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Backgrounder: Barney Kessel - Kessel's Kit, 1969
In the spring and early summer of 1969, guitarist Barney Kessel was on an extensive solo European tour. In each country, he picked up local players for his performances. In two of those countries—France and Italy, he recorded albums. In Rome, two albums were cut for Italian RCA—Reflections in Rome and Kessel's Kit, later known as ...
Alice Coltrane: The Carnegie Hall Concert, 1971
Four years after the death of Alice Coltrane's husband, John Coltrane, the harpist, pianist, composer and ensemble leader performed with a sizable group at New York's Carnegie Hall. Married in 1965 to John Coltrane after his divorce from Juanita Naima Coltrane—a woman he had been married to since 1953—Alice had a journey of her own following ...
Documentary: Lee Morgan: I Called Him Morgan
Lee Morgan is still not fully appreciated for all of the music he left behind and how he changed the sound of the trumpet. The glorious way he bent notes and tore into solos with economy and fervor became a fingerprint of sorts. He first stood out as a purposeful hard-bop player in Art Blakey & ...
Backgrounder: Hank Mobley - Poppin', 1966
In tribute to Michael Cuscuna, the great jazz-reissue record producer and Mosaic co-founder who died April 19, I thought I'd feature one of my favorite Hank Mobley albums today as a Backgrounder. Michael found Poppin' in the Blue Note vaults when he was there and released the album for the first time in 1980. If not ...
Take Five with Tap Dancer Petra Haller
by AAJ Staff
Meet Petra Haller Petra Haller, based in jny: London, UK, is a respected figure in the fields of tap dance and music. Honored as a Rising Jazz Artist by Jazzwise Magazine and mentioned as one of Reader's Digest's 10 Female Jazz Musicians You need to Know" Haller has swiftly risen in prominence in the UK and ...
Documentary: Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe began recording on the electric guitar in 1941, for her first Decca sides with Lucky Millinder's band. She was one of the first true fusion artists, combining multiple styles of music in her delivery. At this point in time, hundreds of thousands of black Americans were on the move, leaving the farms of ...
Backgrounder: Johnny Alf: Rapaz de Bem, 1961
For those in the know, Johnny Alf has long been thought of as the father of the bossa nova. Whether that statement is completely accurate or whether he was merely a significant influence has been hotly debated over the years. Even if the Brazilian singer-songwriter wasn't the bossa's earliest pure exponent, his softly romantic, Johnny Mathis-like ...
Take Five with Pianist Shereen Cheong
by AAJ Staff
Meet Shereen Cheong Shereen Cheong is a New York-based Malaysian pianist, composer, arranger, producer and educator who developed a sense of music from the tender age of three. Pursuant to her classical training, she studied jazz piano with Malaysia's jazz veteran, Michael Veerapen. She is a graduate from Berklee College of Music, holding a dual degree ...
Shorty Rogers: Centennial
Sunday, April 14, will mark the 100th anniversary of Shorty Rogers' birth. The trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer and arranger who was a founding father of West Coast jazz died in 1994 from melanoma at age 70. Today, in celebration of Rogers' contribution to jazz, I've assembled 10 of my favorite clips plus three bonus clips: Here's one ...
Backgrounder: Lou Levy 4 - Jazz in 4 Colors
When Shorty Rogers signed with RCA in the early 1950s, he had two jobs: to record albums for the label and to function as an A&R executive who would come up with new ideas with talent and record them. One of those ideas in 1956 was to help Lou Levy create a new sound for a ...