[contextly_auto_sidebar id="1ACj3YHM4fARVOLVcvwKlymjB7FS1kb6"] Rifftides was never meant to be an obituary service, but who might have expected that so many people of high accomplishment and value would die in a so short a period. Ignoring their departures would be impossible. Ralph Waldo Emerson … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="GUKVg7zf9uSFF0Hrysj5OWZkJvGPN9DR"] Luis Perdomo, Twenty-Two (Hot Tone Music) The title observes the number of years since the pianist moved from his native Venezuela to New York City. In that time Perdomo has established a musical personality apart from the … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="J8l0BaQiYrMjSaXcuEW59XaNBFWlp7LE"] Following yesterday’s Rifftides post announcing the Jazz Journalists Association poll winners, vibraharpist Charlie Shoemake commented: Randy Weston has had a long and distinguished career as have many of the other deserving … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="RO9eXSF87CidlGsfzWbM1VNpJjmVvGUh"] The Jazz Journalists Association has named 89-year-old pianist, composer and bandleader Randy Weston winner of the JJA’s Lifetime Achievement Award for 2015. Weston’s 66-year career began in his native New York. In his early years … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="rAHk4ReydpHq2l57Qoln96dTIOznfbtm"] When trumpeter Bobby Shew left Los Angeles after years of work in big bands and the film and recording studios of L.A., he made a major commitment to education. From his home in New Mexico, he travels in the US, Asia and Europe for … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="Hn8GNlPmJNjvWy4Ag8HsjmKWtszLKlzT"] An international campaign is underway to win national recognition for Willis Conover, the Voice Of America broadcaster who sent American jazz to millions of listeners around the world. A petition drive is aimed at persuading the … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="5mkdM9mrAeJovro2BKJRTicbCcDXZvvR"] A recent discussion among jazz researchers centered on the evolution of instrumentation as big bands changed through the decades. The conversation developed into exchanges about not only the makeup of band sections—rhythm, brass … [Read more...]

Jim Wilke’s Jazz Northwest promises a potpourri of music so interesting that wherever you're planning to spend the weekend, you might want to have along a radio, cell phone, iPad or other listening device. Mr. Wilke's announcement serves as a reminder that Seattle has a busy jazz scene. The … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="MEYFVjxqnP84uoixbk5LZsPvVZCOBWgY"] Following yesterday's Rifftides commentary about the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, I heard from fellow jazz journalist Larry Blumenfeld (pictured). Larry is a New Yorker who in recent years has spent much of his time in New … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="exUJ7J1d3pgXzk4wi7BnL9Zl7n39yWLl"] The 2015 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival wrapped up last Friday. Mark Hertsgaard’s Daily Beast review of the festival includes this lament. Yet for all of Jazz Fest’s celebration of the music, food and culture of New … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="sMGM8cG08ryrXOYHzEgAZ4vXksuVIp6M"] Like any good independent self-promoting professional, Mike Greensill sends occasional email messages about what he and his wife, Wesla Whitfield, are up to. He’s a pianist. She’s a singer. They live in California’s Napa Valley, … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="0eCEhVVbni7MEcrKlqvuPB6dd1e0BMWx"] Dan Brubeck, Live From The Cellar: Celebrating The Music And Lyrics Of Dave & Iola Brubeck (Blue Forest Records) On the eve of his 60th birthday, Dave and Iola Brubeck’s drummer son releases his first album as a leader. A … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="xRG2A6Gv5JCvsnBdHTT52uCQ6nHA50li"] Thanks to Rifftides reader Marla Kleman for sending an alert to the posting of a film about one of the late pianist Frank Strazzeri’s loveliest albums. Strazzeri died last year at about this time. He was 84. The album was his … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="nDnPhnnh7Io7xR70f8Q9sTXDrUtcKyMP"] A trove of jazz recorded in the 1950s became available again when Naxos of America acquired the Bethlehem Records catalogue a couple of years ago and began an extensive reissue program. Gus Wildi, who was born and grew up in … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader David Perrine writes: In the spirit of your occasional feature, I offer the following quotes. (As you know, a notated F# on alto sax would normally be a concert A— except in the quantum physics-like world of harmolodics.) ‘Poise’ has an F# for its tonic on the Eb alto and … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="o0uwy5uS05X3CNDmZ3oMZNKhLka4ikmt"] Pianist Les McCann and saxophonist Eddie Harris played the Gene McDaniels song “Compared to What” at the Montreux Jazz Festival in 1969. Bret Primack, The Jazz Video Guy, recently put video of the performance on his Facebook page. … [Read more...]