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On Jazz: A Personal Journey
by Richard J Salvucci
On Jazz:A Personal Journey Alyn Shipton300 Pages ISBN: 978-1-108-83423-0 Cambridge University Press 2022 Alyn Shipton is a distinguished jazz journalist, bassist, BBC radio presenter and biographer who may be best known for his A New History of Jazz (Continuum, 2001). In some ways, the present volume is a companion piece, because if you are inclined to wonder how anyone could have ever learned enough to write a 900 page volume, you may ...
Continue ReadingOscar Peterson: Exclusively For My Friends
by Bruce Lindsay
An 8-CD set of recordings from the great Oscar Peterson, beautifully recorded, sumptuously packaged and accompanied by a 60-page booklet full of informative writing: Exclusively For My Friends is a treat for ears and eyes. All of the recordings on this set were made between 1963 and 1971. The sessions took place in the home of producer and MPS Records owner Hans Georg Brunner-Schwer in Germany's Black Forest--Peterson and Brunner-Schwer were friends and the pianist often visited the label owner's ...
Continue ReadingBrown/Alexander/Griffin/Drew: Summer Wind
by Rob Mariani
This is a collaboration of giants who swing so hard and with such incomparable assuredness that you simply cannot sit still when they are playing. And it all starts with Ray Brown. His huge, woody double-bass sound is unmistakable, as is his impeccable time feeling. So much has been written about this incredible musician; on this particular CD he lives up to every one of his greatest accolades. Ray Brown defines swinging in 4/4 time and will always be one ...
Continue ReadingOscar Peterson: A Jazz Portrait of Frank Sinatra
by Ollie Bivens
Recorded in '59 and just reissued on CD, this homage is described by pianist Oscar Peterson as “not only a tribute to Frank Sinatra but also my emotional interpretation of the feeling I get when I hear him." The album was part of a popular five album songbook set of the music of various songwriters and singers, all recorded in the same year.Smartly and very concisely arranged by Peterson, all the tunes on A Jazz Portrait of Frank ...
Continue ReadingRay Brown: Walk On
by Terrell Kent Holmes
Ray Brown (1926-2002) played the bass the same way he lived: with style, a peerless vivacity and a boundless generosity of spirit. Unlike most bass players, when Brown was at the helm the listener always had the sense of his being a true leader, not merely a timekeeper and occasional soloist. The final testament to his brilliance is Walk On , a two-disc set featuring his last studio recordings, with pianist Geoffrey Keezer and drummer Karriem Riggins and previously unreleased ...
Continue ReadingRay Brown: The Telarc Years
by Franz A. Matzner
Born October 13, 1926 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, preeminent jazz bassist Ray Brown passed away on July 2, 2002. His career as one of jazz’s foremost players spanned 58 years and has left a recording legacy of literally thousands of albums. His career began early, as a bebopper with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, and continued from that auspicious start at an always remarkable level of excellence. As a member of the famed Oscar Peterson Trio, Brown toured tirelessly for over ...
Continue ReadingJimmy Giuffre 3: The Easy Way
by Joshua Weiner
Jimmy Giuffre's jazz has got to be among the sparsest ever laid down; you can see a whole lot of daylight between the notes. But the sketch-like quality of his music belies a quiet intensity that has an almost hypnotic attraction. This is not jazz that jumps out at you and grabs you by the lapels. It is, rather, jazz that trickles out in droplets, coalescing into music midway between the eardrum and the subconscious. For those who have come ...
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