[contextly_auto_sidebar id="exUJ7J1d3pgXzk4wi7BnL9Zl7n39yWLl"] The 2015 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival wrapped up last Friday. Mark Hertsgaard’s Daily Beast review of the festival includes this lament. Yet for all of Jazz Fest’s celebration of the music, food and culture of New … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="sMGM8cG08ryrXOYHzEgAZ4vXksuVIp6M"] Like any good independent self-promoting professional, Mike Greensill sends occasional email messages about what he and his wife, Wesla Whitfield, are up to. He’s a pianist. She’s a singer. They live in California’s Napa Valley, … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="0eCEhVVbni7MEcrKlqvuPB6dd1e0BMWx"] Dan Brubeck, Live From The Cellar: Celebrating The Music And Lyrics Of Dave & Iola Brubeck (Blue Forest Records) On the eve of his 60th birthday, Dave and Iola Brubeck’s drummer son releases his first album as a leader. A … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="xRG2A6Gv5JCvsnBdHTT52uCQ6nHA50li"] Thanks to Rifftides reader Marla Kleman for sending an alert to the posting of a film about one of the late pianist Frank Strazzeri’s loveliest albums. Strazzeri died last year at about this time. He was 84. The album was his … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="nDnPhnnh7Io7xR70f8Q9sTXDrUtcKyMP"] A trove of jazz recorded in the 1950s became available again when Naxos of America acquired the Bethlehem Records catalogue a couple of years ago and began an extensive reissue program. Gus Wildi, who was born and grew up in … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader David Perrine writes: In the spirit of your occasional feature, I offer the following quotes. (As you know, a notated F# on alto sax would normally be a concert A— except in the quantum physics-like world of harmolodics.) ‘Poise’ has an F# for its tonic on the Eb alto and … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="o0uwy5uS05X3CNDmZ3oMZNKhLka4ikmt"] Pianist Les McCann and saxophonist Eddie Harris played the Gene McDaniels song “Compared to What” at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1969. Bret Primack, The Jazz Video Guy, recently put video of the performance on his Facebook page. … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="ecItH5WQ1tMBMrJxZCBeX9Lfmz748aEo"] From today’s cycling expedition through the hills of apple country, there is evidence that prospects seem good for a bountiful crop next fall. If a late snowstorm in the Cascade Mountains melts enough water into the high reservoirs … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="u7LroeU3Df1cRKGDsC8SRWYmr10DqJ8L"] Following the April 8 Rifftides post about Carol Sloane and Carmen McRae, Bill Kirchner sent us a link to a German television program featuring McRae in 1968 with the formidable Clarke-Boland Big Band. Co-led by drummer Kenny Clarke … [Read more...]

To me, music is entertainment - what else can it be? In fact, it's the only language I know of that's universal. What is a soul? It's like electricity - we don't really know what it is, but it's a force that can light a room. My version of 'Georgia' became the state song of Georgia. That was a … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="1MnnYxB4LiuDaCbGHN6uqq2Bhr80lXdG"] Yesterday was Billie Holiday’s 100th birthday. Rarely has the centenary of a jazz artist received as much notice. There have been tributes galore, special television and radio reports and long articles in major publications. This … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="S99vrJ0cVK5Kb3jyKGEIvA6sc3MS8c1A"] On her blog, Carol Sloane (pictured above) observes the birthday of Carmen McRae (1920-1994), the woman she calls her, “girl friend, confidant and Sister Singer Superior.” The two singers had a long, rare, honest, sometimes … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="BUtzqNO7PDbS6vNYTAvpJWGdH2BVCix9"] Pianist Bill Mays and trumpeter-flugelhornist Marvin Stamm are just back from a European tour. One of their trip’s highlights was a March 20 concert in Cologne, Germany, with the formidable WDR Big Band. The theme was New York State … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="SN6yrk2ck3nmTVgccX4rpL186fOa8WOW"] Gerry Mulligan would have been 88 years old today. Until a year or so before his death in 1996, Mulligan was playing and writing at the top of his game. To remember him, let’s listen to one of the classic compositions played by his … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="QlBAauLBM0PeZg7ToUetZGOpNaMPr4ch"] Rudresh Mahanthappa, Bird Calls (ACT) Listeners steeped in the music of Charlie Parker may be able to detect clues to the inspirations for Mahanthappa’s new compositions in this stimulating collection. If doing so adds to their … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="UxRvj0k7FmrlgRiptgew9SeuwS2H9wlE"] The bossa nova phenomenon infused jazz and popular music with fresh ways of thinking about rhythm and about story telling through music. It arrived when rock and roll was firmly established, the Beatles were beginning to dominate … [Read more...]

I suppose it figures that on April Fools' Day, something like this would be making the rounds of web pranksters. You may have difficulty finding it in your corner record store or online—unlike this early Monk gem from his Complete Blue Note Recordings. Thelonious Monk, piano; … [Read more...]