All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 10/07/2008
Duke Pearson was a pianist, composer, and arranger who helped craft the sound of many of the Blue Note label's classic mid-1960s releases. He had a gift for writing quickly and coming up with memorable melodies that could be bright, poignant, or Sidewinder-style funky; several of his compositions, s...
New York Times (Free subscription) | 09/07/2008
The bassist Christian McBride, the trumpeter Nicholas Payton and the guitarist Mark Whitfield have a number of things in common.
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 09/07/2008
Larry Ham Just You, Just Me Arbors 2008 Louis Mazetier Tributes, Portraits and Other Stories (Arbors Piano Series, Vol. 18) Arbors 2008 Marcos Jimenez I Thought About You Altrisuoni 2008 Bert van den Brink Bert's Bytes Challenge 2007 There never seems to be a shortage of brilliant solo piano releases; here are four by some players you may have never heard before...
Jahsonic (Free subscription) | 08/08/2008
“Cristo Redentor” by Donald Byrd The omnologist anglophone blog Uncertain Times[3] brings American voice actor and spoken word artist Ken Nordine[4] to my attention[5], from there it is a small step to American Space Age musician Fred Katz (one-time soundtrack maker for Roger Corman[6]) and American sound artist and humorist Henry Jacobs[7]. From there we [...]
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 06/09/2008
Does limited edition always translate to music of outstanding quality? In the Mosaic Select series more often than not it does. There are, however, some discs that are stimulating without being outstanding, and even a rare set catching an artist's career at its low point. This variation in standard is apparent in the six triple-CD box sets representing five pianists reviewed below. It should be noted...
The Hits Just Keep On Comin' (Free subscription) | 12/17/2007
A note before we begin: If you tried downloading The Spirit of Christmas by the Living Strings last week, you probably noticed that one of the links didn't work. I’ve fixed it now, so go here to find it, and accept my apologies for being an idiot. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming—10 [...]
St. Louis Jazz Notes (Free subscription) | 12/08/2007
This week's videos feature a couple more of the coming attractions that St. Louis jazz listeners will be able to enjoy in the not-too-distant future. Up top, it's the vocal group Manhattan Transfer , who will be in town next Wednesday to do their annual holiday show at the Touhill Performing Arts Center . While the Transfer will be doing mostly Christmas music at the TouPAC, here they can be seen and...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 10/01/2007
Jazz, a music of deep history, loves anniversaries. This month is a particularly important one: the 90th birthday of one Thelonious Sphere Monk. There are few musicians in jazz history as significant both as a player and composer as Monk and his influence is still being absorbed, some 25 years after his death. There are a gaggle of events marking this important occasion throughout the city. Browse...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 08/05/2007
Stanley Turrentine The Spoiler Blue Note-RVG 2007 Duke Pearson The Right Touch Blue Note-RVG 2007 Alto saxophonist and flutist James Spaulding has been an important contributor to modern jazz for decades. Both Duke Pearsona(TM)s The Right Touch (1967) and Stanley Turrentinea(TM)s The Spoiler (1966) are arranged by composer/pianist Pearson who calls upon Spaulding to play key lead alto and standout...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 07/31/2007
Flora Purim may be one of the most unfortunate stories in jazz of the past 35 years. First coming to light with Duke Pearson and Gil Evans, it was the one-two punch of pianist Chick Coreaa(TM)s Return to Forever (ECM, 1972) and Light as a Feather (Polydor, 1973) that introduced the Brazilian singer to a broader audience. The momentum from these two albums resulted in a series of fine solo records...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 06/08/2007
Blurred by the multi-cultural, cross-genre jazz of todaya(TM)s global era, the sounds of specific geographical regions have become less prevalent on contemporary recordings. Neal Minera(TM)s The Evening Sound is an exception. Born and raised in Manhattan, and a fixture on the Big Apple jazz scene, the prominent bassist/composer has produced a disc of all-original material that is undeniably one-hundred...
