University of Michigan Press Blog (Free subscription) | 01/19/2010
In this video, Reinhardt plays with Stéphane Grappelli: Benjamin Givan, author of the new book The Music of Django Reinhardt, reminds us why we should remember the genius jazz guitarist on the 100th anniversary of his birth: "January 23, 2010,...
Shiraz Socialist (Free subscription) | 01/16/2010
One of my heroes, the great drummer Sid Catlett was born 100 years ago. He’s not that widely remembered these days, but some of us think he was far and away the best drummer of the swing era and - had he lived – would have had no difficulty adapting his skills to suit the requirements of the [...]
Gandalf's Gallery (Free subscription) | 10/10/2009
Félix Edouard Vallotton (December 28, 1865 - December 29, 1925) was a Swiss painter and printmaker associated with Les Nabis. He was an important figure in the development of the modern woodcut. Music: Rex Stewart & His Orchestra - Menelik (The Lion of Judah), recorded Hollywood, California, July 3, 1941.
Rifftides (Free subscription) | 07/17/2009
On his web site, Old And New Swingin' Dreams, Bruno Leicht gathers together four versions of "Chinatown, My Chinatown" and its latterday nom de déguisement "Sax No End." The clips run from Fletcher Henderson in 1930 to the Clarke-Boland band...
SpiderMonkey Stories (Free subscription) | 06/18/2009
I was asked for a list of my five favorite big band recordings, for a downbeat feature Frank Hadley is writing. Even though I know there was a bit of blog-world discussion about this a few months ago (as usual Darcy James Argue was on the case with the roundup), it still ended up being [...]
Rifftides (Free subscription) | 12/28/2008
With so little video of Lester Young, every foot of him performing on film is precious. Loren Schoenberg calls attention to a performance by Young that showed up recently on You Tube. Whoever submitted the clip from a kinescope of...
Rifftides (Free subscription) | 07/09/2008
Looking for the earliest Slim Gaillard clip I could find, I came across a sequence from Olsen and Johnson's manic 1941 hit movie Hellzapoppin'. Gaillard plays piano and guitar, with his constant companion of the period, the great Slam Stewart,...
Rifftides (Free subscription) | 02/05/2008
Stu Pletcher, The Story Of Stewart Pletcher (Jazz Oracle). Stu Pletcher is not a household...
Rifftides (Free subscription) | 01/07/2008
Rifftides reader Jim Denham sent a message reminding us that today is the 100th anniversary...
Rifftides (Free subscription) | 09/10/2007
Stumbling around the internet, I was amazed and pleased to find that Henry "Red" Allen's...
All About Jazz (Free subscription) | 06/25/2007
The Allen Family of New Jersey has donated their father, Walter C. Allen's, complete library of materials to the Fletcher Henderson Museum. Walter C. Allen, the foremost authority on the career of Fletcher Henderson, was a jazz historian at the Smithsonian Institute. He was, also, one of the founding members of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University. Mr. Allen's monograph Hendersonia:...
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