Interview News

Interview: David Allyn (Part 2)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 24, 2009

True confession: I probably listen to David Allyn's A Sure Thing (World Pacific) from 1957 at least once every two weeks. The album features soaring charts by Johnny Mandel, and it's among the most perfect male vocal packages ever recorded. That's a pretty big statement, but you won't find much pushback from those who own it or know it. David's vocals on the record are crushed velvet valentines that never feel sticky or forced. On each track, David delivers an ...

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John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton - Rhythm is Their Business

Source: Michael Ricci
October 24, 2009

Rhythm is their business John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton keep the heart of the big band beating.

October 23, 2009 By Bill Meredith Jazz & Blues Florida For 25 years, bassist John Clayton and drummer Jeff Hamilton have formed the back line of the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. Founded in 1985 and co-led by Clayton's saxophone-playing brother Jeff Clayton, the big band has recorded a handful of stellar CDs and served as the in-residence ensemble ...

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Wayne Wallace: Trombonist on the Run

Source: All About Jazz @ Spinner
October 23, 2009

By Tad Hendrickson It's hard to know where to begin with San Francisco-based trombonist Wayne Wallace. Since going professional at 16, he's played with such varied legends as Ray Charles, McCoy Tyner, Lena Horne, Earth Wind & Fire and John Lee Hooker. He's twice been nominated as “Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" and once for his trombone playing in the Down Beat Critics' Poll. He's won a National Endowment for the Arts grant, lectured about music around the Bay Area and ...

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Interview: David Allyn (Part 1)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 23, 2009

David Allyn is a singer's singer. All jazz vocalists with a heart have a tender spot for David's warm, passionate baritone. Leading arrangers and jazz musicians from the 1940s and 1950s, including Johnny Mandel, Hal McKusick, Joe Wilder and others who came up during this era, also love David's voice and intonation. Before Chet Baker, before Johnny Hartman and before Jackie Paris, David pioneered the sensitive male ballad, and his confessional phrasing remains remarkable today. [Photo: David Allyn, left, with ...

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Interview: Rachel Rodgers

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 22, 2009

A few weeks ago I received a text message from my wife. As she was nearing Barnes & Noble on Broadway on New York's Upper West Side, she heard the sound of a jazz flute. Wriggling through the small crowd gathered around the musician, my wife was surprised to see a young girl swinging away. My wife's text message was simple: “Get out and see this kid before she heads home. Ron Carter and his trio played on her CD." ...

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Dizzy's Birthday

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
October 22, 2009

This is the 92nd anniversary of Dizzy Gillespie's birth. There are many ways to celebrate it. The Rifftides staff offers two. The first video is from the Bern Jazz Festival in 1985. The band is Dizzy, James Moody, Gene Harris, Ray Brown and Grady Tate. The tune is “Ow." It was made famous by the great Gillespie big band of the 1940s. So were Moody and Brown.

The second clip is from the 1979 Newport Jazz Festival in Nice, France. ...

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Progressive Jazz Pianist Elio Villafrana Was a Featured Guest on the Producer's Corner with Spud Too Tight

Source: entertainmentPR
October 21, 2009

Minneapolis, The Producer's Corner with Spud Too Tight is a radio show format noted for its' unique and informative “Tech Talk" among A/B List music producers, composers, arrangers, and engineers hosted on www.spudtootightmusic.ning.com He has been interviewing some of the hottest guests yet to this sector of the industry. In the upcoming weeks, a diverse brand of celebrity music producers/composers and engineers bring their production techniques, styles, expertise and current projects to the show giving the listeners a “one of ...

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Interview: Jimmy Heath (Part 2)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 21, 2009

Up until 1952, Jimmy Heath's instrument was the alto saxophone. A fast study, Jimmy sounded almost identical to Charlie Parker, earning him the nickname “Little Bird." But the novelty of mimicking Parker soon wore thin, especially as the tenor saxophone emerged in the early 1950s as the more popular reed instrument. So Jimmy made the switch, and in 1953 began recording a series of important sessions with Miles Davis, Clifford Brown and Kenny Dorham. By late 1953, Jimmy was fast ...

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