Recent Links :: 30 October 2014

Count Basie: At JazzWax, Marc Myers discusses Count Basie's piano technique and shares a video of the Count Basie Quartet on Ralph J. Gleason's "Jazz Casual" television show in August 1968.

Miles Davis: New Jazz United shares a video of "There Is No Greater Love," by the Miles Davis Quintet. (The song is available on the album, Miles, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)

Miles Davis: Miles Davis Online provides the latest update on Don Cheadle's biopic about Miles Davis.

Herbie Hancock: On NPR's Morning Edition, Steve Inskeep interviews Herbie Hancock about his memoir, Possibilities. (Purchase the book from Amazon.com.)

Herbie Hancock: Howard Mandel reports at Jazz Beyond Jazz that Herbie Hancock received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jazz Foundation of America in October.

Billie Holiday: Brilliant Corners shares a link to a radio theatre piece about Billie Holiday's iconic song, "Strange Fruit."

Wayne Shorter: New Jazz United shares a video of the Wayne Shorter tune, "Juju." (The song is available on the album, Juju, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)

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Happy Birthday, Clifford Brown

Jazz trumpeter Clifford Brown was born on October 30, 1930, in Wilmington, Delaware. Brown was an incredibly gifted musician whose career lasted just four years, but in that short space of time, he "played with a full-toned, linear lyricism which proved to be the only vital alternative during the 1950's to Miles Davis's understated melodic style," according to Len Lyons. Sonny Rollins, who worked for seven months with Brown, said simply, "He had it all."

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends Clifford Brown's The Quintet, Vol. 1 (EmArcy/Mercury), but that album is nearly impossible to find and is only available in vinyl. Jim Determan recommends two alternatives:

• Clifford Brown and Max Roach (EmArcy/Polygram). Purchase at Amazon.com.)
  
• Study in Brown (PID/Polygram). Purchase at Amazon.com.)
  

Clifford Brown plays "Stardust" here:

Robert
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Happy Birthday, Chuck Mangione

American flugelhorn player Chuck Mangione was born on November 29, 1940, in Rochester, New York.

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons says that Mangione "has come to represent the fusion of jazz with popular song writing and arranging. … [From] 1970 to 1973 Mangione auspiciously combined his natural melodicism with a talent for creating multistylistic orchestral backgrounds."

Lyons recommends Mangione's album, The Best of Chuck Mangione (Mercury), which is available only in vinyl. As Jim Determan (who updated the Lyons list for CD) points out, only half of the songs on that album have been released on CD. As an alternative, Determan recommends Land of Make Believe (Mercury), which is available from Amazon.com.

Mangione plays "And in the Beginning" — a composition that Lyons said "proved Mangione was a composer to be taken seriously" — here:

Robert
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RIP, Woody Herman (1913-1987)

Jazz clarinetist and big band leader Woody Herman (1913-1987) died on October 29, 1987, in Los Angeles of congestive heart failure, emphysema, and pneumonia at the age of 74.

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.

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends the album, The Three Herds (Columbia), which is now available as an import CD from Amazon.com.

Jim Determan also recommends as an alternative The Thundering Herds 1945-1947 (Columbia), which is available at Amazon.com.

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

Robert
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RIP, Oliver Nelson (1932-1975)

Jazz saxophonist Oliver Nelson (1932-1975) died on October 28, 1975, in Los Angeles at the age of 43. His death is usually attributed to a heart attack, but his son claims that the cause of death was really pancreatitis.  Others, like Len Lyons, argue that "overwork and long-standing frustration over not expressing himself musically were underlying causes."

In fact, Lyons refers to Nelson as "a little-known tragic hero — little known by the public, a hero to many jazz musicians, and tragically swallowed up by Hollywood's film and television industry."

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends Nelson's album, Three Dimensions: The Dedication Series, Vol. 3 (Impulse). The album is available only in vinyl, and Jim Determan recommends the following alternatives, both of which contain all of the tracks from the album recommended by Lyons. Blues and the Abstract Truth is considered a classic and includes "Stolen Moments," the piece featured in the video above.

• Blues and the Abstract Truth (Verve). Purchase at Amazon.com.
• Sound Pieces (GRP Records).  Purchase at Amazon.com.

Nelson plays his best-known composition, "Stolen Moments," with Bill Evans, Paul Chambers, Freddie Hubbard, Eric Dolphy and Roy Haynes here:

Robert
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Recent Links :: 22 October 2014

Louis Armstrong: According to Allan Kozinn at the New York Times, the Louis Armstrong House Museum has opened an exhibition of Armstrong memorabilia from the collection of one-time jazz club owner Jack Bradley, who amassed what is said to be the world’s largest private collection of Armstrongiana.

Louis Armstrong: At The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong, Ricky Riccardi discusses the apocryphal story that, in the late 1950s, Vice President Richard Nixon unwittingly carried Louis Armstrong's marijuana stash across customs.

Clifford Brown: At All About Jazz, Victor L. Schermer interviews Don Glanden, the Division Head of Graduate Jazz Studies at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, about his documentary on Clifford Brown, "Brownie Speaks."

Chick Corea: At The Guardian, John Fordham reviews the Chick Corea album, Trilogy. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Bill Evans: In his October 18 Weekend Wax Bits, Marc Myers reports that Concord will release Bill Evans's The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961, in November. He also shares a video of Tony Bennett with Bill Evans. (Pre-order the album from Amazon.com.)

Dizzy Gillespie: On October 21, his birthday, Dizzy Gillespie was the Jazz Musician of the Day at All About Jazz.

Jelly Roll Morton: On October 20, his birthday, Jelly Roll Morton was the Jazz Musician of the Day at All About Jazz.

Annie Ross: At All About Jazz, John Ephland reviews the upcoming album Annie Ross: To Lady with Love.

Horace Silver: At All About Jazz, Marc Davis reviews the Horace Silver album, Six Pieces Of Silver. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

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Happy Birthday, Dizzy Gillespie

Jazz trumpeter John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was born on October 21, 1917, in Cheraw, South Carolina. Gillespie was the intellectual force behind bebop and played brilliant solo lines. His showmanship and ability to communicate with his audiences also made him perhaps the greatest single force in leading the public to accept bebop.

Wynton Marsalis said of Gillespie, "Dizzy was so quick-minded, he could create an endless flow of ideas at unusually fast tempi. Nobody had ever even considered playing a trumpet that way, let alone had actually tried. All the musicians respected him because, in addition to outplaying everyone, he knew so much and was so generous with that knowledge ..."

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends two of Gillespie's albums:

• In the Beginning (Prestige). This album is only available in vinyl, but Jim Determan recommends as an alternative, Shaw Nuff (Discovery), which has all but one cut from In the Beginning. (Purchase the CD, Shaw Nuff, at Amazon.com.)
  
• The Original Dizzy Gillespie Big Band: In Concert (GNP), which is available on CD. (Purchase the CD, The Original Dizzy Gillespie Big Band: In Concert, at Amazon.com.)
  

Gillespie and his band play one of his compositions, "A Night in Tunisia," here:

Robert
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Happy Birthday, Jelly Roll Morton

Jelly Roll Morton, the first major arranger of jazz, was born on October 20, 1890 (based on his baptismal certificate), in New Orleans, Louisiana. Morton claimed that he invented jazz, and while that claim is a stretch, he was certainly an important transitional figure between the stiff approach of ragtime and the flexibility and freedom of jazz.

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends two albums by Jelly Roll Morton: Jelly Roll Morton and His Red Hot Peppers, 1926-1927, Volume 3 (RCA France 731 059); and Jelly Roll Morton, 1923-1924 (Milestone M-47018, 2 LPs). These are available in vinyl only. There is a CD version of the latter album, but it omits the cuts from side 4 of the vinyl LP.

Jim Determan, who has updated Lyons's list of albums for CD, recommends instead the following titles:

• Jelly Roll Morton: The Jelly Roll Morton Centennial (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
  
• Jelly Roll Morton: 1926-1930 (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
  
• Jelly Roll Morton: Birth of the Hot (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
  
• Jelly Roll Morton: Rare Recordings of Piano Solos, 1923-1926 (Purchase at Amazon.com.)
  

Jelly Roll Morton and his Red Hot Peppers play "Dead Man Blues" here. It is a good example of Morton's sense of collective improvisation.

Robert
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RIP, Art Blakey (1919-1900)

Jazz drummer Art Blakey (1919-1990) died on October 16, 1990, in New York City at the age of 71 of lung cancer. Blakey was cremated.

Blakey was a great drummer and the leader of one of the greatest jazz bands, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, which served as the developmental band for a large number of jazz musicians. Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard remarked that "Art Blakey was the first one who gave me a big opportunity." Pianist Walter Davis said, "I think no one in jazz has brought more great musicians to music than Art Blakey."

Shortly before his death, Blakey told Hubbard, "Don't be grieving when I die. Think about the good moments, what we did together and what you can do later on."

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends Blakey's album, A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1 (Blue Note). (Purchase at Amazon.com.)

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers play "Moanin'" here:

Robert
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Recent Links :: 14 October 2014

Art Blakey: On October 11, his birthday, Art Blakey was Jazz Musician Of The Day at All About Jazz.

John Coltrane: At All About Jazz, Chris M. Slawecki reviews John Coltrane's album, Offering: Live at Temple University. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Miles Davis, Bud Powell: At NextBop.com, Ben Gray discusses covers of the Bud Powell/Miles Davis composition "Hallucinations" (also known as "Budo"). ("Hallucinations" is available on the album, The Genius of Bud Powell, which can be purchased from Amazon.com. "Budo" is available on the album, Birth of the Cool, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)

Bill Evans: At JazzTimes, Jeff Tamarkin reports that Concord Music Group is reissuing Bill Evans’s The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961, as a vinyl box set. (Pre-order the album from Amazon.com.)

Coleman Hawkins: Open Culture looks at the 75th anniversary of Coleman Hawkins's recording of "Body and Soul."

Thelonious Monk: On October 10, his birthday, Thelonious Monk was Jazz Musician Of The Day at All About Jazz.

Thelonious Monk: At The Notes You Don't Play, Peter Blasevick shares an interview with Thelonious Monk's son, T.S. Monk, about his father.

Bud Powell: David Brent Johnson has an excellent two-part piece on Bud Powell's life: Part 1 and Part 2.

Sun Ra: At Music and More, Tim Niland reviews two new releases of Sun Ra's music: Secrets of the Sun and Atlantis. (Purchase the albums from Amazon.com: Secrets of the Sun and Atlantis.)

Robert
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Happy Birthday, Art Tatum

Jazz pianist Art Tatum was born on October 13, 1909, in Toledo, Ohio. Tatum was nearly blind and yet was probably the greatest piano virtuoso that jazz has ever seen.  In fact, jazz critic Leonard Feather called Tatum "the greatest soloist in jazz history, regardless of instrument."

Stories about Tatum's talents abound. Perhaps the best known is the night that Tatum walked into a club where Fats Waller was playing. Waller — who never underestimated his own talents — stepped away from the piano bench to make way for Tatum and said, "I only play the piano, but tonight God is in the house."

Tatum's dazzling virtuosic runs can be heard on "Tiger Rag" here:

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends Tatum's album, Art Tatum: The Tatum Solo Masterpieces, Vol. 3 (Pablo). (Purchase at Amazon.com.)

Robert
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Recent Links :: 12 October 2014

Louis Armstrong: At The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong, Ricky Riccardi discusses the October 2, 1939, concert at Carnegie Hall that was dedicated to African-African American composers and that included Louis Armstrong.

Anthony Braxton: At All About Jazz, Robert Bush reviews a recent concert by Anthony Braxton and the Wadada Leo Smith Silver Orchestra in Los Angeles.

John Coltrane: At The Guardian, John Fordham reviews the John Coltrane album, Offering: Live at Temple University. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Miles Davis: New Jazz United shares a video of Miles Davis playing "When I Fall in Love." (The song is available on the album, Miles Davis Plays for Lovers, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)

Miles Davis: Open Culture discusses the paintings of Miles Davis.

Duke Ellington: The Jazz Line reports that the long-standing royalty dispute between Duke Ellington‘s heirs and EMI Music Publishing is close to a final decision in New York’s highest court.

Duke Ellington: About Last Night reports that Terry Teachout's biography of Duke Ellington, Duke, has won an ASCAP Foundation Deems Taylor/Virgil Thomson Award for "outstanding print, broadcast and new media coverage of music." (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Herbie Hancock: According to Jeff Tamarkin at JazzTimes, the Jazz Foundation of America will honor Herbie Hancock with a Lifetime Achievement Award in October.

Wayne Shorter: According to The Jazz Line, the fundraising event for Wayne Shorter's documentary "Wayne Shorter: Zero Gravity," raised almost $300,000 in a single night.

Robert
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Happy Birthday, Art Blakey

Jazz drummer Art Blakey was born on October 11, 1919, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Blakey was one of the inventors of the bebop style of drumming. He was also the leader of one of the greatest jazz bands, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, which served as the developmental band for a large number of jazz musicians, including pianists Keith Jarrett and Cedar Walton, reed players Wayne Shorter and Benny Golson, trumpet players Clifford Brown and Wynton Marsalis, bassist Stanley Clarke, and many others.

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends Blakey's album, A Night at Birdland, Vol. 1 (Blue Note). (Purchase at Amazon.com.)

Blakey's Jazz Messengers play "No Problem" here:

Robert
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Happy Birthday, Thelonious Monk

Jazz pianist Thelonious Monk was born on October 10, 1917, in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Monk was one of the greatest jazz pianists ever, a founder of bebop, and according to some sources, the second most-recorded jazz composer after Duke Ellington.

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends three albums by Monk:

• The Complete Genius (Blue Note), available only on vinyl. (Purchase at amazon.com.)
  
• Brilliance (Milestone), available only on vinyl and hard to find at that.
  
• Pure Monk (Mileston), available only on vinyl. (Purchase at amazon.com.)
  

Jim Determan, who has updated the Lyons list, recommends these alternatives in CD format:

• The Genius of Modern Music, Volume 1 (Blue Note) (Purchase at Amazon.com)
  
• The Genius of Modern Music, Volume 2 (Blue Note) (Purchase at Amazon.com)
  
• Brilliant Corners (Riverside) (Purchase at Amazon.com)
  
• Five by Five by Monk (Riverside) (Purchase at Amazon.com)
  
• Alone in San Francisco (Original Jazz Classics) (Purchase at Amazon.com)
  
• Thelonious Himself (Riverside) (Purchase at Amazon.com)
  

Monk and his quartet play "'Round Midnight," reputedly the most-recorded jazz standard written by a jazz musician:

Robert
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Recent Links :: 9 October 2014

Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday: At The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong, Ricky Riccardi discusses Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday's only recording session.

John Coltrane: New Jazz United shares a clip of John Coltrane performing "Say It (Over and Over Again)." (The song is available on the album, Ballads, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)

Chick Corea, Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner: Jerry Jazz Musician asked several jazz musicians and critics to list their three or four favorite jazz albums of the 1960s. There are too many albums to list here, but to take just one example, critic John Goodman listed:

• Chick Corea, Now He Sings, Now He Sobs. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Bill Evans, Waltz for Debbie. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Thelonious Monk, Live at the It Club. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• McCoy Tyner, The Real McCoy. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Sun Ra: Kris Needs has a two-part guide to the albums of Sun Ra at Perfect Sound Forever: Part I and Part II.

Sun Ra: At The Free Jazz Collective, Martin Schray has a multi-part article on Sun Ra, including a review of the album, Sun Ra Arkestra: Live in Ulm 1992. Part 1; Part 2; and Part 3. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Robert
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RIP, Milt Jackson (1923-1999)

Jazz vibraphonist Milt Jackson died on October 9, 1999, in Manhattan, New York.  He is buried at the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York.

Jackson is best known as a member — and, according to Len Lyons, the "showpiece" — of the Modern Jazz Quartet.  As Lyons notes, Jackson was "a spontaneous player and personality" and was "'emotionally contrapuntal' to the austere, restrained [John] Lewis."  The differences between Jackson and Lewis led to the former's departure from the Modern Jazz Quartet in 1974.

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends the Modern Jazz Quartet's album, European Concert (Atlantic).  The album is available from Amazon.com.

Jackson is highlighted here at the Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival in 1986 on "Bags' Groove":

Robert
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RIP, Dave Lambert (1917-1966)

Jazz singer Dave Lambert died on October 3, 1966, at the age of 49 when he was hit by a truck while changing a flat tire. He was a member of the trio Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross and is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs.

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends the Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross album, The Best of Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross (Columbia C-32911 or JCS-8198).

Unfortunately, the album is only available in vinyl. Jim Determan, who has updated Lyons's list of albums for CD, recommends instead the following title:

• Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross: Everybody's Boppin' (Columbia Jazz Masterpieces) (Buy at Amazon.com)
  

He sings the Horace Silver song, "Doodling," with Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross in 1960:

Robert
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