Today is Sonny Rollins’s 88th birthday. He looks back on a lifetime in music that began when he was a teenager in New York City and took him to the heights of his profession, and of creativity unmatched by few artists in any category. It is tempting to bring you a survey of the saxophonist’s … [Read more...]

Scott Reeves Jazz Orchestra, Without A Trace (Origin) Reeves’ second big band album for Origin features players in the top level of New York musicians. Saxophonists Steve Wilson, Vito Chiavuzzo, Tim Armacost and Rob Middleton are among the impressive soloists, along with trombonist Matt … [Read more...]

The admonition above may seem contradictory, since Labor Day was designed to honor" those who labor by giving them the day off. We presume that workers in the US and in Canada (where this is Labour Day), are observing the intent with picnics, ball games, jugs of lemonade and family festivities of … [Read more...]

Pianist and composer Randy Weston, who championed the African origins of jazz, died at home in New York yesterday. He was 92. With his distinctive rhythmic patterns and powerful harmonic progressions, Weston underlined the African heritage that so definitively helped shape the music’s development. … [Read more...]

On Sunday, Jim Wilke’s Jazz Northwest will broadcast a tribute concert with a difference. In the Jim Levitt photograph below, you may recognize some of the distinguished members of the band, among them Drummer Matt Wilson and baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan. Here is part of Jim's … [Read more...]

This summer for the first time in several years, circumstances prevented my covering the Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival. Rifftides reader—and sometimes commentator—John Bolger attended the 2018 festival. After he got back to Ireland, he kindly sent a report about his first trip to Ystad. Here is … [Read more...]

Today is Wayne Shorter’s 85th birthday. The saxophonist and composer’s professional debut was in a brief 1950s stint with Horace Silver. Following service in the Army, he became a key soloist in Maynard Ferguson’s big band, then entered a long, productive period as Art Blakey’s music … [Read more...]

Fred Hersch Trio, Heartsongs (Sunnyside) Sunnyside’s reissue of Hersch’s 1989 sessions reminds us how impressive the pianist was in his recording debut as a leader at the age of 34. Following success as a sideman with Woody Herman, Art Farmer, Jane Ira Bloom, Stan Getz and others, Hersch’s … [Read more...]

This report and those to follow this week must be brief if we are to come at all close to catching up, which is—of course—impossible as long as record companies release recordings in such profusion. Many of those “companies” are struggling artists hoping for publicity, using CDs as business … [Read more...]

The percussionist Jack Costanzo was so closely identified with his instrument that early in his career he became known as “Mr. Bongo.” Costanzo died over the weekend at his home near San Diego, California. He was 98. During his long career he worked with Stan Kenton, Nat Cole, Charlie Parker and … [Read more...]

A few weeks ago on a beautiful early spring day the staff posted a photograph taken from an upper floor of Rifftides world headquarters." We pointed out that in the background was Ahtanum Ridge, the imposing feature that separates the Upper Yakima Valley from the Lower Valley. Today, we got a … [Read more...]

Vibraphonist, pianist and bandleader Charlie Shoemake (pictured right) wrote the other day to relate an" experience involving pianist Jimmy Rowles (1918-1996). Here is Charlie's message: August 19 is the birth date of my (and your) hero Jimmy Rowles. Sometime ago, in a nothing-to-do moment, I just … [Read more...]

For at least the next couple of days we’ll attempt to deal with some of the backlog of albums that accumulated during the week or so when the Rifftides staff was on vacation.   Daan Kleijn, Passages, (daankleijn) Kleijn’s spare format of his guitar with bass and drums allows him … [Read more...]

It’s nice to go traveling, even knowing that the mailman, FedEx and UPS will have delivered more albums than anyone could possibly hear without giving up sleeping, eating and cycling. Catching up with all of that music is out of the question, but we’ll try—ears open, nose to the … [Read more...]

Cy Coleman, A Jazzman’s Broadway (Harbinger Records) Cy Coleman’s success as a popular songwriter and a composer for musical theater overshadowed his effectiveness and influence as a jazz pianist. Nonetheless, as this album reminds us, he could be a spirited improviser whose background as a … [Read more...]

Vacation is almost over. Rested and rejuvenated, the Rifftides staff can’t wait to spring into action after they fly home.As they head back to their duties, the staff want to be sure that you’re up to date on listening opportunities, so they customized this announcement from Jim Wilke about his … [Read more...]

Vacation-bound on an airplane, I heard a woman behind me say, approximately 732 times in a twenty-minute conversation, “I know, right?” I didn’t realize how long that annoying, meaningless phrase has been around." Researching it, I found this 2011 episode from Jerry Scott's and Jim … [Read more...]

The Rifftides staff's demands for a vacation won’t stop until they get one. The only solution is to put the blog on temporary inactive status and hope that when things settle down around here, we can resume blogging with renewed energy and dedication. We plan to be back in about a … [Read more...]