[contextly_auto_sidebar id="fKatbOOJnA4OcfCU6Gy7rekbYwv7ohq0"] As everyone in the United States cannot help knowing, and as many people around the world cannot help puzzling over, today is an unofficial US national holiday known as Super Bowl Sunday. In Phoenix, Arizona, The Seattle Seahawks play … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="dVNakbgtnz3bjSuA3hUGl9TpGtBBNyTR"] Dick Vartanian, a trumpet player, was one of many San Francisco jazzmen who served in World War Two and returned home to see if they could make a living playing music. He and a clarinetist, Paul Breitenfeld, had become good friends at … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="ayhoxYv5VgOlxkwBFJavnUJZsgea67DP"] Lester Young, tenor saxophone; Teddy Wilson, piano; Roy Eldridge, trumpet; Vic Dickenson, trombone; Gene Ramey, bass; Freddie Green, guitar; Jo Jones, drums. This Year’s Kisses. Prez, Teddy, Roy, Vic, Gene, Freddy, Jo. “This … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="QlHzorJ2maoVQtwfOO61ZbcV2mTXfZNy"] Nick Travis (1925-1964) played trumpet in a variety of big bands including those of Woody Herman, Ray McKinley, Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Ina Ray Hutton and Jerry Wald; all of those in the 1940s. The list got longer in the ‘50s, … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="cgkFUzjLcEgStbK9iij1ouHvrzkhKLPB"] Stan Kenton Alumni Band, Road Scholars (Summit) Before he died, Stan Kenton ruled that there would never be a Kenton ghost band. Nor has there been. Still, 35 years after his death there is considerable demand for the expansive … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="cBDPCJjQOniMnDSYXHMv3y8ZTMh6r1gg"] Ward Swingle, who founded a vocal group that melded J.S. Bach with bebop rhythm and scat singing, died on Monday in Eastbourne, England. He was 87. The announcement came from the Swingles, successor to the Swingle Singers, many of … [Read more...]

In remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the national holiday dedicated to his leadership of the civil rights movement, here is the John Coltrane Quartet playing Coltrane’s “Alabama.” The performance is from Ralph J. Gleason’s Jazz Casual television series John Coltrane, … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="jOqpIeAA8cn3287PTCbJv9h138oDXCNN"] Courtesy of National Public Radio Jazz, we travel back two years to join pianist McCoy Tyner with two all-star groups at the opening of the splendid SFJAZZ Center in San Francisco. NPR’s Patrick Jarenwattanon provides … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="I8niLPAzgoxrkmOkIIAiarh6HJBoHC1m"] Red Garland, Swingin’ on the Korner: Live At Keystone Korner (Elemental) A new Red Garland album: a nice surprise from a time just after the pianist released himself from self-imposed isolation. Garland made his name as a member … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="uiM3uy0vTBpLxQUlR36RMpAj31OuYvIS"] Joe Pass was born on this day in 1929. Nearly 21 years after his death in 1994, he is remembered as one of the great guitar virtuosos not only in jazz but in all of music. For background, here is a section of the notes I wrote for the … [Read more...]

A Rifftides item posted two days following the 2012 Newtown massacre mentioned in this week's Monday recommendation (above) includes a photograph of Ana Greene with her parents and brother. It also has a video of "Ana Grace," her father's instrumental composition retitled "Ana's Way" and given a … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="I1WzdiDk1o340lxEqpjF9L7vsr6nx4h8"] A memorial service for Charlie Haden, who died last July, is set for this week in New York City. Here is the poster. For a reminder of what keeps Haden in the memories of all those distinguished musicians, here is “First … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="fs8qSOP0oI3nW3MINkqPHYJWpTq0DLrf"] Lena Seikaly, Looking Back (Seikaly) In her third album, the Washington DC singer applies her mezzo-soprano, swing, taste and pure intonation to 10 songs written between 1918 and 1939, with a futuristic side trip to 1950 and Duke … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="yIAPm3o8Wgy4DngshtOeFxP9p6LRm4uh"] It is an essential part of jazz history: Louis Armstrong’s life as a New Orleans street kid and his consignment in 1913 to the Colored Waifs Home where he learned to play the cornet. He wrote about it himself, memorably, in his … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="iSSMxxMU8E6EMDC5KrDAlItEsBwVzW6l"] Listening Tip The Denny Zeitlin concert mentioned here recently will be broadcast this week. It was recorded December 5 at the Piedmont Piano Company in Oakland. Zeitlin’s solo piano explorations of Wayne Shorter compositions … [Read more...]