2012 JJA Nominees: Best Historical or Boxed Set

This year, the Jazz Journalists Association has nominated five albums for its 2012 JJA Jazz Awards in the category entitled Best Historical or Boxed Set. The winner of the award will be announced at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City on June 20.

The nominees are:

• Miles Davis, Bootleg Sessions, Vol 1, Quintet Live in Europe 1967 (Columbia Legacy). This album consists of recordings of three European concerts by Miles Davis and his so-called "Gold Quintet," which included Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Tony Williams (drums). Critic Kevin Davis remarked that the album "instantly takes its place in the uppermost echelon of Davis recordings ... as a record that ultimately defines the fundamental essence of who Miles Davis the artist was." Nate Chinen, of the New York Times, added that the album "captures Davis’s finest working band at its apogee, straining at the limits of post-bop refinement."  (Purchase at Amazon.com.)

• Julius Hemphill, Dogon A.D. (Mbira/Freedom-International Phonograph). Saxophonist Hemphill's Dogon A.D. was originally released in 1972 and has been called a "historic masterpiece" by reviewer Troy Collins; the New York Times also listed the album as one of the 100 Most Essential Jazz Recordings. As the Free Jazz review notes, "From the very first notes of this album, you know that something special is taking place."  (Purchase at Amazon.com.)

• Bill Dixon, Intents and Purposes (RCA Victor-International Phonograph). This album, which reviewer Troy Collins calls "the late trumpet innovator's magnum opus," was originally issued in 1967 and was, according to critic Jason Bivins, "One of the jazz world’s most eagerly awaited reissues in years." JazzLoft notes that "the album withstands categorization" and adds that "Its daring and forthright iconoclasm has substance that outlives much music that was conceived in protest or defiance in the roiling atmosphere of [the free jazz] era."  (Purchase at Amazon.com.)

• Roscoe Mitchell, Before There Was Sound (Nessa). This music was recorded a year before saxophonist Mitchell's debut album, Sound, but not released for 46 years. According to critic Peter Margasak, on this album, Mitchell's quartet "was already blazing its own trail. Mitchell and crew experiment with contrast and context (placing garrulous, fast-paced passages next to restrained, austere ones), song forms, and shifting combinations of improvisers (various solos, duos, and trios among the composed themes)." Reviewer John Chacona adds that listening to this historic music is "A bit like discovering a Shakespeare manuscript in his own hand ..."  (Purchase at Amazon.com.)

• Jimmie Lunceford, The Complete Jimmie Lunceford Decca Sessions (Mosaic). Lunceford is sometimes referred to as "Swing's Forgotten King," and Glen Miller himself once said that "Duke is great, Basie remarkable, but Lunceford tops them both." This seven-CD boxed set features material recorded by Lunceford's band in 1939 and 1940, and as critic Marc Myers notes, "What makes this box special is that you get to hear swing's ascension before Benny Goodman gave it a mass-market spin in 1935 with the help of arranger Fletcher Henderson."  (Purchase at Mosaic Records.)

Robert
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RIP, Sun Ra (1914-1993)

Jazz composer, bandleader, and pianist Sun Ra (born Herman Poole Blount) died on May 30, 1993, in Birmingham, Alabama, just 8 days after his 79th birthday. His death was attributed to stroke and pneumonia. He was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery in Birmingham.

Jazz critic Scott Yanow said that "Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial," primarily because of Sun Ra's eclectic music, unorthodox lifestyle, and claims that he was of the "Angel Race" and that he was from Saturn. Ra himself said, "I write about whatever I hear, whenever the spirit hits me to write.""

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons describes Sun Ra's Arkestra as "a band of high contrast in which driving riffs, free soloing, sensuous orchestration, and atonal collective blowing spin like the vanes of a pinwheel."

Lyons recommends Sun Ra's album, Live at Montreux (Inner City). The album is available on CD from Amazon.com.

Sun Ra and His Arkestra play "Paradise" from their Sound of Joy album here:

Robert
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Happy Birthday, Benny Goodman

Clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman was born on May 30, 1909, in Chicago, Illinois. Goodman was, as critic William Ruhlmann says, "the first celebrated bandleader of the Swing Era ..."

Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America, and his January 1938 concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's 'coming out' party to the world of 'respectable' music." Goodman's bands also launched the careers of many major names in jazz, including Chrlie Christian, Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa, and Lionel Hampton. During the age of segregation, Goodman also led one of the first well-known racially-integrated jazz groups.

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends Goodman's Carnegie Hall Concert - 1938 (Columbia), which, according to Lyons, "catches the band at its peak." The album is available on CD from Amazon.com.

Goodman's band can be heard playing "Sing Sing Sing" from that Carnegie Hall concert here:

Robert
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2012 JJA Nominees: Record of the Year

This year, the Jazz Journalists Association has nominated seven albums for its 2012 JJA Jazz Awards in the category entitled Record of the Year. The winner of the award will be announced at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City on June 20.

The nominees are:

• James Farm (Nonesuch). James Farm is a two-year-old group consisting of saxophonist Joshua Redman, pianist Aaron Parks, bassist Matt Penman, and drummer Eric Harland. They first played together at the 2009 Monterrey Jazz Festival, and this, their debut album, "not only confirms the group's egalitarian nature, but positions this über-quartet of established and rising stars as a clear force with which to be reckoned," according to critic James Kelman. Reviewer Ian Mann adds that James Farm is "a wonderfully inventive album that draws on all of the groups various influences (jazz, rock,hip hop, film music etc.) but roots them firmly within an acoustic jazz context."  (Purchase at Amazon.com.)

• Keith Jarrett, Rio (ECM). Jarrett, called "one of the most significant pianists to emerge since the 1960s" by critic Scott Yanow, recorded these solo piano improvisations live in Rio de Janeiro in April 2011. Jarrett felt that this was his best performance in years, and reviewer John Fordham agrees, calling it "Jarrett at his most exuberant." Reviewer Thom Jurek states that "After one listen, it becomes obvious Rio is indeed very special [and] is therefore the new standard by which the pianist's future solo recordings will be judged ..." (Purchase at Amazon.com.)

• Christian McBride's Big Band, The Good Feeling (Mack Avenue Records). Bassist McBride's Big Band has been called "one of the most intoxicating, least predictable bands on the scene today," and this album marks the group's recording debut. Critic Dan Bilawsky says that the album features "McBride at the top of his game" and that "like its creator, [the album] is steeped in tradition while remaining tapped into what's current and exciting in jazz today." Reviewer Nick DeRiso adds that The Good Feeling is "challenging, forward-looking big band music." (Purchase at Amazon.com.)

• Sonny Rollins, Road Shows, Vol. 2 (Doxy Records). The seemingly ageless Sonny Rollins has won numerous awards, including Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts, two Grammies, and induction into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame. Road Shows, Vol. 2 contains music from Rollins's 80th birthday concert at the Beacon Theatre in New York in September 2010 along with two tunes recorded less than a month later in Japan. The album features guest stars Ornette Coleman, Roy Hargrove, Jim Hall, Christian McBride, and Roy Haynes, among others, but as reviewer Thomas Conrad notes, "the player here with the most ideas, the most muscle, the most stamina, the most juice, is Sonny Rollins."  (Purchase at Amazon.com.)

• Wadada Leo Smith's Organic, Heart's Reflections (Cuneiform Records). Mississippi-born Smith is a trumpeter and composer who has won three National Endowment for the Arts grants, a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship, and an NEA recording grant. This album represents his 14-piece ensemble Organic's first set of studio recordings and was called by reviewer Phil Freeman "a masterwork by one of the great heroes of American avant-garde jazz." Critic Ivan Hewett adds that Smith's "sound has tremendous emotional weight, as if a seer is speaking wordless messages, and he can hold a long burnished note over seemingly endless stretches of time."  (Purchase at Amazon.com.)

• Craig Taborn, Avenging Angel (ECM). This album is the first unaccompanied solo recording by keyboardist and composer Taborn, who has made over 100 recordings as a side man or co-leader but few under his own name. Critic John Kelman calls the album "a masterpiece of invention and evocation that places Taborn squarely amongst those other esteemed pianists who've contributed to ECM's pantheon of significant solo recordings."  Reviewer Thom Jurek adds that it "is a major contribution to the actual language of the piano as an improvisational instrument: its 13 pieces feel like a suite: seamless, economical, original, and visionary."  (Purchase at Amazon.com.)

• Miguel Zenón, Alma Adentro – The Puerto Rican Songbook (Marsalis Music). Puerto Rican native Zenón is an alto saxophonist, composer, and bandleader who has received multiple Grammy Nominee as well as Guggenheim and MacArthur fellowships. In this album, he arranges and explores the music of five legendary Puerto Rican composers: Bobby Capó, Tite Curet Alonso, Pedro Flores, Rafael Hernández, and Sylvia Rexach. The album has already been selected as the Best Jazz Recording of 2011 by iTunes and NPR and was Nominated for a 2012 Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album. As critic Dan Bilawsky notes, "this album is about bringing Zenon's voice and originality into new arrangements of classic songs from his native country" and is "is another conceptual landmark and musical milestone in his already-impressive discography."  (Purchase at Amazon.com.)

Robert
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Recent Links :: 26 May 2012

• Miles Davis: According to the Telegraph, the city of Alton (IL) plans to honor town native Miles Davis with a statue.
• Herbie Hancock: Greg Simmons reviews the reissued Herbie Hancock album Empyrean Isles at All About Jazz. (Purchase the CD, Empyrean Isles, at Amazon.com.)
• Freddie Hubbard: Jeff Dayton-Johnson reviews the newly reissued Freddie Hubbard album, Straight Life, at All About Jazz. (Purchase the CD, Straight Life, at Amazon.com.)
• Charlie Parker: According to PR Web, one of Charlie Parker's saxophones is being auctioned at $30,000 to $35,000.
• Sun Ra: On his birthday, May 22, Sun Ra was the Jazz Musician of the Day at All About Jazz.
• Fats Waller: On his birthday, pianist Fats Waller was the Jazz Musician of the Day at All About Jazz.
• Fats Waller: On its 20th anniversary, the radio show "Riverwalk Jazz" will revisit its first program, a tribute to Fats Waller, according to All About Jazz.

Robert
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Happy Birthday, Miles Davis

Jazz trumpeter Miles Davis was born on May 26, 1926, in Alton, Illinois. Davis was one of the great innovators in jazz and, in fact, in 20th century music in general. As critic William Ruhlmann notes, "To examine his career is to examine the history of jazz from the mid-'40s to the early '90s, since he was in the thick of almost every important innovation and stylistic development in the music during that period ..."

Davis helped found several of the major genres of modern jazz, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, and jazz fusion. His groups included many musicians who went on to greatness, including John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Wayne Shorter, Horace Silver, Bill Evans, Herbie Hancock, Joe Zawinul, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, John McLaughlin, Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, Elvin Jones, Philly Joe Jones, and Jack DeJohnette. His album, Kind of Blue, is generally regarded as the best selling jazz album of all times and one of the most influential albums in jazz.

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends seven albums by Miles Davis, more than any other artist. These include:

• 'Round About Midnight (Purchase the CD at Barnes & Noble.)
• Porgy and Bess (Purchase the CD at Barnes & Noble.)
• Milestones (Purchase the CD at Barnes & Noble.)
• Kind of Blue (Purchase the CD at Barnes & Noble.)
• Four & More (Purchase the CD at Barnes & Noble.)
• Miles Smiles (Purchase the CD at Barnes & Noble.)
• Bitches Brew (Purchase the CD at Barnes & Noble.)

"So What," the cut that begins Davis's great Kind of Blue album, can be heard here:

Robert
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RIP, Duke Ellington (1899-1974)

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington died of lung cancer and pneumonia on May 24, 1974, in New York City. His funeral was held in New York's Cathedral of St. John Divine and was attended by thousands of individuals, including numerous celebrities. He is buried in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.

Jazz critic Bob Blumenthal of The Boston Globe put it best when he said that "In the century since his birth, there has been no greater composer, American or otherwise, than Edward Kennedy Ellington." Ellington, who won 12 Grammy Awards, was not only a great composer and a great bandleader; he merged the two talents. As jazz critic William Ruhlmann notes, "Ellington used his band as a musical laboratory for his new compositions and shaped his writing specifically to showcase the talents of his bandmembers."

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Lyons recommends five of Ellington's albums:

• Rockin' in Rhythm, Duke Ellington and the Jungle Band, Vol. 3, 1929-1931 (MCA>, available on vinyl only.
• Duke Ellington - 1940 (Smithsonian), available on vinyl only.
• The Duke Ellington Carnegie Hall Concerts: January 1943 (Prestige), available on CD from Amazon.com.
• The Golden Duke (Prestige), available on vinyl only.
• Pure Gold (RCA), available on vinyl only. 

Because so many of these recommended albums are available on vinyl only, Jim Determan has recommended the following alternatives on CD:

• The Original Decca Recordings (The Complete Brunswick and Vocalion Recordings of Duke Ellington, 1926-1931) (Decca/GRP), available on CD from Amazon.com.
• The Okey Ellington (Columbia Jazz Masterpieces), available on CD from Amazon.com.
• The Blanton-Webster Band (RCA Bluebird), available on CD from Amazon.com.
• Great Times! (Original Jazz Classics), available on CD from Amazon.com.
• Happy Go Lucky Local (Discovery), available on CD from Amazon.com.
• The Popular Duke Ellington (RCA Victor Europe), available on CD from Amazon.com. 

Ellington's band plays "Sophisticated Lady" here:

Robert
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RIP, Joe Pass (1929-1994)

Jazz guitarist Joe Pass died on May 23, 1994, in Los Angeles from liver cancer. He was 65 years old. He is buried in the Resurrection Cemetery in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Pass had, as Len Lyons puts it, "a prodigious dexterity, an encyclopedic harmonic knowledge, and a driving sense of swing." Jazz critic Scott Yanow said that "Joe Pass did the near-impossible. He was able to play up-tempo versions of bop tunes such as 'Cherokee' and 'How High the Moon' unaccompanied on the guitar."

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends the Joe Pass album, Virtuoso (Pablo), which is available on CD from Amazon.com.

Pass plays "How High the Moon" here:

Robert
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Happy Birthday, Sun Ra

Jazz composer, bandleader, and pianist Sun Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, 1914-1993) was born on May 22, 1914, in Birmingham, Alabama. Jazz critic Scott Yanow said that "Of all the jazz musicians, Sun Ra was probably the most controversial," primarily because of Sun Ra's eclectic music, unorthodox lifestyle, and claims that he was of the "Angel Race" and that he was from Saturn.

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons describes Sun Ra's Arkestra as "a band of high contrast in which driving riffs, free soloing, sensuous orchestration, and atonal collective blowing spin like the vanes of a pinwheel."

Lyons recommends Sun Ra's album, Live at Montreux (Inner City). The album is available on CD from Amazon.com.

Sun Ra and His Arkestra play "Of the Other Tomorrow" from that album here:

Robert
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Happy Birthday, Fats Waller

Jazz pianist Fats Waller (1904-1943) was born on May 21, 1904, in New York City. Jazz critic Richard S. Ginell said that Waller was "one of the greatest pianists jazz has ever known" and "also one of its most exuberantly funny entertainers" with an "extraordinarily light and flexible touch."

Waller was a protege of the great stride pianist James P. Johnson, an influence on painists from Earl Hines to Art Tatum, an incredible commercial success, and the author of popular songs such as "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Squeeze Me."

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends Waller's album, Fats Waller Piano Solos, 1929-1941 (Bluebird). Unfortunately, that album is only available in vinyl, and Jim Determan recommends as an alternative Turn on the Heat — The Fats Waller Piano Solos (RCA), which is available on CD from Barnes & Noble.

Waller plays his composition, "Honeysuckle Rose," here:

Robert
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Recent Links :: 19 May 2012

• Louis Armstrong: Marc Silver discusses Louis Armstrong's last concert at NPR's Song of the Day.
• Art Blakey, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Wes Montgomery, Sarah Vaughan: At the LA Weekly, Sean J. O'Connell has a list of "Top Ten Jazz Albums for People Who Don't Know Shit About Jazz." Included are:
  • Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, Free For All (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
  • Miles Davis, A Tribute to Jack Johnson (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
  • Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach, Money Jungle (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
  • Dizzy Gillespie, At Newport (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
  • Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
  • Wes Montgomery with the Wynton Kelly trio, Smokin' at the Half Note (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
  • Sarah Vaughan, Live at Mr. Kelly's (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
• Bill Evans: Edward Blanco reviews the Bill Evans album, Live At Art D'Lugoff's Top of The Gate, at All about Jazz. (Purchase the CD, Live At Art D'Lugoff's Top of The Gate, at Amazon.com.)
• Woody Herman: On his birthday, May 16, Woody Herman was the Jazz Musician of the Day at All About Jazz.
• Cecil Taylor: Pianist Cecil Taylor was featured on All Things Considered.

Robert
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Happy Birthday, Betty Carter

Jazz singer Betty Carter (1929-1998) was born in Flint, Michigan, on May 16, 1929. Carter was especially known for her ability to capture the instrumental timbres in her voice. In fact, she insisted that the voice was as legitimate an instrument in jazz as any other. She was also fiercely independent and had her own Bet-Car label in the 1970s.

Jazz critic Steve Huey said that Carter was "Arguably the most adventurous female jazz singer of all time," and fellow vocalist Carmen McRae once claimed that "there's really only one jazz singer - only one: Betty Carter."

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends the album Betty Carter (Bet-Car MK 1002). Jim Determan, who updated the Lyons list, also recommends The Audience with Betty Carter, which was not available when Lyons wrote his book.

• Purchase Betty Carter from Amazon.com.
• Purchase The Audience with Better Carter from Amazon.com.

Carter sings "How High the Moon" here:

Robert
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Happy Birthday, Woody Herman

Jazz clarinetist and big band leader Woody Herman (1913-1987) was born on May 16, 1913, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Critic Scott Janow describes Herman as "A fine swing clarinetist, an altoist whose sound was influenced by Johnny Hodges, a good soprano saxophonist, and a spirited blues vocalist" but adds that his "greatest significance to jazz was as the leader of a long line of big bands."

Herman was particularly good at finding talented individuals — like Stan Getz, Bill Harris, and Zoot Sims — and allowing them to "find themselves." Herman was also interested in playing and creating new music, and his band was the first to absorb the innovations of bebop.

His first band — sometimes known as "The Band That Plays the Blues" — plays its first hit, "Woodchopper's Ball," here:

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends the album, The Three Herds (Columbia). The album is available only in vinyl, and Jim Determan recommends as an alternative The Thundering Herds 1945-1947 (Columbia). Purchase the CD, The Thundering Herds 1945-1947, at Barnes & Noble.

Robert
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Recent Links :: 15 May 2012

• Louis Armstrong: At The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong, Ricky Riccardi asks readers to vote for the Louis Armstrong House Museum to be funded through a $3 million grant at www.partnersinpreservation.com.
• Bix Beiderbecke: In the Quad-City (Iowa) Times, Bill Wundram reports that Bix Beiderbecke’s prep school dormitory at Lake Forest College near Chicago may be wrecked next month.
• Dave Brubeck, Billie Holiday: According to Jeff Tamarkin at JazzTimes, Sony will release 8 boxed sets in June, including Dave Brubeck — The Complete Columbia Albums 1955-66 and Billie Holiday — Lady Day: The Complete Columbia 1933-44.
• Dizzy Gillespie: NPR's All Things Considered features an interview with Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval, who discusses the influence of Dizzy Gillespie on him.
• Sonny Rollins: Bob Kenselaar reprints a 1978 interview with Sonny Rollins at All About Jazz.
• Cecil Taylor: Seth Colter Walls declares it (unofficially) Cecil Taylor month in New York at Capital.
• Cecil Taylor: Jeff Jackson and Jeff Golick discuss the 1984 Cecil Taylor album, Nicaragua: No Pasaran at Destination: Out.
• Lester Young: M. Figg discusses and shares a clip of saxophonist Lester Young playing the clarinet later in his career at Aesthetic, Not Anesthetic.

Robert
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Happy Birthday, King Oliver

Joe "King" Oliver (1885-1938) was born on May 11, 1885, in Aben, Louisiana. Oliver played cornet in New Orleans brass bands and dance bands before forming his own group, which included talents like Kid Ory, Baby Dodds, Johnny Dodds, Lil Hardin, and Louis Armstrong, who once said that "if it had not been for Joe Oliver, jazz would not be what it is today."

Oliver was also a well-known composer, and his tunes include "Dipper Mouth Blues", "Sweet Like This", "Canal Street Blues", and "Doctor Jazz."

In his 101 Best Jazz Albums, Lyons recommends the album, King Oliver's Jazz Band, 1923 (Smithsonian). Unfortunately, that album is not available in CD or MP3 format.

Jim Determan recommends the following alternatives on CD. He calls the Retrieval CD "the definitive reissue." He also lists the Milestone CD below, although he adds that the "only reason to pick up this set is for the seven interesting tracks by The Red Onion Jazz Babies, featuring Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and Alberta Hunter; or if you can't find the Retrieval set."

• King Oliver: King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band: The Complete Set (Retrieval), available from Amazon.com.
• King Oliver: Louis Armstrong with King Oliver (Milestone), available from Amazon.com.

Oliver's band plays one of his compositions, "Dipper Mouth Blues," here:

Robert
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Recent Links :: 11 May 2012

• Anthony Braxton: Mike Shanley reviews the Anthony Braxton and Buell Neidlinger album, 2 by 2 at JazzTimes. (Purchase the CD, 2 by 2, at Amazon.com.)
• Chick Corea: Bill Milkowski reviews the new Chick Corea album, The Continents, at JazzTimes. (Purchase the CD, The Continents, at Amazon.com.)
• Miles Davis: Miles Davis Online discusses the latest news on Don Cheadle's Miles Davis movie.
• Duke Ellington: Open Culture shares a video of Duke Ellington playing in France in July 1966 and recounts the meeting between Ellington and artist Joan Miró.
• Ella Fitzgerald: Marc Myers discusses Ella Fitzgerald's collaborations with arranger Bill Doggett at JazzWax.
• Keith Jarrett: On May 8, his birthday, Keith Jarrett was Jazz Musician of the Day at All About Jazz.

Robert
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Recent Links :: 9 May 2012

• John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk: darkprinceofjazz's list of the 10 Best Modern Jazz Compositions includes:
  • "Footprints," from Miles Davis's album, Miles Smiles
  • "Round Midnight," from Thelonious Monk's album, Misterioso
  • "Miles Runs the Voodoo Down," from Miles Davis's album, Bitches Brew
  • "Good bye Pork Pie Hat," from Charles Mingus's album, Mingus Ah Um
  • "Acknowlegement," from John Coltrane's album, A Love Supreme
  • "So What," from Miles Davis's album, Kind of Blue
• Miles Davis: NPR intern Dominic Martinez reviews the Miles Davis classic, Bitches Brew, at NPR's All Songs Considered. (Purchase the CD, Bitches Brew, at Amazon.com.)
• Carmen McRae: Andrea Canter reviews the album Carmen Sings Monk at JazzInk. (Purchase the CD, Carmen Sings Monk, at Amazon.com.)
• Charles Mingus: Tom Reney discusses Charles Mingus on what would have been his 90th birthday at New England Public Radio.
• Sonny Rollins: In the Groove, Jazz and Beyond features a podcast on world jazz, which begins with Sonny Rollins's "St. Thomas."
• Cecil Taylor: Ben Ratliff has a piece on pianist Cecil Taylor in the New York Times.

Robert
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Happy Birthday, Keith Jarrett

Jazz pianist Keith Jarrett turns 67 today. Jarrett, whom critic Scott Janow calls "one of the most significant pianists to emerge since the 1960s," was born on May 8, 1945, in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons notes that "During the 1970s [Jarrett] revived and reshaped the virtually dormant solo piano medium, and inspired pianists to continue the tradition ..." In 2008, Jarrett was inducted into the Downbeat Hall of Fame.

In Lyons's book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Lyons recommends Jarrett's album, The Koln Concert, which is available on CD from Amazon.com.

Part 1 of that concert can be heard here:

Robert
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2012 JJA Nominees: Female Singer of the Year

This year, the Jazz Journalists Association has nominated four singers for its 2012 JJA Jazz Awards in the category entitled Female Singer of the Year.

Karrin Allyson has been described by the New York Times as a "singer with a feline touch and impeccable intonation" and by critics Scott Yanow and Greg Prato as "one of the more impressive jazz singers to emerge in the '90s." She has been received four Grammy nominations for Best Jazz Vocal Album: Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane (2001); Footprints (2006); Imagina: Songs of Brasil (2008); and her latest album, 'Round Midnight (2011), which critic Matt Collar called "a smoky, afterglow affair that builds upon the singer's noted skill for interpreting jazz and pop standards." Allyson sings "I Wish I Knew" from her album, Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane, here:

René Marie has released nine albums, including the highly regarded Vertigo (2001) and two albums in 2011, The Voice of My Beautiful Country and Black Lace Freudian Slip. Critic Alex Henderson described her as "a recognizable, fairly unpredictable jazz vocalist who -- depending on her mood -- can be quirky and playful one minute, but bluesy, soulful, or sexy the next" and "blessed with an impressive range." She sings the title track from Black Lace Freudian Slip here:

Gretchen Parlato was the first vocalist ever admitted into the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance and, in 2004, the first place winner in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition. Described by critic Matt Collar as "a forward-thinking jazz singer with an emotive, languid style and a bent toward mixing various musical influences into a modern creative jazz aesthetic," Parlato has three albums as lead singer, including 2011's "The Lost and Found," which was voted the Vocal Jazz Album of the Year on iTunes. Parlato's arrangement of Herbie Hancock's "Butterfly" can be heard here:

Tierney Sutton's band has received four Grammy nominations for Best Jazz Vocal Album, most recently for the 2011 album, American Road. Critic Ken Dryden called her "a wide-ranging explorer as a vocalist, not satisfied with the standard jazz canon or typical approaches to songs" and said that she "has evolved into one of the most striking jazz singers of the early 21st century, simply because of her gift for finding new approaches to familiar songs without abandoning their essence." She performs the Gershwin classic, "It Ain't Necessarily So," here:

Four marvelous singers.  I wish them all the best, both in the competition and in their careers.

Robert
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Recent Links :: 3 May 2012

• Louis Armstrong: Ricky Riccardi asks blog readers for help in winning a Partners in Preservation grant to restore the gardens at the Louis Armstrong House Museum at The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong.
• Louis Armstrong: Ricky Riccardi appeared on Al Jazeera English to discuss Satchmo at the National Press Club, the Louis Armstrong House Museum, and Armstrong’s role as a civil rights pioneer, according to Jazz Lives. (Purchase the CD, Satchmo at the National Press Club, from Amazon.com.)
• Miles Davis: According to Miles Davis Online, the new Miles Davis stamps will be released on June 12.
• Miles Davis: Greg Breeding discusses how he designed the Miles Davis and Edith Piaf stamps at Story Matters.
• Duke Ellington: On April 29, his birthday, Duke Ellington was the Jazz Musician of the Day at All About Jazz.
• Duke Ellington: Tom Reney discusses Duke Ellington's work, "The New Orleans Suite," and Ellington's appearance at the 1970 New Orleans Jazz Festival and Louisiana Heritage Fair at JazTimes.
• Wes Montgomery: Marc Myers discusses Wes Montgomery and shares a video clip of him playing in the Netherlands in 1965 at JazzWax.
• Wes Montgomery: C. Michael Bailey reviews the "Round Midnight" track from Wes Montgomery's album, Echoes of Indiana Avenue, at All About Jazz. (Purchase the CD, Echoes of Indiana Avenue, from Amazon.com.)

Robert
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