Jazz Articles about Wynton Kelly

like 513

Miles Davis and Sonny Stitt: Jazz Time: Olympia

by Samuel Chell
April 9, 2004

On page 249 of his autobiography, Miles Davis recounts driving around Philly with Jimmy Heath, recalling that he “probably was complaining to him about Sonny Stitt playing the wrong [stuff] on 'So What,' because he would always [mess] up on that tune."The marvel is that Miles called on Stitt to replace Coltrane in the first place. But Wayne Shorter wanted to stay on with Art Blakey, so the most complete and polished bebop player of them all, a ...

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Don Sleet: All Members

by Derek Taylor
March 1, 2002

Jazz, like any commercial art form, is a proving ground populated by far more practitioners than actually make the cut. The analogy of an iceberg is apropos. For every musician whose talent rises above the sea of public opinion’s surface there are literally thousands of others that toil away in obscurity beneath the waves. In the spring of 61’ Don Sleet seemed set to become one of the chosen few situated for stardom. Formidable brass chops sharpened in gigs as ...

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Wynton Kelly: Live at the Left Bank Jazz Society

by Craig Jolley
June 1, 2001

Pianist Wynton Kelly, one of the most respected musicians of his time (1950's - 60's), was better known as a complementary player than band leader. He fit in with countless musical situations (singers, big bands, Coltrane, you name it), and almost anything he played on is worth hearing if only for him. He never meant to upstage anyone, but his ensemble playing was so interesting and full of swing the listener is inevitably drawn to him. His soloing was equally ...

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Dinah Washington: Queen of the Juke Box "Live", 1948-1955

by Dave Nathan
January 1, 2001

Ted Ono's Baldwin Street Music has rescued Dinah Washington's live performances from New York's Birdland, Royal Roost and Basin Street. There are also a couple of cuts from the soundtrack of Harlem Variety Review. It was during this period that many of her recordings consistently appeared at the top of the R & B charts. But it wasn't until her classic “What a Difference a Day Made" that she broke through to the pop charts. The first performance on the ...

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Wynton Kelly: Someday My Prince Will Come

by David Rickert
December 1, 2000

It’s tempting to play the “Six Degrees of Separation” game with Miles Davis and see if you can actually link every jazz musician back to him. This is due to the fact that Miles recorded quite a few classic albums, but was also responsible for fostering talented artists in his band that went on to record exceptional sessions of their own. Maiden Voyage and A Love Supreme come to mind.

Although not an adventurous as Hancock or Coltrane, Wynton Kelly ...