All About Jazz is celebrating Coleman Hawkins' birthday today! JAZZ MUSICIAN OF THE DAY Coleman HawkinsColeman Hawkins single-handedly brought the saxophone to the prominence in jazz that the instrument enjoys. Before he hit the scene, jazz groups had little use for the instrument. One player (forgot who) said... more...
Jazz History Preservation Not all of the reconstruction work to be done in New Orleans is a result of Katrina's damage. One of the city's jazz landmarks has been falling apart for decades. Now, it appears that Crescent City...
Jazz saxophonists had a field day with the bossa nova in 1962. The jazz-Brazilian folk experiments first undertaken by alto saxophonist Bud Shank and guitarist Laurindo Almeida in the early and late 1950s became a winning formula for jazz in the spring of 1962. With Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd's Jazz Samba LP racing up the charts, many established jazz saxophonists took a shot at the new beat with great...
In November 1959 the Bull's Head in Barnes put on its first jazz gig. Nobody seems to know the precise date, but tonight, deservedly, they'll be celebrating into the night down there in SW13. Apparently there has been a pub on this site with the Thames meandering past since 1684. And since 1959, they've all played there: Americans: Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Shorty Rogers, Al Cohn. The regulars:Pete...
painting by Suzanne Cerny We were sad to learn that our dear friend, pianist extraordinaire Dick Katz, died on Tuesday at the age of 85. If you've listened to classic jazz, you've heard Dick Katz at the piano. Over the...
Aimee Mann Andrew Bird Ani DiFranco Art Tatum Avett Brothers The Beatles Bettye Lavette Big Joe Turner Big Star Bill Evans Bill Hicks Bill Monroe Bill Withers Billy Bragg Biz Markie Bo Diddley Bob Dylan Bobby Timmons Booker T Jones, with or without MG's British Sea Power Bruce Springsteen Buck Owens Bud Powell The Carter Family Charles Mingus Charlie Parker Chet Atkins Chet Baker Chic Coleman Hawkins...
Thanks to Facebook Friends I've enjoyed some video of the 1958 Cannes Jazz Festival. Dizzy, Lucky Thompson, Ella, Bechet, Eldridge, Coleman's Hawkins and Bill, Stan Getz and more. Sadly the Getz clip, which features 5 tenors - Getz, Hawkins, Byas, Barney Wilen and my personal favourite Guy Lafitte - playing "Indiana", cuts out after Getz's solo. Click here for Ella singing "Just Squeeze...
In case you didn't hear about it. the legendary Soupy Sales passed on last month. I didn't really get a chance to give him his just due as I was in the middle of the Halloween countdown and a Soupy post just didn't fit. So, today I offer you Soupy's first album. It's a soundtrack of sorts but more of a companion album to his television show. The show originated in 1953 from the studios of WXYZ-TV in...
Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx if offering three flashflights-required tours of sites associated with its most tragic guests. Oct 29, 30, 31st and Nov 1st: History and Mystery Tours – 6 pm - Jerome Avenue Gate Spend an evening in the cemetery learning the legends of Woodlawn. This perennial favorite takes you to the sculpture of “the Bride,” the graves of notorious figures and the...
Author, photographer and radio host Dennis Owsley will teach another series of jazz history classes beginning at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, November 5 at the Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Rd.Owsley's topic this time is "The Great Jazz Soloists," and the course will cover the work of jazz grea...
Fans make their way steadily to Celia Cruz’s mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, where photographs of the Queen of Salsa change regularly and the space is kept clean.
It is generally acknowledged that the first Bebop record was Woody 'n' You by Coleman Hawkins, the first Rock and Roll record was Rocket 88 by Jackie Brenston(Ike Turner) and his Delta Cats, and Miles Davis Birth Of The Cool was indeed what it proclaimed. However, was Bob Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone the first Rock single ? Was The Byrds version of Mr. Tambourine Man the first Folk/Rock recording...
Alicia Keys - Alicia Keys Smooth Jazz Tribute (CC Entertainment ) Aram Shelton - Two Cities (Delmark ) Art Blakey - Jazz Messengers (LP W/Tshirt) (Phantom ) Charlie Parker - Bird On 52ND Street (Original Jazz Classics ) Collage - Fifty-Four Minutes Twenty Seconds (Wool ) Crane River Jazz Band - Storming Session (United States Of Distribution LTD. ) Crane River Jazz Band - Storming Session: Germany...
The trumpet pioneer of bop, Dizzy was one of a small group of people who defined an entire generation of music. That style featured his furious playing, alternating between infectiously simple and complex high speed phrases.He began studying the playing of Roy Eldridge. In 1937 he moved to New York and became a session player. In 1940 he met Charlie Parker in Kansas City. They developed bebop