Herman Leonard died last Saturday in Los Angeles at 87. A master of backlighting in smoky atmospheres, and of meticulous darkroom wizardry, Leonard photographed images that caught the mood of music-making by some of the most significant jazz artists of the 20th century. For an obituary, see the New … [Read more...]

With too many Rifftides posts lately about the deaths of prominent figures in jazz, it was good to hear from someone who documents the work of young musicians. The message came from Randy Cole in Montreal. I've been making a number of short films, and I wanted to share one with you. Most of my … [Read more...]

In a world darkened by ethnic conflicts that tear nations apart, Canada stands as a model of how people of different cultures can live and work together in peace, prosperity, and mutual respect.—Bill Clinton Canada is the linchpin of the English-speaking world.—Winston Churchill Canada is … [Read more...]

From this morning's bike ride, good news for apple lovers: abundance and, for mid-August, nice color. September looks promising. … [Read more...]

Abbey Lincoln died today in New York. The singer and actress was 80 years old. After meeting Max Roach when he played drums on one of her record sessions in 1957, Ms. Lincoln came under his sway in her approach to music and in uncompromising civil rights activism. She and Roach married in 1962 and … [Read more...]

The average jazz listener—whoever that might be—may never give a thought to how his favorite musicians learned their art. There was a time, long past, when most professional jazz artists reached proficiency through on-the-job training. Music departments in institutions of higher education … [Read more...]

Jessica Williams, Touch (Origin). It would have been difficult to imagine that Williams might exceed what she achieved in her 2009 solo concert recording The Art of the Piano. Yet, less than a year later she returned to Seattle's Triple Door and gave this recital glowing with her customary pianistic … [Read more...]

Dana Hall, Into The Light (Origin). Drummers who flaunt their technique can be enemies of music when their busyness becomes the center-ring distraction in a band. Dana Hall is a busy drummer, but in his case that's a compliment. He accompanies with waves of rhythmic patterns surging and swelling … [Read more...]

In his few years, Oliver Nelson achieved major success as a composer and arranger in jazz and in the Hollywood studios. His first big band collection, Afro-American Sketches (1961), made it clear that he was an important new talent. His Blues And The Abstract Truth with an all-star septet that … [Read more...]

Jim Wilke, known worldwide for his Jazz After Hours satellite radio program, also runs a popular weekly broadcast featuring musicians from the Pacific Northwest. He sent this alert about the first program in a new series. It will present music from a major festival that ended last weekend. Centrum … [Read more...]

The alto saxophonist Lee Konitz's inventiveness and boldness have seldom flagged. As his recent recordings demonstrate, he continues to embrace adventure and risk. If his repertoire is stocked with pieces that he revisits time and again—"All the Things You Are," "I'll Remember April," "Body and … [Read more...]

Jazz listeners who derided the sing-along records and TV shows that made Mitch Miller rich and famous in the 1950s and '60s tended to forgive him the shallowness of his pop pap because he played with Charlie Parker. Miller died over the weekend at the age of 99. See Matt Schudel's excellent obituary … [Read more...]

Arizona's once-open arms close into fist —Headline, Yakima (Washington) Herald-Republic, 8/3/10 … [Read more...]

If you live in New York City or are headed there this week, you're in luck. Rebecca Kilgore is in town, sharing a gig at Feinstein's with the tenor saxophonist Harry Allen and his quartet. I learned of her appearance by way of The Wall Street Journal's WSJ.com, which has a New York Culture section … [Read more...]

Thanks to Rifftides reader Dave Lull for alerting us to a jazz blog that debuted in early July. Although its name, Tony Flood's House Of Hard Bop, could hardly be more specific, in his first post Mr. Flood opened with a demurer: Hard Bop: the Dominant, Not Sole, Focus Here. I care a great deal about … [Read more...]

Martin Drew died in London on Thursday of a heart attack. Drew was the house drummer at Ronnie Scott's club for 20 years beginning in 1975. He gained his greatest fame during the same period and into the new century playing around the world in Oscar Peterson's trios and quartets. Recently he led his … [Read more...]

The French jazz critic Alain Gerber is also a novelist, or vice versa. He published a book in 2007 that may be a biography, a novel, or both. Its title in French is Paul Desmond et le côté féminin du monde, or Paul Desmond and the Feminine Side of the World. That is the extent of my ability to … [Read more...]

The Rifftides staff is pleased to announce a new batch of the recommendations known as Doug's Picks. Please proceed to the center column, scroll down and, there they are. … [Read more...]

This rhetorical padding is used by countless politicians and, it seems, nearly everyone interviewed or quoted in the news, from President Obama on down: "...going forward..." and its variant, "...moving forward..." Take it out of virtually any sentence and you will lose no meaning. Example: "The … [Read more...]