We have all been victims, or beneficiaries, of cranio-melodia-repeatis syndrome. The tune I haven’t been able to get out of my head for several days is “Jeepers Creepers,” the 1938 Harry Warren-Johnny Mercer hit premiered by Louis Armstrong in the film Going Places. The movie had been … [Read more...]

Pianist Paul Bley died on Sunday. He was 83. His family announced his death through ECM Records, a company for which he recorded key quartet, trio and solo albums. Paul Bley, renowned jazz pianist, died January 3, 2016 at home with his family. Born November 10, 1932 in Montreal, QC, he began music … [Read more...]

Mozart is the archetype of the child musical genius. Over the centuries, many successors have been proclaimed. In the long run, few have qualified. The current child-genius nominee is Joey Alexander, a pianist from the Indian Ocean Island of Bali. Whether it is accurate—indeed whether it is fair … [Read more...]

A reader sent a link to a photograph published by Joe Gromelski in the current issue of Stars and Stripes, the US military newspaper. Frankfurt, West Germany, March, 1956: The stars of the "Jazz at the Philharmonic" tour pose for a photo backstage at the Frankfurt Zoo Theater. In front are Herb … [Read more...]

There may be no happier place to celebrate New Year’s than New Orleans’ French Quarter. For those not in the Crescent City or unable able to get there on short notice, the Rifftides staff offers consolation, the classic late 1980s version of “Auld Lang Syne” by Harold Dejan (1909-2002) and … [Read more...]

Again this year, I swore off voting in what has become an epidemic of jazz popularity contests, also known as critics polls, with one exception. I don’t seem to be able to say no to the persuasive Francis Davis, who conducts the National Public Radio Jazz Critics Poll. How I voted on the day I … [Read more...]

Occasional Rifftides Moscow correspondent Svetlana Ilicheva (pictured) sent a report that may bring summer memories to those of us in the grip of the northern hemisphere winter. She writes: The other day I found this video that reminded me of the annual jazz cruise on the Moskva River, organized by … [Read more...]

It is not a Rifftides custom to accompany reviews with record companies’ electronic press kits, but in the case of the Monday Recommendation in the previous exhibit, it may be helpful. Few people are familiar with Mette Henriette, a situation that seems likely to change. Here’s the video. … [Read more...]

December 26th is the birth date of several notable musicians including Bill Crow (b. 1927), John Scofield (b. 1951) and Dwight Dickerson (b. 1944). We wish them a happy birthday and remember Monty Budwig (1929-1992). We have performances by each. At last year’s 92nd Street Y concert in New York … [Read more...]

The pianist Jack Brownlow (1923-2007), known to his friends as Bruno, was a constant correspondent. Over the years, he stayed in touch by letter, postcard, telephone and recordings. At Christmas time he brightened the season for our family with music he taped at the grand piano in the living room of … [Read more...]

On his Jazz Profiles blog, Steve Cerra is featuring pianist Bill Evans’s The Secret Sessions collection recorded at New York’s Village Vanguard. A fan named Mike Harris taped Evans and his trio at the club many times from 1966 to 1973. It is likely that Evans eventually knew about the … [Read more...]

As promised in early December, the Rifftides staff will not load these pages with jazz takes on Christmas music, traditional or otherwise. We noted that there would be exceptions. Today’s exception is “England’s Carol,” John Lewis’s orchestral variations on the traditional English Carol … [Read more...]

Bill Crow now and then allows me to borrow an anecdote from his Band Room column in Allegro, the monthly publication of New York Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians. Here’s an item from his December column. When Gerry Mulligan formed a quartet in Los Angeles and hired Chet Baker on … [Read more...]

“The birdbath looks like a coconut cake,” my wife said. In addition to beauty, the sight offered two benefits. 1. It was a reliable indicator of how much snow we had last night on the cusp of a winter that the forecasters said not long ago was likely to be mild and possibly … [Read more...]

New Christmas songs of quality are rare. Musician, composer, producer and lead sheet maven Don Sickler suggests that he has found one. The song began life with a title that hardly suggested Christmas. Its composer, the late pianist Eddie Higgins (pictured), recorded it as "Moonlight On Kinkakuji" … [Read more...]

The veteran Delaware broadcaster Patrick Goodhope, a Frank Sinatra specialist, points us to his weekend broadcast celebrating Sinatra’s centenary. He writes: I generally shy away from uncomfortable self promotion. It does not suit me. However, I am filled with the spirit of celebrating … [Read more...]