From time to time, Rifftides readers have suggested that in evaluations of music I should pay more attention to sound quality. Like many musicians and critics, although certainly not all, I concentrate more on the notes than the reproduction. Once when Paul Desmond and I were listening to an ancient … [Read more...]

Let's all take the weekend off. We deserve it. See you next week, maybe as early as Monday. … [Read more...]

In the 1970s, Red Garland told me about the pianists who influenced him when he was learning. He mentioned Nat Cole, James P. Johnson, Luckey Roberts, Teddy Wilson and Bud Powell. Then he said, Tatum, of course was the master. He was Mr. Piano. The first time I heard a Tatum record--I think it was … [Read more...]

When you play music you discover a part of yourself that you never knew existed.--Bill Evans The purpose of art is not the momentary ejection of adrenaline, but rather the lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity.--Glenn Gould Sometimes when I sit down to practice and there is no … [Read more...]

Saxophonist, composer, arranger, band leader and educator Bill Kirchner is also a broadcaster. For several years, the Jazz From The Archives series has been airing on Sunday nights on WBGO-FM in Newark, New Jersey, just across the river from New York City. It is also heard on the worldwide web. … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader and keen-eared critic Larry Kart writes about the June 15 item below:  Lovely singing by both, but LaRosa will be news to some of us. As it happens, I'm old enough (b. 1942) to vaguely remember him from his Arthur Godfrey days, have heard since then that he was excellent on … [Read more...]

The Frank Sinatra-Peggy Lee video generated a batch of interesting comments and a lead to a clip featuring Lee and Julius LaRosa, a singer we don't hear much about these days...but should. Points of interest: LaRosa at ease riding on Nelson Riddle's arrangement of a little-known … [Read more...]

Anyone with a large compact disc collection will understand the difficult choice I faced: get rid of several hundred CDs (at least), build a wing on the house to accommodate the collection or find a way to make the existing shelves hold more. The point of desperation was approaching, fast. Then a … [Read more...]

James Carter, Present Tense (Emarcy). When he burst onto the jazz scene from Detroit in the early '90s, Carter's virtuosity on an arsenal of woodwinds sometimes overrode content in his music. After a three-year recording hiatus, he reappears with no loss of dazzle and with the benefits of … [Read more...]

Mark Stryker of The Detroit Free Press sent the following comment about the current DVD in Doug's Picks: In honor of your DVD - Sinatra and Peggy Lee. "Ooh." Among all the other good things in this clip: Sinatra's chops. How about that effortless low F at 1:54. Ooh.   … [Read more...]

Please direct your attention to the center column, where under Doug's Picks you will find new recommendations for three CDs, a DVD and a book. … [Read more...]

Every once in a while, news appears to remind us of the extent to which jazz has become an international art form and field of study. For example: The third annual Romanian Jazz Education Summit will begin July 5, and last until July 10, 2008. All jazz music educators and most Romanian jazz … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Ian Bradley writes: I have been meaning to write for a while to say how much I enjoy reading Rifftides. I was prompted to write following your two most recent posts on Bill Finegan and Billy Strayhorn. Whilst Glenn Miller's music is often denigrated in jazz circles - criticised … [Read more...]

Billy Strayhorn, Duke Ellington's creative alter-ego, continues to connect with old audiences and find new ones. His music is for everyone, but it is no surprise that Strayhorn's story and songs move the gay community, in which he has become a symbol and icon. The Gay Mens Chorus … [Read more...]

Great artists pay homage to Billy Strayhorn's God-given ability and mastery of his craft. Because he had a rare sensitivity and applied himself to his gifts, he successfully married melody, words and harmony, equating the fitting with happiness. -- Duke Ellington  'A' Train was born without any … [Read more...]

Bob Brookmeyer sent this message today: Bill Finegan passed peacefully on today with his son James and his daughter Helen by his side. He was a hero, a dear friend and one of the most gifted arrangers we have ever had. Somewhere an orchestra sounds better. Finegan was an arranger who gave Glenn … [Read more...]

Here's something I've been saving for a slow day--that is, a day when I haven't prepared a new posting. It's Freddie Hubbard in 1962 at age twenty-four, getting famous with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. To many, this was the Blakey band. It had Wayne Shorter, Curtis Fuller, Cedar Walton, … [Read more...]

If someone wants to play music you do not have to get a ruler or whips to make them practice.--Thelonious Monk. They would tell me to practice, and they would get on my case, but only because they knew that's what I wanted to do. They never really did pressure me. They wouldn't have made me take … [Read more...]

The Rifftides staff has no more intention of making this blog a birthday watch than of making it a death watch, although there is an endless supply of both phenomena. However, on the Jazz West Coast listserve, Desne Villepigue pointed out that yesterday was the eighty-fourth anniversary of Hal … [Read more...]