Chet Baker's life of beauty and pain ended twenty years ago tonight on an Amsterdam sidewalk. He may have killed himself. That is unlikely, in my opinion. He may have fallen from his hotel window. He may have been thrown or pushed. Either way, as hard as Baker was on nearly everyone else in his … [Read more...]

If I had the speed and fluidity of, say, Terry Teachout, I might have finished a spate of non-Rifftides writing assignments sooner--and a book or two on the side. As it is, there's a good chance that I'll return to blogging this very week.   Learn to write well, or not to write at all.--John … [Read more...]

Nine years ago, the clarinetist, improvisational whistler and musical educator Brad Terry hosted in the United States three young musicians he had worked with in Poland. I mean young. Mateusz Kolakowski, the pianist, was thirteen. In this picture from that period, we see him with Terry. Bassist … [Read more...]

One of the pleasures of my trips to New York has been to drop in to the Waldorf-Astoria during the cocktail hour to hear Daryl Sherman. She has perfect taste in songs, seems to know every good one ever written, plays the piano with a repertoire of satisfying and often surprising chord changes, and … [Read more...]

While the staff at Rifftides world headquarters labors over outside writing obligations, Washington, DC correspondent John Birchard fills the gap with his impressions of a concert by a major pianist and his new trio. KENNY BARRON TRIO AT THE KENNEDY CENTER May 3, 2008 Review by John Birchard Any … [Read more...]

Mrs. Rifftides and I spent her birthday far from the madding crowd--and from blogging. We arrived at the Sleeping Lady Mountain Retreat just after a hundred or so conferees had checked out. The sixty-seven enchanted acres on Icicle Creek in the foothills of the Cascades were almost exclusively ours … [Read more...]

Silence is a source of great strength.--Lao Tzu One of the greatest sounds of them all - and to me it is a sound - is utter, complete silence.--Andre Kostelanetz Choose silence of all virtues, for by it you hear other men's imperfections, and conceal your own. --George Bernard Shaw … [Read more...]

Emil Viklický, Ballads And More (ARTA). Writing the other day about FrantiÅ¡ek Uhlí" triggered a search through recently arrived CDs for the latest collection by Emil Viklický's trio. Viklický is the pianist in whose group Uhlí" has long been the bassist. He has collaborated with his … [Read more...]

Jimmy Giuffre could play the tenor saxophone with a rhythm and blues raucousness that reflected his Texas origins. For a time in the 1950s, though, the low-register intimacy of his clarinet was one of the most identifiable sounds in jazz. Giuffre died last Thursday of complications from … [Read more...]

From time to time Rifftides Washington, DC correspondent John Birchard favors us with reviews of musical events in his bailiwick. Here is his latest. JAZZ AT VOA Willis Conover Memorial Concert with a Tribute to Quincy Jones April 26, 2008 Review by John Birchard Quincy Jones is an icon, a legend. … [Read more...]

You may have heard but not seen FrantiÅ¡ek Uhlí", the Czech bassist who works in the Emil Viklický Trio. The Rifftides staff is anticipating a copy of a new recording by Uhlí"'s own trio, a group he has been touring with for five years. In the meantime, video of the Uhlí" trio has shown up on … [Read more...]

In the center column under Doug's Picks you will find a new roundup of recommended listening, viewing and reading. … [Read more...]

The National Public Radio Jazz Profiles program about Zoot Sims is now up on NPR's web site in streaming audio.  The show produced by Paul Conley and hosted by Nancy Wilson includes memories of the great saxophonist by Bob Brookmeyer, Dave Frishberg, Bill Holman, Harry Allen, Bucky Pizzarelli, … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Nina Ramos listened to Carol Sloane's newest recording, encountered something that disturbed her, and sent this message:   Just finished reading your liner notes and listening to Carol Sloane's Dearest Duke. I liked it very much - except - (and am I the only one to notice?) … [Read more...]

In his new blog Jazz Profiles, Steve Cerrra is running a multi-part series on the late pianist Michel Petrucciani. In the current installment, Cerra discusses how during his period with Blue Note Records, Petrucciani dealt with his Bill Evans influence: To hear a very specific example of this … [Read more...]

John Ellis, Dance Like There's No Tomorrow (Hyena). Ellis's quartet makes party music infected with parade beats, gospel, tango ("Three Legged Tango In Jackson Square"), comedy ("Zydeco Clowns On The Lam") sentiment worn up, rather than on, the sleeve ("I Miss You Molly") and assorted other … [Read more...]

Paolo Fresu, Richard Galliano, Jan Lundgren, Mare Nostrum (ACT). In the hands of three masters, another unusual combination of instruments produces music that can transport listeners into dreaminess unless they are concentrating on the depth of its inventiveness. The Italian trumpeter Fresu, the … [Read more...]

Horace Silver, Live At Newport '58 (Blue Note). It is a treat to hear a newly discovered live performance by the pianist, composer and bandleader whose quintets were among the most interesting and stimulating of the so-called hard bop period. Tenor saxophonist Junior Cook and trumpeter Louis Smith … [Read more...]

Hadley Caliman, Gratitude (Origin). I wrote in Jazz Matters about Caliman in a 1979 performance with Freddie Hubbard's band: As the evening progressed, Caliman's playing took on much of the intensity and coloration of John Coltrane's work, but he is a more directly rhythmic player than Coltrane … [Read more...]