[contextly_auto_sidebar id="8An3iXxFljyGejcP6m89fzkbgNqWgALZ"] The previous post was about lilacs, not Irene Kral, but it brought comments clearly indicating that Ms. Kral (1932-1978) is far from forgotten. She is forgotten least of all by her daughters, Jodi and Melissa. Jodi Burnett sent one … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="SnJrKKxOsbSvYC0tSJ3f7W8X1rMntWMS"] The Rifftides staff is up to his clavicle in non-Rifftides deadlines but wanted the readership to know that you are on his mind. He thought you would want to know that in the south forty, the lilacs and tulips are out. Junior … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="4oa6ntdS4ZD3Ntr1ppIq63bLSs19R0Pn"] The Jazz Journalists Association has named 24 Jazz Heroes, recognizing them as “activists, advocates, altruists, aiders and abettors of jazz.” Among them is Jim Wilke (pictured on James Moody’s left), whose Sunday Jazz Northwest … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="ztyrZNT58M739DrDlageHaobJ4Jr34W3"] A film about Ukraine’s position visa vis Russia showed up on YouTube earlier this week. In three days it has attracted more than 115,000 viewers. The film was created and posted by a video artist whose accompanying explanation said … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="43w5ClJhl93m1BKnekor6LoLwgIOb0kN"] This is an item from Bill Crow's The Band Room column in the April issue of Allegro, the newspaper of New York Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians. We use it with Mr. Crow's permission. In the little town in … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="DbGx0rfZ5DCbwNMeoXVSs5HnbfUOAUou"] Geneva, a town of 13,000 in New York State’s Finger Lakes district, is the home town of Scott LaFaro. The brilliant bassist of the Bill Evans Trio influenced the development of jazz bass playing, and the town is keeping his memory … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="SDrPu230TqXOI7eLIKxUpvARl1Zf4qN9"] Best Press release of the week. Of course, it's only Sunday. Billy Mintz Quartet tours in New York May 2014 No more sneaking oversize instruments past the airlines! No more cramped economy seats! No more European trains where … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="zmC70lTlUxBpDUAt9XxvjInd7KmR59Wm"] On his Jazz Northwest broadcast this afternoon, April 6, Jim Wilke is airing an appearance by vibraharpist Susan Pascal. Recorded by Wilke recently at Tula’s in Seattle, Pascal will lead her quintet in the music of Cal Tjader. The … [Read more...]

For the past couple of days, Rifftides and all of the arts journal.com blogs have been hors de combat. Unlike last week's outage, this was not caused by hacker bots, but by good intentions gone awry. The webhost organization was moving databases to give them greater security and somehow … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="k1mg19EMmafmh7S2A2p1F4l4e0vsHMKl"] The family of Mrs. Dave Brubeck has announced that there will be a small memorial observance in Wilton, Connecticut on April 21. Iola Brubeck died on March 12 at the age of 90, 14 months following the death of her husband. In a letter, … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="tE2gU8J8wmI7lpnV614939WLGp6QhH2G"] New York City’s Library for the Performing Arts announces that it has received the archives of George Avakian, who supervised some of the most influential jazz recordings of the past 70 years. At first as a student working part time … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="WPvSYmcpkqtUj8nRkCE3AdYlrqC1Iy3P"] There is no possibility of keeping up with the flow of albums pouring out of what is often described, absurdly, as a declining jazz scene, but it can be interesting to try. Here are brief observations on a few more or less … [Read more...]

For more than two days, Rifftides and all of the other arts journal.com blogs have been taken down by software robots—hacker bots. The attackers have been vanquished, security measures are being put in place and we look forward to the resumption of regular posting. Say goodbye to this … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="1tQI8nCzIiTd1BiBnMJiAxcbKsXDtR1X"] I got bored with the old way - it came too easy. I worked until I could play any chord changes at any tempo in any key, and then said 'What else is there?' Now I'm finding out. I expect the audience to come up to my … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="F4UbLPqvEYgZNOhOBf4XiXW5icbYUIbd"] My visiting son went skiing in the Cascade Mountains, and I accompanied him. This is how it was on the lightly populated runs of White Pass at 4500 feet. Après-ski, driving down the mountain by the time we reached about 3500 … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="dG5AgtayhUWoWVzslWSHH4LzSHeCp6fs"] Trumpeter Don Ellis (1934-1978) provided the instrumental focus in yesterday’s Third Stream Revisited post. He portrayed young Peter Parker, a boy learning to be a jazz musician. Let us look into Ellis’s all too brief future … [Read more...]