Jazz Articles

Jam Session Coast To Coast/Jammin' at Condon's

by Mark Barnett
October 15, 2018

Getting Started If you're new to jazz, go to our Getting Into Jazz primer for some hints on how to listen. CD Capsule 1950's straight-ahead jazz, spiced with ad lib commentary by impressario/guitarist Condon. The musicians are laid back and having fun. Kick off your shoes and join them. Background In the 1940's and '50s, Eddie Condon was a legendary presence in the world of jazz. A tireless promoter, proselytizer and spokesman, he presided over his ...

Joe Bushkin: In Concert Town Hall

by David Rickert
May 25, 2003

Piano jazz is a lot like pizza; even when it's terrible, it's still fairly good. Case in point is Joe Bushkin, a fine pianist for Eddie Condon who later watered down his style to appeal to a mass audience in concerts such as this 1963 performance. One can almost hear more passionate pianists shaking their fist at Bushkin because they are far more deserving of the recognition. To be fair, Bushkin is still a terrific pianist who can ...

Shorty Rogers: Bossa Nova/Jazz Waltz

by David Rickert
May 12, 2003

Like Stan Kenton, Shorty Rogers led a big band that featured some of the greatest names in West Coast jazz. No less than Shelley Manne, Jimmy Giuffre, and Bob Shank appeared on early classics like The Big Shorty Rogers Express and Portrait of Shorty. However, Rogers’ band always seemed like a lot more fun to be in than Kenton’s, since Rogers exhibited a goofy sense of experimentation and a knack for writing peppy horn charts that exhibited a great deal ...

Joe Zawinul: The Rise & Fall of the Third Stream

by David Rickert
May 10, 2003

The term “Third Stream" was coined to describe the marriage of classical and jazz music in composition and performance. Despite bordering on pretension, in most cases this ambitious movement created some of the worst records in history. Fans of either genre remained content to keep their music free from the perceived impurities of the other.

Third Stream music had more or less fallen by the wayside by the mid-sixties, but a chance meeting between Zawinul and composer ...

Eddie Condon: Jam Session Coast To Coast/Jammin

by David Rickert
May 9, 2003

The biggest obstacle with the 78 format was its running time; what solos were allowed had to be brief and only crudely approximated the energy generated during a live performance. Thus Eddie Condon must have welcomed the LP era, which allowed him to indulge in the lengthy jam sessions allowed in clubs and concert halls. The two early '50s records featured on the this compilation, Jam Session Coast To Coast and Jammin’ at Condon’s, are filled with prime small group ...

Eddie Condon: Midnight in Moscow/The Roaring Twenties

by David Rickert
May 9, 2003

One luxury afforded Eddie Condon on the LP era was the concept album, which he explored on the two releases featured on this collection. Midnight in Moscow has the more unconvincing gimmick of the two (songs pertaining to specific countries), but is really quite good, due in large part to the double threat of Peanuts Hucko and Bobby Hackett, who work together like a couple of linebackers. They really tear the lid off of a swinging version of Tchaikovsky’s “Theme ...

Johnny Hartman: The Perception Years

by AAJ Staff
January 22, 2003

On this two-fer disc of early '70s albums Today and I’ve Been There, the voice that went almost note for note with John Coltrane does what he does best and more (or less). Though chock full of Mercer-ized timeless ballads, this oft-dynamic duo also offers more dated and perhaps less well chosen selections. The albums range from Jim Webb’s “Didn’t We" and a chiming take on Johnny Mercer’s (no relation) “Summer Wind," to a pair by Kris Kristofferson and a ...

Gene Krupa: Boogie, Ballads, and Be-Bop: The Best of the Columbia Years 1945-1949

by David Rickert
September 2, 2002

Gene Krupa’s flailing arms and floppy hair were undeniable emblems of the Big Band Era. As the first drummer to explore the uses of the full drum kit in jazz (and insist that it be miked at full volume) he helped propel Benny Goodman to stardom-who hasn’t heard the famous opening to “Sing, Sing, Sing”? His success with Goodman (and, as some claim, ego clashes) led to Krupa forming his own big band, which was as successful as any of ...

Frank Rosolino: Turn Me Loose

by David Rickert
August 22, 2002

Those only familiar with Frank Rosolino’s trombone work may be surprised to find out that he also dabbled in vocals as well. Rosolino was highly regarded as a trombonist, especially on the West Coast scene, but seldom recorded as a leader; Free For All on the Specialty label is probably his best known work. Turn Me Loose features Rosolino doing double duty as soloist and vocalist, a la Chet Baker, and one could judge solely by the cover that this ...

The Chico Hamilton Quintet: A Different Journey

by David Rickert
August 18, 2002

Chico Hamilton always maintained that the line-up on A Different Journey was his favorite of all his quintets, and it’s easy to see why; with both Gabor Szabo and Charles Lloyd on hand, some interesting ideas are going to emerge. By this time Hamilton had cast off the light, chamber jazz directions he pursued in the fifties in favor of the advances of Coltrane and Coleman. In Lloyd he chose a perfect musical director; his compositions are not based on ...