New Orleans is mourning the death on Friday of Charles Neville, saxophonist and ever-smiling presence in the Neville Brothers band from 1977 to 2015. Charles was a focal point with his brothers Cyril, Art and Aaron in the family band that became one of the city’s most successful and … [Read more...]

In the aftermath of Bob Dorough’s death on Monday, increased attention is going to his extensive body of songs. Among Dorough’s greatest admirers is the Swedish trumpet player and singer MÃ¥rten Lundgren. With bassist and vocalist Helle Marstrand, pianist Sven-Erik Lundequist and drummer Espen … [Read more...]

Forty-nine years ago this evening at the White House in Washington, DC, the president of the United States hosted a party honoring Duke Ellington on his 70th birthday and presenting him with the Presidential Medal Of Freedom. The United States Information Agency produced a short film about the … [Read more...]

Word has arrived that Bob Dorough died today at his home in Mount Bethel, Pennsylvania. He was 94. Dorough’s greatest fame in popular culture stemmed from his central role in the enormously successful television series Schoolhouse Rock. The program informed and entertained children, and many … [Read more...]

CATCHING UP When albums come out of the mailbox in batches of five, six, eight a day—or more—it is possible to overlook, set aside or misplace some that are worthy of mention. Here are recommendations of a few that have languished on the shelf, some briefly, others for a while. Joe Lovano … [Read more...]

Until the past couple of days, spring around here was a date on the calendar and a rumor." But now there are tulips in front of the house. And magnolia blossoms 15 feet from the kitchen window. Next on the list was azaleas, but during my cycling expedition, there was not an azalea to be found. … [Read more...]

Danny GreenTrio Plus Strings, One Day It Will (OA2) Pianist Green’s earlier album" Altered Narratives put strings with his trio on three tracks. The melding with a string quartet worked nicely. One Day It Will carries the idea to album length, with excellent arrangements by Green and smooth … [Read more...]

Leave it to readers to keep the Rifftides staff up to date. Otherwise, it might have skipped my attention that this is Denny Zeitlin’s 80th birthday. As you will momentarily see and hear, Zeitlin has retained the vigor and style that have helped keep him one of the most consistently interesting … [Read more...]

There is only one reason to bring you Manny Albam’s “Poor Dr. Millmoss”—it is a delight. It’s from the first of two Jazz Greats Of Our Time sessions that the prolific composer and arranger (pictured) recorded in the 1950s—one with star east coast musicians, the other with some of the … [Read more...]

Cecil Taylor, a pianist who fashioned his music from myriad styles and sources, died yesterday in New York. He was 89. From his earliest recordings in the mid-1950s with bassist Buell Nieidlinger, drummer Dennis Charles and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy, Taylor pursued daring and swam upstream … [Read more...]

Composer, saxophonist, bandleader and author Bill Kirchner is the subject of two new articles that recognize his decades of creativity. One piece is in the new issue of Allegro, the magazine of New York’s American Federation of Musicians local 802. The other is in the Canadian bassist Steve … [Read more...]

The Jazz West Coast list serve often begins its posts with the names of jazz people born on the current date. The April 3 list is a profusion of such names. • Paul Abler, guitar, 1957 (d. March 3, 2017) • Jamie Davis, vocal • Doris Day, vocal, 1922 • Terry Deane, tenor sax, 1972 (d. … [Read more...]

Recent Listening In Brief Edward Simon, Sorrows & Triumphs (Sunnyside) Pianist-composer-arranger Simon is engrossed in jazz, his heritage in Latin-American music and his studies of Buddhism. Sorrows & Triumphs blends those and other aspects of his preoccupations, and Simon refines the … [Read more...]

Today, Rifftides offers the second installment of scholar, teacher and historian Jeff Sultanof’s essay on pleasures and challenges in the craft of correcting arrangements. " Exploring Buried Treasure in Plain Sight, Part 2 By Jeff Sultanof A tangent: I was fortunate to have Jerome Graff … [Read more...]

Technical difficulties are delaying the posting of part 2 of Jeff Sultanof's guest article on arrangers and arranging. We think that help is on the way but, after all, this is a holiday weekend. Watch this space. In the meantime, however long that may turn out to be," Rifftides wishes you and … [Read more...]

Rifftides is delighted that Jeff Sultanof has agreed to contribute another piece. A distinguished expert on arrangers and arranging," Mr. Sultanof is the author of the invaluable book Experiencing Big Band Jazz: A Listener’s Companion. One of the book’s running themes is the essential role of … [Read more...]

Chummy MacGregor was born on this day in 1903 and died on March 9, 1973. It’s the rare listener to modern jazz who doesn’t know of the MacGregor composition “Moon Dreams,” which he wrote when he was a pianist and arranger with his longtime boss Glenn Miller. “Moon Dreams” is one of the … [Read more...]

The John Coltrane project described in this post is completed and awaiting release by Concord Jazz. However—I am happy to report—other free lance assignments have developed. Rifftides progress slows a bit while I work on them, but in the next few posts we’ll call your attention to recent … [Read more...]