Dizzy Gillespie was born in Cheraw, South Carolina, 100 years ago today. Aren’t you glad? On an anniversary so auspicious, the Rifftides staff debated whether to attempt some sort of omnibus review of the career of a man so vital to the development and creative expansion of jazz. No, we decided, … [Read more...]

Anthony Smith, Masters of The Vibes (Marimba Productions, Inc.) Smith’s book includes a timeline that traces the history of the vibraphone, which early in its life began to be popularly known to its players and to listeners simply as vibes or the vibes. The greater part of the book consists of … [Read more...]

Danny Janklow, Elevation (OutsideIn Music) Having made a splash in Los Angeles, the alto saxophonist Danny Janklow debuts on record as a leader showing confidence and depth of musicianship uncommon for a 28-year-old. Joined by the veteran pianists John Beasley and Eric Reed and a handful of … [Read more...]

The poet Richard Wilbur died over the weekend. He was 96. A former poet laureate of The United States and the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, Wilbur was praised and criticized for the consistency of form in his poems, which were beloved, and sometimes condemned, in the poetry world for being orderly … [Read more...]

Of course, you are not superstitious about Friday the 13th; it’s all of those silly other people. Thelonious Monk must not have been worried by it, or he wouldn’t have named a composition after this notoriously risky day. Its performance was one of the highlights of his celebrated recording made … [Read more...]

Grady Tate died on Sunday at his home in New York City. He was 85. His wife Vivian said that he had dementia. In demand for years as a drummer, he was encouraged by Peggy Lee to begin singing publicly and launched a new career as a vocalist. Tate’s professional debut was with the organist Wild … [Read more...]

Rifftides readers may recall that three years ago I was asked to spend a few days in Los Angeles interviewing Bill Holman for a documentary about his life and music. The dean of living jazz arrangers is 90 years old, still at the helm of his big band and the idol of arrangers around the world who … [Read more...]

This is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Thelonious Monk. I've never given it much thought, but if you’re astrologically inclined it makes sense that he was a Libra. From the beginning, some fellow musicians and close listeners recognized Monk’s unique abilities and piquant musicality. … [Read more...]

The time when most recordings came from a handful of major labels is" long past. As I have observed—with only" enough exaggeration to make the point—now, every 18-year-old tenor player can be a record company. He or she can take advantage of technology and economies of scale that make it … [Read more...]

From Hollywood comes an announcement by The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts that on October 15 the Harlem Quartet will perform at the center. The ensemble from upper Manhattan specializes not only in the usual suspects among classical composers for string quartet—Schubert, Grieg, … [Read more...]

Speaking of that cooperative venture with pianist Bill Mays (weren't we?), on his website Bill posted the answer to a problem that may have stumped some Rifftides readers. Here is his solution: Ah, technology…when Doug Ramsey and I recently made our concert, A Brief History Of Jazz … [Read more...]

It is unlikely that computer virtuosos Ryan and Trenton at Efcom, the Mac Store, used wrenches and screwdrivers to revive the Rifftides headquarters computer. Still, whatever tools and methods they employed, their magic brought the machine back to life much sooner than the estimate of several days. … [Read more...]

Increasingly, radio and television newscasts include stories in which anchors interview correspondents in the field. That is part of a pattern: reduced news budgets, smaller staffs and greater dependence on the survivors of newsroom cuts. Anchors, of course, also conduct interviews with newsmakers, … [Read more...]

Wynton Kelly Trio, Wes Montgomery, Smokin’ In Seattle (Resonance) The Resonance Records label’s stream of previously unreleased music includes a collaboration of guitarist Wes Montgomery (1925-1968) and pianist Wynton Kelly (1931-1971) that is a major addition to the discographies of both … [Read more...]