You might assume that “June is Busting Out All Over,” an exuberant Rodgers and Hammerstein show tune from Carousel, is unsuitable as a jazz vehicle. Two Bennies, Goodman and Carter, might argue—if they were around to argue—that there are no bad songs, only bad interpretations. Benny … [Read more...]

Educator and jazz researcher Thomas Cunniffe has posted analysis and additional information about Paul Desmond's solo on "The Way You Look Tonight" from the Dave Brubeck Quartet's Jazz At Oberlin. It was after correspondence with Tom that I began looking into the disparity between the solo on the … [Read more...]

The death this week in New York of Jean Bach at 94 spurred memories of her role in the jazz community going back to the early 1940s. Ms. Bach was not a musician but an advocate whose enthusiasm for and understanding of the art endeared her to several generations of musicians. Her knowledge of the … [Read more...]

Paul Desmond died at the age of 52 on this date in 1977. It was Memorial Day. It had been his custom to join Dave Brubeck and his family to observe the holiday at their Connecticut home, which Paul had christened The Wilton Hilton. This time, his lung cancer made him too weak to consider the trip. … [Read more...]

This time, sadly, it's true; Mulgrew Miller succumbed early this morning to the effects of the stroke he suffered last Friday. Nate Chinen's obituary in today's New York Times offers an appreciation of the pianist and a summary of his career. Miller's solo performance of Duke Ellington's "I Got … [Read more...]

June 1 will be the first of two Charlie Haden Days at the Healdsburg Jazz Festival in Northern California, honoring the bassist’s nearly three quarters of a century as a professional musician. His career began when he was two years old. He will be 76 in August. Among those performing in tribute: … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Don Frese writes: I am now the proud owner of 9 of the 11 recordings of “Yesterdays,” the Bill Holman arrangement, by Stan Kenton featuring Bill Perkins (1924-2003) on tenor saxophone (I am missing one that was issued on a Penn State Jazz Club LP, and a recent Wolfgang's … [Read more...]

Thanks to Rifftides reader John Bolger for his timely alert to a rare opportunity to see a film tied to an important recording by the Dave Brubeck Quartet in the band’s third year. Timely? Yes, because the Brubeck memorial service in New York was so recent and because the Memorial Day weekend is … [Read more...]

After he left his native New Orleans as a teenager, the great clarinetist and, later, soprano saxophonist Sidney Bechet for decades toured widely in the United States and Europe. He was respected for his originality and powerful playing, but he tired of struggling to make a consistent living in the … [Read more...]

The East Room audience included Mrs. Ronald Reagan, Vice President and Mrs. George Bush and a cross section of Reagan administration dignitaries when Chick Corea, Miroslav Vitous and Roy Haynes played at the White House in 1982. … [Read more...]

By special arrangement with the publisher, Rifftides readers may acquire autographed copies of Doug's novel Poodie James at a reduced price. To see a description of the book, read an excerpt and learn how to order, click on Purchase Doug's Books on the blue border above. The special price will be in … [Read more...]

Last night on the PBS News Hour, Robert McNeil and Jim Lehrer remembered their marathon live reporting of the Watergate hearings that led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation. The hearings opened on May 17, 1973. In a special segment on the News Hour, McNeil and Lehrer recalled how their work … [Read more...]

Trumpeter Marvin Stamm and pianist Mike Holober just ended a duo concert at the library in Nyack, a Hudson River village north of New York City. The music was streamed live on the internet and is ready for viewing on the Nyack Library’s website. I snagged this screenshot as Holober and Stamm were … [Read more...]

  At the very moment that last evening’s memorial service for Dave Brubeck got underway, the rumble of thunder penetrated the massive Gothic walls of New York City’s Cathedral of St. John The Divine. A murmur ran through the throng filling the 120-year-old church. With dignity and a … [Read more...]

Veteran Bay Area pianist and trumpeter Dick Vartanian writes: My brother-in-law was entertainment chairman of the Lion's club in the early 1970s. They put on a benefit for the blind every year. He asked me if I could get some people to appear. George Shearing was in San Francisco, so I … [Read more...]

For my first New York visit in too long, nature trumped the forecasters and gave us a beautiful morning. This was the view from my host's apartment across the Hudson River to Fort Lee, New Jersey Let's hope that the weather holds for the Dave Brubeck memorial tomorrow. The service is late in … [Read more...]

So many CDs, so little time. There are hundreds of review copies stacked up around here and no immediate hope of writing in depth about more than one or two. Therefore, I shall write not in depth about several. These mentions—a bit longer than tweets—point you toward albums that have impressed … [Read more...]

There will be a public memorial service for Dave Brubeck in New York City next Saturday, May 11. Brubeck died last December at the age of 91. Along with, no doubt, hundreds of others I will be at the service in the cavernous Cathedral Of St. John The Divine on the upper west side of Manhattan. A … [Read more...]