Von Freeman had everything it took to be a world-famous tenor saxophonist. He chose, instead, to remain in his native Chicago for his entire career. Appearances at a few jazz festivals in the US and abroad were the main exceptions. Freeman’s death on August 11 was announced today. He would have … [Read more...]

Video has shown up on YouTube of the last two minutes of the Quincy Jones tribute at the Ystad Jazz Festival in Sweden. (See the item below for details). The celebration ended with the audience joining the musicians and vocalists on stage in singing “We are the World” and Jones thanking … [Read more...]

...that was the name of the Ystad Jazz Festival's concluding event recognizing the career and achievements of its guest of honor. Quincy Jones spent a week in Ystad, listening to music, meeting the press, being wined and dined and reuniting with friends, some of whom he first knew in Sweden 60 years … [Read more...]

More from the Ystad, Sweden, Jazz Festival, as the week wound down. BENNY GREEN Benny Green’s Ystad Theater concert previewed music the pianist is preparing for his next record. His trio played some of Green’s new pieces for the first time, giving the set an air of discovery and, … [Read more...]

Back from Sweden jet-lagged but unbowed after 10 time zones and 16 hours in the air, the Rifftides staff is alternating work and naps, some voluntary. (Pictured: above the Baltic Sea.) Over the next couple of days, I’ll give you brief impressions of performances in the final days of the Ystad … [Read more...]

TOMASZ STANKO Resplendent in houndstooth jacket, tight jeans and two-tone buckle shoes,Tomasz Stanko took to the stage and attached a wireless microphone to his trumpet. He offered a half smile to the welcoming audience, nodded to his colleagues and launched into the first of four unannounced … [Read more...]

One of the premier events of this festival was the appearance of a pair of world-class Swedish pianists separated in age by 34 years. One is a cultural hero of his nation. The other is reaching that status. 46-year-old Jan Lundgren, artistic director of the festival and a resident of Ystad, greeted … [Read more...]

Compact and organized, the Ystad Jazz Festival is nonetheless too loaded with music for anyone to be able to hear more than a generous sampling. Here are a few samples. CLAIRE MARTIN Ystad artistic director Jan Lundgren introduced the group as The Claire Martin Band. Whether or not that is … [Read more...]

The 250 listeners of a certain age who filled Per Helsas gÃ¥rd on Friday got what they came for—reassurance that solid mainstream jazz is alive and well in Sweden. The courtyard surrounded by venerable half-timbered buildings rang with the brawny music of three of the country’s best-known … [Read more...]

As the schedule attests, Sweden’s Ystad Jazz Festival is programmed tightly. Over a quick lunch, Iouri Lnogradski of the Russian magazine Jazz.Ru observed that it would be technically possible for a listener to attend everything, but at the price of exhaustion. Rather than sprint from site to site … [Read more...]

The only way a town of 18,000 can bring off a four-day music festival is to involve the community. In Ystad, a summer beach haven in the south of Sweden, a staff or nearly one hundred volunteers and a corps of financial supporters work together for months to create Sweden’s only major jazz … [Read more...]

Just arrived in Sweden to cover the Ystad Jazz Festival this week. Here's the view from the hotel window. It's a tough assignment, but somebody had to volunteer. Reports coming soon. Watch this space. … [Read more...]

The Quincy Jones ABC/Mercury Big Band Jazz Sessions (Mosaic) Preparing for my public conversation with Quincy Jones (two items down), I’ve been reading his 2001 autobiography, chatting with people he knows and listening to his music. The inventiveness, sparkle and audacity of Jones’ … [Read more...]

Pop music too loud and all sounds the same: official (London, July 26, 2012)—(Reuters) Comforting news for anyone over the age of 35, scientists have worked out that modern pop music really is louder and does all sound the same. Researchers in Spain used a huge archive known as the … [Read more...]

In a few days the Rifftides staff flies to Europe to report from the Ystad Jazz Festival on the southern coast of Sweden. Organized by pianist Jan Lundgren in 2010, the festival has developed into one of Europe's most important music events. Among the US contingent August 2-5 will be Benny Green, … [Read more...]

An e-mail announcement from the trumpeter Brad Goode: This Thursday, July 26th: THE BRAD GOODE JAZZ TRIO Brad Goode trumpet Bijoux Barbosa bass Todd Reid drums 6:30 -9:30 pm TREPPEDA'S ITALIAN RISTORANTE 300 2nd Avenue Niwot, CO 80544 303.652.1606 I … [Read more...]

Jessica Williams, Songs Of Earth (Origin) Williams, the Triple Door’s Steinway and the Seattle theater restaurant’s audience collaborate on yet another album of solo pieces by the pianist. The audience gets credit because their attentiveness, appreciation and courtesy help establish the … [Read more...]

Malcolm Harris, the publisher of my Paul Desmond biography, sent this photograph and caption. A great commentary on modern “music” … [Read more...]

Of the many places where I’ve lived, from Choteau, Montana, to Iwakuni, Japan, to San Francisco and New York (mentioning a few), New Orleans is the most unusual, the one most often on my mind. “This is really a banana republic, you know,” my friend Bill Corrington once told me. He loved the … [Read more...]