Bill Crow has played bass with several of of the world's leading jazz artists, Stan Getz, Art Farmer, Marian McPartland and Gerry Mulligan among them. A terrific writer, he has developed a sidebar career as a story teller. His books of anecdotes, great fun to read, are standard reference works, but … [Read more...]

Every day is a special day. That is not a random feel-good statement; it reflects the reality that most, if not all, days on the calendar are co-opted in the name of a cause, a movement or an aspiration. Today—April 7—for instance, is World Health Day. It is also No Housework Day, Beaver Day and … [Read more...]

Early this year I had the privilege of writing notes for Forrest Westbrook's only album as a leader. The CD was released five-and-a-half decades after it was recorded and two years after the pianist's death at 86. The album is bringing overdue notice to Westbrook, a quiet, almost secretive figure in … [Read more...]

The Jazz Journalists Association has announced its 2016 roster of “Jazz Heroes.” JJA president Howard Mandel describes them as, “activists of positive influence—in collaborations with grassroots groups and supporters in 23 U.S. communities.” The numbers in the photograph correspond to … [Read more...]

It’s April First. We have no Rifftides April Fool jokes, tricks, cartoons or gag shots. We have Billie Holiday. This is a 1937 recording with Buck Clayton, trumpet; Buster Bailey, clarinet; Lester Young, tenor saxophone; Teddy Wilson, piano; Freddie Green, guitar; Walter Page, bass; and Jo Jones, … [Read more...]

We spent our brief vacation in Santa Barbara, California, visiting our son. We slept, walked, hung out with friends and ate well. One of the walks was to the end of Stearns Wharf, a pier that extends nearly 2,000 feet into the Bay. The wharf is a major attraction for tourists and pelicans. The … [Read more...]

No vacation can deflect the march of time. I am sad to learn of the death yesterday at 84 of the trombonist, cellist, composer and music educator David Baker. He is pictured here, on the right, with Dizzy Gillespie. Baker founded Indiana University’s Jazz Studies program and taught at IU for … [Read more...]

The temperature doesn’t feel like spring, but tell that to the backyard apricot tree. See what it did overnight. Soon, the orchards around here will all be in full bloom. I hate to leave them behind, but the family is going to take a few days’ vacation and so is Rifftides. In the meantime, … [Read more...]

You may recall that a couple of weeks ago the Rifftides Monday Recommendation was an"  album of recently discovered recordings by the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra. This evening, the PBS News Hour closed with correspondent Jeffrey Brown’s report on the continuing story of the band and the … [Read more...]

Continuing this week’s string of birthday observances that began with Quincy Jones and Charles Lloyd, we turn to Bill Frisell. The guitarist was born on this date in 1951. Frisell’s stylistic versatility allows him to operate with ease and authenticity in genres from folk to free jazz. One might … [Read more...]

Whether or not the river runs green where you live, this is the special day when the whole world is Irish. We bring you two versions of what may well be the most loved of all Irish songs. The first is a concert performance by Renee Flemming, the second a piano solo by Bill Evans from his Time … [Read more...]

Yesterday’s post about Charles Lloyd’s birthday brought this communiqué from vibraharpist and pianist Charlie Shoemake. Thought you and your readers might get a chuckle out of this 1957 photo of Charles Lloyd and Charlie Shoemake appearing at the Lighthouse in a college jazz festival. The … [Read more...]

This is a busy week for birthdays. We can’t observe them all, but yesterday Quincy Jones’s 83rd was a must, and today is saxophonist and flutist Charles Lloyd's 78th. More or less coincidentally with his recent Portland Jazz Festival appearance, Lloyd released a new album, I Long To See You. It … [Read more...]

Quincy Jones turns 83 today. His story has had many chapters since his early days in Seattle and his apprenticeship in Lionel Hampton’s trumpet section. Jones went on to lead an important big band, score motion pictures, become one of the most successful producers in pop music and be named an NEA … [Read more...]

Ernestine Anderson died on Thursday at the age of 87 at a retirement home in Seattle. The singer’s career of more than six decades began in that city when she was a teenager. She went on to be featured with the big bands of Johnny Otis and Lionel Hampton, record the classic album Hot Cargo and … [Read more...]

For your weekend listening pleasure, let’s follow up on the previous post’s review of organist Larry Young’s album of recently discovered Paris recordings. Here is “Paris Eyes” (a coincidental title) from Young’s Blue Note album Into Somethin’. Young, organ; Sam Rivers tenor saxophone; … [Read more...]

Larry Young In Paris: The ORTF Recordings (Resonance) “There it sits,” I once wrote of the Hammond B3 organ in notes for a Don Patterson album.* “There it looms. A weapon. No, an arsenal of tubes, transistors, capacitors, resistors. A machine of infinite volume, an engine of amplification, … [Read more...]

Art Farmer, flugehorn; Jim Hall, guitar; Steve Swallow, bass; and Walter Perkins, drums, play Sergio Mihanovich's "Sometime Ago," on Ralph J. Gleason's public television series Jazz Casual, ca. 1963. They recorded it on this timeless album. … [Read more...]