Don Redman, the first great arranger in jazz history, died on November 30, 1964, in New York City. He was 64 years old.
Redman joined joined the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra in 1923, playing clarinet and saxophone, but he soon began writing arrangements and did much to formulate the sound that was to become big band swing.
Redman formed his own band in 1931, which he led until 1940.
The Fletcher Henderson Orchestra plays one of Redman's arrangements, "Rocky Mountain Blues," here:
In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra's album Developing an American Orchestra 1923-1927 (Smithsonian Collection). Unfortunately, that album is only available in vinyl. Jim Determan, who has updated the Lyons list, recommends as an alternative A Study in Frustration: The Fletcher Henderson Story (Columbia), which is available from Amazon.com.
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:
Anthony Braxton: New Jazz United shares a video of Anthony Braxton's 1970 piece, "To Pianist Cecil Taylor." (The song is available on the album, For Alto, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)
John Coltrane: At Blu Notes, Larry Blumenfeld lists his 10 favorite jazz albums of the year. Among them is John Coltrane's Offering: Live at Temple University. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
Miles Davis: New Jazz United shares a video of Miles Davis's "Seven Steps to Heaven." (The song is available on the album, Seven Steps to Heaven, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)
Keith Jarrett: At All About Jazz, John Kelman reviews the album, Hamburg '72, by Keith Jarrett, Charlie Haden, and Paul Motian. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
John McLaughlin: At All About Jazz, Ian Patterson reviews the November 2014 concert by John McLaughlin and the 4th Dimension at London's Royal Festival Hall.
Sun Ra: New Jazz United shares a video of Sun Ra's version of "My Favorite Things" from 1978. (The song is available on the album, New Steps, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)
Art Tatum: New Jazz United shares a video of Art Tatum's "The Man I Love." (The song is available on the album, Piano Starts Here, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)
Cecil Taylor: New Jazz United shares a video of Ceil Taylor's "Just Friends" from 1958. (The song is available on the album, Hard Driving Jazz, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)
John Coltrane, Offering: Live at Temple University. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
Miles Davis, Miles at the Fillmore 1970, Vol. 3. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
Chick Corea: According to The Jazz Line, Chick Corea tied with saxophonist Paquito D’Rivera in the Jazz Album category at the 2014 Latin Grammy Awards. Corea was nominated for his latest album The Vigil. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
Bill Evans: According to All About Jazz, Riverside Records will release a vinyl box set of Bill Evans's The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961 in November.
Bill Evans: At Weekend Wax Bits, Marc Myers shares a 1966 interview with Bill Evans, in which Evans discusses bassist Scott LaFaro.
Traditionally, November 24, 1868, has been given as the birthday of Scott Joplin, "The King of Ragtime." More recent research suggests that he was actually born in the second half of 1867.
In any event, Joplin blended European classical styles and African American harmonies and rhythm to produce ragtime, a music that, as one critic put it, "expressed the intensity and energy of a modern urban America." While some of Joplin's music (particularly "Maple Leaf Rag") was popular during his lifetime, interest in ragtime waned until its revival in the 1970s, thanks to the efforts of Joshua Rifkin and the use of Joplin's music in the film, "The Sting."
Joplin plays "Maple Leaf Rag" via piano roll here:
In his 101 Best Jazz Albums, Lyons recommends Scott Joplin 1916 (Biograph). Unfortunately, that album is not available in CD or MP3 format. Jim Determan recommends the following alternatives on CD:
Scott Joplin: The Entertainer (Shout Factory), available from Amazon.com.
Scott Joplin: Elite Syncopations (Shout Factory), available from Amazon.com.
Dick Hyman and James Levine: Scott Joplin's Greatest Hits (RCA), available from Amazon.com.
Richard Zimmerman: Scott Joplin — His Complete Works (Delta), available from Amazon.com.
Richard Zimmerman: Scott Joplin — His Greatest Hits (Legacy International), available from Amazon.com.
Joshua Rifkin: Scott Joplin Piano Rags (Nonesuch), available from Amazon.com.
The first two albums listed above contain the six piano rolls from Scott Joplin 1916 that are actually played by Joplin. The Entertainer contains "Maple Leaf Rag," "Something Doing," and "Weeping Willow Rag," while Elite Syncopations contains "Maple Leaf Rag," "Ole Miss Rag" [by W.C. Handy], and "Magnetic Rag."
Jazz pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith was born on November 23, 1893, in Goshen, New York. He was one of the great stride pianists.
Duke Ellington once said that "Willie The Lion was the greatest influence of all the great jazz piano players who have come along. He has a beat that stays in the mind."
In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends the album by Willie "The Lion" Smith and Luckey Roberts, Luckey and the Lion/Harlem Piano (Good Time Jazz S10035). The CD is available at Amazon.com.
Smith plays his own composition, "Passionette," here:
Jazz saxophonist Coleman Hawkins was born on November 21, 1904, in St. Joseph, Missouri. Hawkins was one of the first prominent jazz saxophonists. As jazz critic Joachim E. Berendt said, "There were some tenor players before [Hawkins], but the instrument was not an acknowledged jazz horn."
In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons does not recommend any Coleman Hawkins albums per se, but Hawkins appears on a couple of recommended albums by other artists:
Fletcher Henderson and Don Redman, Developing an American Orchestra 1923-1927 (Smithsonian Collection). Unfortunately, that album is only available in vinyl.
Lionel Hampton, The Complete Lionel Hampton, 1937-1941 (RCA AXM6-5536, 6 LPs). The album is available on CD from Amazon.com.
Coleman Hawkins plays his most famous piece, "Body and Soul," here:
"Good Morning Heartache" by Ella Fitzgerald. (The song is available on the album, Clap Hands, Here Comes Charlie, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)
"You Are My Sunshine" by the George Russell Sextet. (The song is available on the album, Outer View, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)
"Dindi" by Wayne Shorter. (The song is available on the album, Super Nova, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)
Keith Jarrett: James Hale lists his favorite CDs of 2014 at Jazz Chronicles. They include Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden's Last Dance. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
Thelonious Monk: New Jazz United shares a video of Thelonious Monk's "I Love You (Sweetheart Of All My Dreams)." (The song is available on the album, Monk, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)
The great stride pianist James P. Johnson died on November 17, 1956, in Jamaica, New York, four years after retiring from performing, following a severe stroke.
Johnson composed a number of hit tunes, including "Charleston," and was one of the giants of the Harlem Stride piano style.
In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends
Johnson's album, "The Original James P. Johnson" (Folkways). Jim
Determan also recommends his "Snowy Morning Blues" (Verve) and "Father
of the Stride Piano" (Sony).
"The Original James P. Johnson" (Folkways). Purchase at Amazon.com.
"Snowy Morning Blues" (Verve). Purchase at Amazon.com.
"Father of the Stride Piano" (Sony). Purchase at Amazon.com.
Johnson plays his composition, "Snowy Morning Blues," here:
Louis Armstrong: At All About Jazz, C. Andrew Hovan reviews the new Mosaic release, Louis Armstrong & The All Stars: Complete Newport 1956 & 1958. (Purchase the album from Mosaic Records.)
Count Basie: At Take the "A" Train, Ehsan Khoshbakht shares a video of an interview with Count Basie during his first tour of Sweden in 1962.
John Coltrane: Richard Brody writes about the John Coltrane album, Offering: Live at Temple University, at The New Yorker.
Duke Ellington: Ehsan Khoshbakht shares a video from Duke Ellington's first trip to Finland in February 1963 at Take the "A" Train.
Charlie Parker: According to Jeff Tamarkin at JazzTimes, Mosaic Records has released a nine-disc box set, The Complete Dial Modern Jazz Sessions, which includes all of Charlie Parker’s sessions for Dial from 1946-47. (Purchase the album from Mosaic Records.)
Sun Ra: At Music and More, Tim Niland reviews the Sun Ra album, My Brother the Wind, Volume 1. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
Jazz singer and pianist Mose Allison was born on November 11, 1927, in Tippo, Mississippi.
Allison has, as Forrest Dylan Bryant put it in a review at All About Jazz, a "melting-pot piano style, which seamlessly combines the sounds of back country and big city; [a] carefree, everyman way of singing; [and a] sly cynicism."
In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends Allison's Seventh Son (Prestige), but that album is only available in vinyl. Jim Determan recommends Greatest Hits (Original Jazz Classics) and The Best of Mose Allison (Atlantic) as alternatives.
Seventh Son (Prestige). Purchase the vinyl record at Amazon.com.)
Greatest Hits (Original Jazz Classics). Purchase the CD at Amazon.com.)
The Best of Mose Allison (Atlantic). Purchase the CD at Amazon.com.)
Jazz singer Carmen McRae died on November 10, 1994, of in Beverly Hills, California from a stroke, following complications from respiratory illness.
Known as "The Singer's Singer," McRae was the winner of seven Grammy Awards and was best known for her behind-the-beat phrasing and her ironic interpretations of song lyrics.
In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends the album The Greatest of Carmen McRae (MCA). Unfortunately, the album is only available in vinyl, and Jim Determan, who updated the Lyons list, recommends the CD I'll Be Seeing You: A Tribute to Carmen McRae (GRC).
Purchase The Greatest of Carmen McRae from Amazon.com.
Purchase I'll Be Seeing You: A Tribute to Carmen McRae from Amazon.com.
Miles Davis: According to Jeff Tamarkin at JazzTimes, Stephen Davis has published a new book, Miles Davis/1973: “My Ego Only Needs a Good Rhythm Section”, which is based on the author’s two-day interview with Miles Davis in March 1973. (Purchase the book from Amazon.com.)
Miles Davis: At StereoGum, Phil Freeman ranks the 29 Miles Davis albums from worst ("Blue Moods") to best ("On the Corner").
Bud Powell: New Jazz United shares a video of Bud Powell's "Un Poco Loco." (The song is available on the album, The Amazing Bud Powell, Volume 1, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)
Sun Ra: New Jazz United shares a video of Sun Ra's "Friendly Galaxy." (The song is available on the album, Secrets of the Sun, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)
Jazz pianist Art Tatum died on November 5, 1956, at Queen of Angels Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, from complications resulting from kidney failure. He was just 47 years old. Tatum is interred in the Great Mausoleum of Glendale's Forest Lawn Cemetery, next to his wife Geraldine.
Tatum was nearly blind and yet was probably the greatest piano virtuoso that jazz has ever seen. Charlie Parker himself once said, "I wish I could play like Tatum’s right hand!" Pianist Teddy Wilson once observed, "If you put a piano in a room [and then] get all the finest jazz pianists in the world and let them play in the presence of Art Tatum. Then let Art Tatum play ... everyone there will sound like an amateur."
Jazz critic Leonard Feather called Tatum "the greatest soloist in jazz history, regardless of instrument."
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.)
Miles Davis: New Jazz United shares a video of the Miles Davis tune, "Nature Boy." (The song is available on the album, Blue Moods, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)
Duke Ellington: At JazzWax, Marc Myers shares a short 1937 film, "Ellington Makes a Record."
Bill Evans: At Brain Pickings, Maria Popova discusses Bill Evans's ideas about the creative process.
Herbie Hancock: Larry Blumenfeld discusses Herbie Hancock's new book, Possibilities, at Blu Notes. (Purchase the book from Amazon.com.)
Bud Powell: According to Jeff Tamarkin at JazzTimes, ESP-Disk is re-issuing Bud Powell’s Live at the Blue Note Café, Paris 1961. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
