Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

Akiyoshi-Tabackin, Frishberg-Dorough

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="XHVhKGvOMx8t2uf6Yhy22eqxFeOQzVFL"] Midway through Lew Tabackin’s tenor saxophone solo on “Long Yellow Road,” Toshiko Akiyoshi smiled at a particularly vigorous passage in his improvisation. The two have put a lot of miles on that Akiyoshi composition since it was … [Read more...]

Buster Williams, Cécile McLorin Salvant

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="0RDFWiUIgAutfC3tfURqwyzzAYFF0Yhx"] The Portland Jazz Festival booked Cécile McLorin Salvant to open for bassist Buster Williams’s “Something More” quintet, but she and her trio headed by pianist Aaron Diehl came close to stealing the show. The 24-year-old singer … [Read more...]

Jack Berry RIP

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Today as the Portland Jazz Festival was at its midpoint came the call I’ve been dreading. Jack Berry is dead. Since we were in the early stages of our careers during my Portland years in the 1960s, Jack and I have been friends whose closeness was never affected by distance. As I batted around the … [Read more...]

Darrell Grant And The Territory

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="S5WESJfTK5g0yBhV8N78NspebE7b8FUl"] According to the Oregon Encyclopedia, Darrell Grant moved to the state in 1997, “in search of a place where his music could have a greater impact.” Not that the pianist had been ignored. He had worked for Roy Haynes, Tony Williams … [Read more...]

Ahmad Jamal At The Newmark

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="nh9K9YapbrE4zywFJaT9rF9bs0gw1Ga7"] Ahmad Jamal’s Portland Jazz Festival concert focused primarily on pieces from his recent Saturday Morning CD. Since early in his career, Jamal has been a master at making rhythm work for him. That hasn’t changed, although in his … [Read more...]

Brian Blade Fellowship

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="wOJIrcSCgzazzWflLpdBluHg5GbHW0Ps"] For the 2014 Portland Jazz Festival’s second concert, drummer Brian Blade reassembled his band called the Brian Blade Fellowship. Some of the music was from the past of the group that he founded in 1997. Other pieces previewed their … [Read more...]

Elias Gives Festival A Joyous Launch

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="Y3XakZtwscTwzk6yecBPyH8HXCQYT78z"] Last evening’s opening concert of the 2014 Portland Jazz Festival found the pianist and singer Eliane Elias in joyous spirits that led her to, but never quite over, the edge of giddiness. With bassist Marc Johnson, guitarist Graham … [Read more...]

Gorge Update

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The Columbia River Gorge looked like this today, only wetter. Motoring through the Gorge even in a driving rainstorm is one of the world's great travel experiences. Portland is only a bit rainy at the moment—par for the course at this time of year. The Rifftides staff is off to listen to … [Read more...]

To Portland

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="49WlZad9P8KUxbp8Ls9Txd7Rub1gzEyD"] Tomorrow morning, I will have the thrill of driving through south central Washington State and along the Oregon side of the magnificent Columbia River Gorge (pictured) to the Portland Jazz Festival. My schedule permits attending only … [Read more...]

Other Matters: Bernstein, Seriously

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="FX82O5JvxUdb1nA2djAzSAzV480vrCXQ"] Leonard Bernstein took a bit of a thrashing here recently in the Sid Caesar spoof and some of the comments that followed it. So, it is only fair to let Maestro Bernstein (1918-1990) redeem himself. The Rifftides recommendation of Rudy … [Read more...]

Compatible Quotes: Sid Caesar

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="HU00ai7YYJBZAe0ExvAWn1IysVA0yPJK"] The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the other three, HE was a genius. The remote control changed our lives, ... The remote control took over the timing of the world. That's why you have road … [Read more...]

Weekend Extra: Another Dorough

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="lapUkO86aSrxeQtf9LEN5GoQMEoYKAzr"] The new Rifftides recommendation of Bob Dorough’s CD Eulalia mentions that his daughter Aralee, who appears on the recording with him, is a symphony musician. Ms. Dorough has been the principal flutist of the Houston Symphony since … [Read more...]

New Recommendations

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[contextly_auto_sidebar id="N8ta7NTF9rwU0dvzoCNTq6uJmnZrrIZ5"] The latest Rifftides recommendations include four CDs, three by established artists and one by a young drummer who has captured the attention of major musicians and a wide audience. We also call your attention to a book about a pianist … [Read more...]

CD: Bob Dorough

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Bob Dorough, Eulalia (Merry Lane Records) In addition to endearing vocal performances of several of his best songs, Dorough gives listeners what may come as a surprise to many; his ingenuity as an arranger. The deceptive simplicity of “Eulalia,” the album’s sole instrumental, is one of … [Read more...]

CD: Rudy Royston

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Rudy Royston, 303 (Greenleaf Music) In his debut as a leader the young drummer from Denver (area code 303) fronts a septet of his generation’s more adventurous players. The eclecticism of the music encompasses Radiohead’s “High and Dry,” the Mozart motet “Ave Verum Corpus,” a drum … [Read more...]

CD: Alan Broadbent

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Alan Broadbent, Heart to Heart (Chilly Bin) Broadbent’s first solo piano album, recorded in 1991, was a highlight of Concord’s Maybeck series. He has continued to perform with a trio and with Charlie Haden’s Quartet West, but to many he is known primarily as the arranger-conductor for … [Read more...]

CD: Frank Wess

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Frank Wess, Magic 201 (IPO) The final track of the great tenor saxophonist and flutist’s final album is a lovely performance of Sammy Cahn’s 1937 standard “If it’s the Last Thing I Do,” giving the CD added poignancy. Wess died in October, 2013, after decades as one of the most respected … [Read more...]