[contextly_auto_sidebar id="sIBXpwnL26J8W8b9KG1Mkgujvxj0PasD"] Following his five years as the bassist in the Bill Evans Trio, Chuck Israels worked with a variety of leaders, among them J.J. Johnson, Stan Getz, Herbie Hancock and Hampton Hawes. His repertory orchestra, The National Jazz Ensemble, … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="aEgppVeQ8himumZHu4LiGlQdMn8b2XfI"] Bobby Medina, Between Worlds (Medina) The trumpeter’s album includes much of the repertoire that he and his band played at the recent Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival—with dramatic differences. Orchestras with string sections at … [Read more...]

The Valley Girl way of speaking began in California’s San Fernando Valley in the 1970s. It has metastasized through the English-speaking world and spread to sectors populated by those who know better but use it anyway. For instance, this morning on National Public Radio’s Diane Rehm Show, the … [Read more...]

The music program at the University of North Texas has graduated hundreds of jazz artists who went on to successful careers as professionals. Woody Herman populated virtually an entire edition of his Thundering Herd of the 1970s with North Texas graduates, and they keep coming. Jimmy Giuffre, Herb … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="6w9o1TO3rhKj9GpgVBH5IwAp90KeTldy"] In the English language, the word “that” used as a conjunction can illuminate meaning and make for easier comprehension. Yet, today more and more editors and speakers eliminate the word, and clarity suffers. Here are examples from … [Read more...]

One of the precepts that old jazz pros have taught young musicians for years is that it’s vital to be able to play any piece of music in any key at any tempo. Here’s an example. It’s from the days a quarter of a century ago when vibraharpist Terry Gibbs and clarinetist Buddy DeFranco teamed up … [Read more...]

Had he lived, pianist Kenny Drew would have celebrated his 87th birthday today. Drew first recorded with trumpeter Howard McGhee in 1950, when he was 22. He went on to play and record with many of the leading artists in jazz, including Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Buddy DeFranco, … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="KdAStV0JXZga580yDRHgDWPDQnVe7oYl"] A Rifftides reader, composer Michael Robinson, responded to the Monday recommendation of the Jaki Byard Project’s Inch by Inch (see the July 24 post) with a reflection on a Byard performance in a classic Phil Woods album. Mr. … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="z6rmfP7o1631SzNfLMnfMOrb9GQPVwMZ"] One of the Modern Jazz Quartet’s signature pieces was “Django,” John Lewis’s homage to Django Reinhardt (1910-1953). Reinhardt’s guitar playing reflected his upbringing in Gypsy communities in France and in Belgium, where he … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="WVXfdO7N2cNuhBXgCkiyEON8tptc2DY1"] As mentioned in Rifftides from time to time, many who attended or played in the original New Orleans Jazz Festival remember it as an example of what a jazz festival can be. The 1968 and 1969 editions of JazzFest were intimate compared … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="eQfgqk6aKXh4TkhYs1GpLdezkaqokv3R"] Full disclosure: I wrote a section of the liner notes for a new compilation album by pianist Jan Lundgren. To assure critical objectivity, the senior Rifftides staff asked the veteran Swedish music journalist Jan Olsson to review the … [Read more...]

This week on his Night Lights on Indiana Public Media, David Brent Johnson is re-airing "After Brubeck: Paul Desmond 1968-1977." The one-hour broadcast covers what the alto saxophonist was up to in the years following the dissolution of the Dave Brubeck Quartet until his death in the spring of 1977. … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="76jPrklh5cI31zsFLbx3xRTMkmY182vH"] Before Scott LaFaro joined the Bill Evans Trio in late 1959, the young bassist’s second west coast stint included work with Chet Baker, Barney Kessel, Victor Feldman, Cal Tjader, Stan Getz and Hampton Hawes, among others. In … [Read more...]