s Bebop Reunion 1975. Gillespie sat out one of his most famous compositions, but there is plenty of him in the complete show, … [Read more...]