Web server problems resulting in massive slowness interfered with Rifftides today and, evidently, with all other blogs under the artsjournal.com umbrella. As a result, it was not possible to prepare and post new items. I would be happy to report that the crack Rifftides technical staff wrestled the … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="uJr78HEchQJJoWsb2wylj0F9TynOSU4o"] In response to the recent Rifftides recommendation of the new album by the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, Bill Kirchner sent a link to video featuring the VJO’s progenitor. About the clip of the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis band in Belgium, in … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="ywZdHeg0j94153bDEynmwkgewClS3h7v"] Bobby Shew sent a link to a performance by a guitarist named Doug Smith. After listening to Smith’s introductory story about his dad, no former Marine could be expected to ignore the video. Anyone who can finger-pick Sousa’s … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="XcJn6d3gJ0cB6BaNQrcnegJaxA7D0ffW"] As pointed out in the previous exhibit, Americans and Canadians are taking a three-day holiday to observe Labor Day, which this year is Monday, September 1. On this occasion established nearly a century-and-a-half ago, they do their … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="peFEHWz3alvMkmdlKKEbTkAadycaL0L3"] This is Labor Day weekend or, if you prefer the Canadian spelling, Labour Day weekend. Monday will see official observance of the day established in Canada in 1872 and the US in 1887 to honor the economic and social contributions of … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="MpRSBB3bwtejbkrwYL73ejP8yt4e09uC"] Here it is Charlie Parker's 94th birthday, and I'm just getting around to observing it. The photograph captures Bird in a moment of happiness. Such moments came fairly often in his troubled life, more frequently when he was at … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="qz1jw7WUIdmIG2UMpSa5plSqPGoJ7E9p"] At 87, Bill Holman still hits the road occasionally. He did this summer and unveiled a major work. Sunday on his Jazz Northwest program, the veteran jazz broadcaster Jim Wilke will present his recording of the new piece and others by … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="Eyvxnz4hV6h5pr7Gxs0o1e2lbmroxTqa"] News has arrived that my notes for the new Jan Lundgren solo piano CD have been submitted to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for a possible Grammy nomination. I hasten to emphasize that a submission is not a … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="lMagSuglQxeZVPw981Fax1lTGBM7MFU8"] It’s time for the annual Rifftides apple crop outlook, with evidence snapped this week on a cycling expedition. Stacks of bins the size of apartment complexes sit waiting to be filled with what Executive Director Jon DeVaney … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="X7ICz92fMr2TQjqEuFrzub514LCnDMzO"] In an attempt to get the Europe virus out of the bloodstream (fat chance), here is the final report on our Ystad-Copenhagen adventure. Following the Ystad Jazz Festival in southern Sweden, son Paul and I spent three days in … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="VVahy7RGWUO30wsEZcSWbax7oAA2GEi4"] It has been two weeks since I returned from Europe, but the Ystad Jazz Festival is still on my mind. It was impossible to hear all of the young Swedish musicians who played at the festival and there was not enough space in my Wall … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="HVhHm239a4yNYMv1oNGdqm6HXrfceLn8"] From Philadelphia comes news of the death of John Blake, Jr., a violinist who combined his classical training, love for the African-American musical tradition and sense of adventure to become prominent on the forward edge of jazz in … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="82jMm24lXJZQiDsoQQFJayx17P2Lal9e"] Mike Harris is one of several Rifftides readers who sent reminders that this is Bill Evans’ 85th birthday. Over a decade in the 1960s and ‘70s, Mr. Harris surreptitiously recorded the pianist at the Village Vanguard in New York. … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="GyN340L8l1UeFwEt7fC0NrQp5jx7VulP"] Jim Wilke’s Jazz Northwest broadcast on Sunday afternoon will feature the Jensen sisters, trumpeter Ingrid and saxophonist Christine. Their prestigious rhythm section has pianist Geoffrey Keezer, bassist Martin Wind and drummer Jon … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="QsGnKAnxvQcUPwP3H6FLLZ6HtLNnnhBa"] The jet lag is pretty much gone now, and I’m settling back into a normal routine, or as normal as routines get around here. Before memories begin to fade, I will post a few illustrated impressions of the Ystad festival that did not … [Read more...]