Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

CD: Bill Holman

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The Bill Holman Band, Hommage (Jazzed Media). On the verge of his eightieth birthday, Holman retains the energy, wit, freshness and multi-layered conception that have made him a standard-setting arranger for fifty years. "Hommage á Woody," is a three-part suite that captures aspects of Woody Herman … [Read more...]

CD: Anat Cohen

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Anat Cohen, Poetica and Noir (Anzica). Two new CDs illuminate several facets of the remarkable Israeli reed artist who has become a star of the New York jazz scene. In Poetica, she plays only clarinet, with a rhythm section on some tracks, a string quartet on others. In Noir, with a medium-sized … [Read more...]

CD: Roland Kirk

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Roland Kirk with Jack McDuff, Kirk's Work (Prestige). This reissue in the Rudy Van Gelder Remasters series presents Kirk long before he added "Rahsaan" to his name, before he became famous, when he was a tornado roaring out of the Midwest playing three saxophones at once, whistles, flute and siren … [Read more...]

DVD: Chicago Underground Trio

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Chicago Underground Trio, Chronicle (Delmark). The music is from the trio's Delmark CD of the same name. The latest expression of the avant garde Chicago cornetist and composer Rob Mazurek, it is alternately explosive and reflective and somehow leaves the listener with a sense of calm. The video by … [Read more...]

Book: Miles Davis

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Richard Cook, It's About That Time: Miles Davis On and Off The Record (Oxford). Yes, another book about Miles Davis. Neither a biography nor a discography, Cook's book has elements of both. The best way to read it is sitting next to your CD player with the fourteen Davis albums Cook analyzes as … [Read more...]

Other Matters: Robert Schumann

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Confession: Until recently, I could not get with Robert Schumann. I found him dull. The nineteenth century composer and pianist is, by general agreement, in the front rank of German romanticism, so I assumed that the shortcoming was mine. I was right. I wasn't paying attention. What caused me to … [Read more...]

Alvin Batiste, Gone

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The news of Alvin Batiste's death of an apparent heart attack early Sunday morning came as I was preparing to write a few words about his new CD. A great clarinetist, a masterly transmitter of the jazz tradition, Batiste was scheduled to play Sunday at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival with … [Read more...]

David Friesen’s New Trio

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The bassist David Friesen, an explorer, does not rule out the customary jazz trio instrumentation of piano, bass and drums; he had a superb trio with pianist Randy Porter and drummer Alan Jones. But for him the traditional configuration does not define the trio concept. Friesen has led trios in … [Read more...]

Hotel Pianist: Soldiering On

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Hotel Pianist no longer blogs, thanks to having been outed by a numbskull fellow blogger. From time to time, though, she sends e-mail messages. This is the latest one: Musician Jokes I have two musician jokes for you today: 1. I'm often bored enough to drool at the piano. One way I try to counteract … [Read more...]

What Is Jazz?

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Louis Armstrong said that if you had to ask, you'd never know. That did not prevent Sid Caesar from attempting to answer the question on Your Show Of Shows in 1956. Have a good weekend. … [Read more...]

A Video Visit With Ellington

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Duke Ellington's urbanity and sophistication are part of jazz lore, but as the years go by there are fewer people who had direct exposure to his personality. Rare video of a 1963 interview provides a generous sample of Ellington's charm. It also demonstrates the carefully crafted line of patter that … [Read more...]

That Conover Concert

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A few days ago, Rifftides alerted you to a concert posthumously honoring the Voice of America's Willis Conover, whom we described as one of the most effective public diplomats in US history. Washington correspondent John Birchard, a veteran VOA broadcaster, attended the concert and sent this … [Read more...]

Other Matters:The Wind

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A Rifftides reader chided me for not writing more often about cycling. My thought is that anyone's cycling experiences are intensely interesting to himself and that everyone he tells about them will be bored. However, since I have a new road bike, I don't mind telling you that I took it out for a … [Read more...]

Three Little Bops

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Rifftides reader Bruce Tater came across a classic Warner Bros. cartoon from the Looney Tunes series. He called our attention to Three Little Bops, a perfectly preserved piece of 1950s hipness. Stan Freeburg is the narrator. Shorty Rogers did the music. Notice the stylized drawings of the nightclub … [Read more...]

Reaction To Jessica Williams

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Jessica Williams linked readers of her blog to the Before & After test she allowed me to give her for the current issue of Jazz Times. In the test, she reacted to recordings by ten pianists. To read some of the comments she received, go to Currents and scroll down. Oddly, Rifftides has received no … [Read more...]

Weekend Extra: Sonny’s Sunset

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National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Saturday included a report by Howard Mandel on Sonny Rollins, who recently founded his own record label, Doxy. In a sound bite, Rollins asked Mandel not to identify him as a corporate executive of a record company. "Don't do that to me man," he laughed as he … [Read more...]

Good Old LaFaro And Previn

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The past couple of days I have been listening to two CDs containing fresh old music and enjoying it as much as if hearing it for the first time. LaFaro Scott LaFaro had a rich musical life before he joined the Bill Evans Trio in 1959 and helped change the role of the bass in interactive … [Read more...]

Conover Honored. It’s A Start

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There will be a concert this weekend in Washington, DC, honoring Willis Conover, the Voice of America jazz broadcaster who was one of the most effective public diplomats in US history. The nation he served did little while he was alive to recognize his contributions and since he died in 1996 has … [Read more...]