As nearly everyone in the jazz community knows by now, Joel Dorn died of a heart attack on Monday at the age of 65. Joel's work as a producer covered a broad swath of popular music, but many of us admired him for the integrity of his efforts with jazz artists when he was a key figure at Atlantic … [Read more...]

Frank Morgan, an alto saxophonist who lost and then found himself, died yesterday in Minneapolis, his hometown. He was a few days short of his seventy-fourth birthday. In his last two decades he was productive and relatively contented, rid of his bedeviling habits and living with family members who … [Read more...]

Tom Harrell, Dado Moroni, Humanity (Abeat). In six duets, the incomparable American trumpeter and the veteran Italian pianist achieve the most elusive of artistic goals, beauty through simplicity. Moroni's title tune is good company for five classic standards. I'm glad that this is a CD, not a vinyl … [Read more...]

Marc Myers' current venture on his blog JazzWax is a conversation with the respected writer Dan Morgenstern, who says: You have to be very careful not to let the bonds between you and musicians cloud what you're saying. If you're a writer, your responsibility always is to the reader or listener. If … [Read more...]

Jazz historian Ted Gioia has launched an ambitious new web site. It is called Jazz.com. It encompasses a blog, a forum and an interview section. Its Encyclopedia of Jazz Musicians feature has enormous potential for listeners, musicians and researchers, indeed for the entire jazz community. In its … [Read more...]

Truth is rarely pure, and never simple. -- Oscar Wilde Simple isn't easy. -- Red Mitchell … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Duncan Reid responds to our recent suggestion that trumpeter Jack Sheldon gets less recognition than his talents warrant. A thought on Jack Sheldon's lack of recognition. Like Cal Tjader, Vince Guaraldi, Shorty Rogers, Jim Hall, Conte Candoli, Paul Horn, Jimmy Giuffre and many … [Read more...]

I don't mind being the butt of a joke, if it's a funny joke. --Kenny G I hear that Kenny G is going make a jazz album. It will be called 'Round Noon. --Brad Terry … [Read more...]

Marcus Printup, Emil Viklický Trio, Jazz na HradÄ• (Jazz at Prague Castle) (Multisonic). Trumpeter Printup spent a substantial part of the year touring Europe with pianist Viklický's impressive group. They reached a peak of intensity in this concert introduced by Czech President Vaclav Klaus. … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Ken Deifik writes: Thanks for pointing out the Bill Evans Newsletter availability. It's not easy to download the entire set of 26 PDFs, so I've uploaded an archive of them to this web site. They will be available for only a few days. It's a large archive, over 300 Megs, so dialup … [Read more...]

Glenn Mitchell's account of the 90th birthday party for Howard Rumsey a month or so ago at Catalina's in Los Angeles included this about Jack Sheldon's appearance with his sextet: They played a favorite of Rumsey's, a tune that bassist Jimmy Blanton (his all-time favorite) was remembered in, "Do … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader and Bill Evans specialist Jan Stevens alerts us to a trove of Evans material that until now existed only in print archives. He reports that Win Hinkle, editor of Letter From Evans, has made all issues of his newsletter available free on the internet. Hinkle's subscription … [Read more...]

Well, it's about time. Exigencies of the past few weeks have required putting off a number of duties, including the posting of a new batch of Doug's Picks. But there they are, in the right-hand column. … [Read more...]

Here is a listening tip for Friday, December 7, gleaned from a Dave Brubeck Quartet listserve: To celebrate pianist Dave Brubeck's 87th birthday, Alyn Shipton introduces part of a conversation with Brubeck recorded during his quartet's 40th anniversary tour of the UK, in which he selects some of his … [Read more...]