Occasionally, Rifftides reposts something from the past that still has relevance. Charles Mingus is relevant. From August 24, 2007 2007 is turning out to be a bonanza year for a Charles Mingus sextet that existed for a few months forty-three years ago. All of the band's members are dead. Its … [Read more...]

When he was a member of the Ray Charles band in the 1950s, saxophonist David “Fathead” Newman was frequently the featured soloist on Paul Mitchell’s and George V. Johnson’s “Hard Times.” It became a musical signature that Newman made indelibly his own. He featured the piece for the rest … [Read more...]

Karolina Strassmayer & Drori Mondlak—Klaro!, Of Mystery and Beauty (Lilypad) From the drama of the album’s opening cymbal splashes to the fading piano notes at its end, alto saxophonist and flutist Strassmayer and drummer Mondlak reaffirm their mastery of small group music that is as … [Read more...]

A cycling expedition this morning found me in cattle country. As I pulled over to enjoy the bucolic scene, who should pop into my mind but Kenny Dorham. A native Texan who spent considerably more time with his trumpet than with cows, Dorham recorded a piece with a title that allowed him, by … [Read more...]

Vijay Iyer & Wadada Leo Smith, A Cosmic Rhythm With Each Stroke (ECM) Pianist Vijay Iyer’s new collaboration with the ceaselessly adventurous trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith stems from the closeness they developed when Iyer was a member of Smith’s Golden Quartet late in the late 1990s. In his … [Read more...]

This begins a survey of a few of the albums that have arrived lately and in a few cases, not so lately. There are still observers who claim—against massive evidence to the contrary—that jazz is a dying genre, but even if a reviewer went without sleep and lived to be 135, he would have no chance … [Read more...]

Joe Temperley is dead at 86. In recent years, he was a mainstay of the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra. In the 1970s following the death of Harry Carney, his glorious baritone saxophone sound anchored the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Temperley was born on September 20, 1929 in Crowdenbeath, Scotland … [Read more...]

The Jazz Journalists Association has announced its 2016 awards nominees. For Lifetime Achievement In Jazz, the nominees are: Bucky Pizzarelli Charles Lloyd Chick Corea Bobby Hutcherson Henry Threadgill For Musician Of The Year: Charles Lloyd Maria Schneider Vijay Iyer Rifftides … [Read more...]

Bing Crosby introduced “Love Thy Neighbor” in a scene with Ethel Merman and Leon Errol when Crosby co-starred with Carol Lombard (both pictured left) in the 1934 motion picture We’re Not Dressing. Crosby followed up with a hit record of the song for Brunswick. The record was on the charts for … [Read more...]

Carla Bley, Andy Sheppard, Steve Swallow, Andando el Tiempo (ECM) As Carla Bley looks forward to her 80th birthday on May 11, ECM is releasing one of the most absorbing albums of her career. From the first notes of her three-part title suite, the Brahmsian gravity of Bley’s writing transfixes … [Read more...]

Just three weeks after Bill Holman conducted the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra in three concerts of his works, this Sunday Jim Wilke’s Jazz Northwest will broadcast portions of the final concert. Here are details from Jim. One of the world's most widely known and respected jazz arrangers, … [Read more...]

It would accomplish nothing to detail the struggles of the past week and a half that have kept the Rifftides staff occupied. It is enough to report that I spoke with perhaps every technical expert, supervisor and engineer of a major printer manufacturer— several of them many times. What started as … [Read more...]

Rifftides has every intention of getting back into full swing as soon as possible. Endless negotiations, tests and conversations (no shouting, so far) with technical experts of a hardware manufacturer have consumed hours that would have been better spent listening, writing and posting. I hope to … [Read more...]

With his 89th birthday a month away, the master composer, arranger and band leader Bill Holman is working as much as he cares to, which seems to be a lot. In recent years, Holman has frequently led bands in the US and Europe in works of his that are universally considered classics. Last weekend, the … [Read more...]

Today’s cycling expedition took me through the upper reaches of apple country where the orchards are in bloom. It was a fairly mild winter around here but there was plenty of snow in the mountains, so there’s a good flow of irrigation water and the blossoms are signaling that there will be a … [Read more...]

Vinyl is becoming the preferred medium of listeners to a variety of genres, particularly of young people who counter the traditional youthful notion that anything from their parents’ generation must be shunned, even ridiculed. Come to think of it, for people under 30 music on vinyl is more likely … [Read more...]

In January, Rifftides reader Donna Shore sent a remembrance of Bryce Rohde, the pianist and music director of the Australian Jazz Quartet. Outside of Australia the talented musician's achievements received too little notice when he died in January. Updated slightly, here is Ms. Shore's tribute, with … [Read more...]

The Charles Lloyd Quartet having a good day in Europe 50 years ago. Listen for the Stravinsky quote at 1:46. Charles Lloyd, tenor saxophone; Keith Jarrett, piano; Cecil McBee, bass; Jack DeJohnette, drums. From Radio Télévision Belge de la Communauté Française, ca. 1966. The quartet also … [Read more...]