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Jazz Articles about Hank Jones
Verve's Bossa Nova U.S.A.
by Arnaldo DeSouteiro
Paul Desmond: Samba with Some Barbecue Originally titled “Struttin' with Some Barbecue" in 1941, this Satchmo tune lost its Dixie beat and got a bossa groove in the hands of the infallible Don Sebesky. Brazilian drummer Airto Moreira, then a newcomer in the New York jazz scene, provides a fiery propulsion to Paul Desmond's lyrical approach and “dry martini" alto sound. Different from the sad results of pseudo-bossa albums by Gene Ammons, Sonny Rollins, and so many others, this is ...
Continue ReadingSteve Davis: Steve Davis Meets Hank Jones, Vol. 1
by Dave Linn
Trombonist Steve Davis was born in Worcester, MA, in 1967, and in 1989 graduated from Hartt School's Jackie McLean Institute. It was McLean's guidance and recommendation which allowed Davis to land his first major performance with Art Blakey in NYC. His lyrical, hard-swinging style gained him broad recognition and, in 1998, he won the TDWR (Rising Star) Trombone Category. He was later named in the top five of the Trombonist of the Year by The Jazz Journalist Association from 2010-2013, ...
Continue ReadingArt Farmer: Portrait of Art Farmer
by Richard J Salvucci
When a recording that is over six decades old sets a listener to thinking many different things, it is clearly something special. Art Farmer was something special. With a bump or two along the way, virtually everyone--except perhaps Art--knew it too. He and his twin brother, bassist Addison Farmer, began their careers in Los Angeles in the '40s, where the Central Avenue bop scene was an especially vibrant and creative one. As if total immersion there was not enough, Art ...
Continue ReadingHanksgiving: A Tribute to Hank Jones, Part 2
by Ludovico Granvassu
This year our seasonal Hanksgiving episode celebrates a musician of sumptuous elegance and sophisticated narrative and harmonic feel like pianist Hank Jones. As usual, we play a mix of albums that feature him as a leader, co-leader or sideman and renditions of his work by other musicians. Happy listening. PlaylistBen Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Hank Jones “Winchester Cathedral" Happenings (Impulse!) 0:16 Host talks 2:39 Ella Fitzgerald “Rough Ridin'" Rhythm ...
Continue ReadingHanksgiving: A Tribute to Hank Jones, Part 1
by Ludovico Granvassu
For our seasonal Hanksgiving show, this year we pay tribute to Hank Jones, both as a pianist and a composer, by playing music from his albums as a leader and sideman, and renditions of his music by musicians that came after him. The collaboration with Malian master musician Cheick Tidian Seck kicks off a playlist which includes albums ranging from leader projects and solo work, to collaborations with some of the top Miles Davis alumni or with an avangardist with ...
Continue ReadingHank Jones: In Copenhagen - Live at Jazzhus Slukefter 1983
by Chris Mosey
Hank Jones' pianistic style was born out of a fusing of Harlem stride piano with the virtuoso approach of Art Tatum and the harmonic daring of bebop. Jones played with just about everyone in a long and illustrious career but remained modest concerning his musical achievements. When French journalist Francis Marmande, interviewing him in 2010, suggested that he was a giant of jazz, Jones begged to differ, describing himself rather as “a dwarf in the service of the music." Marmande ...
Continue ReadingA Great Day in Harlem: The Spirit Lives - 50 Years On
by Ian Patterson
This encore presentation from January 2009 celebrates Jean Bach, director of A Great Day in Harlem. Ms. Bach died on May 27th at her home in Manhattan. She was 94.It is probably the most celebrated ensemble jazz portrait of all time. Fifty-seven of the greatest jazz musicians gathered together on the steps of a Harlem brownstone early one morning in August 1958--a living family tree of the history of jazz.And yet, the absentees from photographer Art ...
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