Alto saxophonist and composer Miguel Zenón is one of twenty-five winners of 2008 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowships. The grants were announced today. Each of the awards is for $500,000 over five years, to be used in any way the recipient decides. Although not officially … [Read more...]

I know, I know; Doug's Picks is overdue for new entries. They'll be coming along, but the Rifftides staff is engaged in a number of projects, including preparation of a reading from Poodie James, with strings. More about that later. Among other things, I'm writing the notes for a … [Read more...]

Dave Frishberg's friendship and collaborations with Dick Sudhalter go back more than three decades. He sent this appreciation. I want to say something about Dick Sudhalter and the sadness of his passing . I'm staggered by Sudhalter's contributions to jazz literature and criticism. There are plenty … [Read more...]

Please do not miss Terry Teachout's newly posted remembrance, in poetry and video, of Richard M. Sudhalter. Go here. … [Read more...]

Richard M. Sudhalter gave elegance and exactness to speech, writing and music-making. Dick's perfection of expression came in natural flows, whether he was writing,  playing the cornet or chatting over dinner. Gene Lees observed that Dick was the only person he knew who always spoke in … [Read more...]

John McNeil and Bill McHenry have reemerged with their quartet, cleverly timing their next appearance and new affiliation with the fuss surrounding that other current phenomenon, a massive worldwide financial crisis. Here's the announcement popping up in e-mail in-boxes from Truckee to Tokyo. This … [Read more...]

Scenes along the way on this morning's road bike ride through Cottonwood Canyon and environs"  "  … [Read more...]

Rifftides Washington, DC, correspondent John Birchard watched a DVD of the Modern Jazz Quartet's 1994 35th Anniversary Tour and sent this review.   The 57 minutes were recorded at the Freiburg, Germany, music festival in 1987 and the evening shows the guys in average (that is to say … [Read more...]

The scourge of heroin addiction among jazz musicians of the 1940s and 1950s is central to dozens of stories, novels, poems, plays and movies, most of them dreadful, overwrought clichés. Bad art aside, the monkey on the backs of musicians was real. It rode many of them to their graves. Unhorseing … [Read more...]

I think as long as people can hear a record and hear people like Lester Young on a recording, there will always be a great inspiration for somebody to try to create jazz. - Sonny Rollins No one is original. Everyone is derivative. -- Sonny Rollins There was a period which I refer to as the 'Golden … [Read more...]

Today would have been Cannonball Adderley's eightieth birthday, reason enough to bring you this video of his sextet. The band is Cannonball, his brother Nat, cornet; Yusef Lateef, tenor sax; Joe Zawinul, piano; Sam Jones, bass; and Louis Hayes, drums. The tune is "Jessica's … [Read more...]

Following a brief Rifftides review of the CD reissue of two of Bob Brookmeyer's 1954 quartet recordings, Bill Kirchner wrote to recommend Back Again. It is a Brookmeyer quintet album that I didn't know existed. I acquired it quickly and have been listening to it with interest and pleasure over the … [Read more...]

The publisher of Poodie James has reduced the price of my novel. My slight loss in royalties is your gain. Ordering direct from the publisher benefits everyone on the writing and production end. From a review: I'll cut to the chase: Poodie James is a very good book. Not only is it handsomely and … [Read more...]

With esteem for the United States at a low ebb around the world, the government continues to dismantle the Voice Of America, for more than half a century one of the nation's most effective creators of good will abroad. The Washington Post reports on the latest VOA service to be stilled by the Bush … [Read more...]

On Jazz Wax, Marc Myers's marathon interview with tenor saxophonist, arranger and composer Benny Golson (pictured) started running on September 8 and winds up today. If you are put off by transcribed verbatim interviews, never fear. Myers edits with care, provides appropriate web links and … [Read more...]

The September Jazz Times has my rather long review of Mosaic's box of Lionel Hampton's small-band recordings from the late 1930s and early forties. The five CDs contain a sizeable percentage of the best combo music of the period. From the review: RCA Victor's formula was simple: put the exciting … [Read more...]

Those unfamiliar with The Wall Street Journal, might be surprised to learn of its cultural component. The newspaper's Personal Journal section has frequent profiles, reviews and backgrounders involving painting, sculpture, architecture, literature, dance--the whole range of cultural interests. The … [Read more...]

As I set out for a bicycle ride, this is what I saw across a corner of the garden. It was a good way to start the day. … [Read more...]

The Portland PDX Jazz Festival is thriving. The main message of the 2008 post below is drastically out of date. The Portland community came to the festival's rescue in 2009 and it has been doing fine ever since. For the 2017 schedule, go here."  I kind of like the Bill Frisell review in this old … [Read more...]