Recent Links :: 31 January 2015

Betty Carter: According to JazzTimes, Jazz at Lincoln Center will host a tribute to the late vocalist Betty Carter in March.

Miles Davis: The Daily Beast shares an excerpt from Carlos Santana's autobiography, The Universal Tone, which describes how het met Miles Davis and their ensuing friendship.

Bill Evans: At JazzWax, Marc Myers shares a clip from the DVD, The Bill Evans Trio, Live in Iowa. (Purchase the DVD from Fresh Sound Records.)

Lionel Hampton: At Jazz Wax, Marc Myers shares a clip of Lionel Hampton on "The Patti Page Show" in 1957.

Keith Jarrett: At The Free Jazz Collective, Martin Schray reviews the Keith Jarrett album, Hamburg '72. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Thelonious Monk: Tim Niland reviews the Thelonious Monk album, Thelonious Monk Trio, at Music and More. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Wes Montgomery: JazzTimes reports that Resonance Records will release a 1959 live recording of Wes Montgomery, One Night in Indy, on vinyl in April.

Horace Silver: Mark Sullivan reviews the Horace Silver album, Horace Silver Quintet: June 1977 (Livelove Series Volume 2), at All About Jazz. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

McCoy Tyner: At All About Jazz, Harry S. Pariser reviews a January 2015 concert by McCoy Tyner, Geri Allen, and Kenny Barron in San Francisco.

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Recent Links :: 29 January 2015

Louis Armstrong: At The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong, Ricky Riccardi discusses Armstrong's 1955 recording with the All Stars at Gene Norman's Crescendo Club in Hollywood. (Purchase the album, Louis Armstrong at the Crescendo 1955 from Amazon.com.)

Louis Armstrong: Ricky Riccardi discusses Louis Armstrong's 1930 recording of "Song of the Islands" at The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong. (The song is available on the box set, Hot Fives and Sevens, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)

John Coltrane: At All About Jazz, Douglas Groothuis has a long piece on John Coltrane "and the meaning of life."

John Coltrane: JazzTimes announces that MVD Entertainment will release a four-CD John Coltrane box set, So Many Things: The European Tour 1961, in March. All About Jazz provides further information about the release. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

John Coltrane: At All About Jazz, K. Shackelford has a two-part examination of John Coltrane's album, A Love Supreme, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock: CBS News announces that Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock are planning a 2015 world tour of duo piano concerts, kicking off March 14 in Seattle. The Jazz Line and JazzTimes provide further information.

Herbie Hancock: At The Talkhouse, Matthew Shipp discusses Herbie Hancock's memoir, Possibilities. (Purchase the book from Amazon.com.)

Modern Jazz Quartet: At Take the "A" Train, Ehsan Khoshbakht shares a video of the Modern Jazz Quartet playing with Kammerorchester Arcata at the Jazzgipfel Festival in Stuttgart in 1992.

Jaco Pastorius: GuitarPlayer shares a video of Jaco Pastorius talking at the Musicians Institute in 1985.

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Recent Links :: 21 January 2015

Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith: The Wonderful World of Louis Armstrong looks at the January 1925 recording session with Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith.

Miles Davis: At The Free Jazz Collective, Ed Pettersen reviews the Miles Davis Quintet's album, All of You: The Last Tour 1960. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Duke Ellington: The Jazz Line reports that New York’s highest court, the State Court of Appeals, has denied Duke Ellington‘s heirs the right to retry a lawsuit against EMI Music Publishing.

Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter: JazzTimes shares the results of its 2014 Readers' Poll. Winners include:

• Best book: Herbie Hancock: Possibilities by Herbie Hancock with Lisa Dickey (Viking). (Purchase the book from Amazon.com.)
• Best composer: Wayne Shorter.

Billie Holiday: At In These Times, Johann Hari recounts Harry Anslinger, the first commissioner of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, and his "war" on Billie Holiday. The same story is told at Politico.

Charlie Parker: Open Culture discusses Ode to a Highflying Bird, Rolling Stone's drummer Charlie Watts's children’s book about Charlie Parker. (Purchase the book from AbeBooks.)

Sun Ra: At The Free Jazz Collective, Martin Schray discusses the Sun Ra album, Sign of the Myth. (Purchase the album in vinyl from Amazon.com.)

Bessie Smith: The Jazz Line reports that Queen Latifah "had no idea who Bessie Smith was" when she was approached about playing the singer in a biopic.

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Recent Links :: 14 January 2015

Anthony Braxton: Troy Collins reviews the new Anthony Braxton release, Trio and Duet, at All About Jazz. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Ornette Coleman: Jeff Tamarkin reviews the new Ornette Coleman release, New Vocabulary, at JazzTimes. (Purchase the album from System Dialing Records.)

John Coltrane, Keith Jarrett: Robert Bush lists his favorite jazz recordings of 2014 at All About Jazz. They include:

• John Coltrane, Offering: Live at Temple University. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Keith Jarrett, Charlie Haden, Paul Motian, Hamburg '72. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Miles Davis: At All About Jazz, C. Michael Bailey reviews the Miles Davis release, Olympia – Mar 20, 1960. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Herbie Hancock: All About Jazz reports on a keynote address given by Herbie Hancock at the 6th annual National Jazz Education Network conference in San Diego.

Coleman Hawkins: Jazz Lives shares two videos of Coleman Hawkins playing with Roy Eldridge, Benny Carter, and others in 1960 in Paris.

Keith Jarrett: At Dark Forces Swing Blind Punches, Hank Shteamer discusses Keith Jarrett's American Quartet and the Jarrett, Charlie Haden, Paul Motian trio that preceded it, sessions that ran from May 1967 to October 1976.

Joe Pass: On January 13, his birthday, Joe Pass was the Jazz Musician of the Day at All About Jazz.

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Happy Birthday, Joe Pass

Jazz guitarist Joe Pass (1929-1994) was born on January 13, 1929, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He picked up the guitar after seeing actor Gene Autry's portrayal of a guitar-playing cowboy.

Pass had, as Len Lyons puts it, "a prodigious dexterity, an encyclopedic harmonic knowledge, and a driving sense of swing."  New York Magazine noted that "There is a certain purity to his sound that makes him stand out easily from other first-rate jazz guitarists."

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 "All the Things You Are" here:

Robert
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Recent Links :: 11 January 2015

Cannonball Adderley, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Wes Montgomery, Bud Powell: At Night Lights, David Brent Johnson lists the best historical jazz releases of 2014, including:

• Cannonball Adderley, Black Messiah. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Louis Armstrong, Columbia and RCA Victor Live Recordings. (Purchase the box set from Mosaic Records.)
• John Coltrane, Offering: Live At Temple University. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Miles Davis, Live At The Fillmore: Bootleg Series Vol. 3. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Wes Montgomery, Live At The Turf Club. (Purchase the album in vinyl from Amazon.com.)
• Bud Powell, Birdland 1953. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Bud Powell, Live at the Blue Note Café, Paris 1961. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

George Benson: W. Royal Stokes provides a list of books on jazz and blues published "in the past year or so." These include Benson: The Autobiography (Da Capo Press) by George Benson and Alan Goldsher. (Purchase the book from Amazon.com.)

Bix Beiderbecke: Marc Myers shares a 2-hour 1981 documentary on Bix Beiderbecke at JazzWax.

Billie Holiday: At JazzWax, Marc Myers shares a video of Helen Merrill and Billie Holiday singing "You Go to My Head" in 1956. He follows it up at JazzWax with an interview with Helen Merrill in which she discusses Billie Holiday.

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Happy Birthday, Max Roach

Jazz drummer Max Roach was born on January 10, 1924, in Newland, North Carolina. Roach is regarded as one of the greatest jazz drummers and was a pioneer of bebop. He worked with a number of famous jazz musicians, including Coleman Hawkins, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Clifford Brown, and Eric Dolphy.

Writing about Roach's work with Parker, Len Lyons notes, "Max Roach was wholly comfortable with Parker's rhythmic gymnastics, one of the few drummers at the time who was."  Roach was given a MacArthur Foundation "genius" grant in 1988, cited as a Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters in France (1989), twice awarded the French Grand Prix du Disque, elected to the International Percussive Art Society's Hall of Fame and the Downbeat Magazine Hall of Fame, named a Harvard Jazz Master, and awarded eight honorary doctorate degrees, including degrees from Medgar Evers College, CUNY, the University of Bologna, Italy and Columbia University.

Roach appears on several albums in The 101 Best Jazz Albums, most notably:

• The Greatest Jazz Concert Ever (Prestige).  (Purchase the CD from Amazon.com.)
• Clifford Brown: The Quintet, Vol. 1 (EmArcy/Mercury).  Unfortunately, this album is not available on CD, and so Jim Determan recommends instead Clifford Brown and Max Roach (EmArcy/Polygram).  (Purchase the CD from Amazon.com.)

Roach plays a drum solo on "The Third Eye" here:

Robert
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Recent Links :: 7 January 2015

Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington: At JazzWax, Marc Myers shares videos of Duke Ellington playing baseball as well as Louis Armstrong singing with Bing Crosby.

Ornette Coleman: ClassicaLite reviews Ornette Coleman's new album, New Vocabulary. (Purchase the album from System Dialing Records.)

John Coltrane: New Jazz United shares a video of the John Coltrane Quartet performing "What's New?" (The song is available on the album, Ballads, which can be purchased from Amazon.com.)

Miles Davis: St. Louis Jazz Notes looks at E.S.P., the first Miles Davis album to feature his "second great quintet." (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

John McLaughlin: On January 4, his birthday, John McLaughlin was the Jazz Musician of the Day at All About Jazz.

Bud Powell: Marc Myers discusses the development of Bud Powell's bop style at JazzWax.

Joe Sample, Horace Silver: At JJA News, Ken Franckling lists the jazz artists who passed away in 2014, including Joe Sample and Horace Silver.

Robert
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RIP, Dizzy Gillespie (1917-1993)

Jazz trumpeter John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (1917-1993) died of pancreatic cancer on January 6, 1993, in Englewood, New Jersey. He is buried in the Flushing Cemetery, Queens, New York.

Gillespie was one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time and the intellectual force behind bebop. His brilliant solo lines, showmanship, and ability to communicate with his audiences 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 Note Samba," here:

Robert
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RIP, Charles Mingus (1922-1979)

Jazz bassist Charles Mingus (1922-1979) died on January 5, 1979, in Cuernavaca, Mexico, following complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease). He was 56 years old. His ashes were scattered in the Ganges River.

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons calls Mingus a "crucial" transitional figure between modern jazz and free jazz and attributes the power of his music "to his mastery of a wide range of emotions."

In his book, Lyons recommends two of Mingus's albums:

• The Charlie Mingus Jazz Workshop/Stormy Weather (Barnaby). Unfortunately, this album is not available on CD, and so Jim Determan recommends instead Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus (Candid), which contains about half of the Barnaby album. Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus is available on CD from Amazon.com.
  
• Passions of a Man (Atlantic). Available on CD from Amazon.com.
  

Mingus and his quintet play "Flowers For A Lady" here:

Robert
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Happy Birthday, John McLaughlin

British jazz guitarist John McLaughlin was born on January 4, 1942, in Doncaster, England.

McLaughlin is a highly regarded guitarist — no less than Jeff Beck called him "the best guitarist alive." McLaughlin worked with Miles Davis on his landmark electric jazz-fusion albums In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew before forming his own Mahavishnu Orchestra in the 1970s.  In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons notes that "The Mahavishnu Orchestra, led by the British guitar virtuoso John McLaughlin, proved that challenging improvisation and precise interplay among group members was entirely compatible with the high-energy, high-decibel sound of hard rock."

Lyons recommends McLaughlin and the Mahavishnu Orchestra's album, The Inner Mounting Flame (Columbia), which he describes as an album of "compelling urgency and enthusiasm." The CD is available from Amazon.com.

The Mahavishnu Orchestra plays "One Word" here:

Robert
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Recent Links :: 3 January 2014

Louis Armstrong, Chick Corea, Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett: WDCB asked its jazz DJs to pick their 5 favorite jazz recordings of 2014. The various lists include:

• Louis Armstrong, The Columbia and RCA/Victor Live Recordings of Louis Armstrong and the All-Stars. (Purchase the album from Mosaic Records.)
• Chick Corea, Trilogy. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Miles Davis, Miles At The Fillmore – Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Volume 3. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden, Last Dance. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Ornette Coleman: At Dark Forces Swing Blind Punches, Hank Shteamer reviews the Ornette Coleman album, New Vocabulary. Mark Corroto also reviews the album at All ABout Jazz. (Purchase the album from System Dialing Records.)

John Coltrane: Lucas Schleicher discusses his 14 "most exciting" releases of 2014 at Dusted in Exile. These include John Coltrane. Offering: Live at Temple University. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

John Coltrane, Keith Jarrett, Sonny Rollins: At Bird is the Worm, Dave Sumner lists the albums that he selected in the NPR Jazz Critics Poll and briefly discusses the albums that made NPR's top 10. Among the albums listed are:

• John Coltrane. Offering: Live at Temple University. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Keith Jarrett, Charlie Haden, and Paul Motian, Hamburg ’72. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Sonny Rollins, Road Shows, Vol. 3. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Miles Davis: At Music and More, Tim Niland reviews the Miles Davis album, All of You: the Last Tour 1960. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Herbie Hancock: The Telegraph lists the 33 best jazz albums of 2014, including Herbie Hancock, The Warner Bros Years (1969-1972). (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Keith Jarrett: Hank Shteamer discusses the music of Keith Jarrett from 1969 through 1972 at Dark Forces Swing Blind Punches.

Keith Jarrett: Grego Applegate Edwards reviews the Keith Jarrett album, Hamburg '72, at Gapplegate Music Review. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Joe Sample, Horace Silver: Curt's Jazz Cafe pays tribute to the jazz artists who died in 2014, including Joe Sample and Horace Silver.

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RIP, Erroll Garner (1921-1977)

Jazz pianist Erroll Garner died of cancer on January 2, 1977, in Los Angeles.  He was 55 years old.  Garner is buried in Pittsburgh's Homewood Cemetery.

As critic Scott Yanow notes, Garner was a "brilliant virtuoso who sounded unlike anyone else."

Garner's best-known composition, "Misty," is a jazz standard.

In his book, The 101 Best Jazz Albums, Len Lyons recommends Garner's album, Concert by the Sea, which he calls "the steadiest selling jazz album in history." The album is available on CD from Amazon.com.

Garner plays "Misty" here:

Robert
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Recent Links :: 2 January 2015

Anthony Braxton: Craig Premo lists his favorite jazz releases of 2014 at Improvised. These include:

• Anthony Braxton, Trio (New Haven) 2013, among his top 10. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Anthony Braxton, 12 Duets (DCWM) 2012, among his second 10. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Miles Davis, Miles at the Fillmore: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3, among reissues. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

John Coltrane: At Dusted in Exile, Derek Taylor recaps 2014 by listing some of his favorite releases, including John Coltrane, Offering: Live at Temple University. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

John Coltrane, Chick Corea, Oscar Peterson: At the KCRW Music Blog, Bo Leibowitz lists his top albums of 2014, including:

• John Coltrane, Offering: Live at Temple University. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Chick Corea, Trilogy. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Oscar Peterson and Ben Webster, During This Time. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Chick Corea: Mike Stratton lists his top 12 jazz releases of 2014, including Chick Corea's Trilogy. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Chick Corea, Miles Davis: Larry Reni Thomas lists his top 10 jazz releases of 2014 at Jazz Corner, including:

• Chick Corea, Trilogy. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)
• Miles Davis, The Original Mono Recordings. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Miles Davis: At All About Jazz, C. Michael Bailey reviews the latest album to document Miles Davis's 1960 European tour, All of You: The Last Tour. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Miles Davis: At ChicagoReader.com, Peter Margasak lists his favorite jazz albums of 2014. Among the best archival albums, he includes Miles at the Fillmore — Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Herbie Hancock: At All About Jazz, Chuck Schultz reviews Herbie Hancock's memoir, Possibilities and interviews the artist. (Purchase the book from Amazon.com.)

John McLaughlin: Will Layman and John Garratt list the best jazz releases of 2014 at PopMatters and include John McLaughlin's The Boston Record. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Bud Powell: Chris Mosey reviews the Bud Powell album, Bouncing with Bud, at All About Jazz. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Sun Ra: Hubert on the Air lists the best jazz albums of 2014 and includes Sun Ra's In the Orbit of Ra. Chris Monsen includes the album among his favorite jazz reissues at Perfect Sounds. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

Sonny Rollins: Tom Hull lists his favorite jazz albums of 2014, including Sonny Rollins, Road Shows: Volume 3. I Dig Jazz also listed the album among its top 10 jazz albums of the year. Curt's Jazz Cafe also reviews the album as part of its list of the best jazz albums of 2014. (Purchase the album from Amazon.com.)

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Happy Birthday, Milt Jackson

Jazz vibraphonist Milt Jackson was born on January 1, 1923, in Detroit, Michigan.  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."  In fact, 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 his composition, "Bags' Groove":

Robert
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