[contextly_auto_sidebar id="3NM20mGoxXkQHajU57Nqf2HhgTo7BxuX"] Alice Babs, the Swedish singer whom Duke Ellington once called “probably the most unique artist I know,” died today in her native Sweden. She was 90. Her breakthrough came in 1940 in the Swedish film Swing it magistern (Swing It, … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="92brL0LqS78k0MCnlJHqmjyhS3iic4hh"] Before we leave our Slim Gaillard phase (at least for now), it seems appropriate to recall that he is a transcendental presence in Jack Kerouac’s definitive Beat Generation novel On The Road, published in 1957. One hallucinatory … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="zM5a8Ti6hcMfFbnN8aenImwnrEy8mM6l"] In a gathering of people even younger than I, when I mentioned Slim Gaillard three of them said in unison, "Who?" "Flat Foot Floogie," I explained, "Cement Mixer, Putti Putti," "Matzoh ball Oroony," and—just to make sure they … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="3p3DAFlAQPhnpO58sU9kAbWqXp9AwfeX"] Since we first encountered her at Sweden’s Ystad Jazz Festival in 2012, Hannah Svensson has toured with pianist Jan Lundgren, formed a quartet with the harmonica player and composer Filip Jers and is preparing to release a new … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="4M1EqnTtZuQhY8hVNekf6mfMnuaaYL9K"] Occasional Rifftides grumping about torture of the English language goes back eight years or so, nearly to the earliest days of the blog. It has been months since the last grump, but yesterday as the Denver Broncos were presenting … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="gWSxGsAmdwUdZDgcOMMuABDId4fS8Ijw"] Despite a career that began in the 1940s, the Pacific Northwest pianist Jack Brownlow recorded only" two albums under his own name. When he died in 2007 Bruno, as he was known to his friends, left a stockpile of tapes from rehearsals, … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="oqlqUKwnDFb529pr9M6WqdLrtCy85j0F"] Anyone aware of the importance of jazz to the structure and fiber of American culture must be pleased by the news about Max Roach and reassured that his country treasures his contribution. (Pictured, Roach and President Jimmy Carter … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="emVbexpSYEfZ08ocqxr5NJfexjIxT0xX"] Cowichan is a region on Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) was a German composer. Put them together and you get a promotional video. It is not the Rifftides custom … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="9iUGTesxbzAakDP0Nb0ufSadh94q9XsP"] Rifftides outgoing traffic has slowed in the past few days because the proprietor—or is it perpetrator?—has been nose-to-the-grindstone, meeting a deadline for a liner essay to accompany the tenor saxophonist Eric … [Read more...]

If you have been following the myriad formal and informal critiques of Terry Teachout’s Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington, you will be interested in Ethan Iverson’s long interview with Teachout (pictured left). The book has attracted great praise and not a little denigration. I recommended it here … [Read more...]

[contextly_auto_sidebar id="TPJBJuhr4TXeibwo0Dt2goLNG2mLCXOG"] It is late on Martin Luther King Day to be posting an MLK tribute, but it would be an even more serious oversight not to do so. To one who reported on the civil rights movement in the American South and was sometimes in the midst of … [Read more...]

1. Seattle beat San Francisco and goes to the Super Bowl to play Denver (to puzzled readers outside the US—It's football. This is a big deal, like the World Cup). 2. So far, we don't have snow, but we have beautiful January sunsets. That's Mount Adams just above the rose arch, … [Read more...]

If you are planning your weekend activities, you may wish to work in these presentations by two leading champions of jazz on the air (and the web). On his Sunday broadcast of Jazz Northwest this week, Jim Wilke will feature a musician who achieved recognition and critical acclaim in his days on … [Read more...]

You may have noticed that, as of yesterday, Rifftides looks different and, I think, better. The clean, crisp, spacious redesign is by artsjournal.com commander-in-chief Doug McLennan (pictured), who is making similar changes to all or most of the blogs under the artsjournal umbrella. You may see … [Read more...]

David Sherr's comment on the Jimmy Rowles drawing of Art Tatum in the post below included mention of Rowles's George Shearing drawing. He offered to share it, but it is not possible to include pictures with comments as it is in posts by the Rifftides staff, so here's a new exhibit of Jimmy's wit, … [Read more...]

Many stories about jazz heroes are apocryphal. This is one is true. One night in the late 1930s, Fats Waller And His Rhythm were playing at the Yacht Club on 52nd Street in Manhattan. Art Tatum, the other half of the Tatum-Waller mutual admiration society, came in to listen. When he first moved … [Read more...]

In response to the Rifftides post about the death of Al Porcino, reader Dick Vartanian sent a comment: I remember Al Porcino well and had deep regard for his playing. But does anyone remember a equally great countryman of his named Conrad Gozzo? Jack Greenberg responded with … [Read more...]

With a 1962 Indiana University master’s degree in saxophone, Jamey Aebersold might have carved out a career as a performer. He has never stopped playing, but a casual request set him on a course that led to success as the best-known third-party teacher in jazz. In 1966, a student at a workshop … [Read more...]