When the 1960s jazz avant garde was cranking up, George Russell (1923-2009) set an example, as was his way. It had been more than two decades since the intrepid composer captured the attention of the jazz world with his 1947 “Cubano Be-Cubano Bop” for the Dizzy Gillespie big band. He had gone on … [Read more...]

Logan Strosahl, Sure (Sunnyside) Piping at the high end of the flute’s range, guttural near the tenor sax’s low end, sliding, slurring and sometimes punching notes on alto saxophone, Strosahl is intense and full of surprises with his trio. His music is laced with classical allusions and … [Read more...]

The jazz bands of the United States military services have long histories of impressive achievement. There are high levels of musicianship in the big jazz bands of the Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, Navy and Coast Guard. Now and then, Rifftides samples performances by these service bands. … [Read more...]

  There is much to like about this version by vibraphonist Cal Tjader of Clare Fischer’s modern classic “Morning.” It is from a brief period in the 1970s when Fischer was a member of Tjader’s band. The recording opens with an aware audience greeting" Fischer’s electric piano … [Read more...]

Today is Dave Frishberg’s birthday. He was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1933. Frishberg is a splendid pianist who has worked with Zoot Sims, Bill Berry, Ben Webster Carmen McRae and too many other leading musicians to list. His greatest fame, however, has come through his songs. Many of … [Read more...]

A Rifftides reader recently confessed to never having heard Slim Gaillard’s “Poppity Pop,” a 1945 recording with Charlie Parker as a sideman. The record might be dismissed as a period piece, a novelty, if it did not also include trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, tenor saxophonist Jack McVea, pianist … [Read more...]

In response to yesterday’s Mikrojazz!" review, reader Richard Weyuker wrote: "I’m surprised that you left Don Ellis off of your list of musicians who experimented with quarter-tones. He had a specially-constructed four valve quarter-tone trumpet. I think that at one point, his entire trumpet … [Read more...]

Philipp Gerschlauer, David Fiuczynski: MikroJazz! (Rare Noise Records) This exploratory venture is subtitled, “Neue Expressionistiche Music.” The music is, indeed, expressionistic. Ears accustomed to conventional tuning may initially find the microtonal approach difficult to absorb. However, … [Read more...]

Chucho Valdés, Jazz Batá 2 (Mack Avenue) Valdes’ Jazz Batá was considered a departure into the avant garde when he made it in 1972. That trio recording was a preview of advances to come from the great Cuban pianist and composer. Nearly half a century later, the followup finds him as … [Read more...]

Albums are arriving for consideration in batches that have my poor postlady groaning down the sidewalk toward the mailbox. Today’s review is intended to be the start of the latest Rifftides attempt to catch up. (If the jazz record business is dying, it has a funny way of showing it.) Daniel … [Read more...]

  The power and imagination in his composing and arranging have made Ed Partyka a major contributor to the European big band scene. A trombonist from Chicago, Partyka leads a formidable big band and chairs the Jazz Institute at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. … [Read more...]

Following yesterday’s announcement about the loss of the brilliant Canadian guitarist Ed Bickert, here is a piece from the 1975 Paul Desmond Quartet album Live, recorded at Bourbon Street in Toronto in 1975. We hear Bickert and Desmond with bassist Don Thompson and drummer Jerry Fuller. They play … [Read more...]

One of Canada’s finest musicians, guitarist Ed Bickert, died on Thursday. He was 86. He was quiet and reserved, but the rich harmonies in Bickert’s playing captivated listeners and fellow musicians alike. Alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, with whom Bickert performed and recorded in the 1970s, wrote … [Read more...]

This week, music lost two venerable and influential figures. Andre Previn (above), who distinguished himself as a performer and composer in a wide range of styles and genres, died on Thursday at his home in New York City. He was 89. A gifted pianist whose work as a film composer and … [Read more...]

Bill Mays Trio Live At COTA Pianist Mays recently reassembled his trio for a concert and their first CD release in more than ten years. Mays, bassist Martin Wind and drummer Matt Wilson came together in a live performance at last Fall’s COTA (Celebration Of The Arts) festival. The audience at … [Read more...]

Rifftides reader Mack Parkhill called our attention to a Flash Mob video featuring a huge number of Muscovites having more fun than may be legal in Russia, dancing to the most joyous and metrically challenging song Irving Berlin (pictured) ever composed. Mr. Parkhill writes, “The dancing was … [Read more...]

Long ago, Billie Holiday dubbed Lester Young the President of The Tenor Saxophone. The title long since morphed into “Prez.” Young was beloved among his fellow musicians for his influential playing. He also won admirers for the subtlety and understatement of his way of expressing himself when he … [Read more...]

Jeremy Pelt The Artist" (High Note Records) For nearly two decades, Pelt has made it clear via his trumpet playing, and occasionally in interviews, that he is attuned to what other artists achieve in their work. That sensitivity extends well beyond jazz—indeed, beyond music. For this album, his … [Read more...]