A reader sent a link to a photograph published by Joe Gromelski in the current issue of Stars and Stripes, the US military newspaper. Frankfurt, West Germany, March, 1956: The stars of the "Jazz at the Philharmonic" tour pose for a photo backstage at the Frankfurt Zoo Theater. In front are Herb … [Read more...]

There may be no happier place to celebrate New Year’s than New Orleans’ French Quarter. For those not in the Crescent City or unable able to get there on short notice, the Rifftides staff offers consolation, the classic late 1980s version of “Auld Lang Syne” by Harold Dejan (1909-2002) and … [Read more...]

Again this year, I swore off voting in what has become an epidemic of jazz popularity contests, also known as critics polls, with one exception. I don’t seem to be able to say no to the persuasive Francis Davis, who conducts the National Public Radio Jazz Critics Poll. How I voted on the day I … [Read more...]

Occasional Rifftides Moscow correspondent Svetlana Ilicheva (pictured) sent a report that may bring summer memories to those of us in the grip of the northern hemisphere winter. She writes: The other day I found this video that reminded me of the annual jazz cruise on the Moskva River, organized by … [Read more...]

It is not a Rifftides custom to accompany reviews with record companies’ electronic press kits, but in the case of the Monday Recommendation in the previous exhibit, it may be helpful. Few people are familiar with Mette Henriette, a situation that seems likely to change. Here’s the video. … [Read more...]

December 26th is the birth date of several notable musicians including Bill Crow (b. 1927), John Scofield (b. 1951) and Dwight Dickerson (b. 1944). We wish them a happy birthday and remember Monty Budwig (1929-1992). We have performances by each. At last year’s 92nd Street Y concert in New York … [Read more...]

The pianist Jack Brownlow (1923-2007), known to his friends as Bruno, was a constant correspondent. Over the years, he stayed in touch by letter, postcard, telephone and recordings. At Christmas time he brightened the season for our family with music he taped at the grand piano in the living room of … [Read more...]

On his Jazz Profiles blog, Steve Cerra is featuring pianist Bill Evans’s The Secret Sessions collection recorded at New York’s Village Vanguard. A fan named Mike Harris taped Evans and his trio at the club many times from 1966 to 1973. It is likely that Evans eventually knew about the … [Read more...]

As promised in early December, the Rifftides staff will not load these pages with jazz takes on Christmas music, traditional or otherwise. We noted that there would be exceptions. Today’s exception is “England’s Carol,” John Lewis’s orchestral variations on the traditional English Carol … [Read more...]

Bill Crow now and then allows me to borrow an anecdote from his Band Room column in Allegro, the monthly publication of New York Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians. Here’s an item from his December column. When Gerry Mulligan formed a quartet in Los Angeles and hired Chet Baker on … [Read more...]

“The birdbath looks like a coconut cake,” my wife said. In addition to beauty, the sight offered two benefits. 1. It was a reliable indicator of how much snow we had last night on the cusp of a winter that the forecasters said not long ago was likely to be mild and possibly … [Read more...]

New Christmas songs of quality are rare. Musician, composer, producer and lead sheet maven Don Sickler suggests that he has found one. The song began life with a title that hardly suggested Christmas. Its composer, the late pianist Eddie Higgins (pictured), recorded it as "Moonlight On Kinkakuji" … [Read more...]

The veteran Delaware broadcaster Patrick Goodhope, a Frank Sinatra specialist, points us to his weekend broadcast celebrating Sinatra’s centenary. He writes: I generally shy away from uncomfortable self promotion. It does not suit me. However, I am filled with the spirit of celebrating … [Read more...]

John Coltrane, A Love Supreme: The Complete Masters (Impulse!) John Coltrane (1926-1967), was already a musician of major standing and influence when he recorded A Love Supreme on December 9, 1964. In the less than three years of life remaining to him, the album became a watershed in the … [Read more...]

Four young veterans of Seattle's busy jazz scene will be featured in Jim Wilke's Jazz Northwest broadcast on Sunday afternoon. Wilke recorded the new group headed by saxophonist Mark Taylor and pianist Dawn Clement at the recent Earshot Jazz Festival. Their quartet includes drummer Byron Vannoy and … [Read more...]

Trumpet virtuoso Bobby Shew sent a history of his instrument. The trumpet started as a weapon of war. It later became a signal/alert tool. This led it to become utilized for fanfare announcements. It then moved into the world of chamber music and then to orchestral music. Next came its’ … [Read more...]

Svetlana Ilyicheva, our occasional Rifftides Moscow correspondent, reports that she returned from a weekend vocal festival at the Moscow Jazz Art Club greatly impressed by Victoria Tchekovaya, a young singer from the city of Novosibirsk. Svetlana writes: Ms. Tchekovaya performed several songs … [Read more...]

Guitarist Jim Hall (December 4, 1930 – December 10, 2013) would have been 85 years old today. Building on what he absorbed from Charlie Christian, Hall came to prominence in Chico Hamilton’s and Jimmy Giuffre’s groups in the mid-1950s. He went on to collaborate with Ben Webster, Bill Evans, … [Read more...]

The Rifftides staff does not plan to observe the season by loading the blog with jazz versions of Christmas songs. There may be exceptions. The first exception is a video brought to our attention in a message from the irrepressible German alto and soprano saxophonist Nicole Johänntgen. In the … [Read more...]