Geezer Music Club (Free subscription) | yesterday
Sometimes movies — even classics — end up being less remembered than the music contained within. A good example is the 1944 film, Laura, which is considered one of the best cinematic mysteries ever made and still has many fans, but probably isn’t remembered as much as its timeless theme song. When producer/director Otto Preminger [...]
Denver Post (Free subscription) | 11/27/2009
In the early '80s, when I was a socially awkward teenage jazz geek, it wasn't easy to find filmed footage of departed musicians.
Rifftides (Free subscription) | 11/26/2009
Among the friends of Eddie Locke who took part in his memorial service in Manhattan on November 22 was bassist and author Bill Crow. Locke, a stalwart drummer based in New York for more than five decades, died last...
JazzHQ (Free subscription) | 11/26/2009
Albert Ayler - Greenich Village (Universal Japan/Zoom ) Amanda Martinez - Amor (Phantom ) Anita O'Day - Sings Winners (Universal ) Anita Spring - Let Them Talk (Phantom ) Art Blakey - Jazz Message (Universal ) Art Sherrod Jr. - Seasons (Pacific Coast Jazz ) Benny Carter - Further Definitions (Universal Japan/Zoom ) Bernie McGann - Solar (Indies Aus/Zoom ) Bill Evans - With Symphony Orchestra (Universal...
San Fransisco Chronicle (Free subscription) | 11/26/2009
Thelonious Monk The Life and Times of an American Original Robin D. G. Kelley (Simon and Schuster; 588 pages; $30) In Michael Ondaatje's wonderful novel "Divisadero," the jazz of Thelonious Monk is likened to "imprisoned birdsongs." Leave it to a superb...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 11/21/2009
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...
Rifftides (Free subscription) | 11/21/2009
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...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
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...
Wolfgangs Vault (Free subscription) | 11/17/2009
Download for $9.98. Listen to Johnny Dankworth & His Orchestra performed at Newport Jazz Festival on July 3, 1959
LondonJazz (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
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...
The Best American Poetry (Free subscription) | 11/12/2009
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...
enrevanche (Free subscription) | 11/10/2009
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...
bebop spoken here (Free subscription) | 11/08/2009
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...
Dartman's World Of Wonder (Free subscription) | 11/02/2009
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...
Literanista (Free subscription) | 10/27/2009
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...
Videos