Halloween is nearly over here in the western US, but the trick-or-treaters are still ringing doorbells in Hawaii, the Marshall Islands, Guam, the Philippines and, for all I know, Tokyo and Beijing. We plied 115 ghosts, ghouls, goblins, vampires, cowboys, ballerinas, spidermen and fairy princesses … [Read more...]

Readers familiar with Jeff Sultanof’s essays for Rifftides on Pete Rugolo and Russ Garcia know the depth of his knowledge and wisdom about arranging and composing. Professionals in many areas of music admire him for his analyses and editing of scores and for his teaching about major figures … [Read more...]

MULLIGAN AND “YARDBIRD SUITE" Part 2 By Jeff Sultanof When Jazz Lines began operation, Rob DuBoff had a meeting with Franca Mulligan and made an agreement. I contacted him about what Mulligan had said to me, and became his editor. Obviously the CJB library was a priority, but Jazz Lines … [Read more...]

If all had gone as planned, in a few hours I would be on an airplane headed east. A bunch of us who wrestled our commissions from the United States Marine Corps a few years ago were going to have a reunion at Quantico, Virginia, the scene of the struggle. Hurricane Sandy put an end to that. Along … [Read more...]

Old Pal Mike Yates mentioned in an e-mail note that he’s going to see his old pal George Amabile for the first time in 40 years. J. Michael Yates (pictured left) is one of Canada’s pre-eminent poets, radio dramatists and prison memoirists. We met in New Orleans in the 1960s and have stayed in … [Read more...]

Last month, we reported on the smoke that filled the Columbia River town of Wenatchee in eastern Washington state. During a visit, it looked like this. Rain, wind and a few high pressure systems later, the fires that blackened foothills of the Cascade Mountains and menaced towns are no longer a … [Read more...]

The Rifftides staff is making its way through a few of the CDs that have accumulated while we paid attention to some of the other matters alluded to in the subtitle of this enterprise. You will find a previous installment two posts below, where October 23, 2012, will live forever in the archive, or … [Read more...]

Rifftides readers in the UK or planning to be there next month, or those with internet capability, may be interested in this communiqué from John Gill, partner of the late composer, arranger and bandleader Graham Collier. The London Jazz Festival in conjunction with the BBC Radio Big Band … [Read more...]

Stacks and boxes of CD review copies surround me, an indication that the music is alive and well or—at any rate—an indication that lots of jazz artists are recording. That’s good. The bad news is that unless someone discovers a way of listening that is other than sequential, it is … [Read more...]

I have no intention of posting about every jazz person’s birthday. There are other sites on the web for that. I have every intention of acknowledging Dizzy Gillespie’s 95th, which is today. The video below finds him sitting in with Johnny Griffin’s quartet at Châteauvallon, France, in … [Read more...]

You may think it’s about time the Rifftides staff gave you new recommendations. So do I. Therefore, merciless taskmaster that I am, the staff has complied by finding three CDs that are quite different from one another, a DVD that has one grand jazz master sitting in with another, and a readable … [Read more...]

Anita O’Day was in Chicago born 93 years ago today. From my notes for the 2009 O’Day Jazz Icons DVD, this is a summary of her importance: Anita O'Day was the last of the great female jazz vocalists who emerged in the swing era. She survived Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee and … [Read more...]

It has just been called to my attention that this is the birthday of Art Tatum (1909-1956). Before the day expires, at least in my time zone, here is one of the few instances of Tatum’s being caught on film. The clip is from the 1947 movie The Fabulous Dorseys. It finds the great man in a jam … [Read more...]

Musicians at the Oregon Coast Jazz Party can count on a busy weekend. If this jewel of a little festival had a theme, it would be compatibility. Regardless of whether the musicians she assigns have previously played together, music director Holly Hofmann assembles the players and singers in … [Read more...]

Hammond B3 organist Atsuko Hashimoto bookended the Oregon Coast Jazz Party. The diminutive bundle of energy from Osaka performed on opening night, again on Saturday and in the Sunday morning wrap session. Her set with drummer Jeff Hamilton and guitarist Graham Dechter began with the ballad “All or … [Read more...]

Holly Hofmann directs the Oregon Coast Jazz Party with the organizational skills of a headmistress, the firmness of a Marine Corps drill instructor and the finesse of a world-class flutist. At the 2012 party, she unsheathed her flute twice, sitting in with the Clayton Brothers Quintet and joining in … [Read more...]