[contextly_auto_sidebar id="5AXye00P2BTp7BdkIct1VCcxJLktYcIy"] April 2015 is the twelfth observance of National Jazz Appreciation Month. Founded at the Smithsonian Institution in 2002 by the jazz scholar, Duke Ellington biographer and musician John Edward Haase, the celebration is intended, in … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="4FcDec2oTETmAj4V4FCfeigjADhTq5nX"] The master trumpeter, composer, arranger and bandleader Thad Jones would be 92 if he had lived to celebrate his birthday yesterday. He died in 1986. Fortunately for us, Jones practiced his profession in an age of ubiquitous recording. … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="7L1GIH379jXN9DmExTprgG1ltOMFmKCM"] When Stan Kenton was asked where jazz was going next, he said, “Tomorrow night we’ll be in Detroit.” It is in the nature of creative music that the question cannot be answered. Still, it would be less than human for someone who … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="GOfxNe37WBkuH9kfXJz7FXgF5QwDsXhO"] Spike Wilner is a pianist who operates two jazz clubs in New York City with his partners Mitch Borden and Lee Kostrinsky. Smalls and Mezzrow are within a short walk of one another in Greenwich Village. They present familiar artists … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="qq6BLQZ5iAErC2ab2gbwzVw3pU1VjbvS"] Blogging has been slow recently, or some days nonexistent, because I am deep into the writing of notes for a compilation of recordings by pianist Jan Lundgren. The project is less demanding than the annotation for his recent album All … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="mPL18fCbLM1EF2uD0dF9C2Tbiz0lHje7"] In 1990, Concord Records put together a collection of recipes provided by jazz artists, writers and other folks associated with the music. The project came up when I was in the thick of my bread-making phase. There were weeks when I … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="bKmr911toIYUp9iVyZHpXNjlGrF9SWGg"] St. Patrick’s Day arrives bringing a reminder of a record that never was. In the 1960s Paul Desmond and guitarist Jim Hall, frequent collaborators in those days, came up with an idea for an album of Irish music. In their … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="hY7Mx5ayqzAEkSCb5gr6tOpvk5wE6anT"] Jim Wilke keeps producing broadcasts on his Jazz Northwest that are hard to resist, so it’s hard to resist alerting you to them. Here’s his announcement about tomorrow’s program. The poll-winning, critically acclaimed … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="KdI5xkLO92ClLwLXnqdEu3LsdfydbuX6"] The Rifftides staff now and then checks in on alto saxophonist Logan Strosahl and pianist Nick Sanders, intrepid young musicians based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, where so many rising jazz artists are headquartered. … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="EaBP2fip1Y5nXYPdmNUSG1Hz4j63Foo9"] Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art. You've got to learn … [Read more...]

Charlie Parker died 60 years ago today. But, as John O'Hara said when he heard that George Gershwin was gone—I don’t have to believe it if I don’t want to. Neither do you. Charlie Parker, alto saxophone; Miles Davis, trumpet; Duke Jordan, piano; Tommy Potter, bass; Max … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="gaIjudZZyTnCFSoCgoTPbtMyafvjCnLI"] When the news is discouraging, when—to quote James Moody quoting his grandmother—”Folks is dyin’ what ain’t never died befo',” it’s good to have someone to turn to for reassurance. Whether in the close jazz … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="qMTAM8tMmENxFW7ap9TDi7tlNH2J1WWs"] The sad notes keep coming. Trumpeter Lew Soloff died early today. His daughter, Laura Solomon, reported on her Facebook page that Soloff was with her and her family on their way home from a New York restaurant when he collapsed with a … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="o1b0xkmXVcZcsRvH4UDz2RlwB7E5PFJe"] On his Jazz Northwest broadcasts, Jim Wilke frequently features recordings of live performances that we feel compelled to tell you about. One of them will be aired later today. Here is Mr. Wilke’s announcement about a tribute to a … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="pBUaXqZa8OEfAwMVpzE63OgLJTePCXXV"] Clark Terry’s fans, friends and admirers around the world will no doubt be thinking of him, and listening to him, for a long time. Since his death on February 21 at the age of 94, CT’s vast legacy of recordings is coming in for … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="LAoQTKamBx1WRdYjGu755OgSW4pxbhk8"] In the year of his 70th birthday, Dizzy Gillespie toured extensively in Europe with prominent jazz artists who had played with him in various phases of his career. On February 27, 1987, he gave a concert at the Theaterhaus in … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="0w2aqF9fzeiPTQrR0hzo4zhwdhu0g5Hx"] The influential jazz producer, record company head and author Orrin Keepnews died today at his home in El Cerrito, California. He would have been 92 tomorrow. Keepnews guided the recording careers of Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Wes … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="20nD2eqoinXmHzHNIPt7gyVhsESVaBtL"] In answer to a Rifftides reader’s request, pianist Alan Broadbent expanded here last month on a concept that he mentioned in an earlier comment. The reader wanted to know what Broadbent (pictured below, left) meant by, “a swinging … [Read more...]

For those Mount Hood devotees who enjoyed seeing the mountain’s west side the other day, here’s how it looks facing east. This is the view from the town of Mount Hood, Oregon, The original post misidentified Mount Adams as Mount Hood. The real Mount Hood replaces that shot. Apologies to … [Read more...]