The latest post on Steve Cerra’s Jazz Profiles blog is about S. Duncan Reid’s biography of Cal Tjader (1925-1982). The subtitle of Reid’s book identifies Tjader as “The Man Who Revolutionized Latin Jazz.” There may be those who assert that Dizzy Gillespie, Machito and Tito Puente should … [Read more...]

On his Jazz Northwest program this Sunday, Jim Wilke (pictured) will play highlights of the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra’s recent concert of the music of Stan Kenton and Gerry Mulligan. Jim put on his beret of a skilled audio engineer and recorded the June 22 concert. From Jim’s Jazz … [Read more...]

Today, the United States of America is celebrating the 238th anniversary of its independence. Rifftides observes the 4th of July with two versions of the song that many Americans wish was the national anthem. Pianist Clare Fischer arranged the first for his 1967 album Songs For Rainy Day Lovers. The … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="7xohJPeerAUc44TbIxoKzpCXMUsz1V1R"] Now that wilting temperatures are here—at least in much of the northern hemisphere—Rifftides reader Larry Peterson suggests that Sonny Clark’s “Cool Struttin’” can bring welcome relief. Clark was a pianist who in a … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="g06emwZj6MNk5URY60GPDHfKvWwBtxXy"] Joe Segal, who last week was named a 2015 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, has been at the heart of jazz in Chicago since the early bebop era. He began presenting jazz events following World War Two when he was attending … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="4EwQy0dVub48fl5YlmevDE3PESQnsdvP"] This is a good year for jazz saxophonists from Memphis, Tennessee. Like his fellow Memphian George Coleman, who is three years older, Charles Lloyd (born 1938) has been named a 2015 Jazz Master of the National Endowment for the Arts. … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="2pGwGWmQXOrVWZaGlsXgfAe1eWJljZDp"] Tenor saxophonist George Coleman is one of four 2015 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters named this week. He, Carla Bley, Charles Lloyd and Chicago’s Jazz Showcase impresario Joe Segal will be inducted in a ceremony next … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="ycSfyxtTojATOjZtQ5ZfHYovDoEQjROo"] The National Endowment for the Arts has announced next year’s NEA Jazz Masters. They are composer, pianist, arranger and bandleader Carla Bley (pictured); saxophonists George Coleman and Charles Lloyd; and—for jazz … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="CpCrtrBCdZl4UU1oTnavocy2nuaewpNX"] The special arrangement with the publisher of my novel Poodie James has been extended. Rifftides readers may acquire autographed copies at a reduced price. To see a description of the book, read an excerpt and learn how to order, … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="dmP0gy45aFwPc4OArEnU9dsA0FMmyv2g"] With considerable help from the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, Stan Kenton and Gerry Mulligan packed two halls over the weekend. Yesterday the SRJO played at the Kirkland Performance Center across Lake Washington from Seattle, the … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="sHHZ5if5DLcu0arn7Ndqwnh3ub82bJH2"] Mrs. Ramsey and I are off across the Cascade Mountains tomorrow to the Seattle suburb of Kirkland to hear the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra recreate the music of Stan Kenton and Gerry Mulligan. I presume that the charts will be … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="nJIhlIN70zq4EID9fJDV0NxHOd3gt47k"] It has been too long since we checked to see what Darcy James Argue and his band of young New Yorkers—The Secret Society—have been up to. When we first took notice of Argue and his crew, they were indeed still pretty much a … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="KXMm8Fyjr4IWgpHgkgXB7idLCi23UPmO"] Horace Silver, whom we lost yesterday, believed that worthwhile music arises from feeling. He thought that to be true to himself, he had a responsibility not to let fashion or artifice deflect him from what his feelings dictated. … [Read more...]

Word has just come in that Horace Silver died today at the age of 85. For details, see Peter Keepnews’ obituary of Silver in The New York Times. Tomorrow, we will have reflections on Silver’s career and importance to music. … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="uDXA495NxB4NWIygtGYvS5HqPrG1LHsv"] It is sad to hear of the recent deaths of Aaron Sachs and Jimmy Scott. Sachs was a gifted clarinetist and tenor saxophonist who never became as well known as many of his contemporaries despite yeoman work in bands led by Van … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="HIunUS44VunknsRxmgK2WtKGx4dAwGh7"] Tired but not ready to go to bed, I wandered into the back yard at midnight, camera in hand, to see if the full moon was visible. Slipping in and out of cloud banks that looked hand-tinted, the moon gave the southeastern sky the look … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="vLml6tMUDQ6cPV6BDhrL6tIAyJWCuRr6"] One of Earl “Fatha” Hines’s greatest admirers, fellow pianist Dick Wellstood, wrote in the liner notes for Earl Hines: Quintessential Continued, Behold Earl Hines, spinner of yarns, big handed virtuoso of the black … [Read more...]