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A Swinging Evening for Jazz Clarinet and More
Source:
Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
Clarinetist Allan Vaché's mainstream jazz quintet closed out the Charlotte County Jazz Society's 2013-14 concert series Monday night at the Charlotte County Cultural Center with a swinging evening of Tin Pan Alley and jazz standards. The repertoire ranged from Cole Porter, Duke Ellington and Bob Haggart to the Benny Goodman songbook, with one brief foray to Brazil for Antonio Carlos Jobim's lovely bossa nova “Look to the Sky." Vaché's band included Jeff Phillips on piano, Charlie Silva on bass, Eddie ...
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Scott LaFaro Day, Scott LaFaro Drive
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Geneva, a town of 13,000 in New York State’s Finger Lakes district, is the home town of Scott LaFaro. The brilliant bassist of the Bill Evans Trio influenced the development of jazz bass playing, and the town is keeping his memory alive. He died near Geneva in an auto accident in 1961. Thanks to Rifftides readers Frank Roellinger and Svetlana Ilyicheva for alerting us that last Thursday, Geneva honored LaFaro on his 78th birthday by proclaiming April 3rd its first ...
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Interview: Leon Russell
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Two weeks ago I was in Nashville interviewing Leon Russell at home for today's Leisure & Arts page in The Wall Street Journal (go here or please buy the paper). I've always been a fan of Leon, who in recent years slipped from the radar a bit. That's what happens when you're independent. You have your freedom but you don't have the promotional machine behind what you're doing. Leon's new album—Life Journey—is out today, and it's a fascinating mix of ...
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Interview: John Douglas Thompson
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Two Saturdays ago I went off to see Satchmo at the Waldorf, Terry Teachout's new play on Louis Armstrong at the tail end of his life. Admittedly, Terry is a close friend, but my feelings about the play weren't swayed by our relationship. To be frank, I'm still stunned by John Douglas Thompson's performance and Terry's words. John plays Armstrong as well as his white manager Joe Glaser, Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie in this one-man performance, and the results ...
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Lennie Tristano: The Complete Look Up and Live
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Lennie Tristano was born in Chicago on this day in 1919. At birth, influenza ruined his vision.By his 10th birthday he was blind. Formally trained at a music conservatory, he played piano and, as a 12-year-old clarinetist, led atraditional band. By the time he moved to New York in1946, Tristano had begun deepening the harmonic possibilities in modern jazz and by the end of the decade was a guru to forward looking musicians including saxophonists Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh ...
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Catching Up With Nathan East
Source:
Alan Bryson
Nathan East is one of the world’s premiere session musicians. He’s perhaps best known as Eric Clapton’s favorite bassist, but that’s also Nathan East on Michael Jackson’s Bad and Daft Punk’s recent Grammy winning album. Of course he’s a founding member of the highly successful jazz group Fourplay. Some of his other credits include: Anita Baker, Herbie Hancock, Babyface, B.B. King, George Harrison, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Savage Garden, Sting, Quincy Jones, Al Jarreau, Kenny Loggins, and The Manhattan Transfer. ...
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Interview: Sharon Marie Cline
Source:
Eric Taylor
Q: How were you introduced to jazz and blues? A: I grew up listening to classic music. My mother would play records all day, every day on the phonograph while we did our chores. I'd listen to Ella, Sarah, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Wilson, The Duke, and Nat King Cole filling the house with amazing melodies and rhythms, and I'd imagine myself singing their songs on stage while I dusted the living room or whatever my chore was that day. Q: ...
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Toshiko Akiyoshi: Early Piano
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Toshiko Akiyoshi, 84, is best known today as the long-time leader of a big band. During the latter half of her career, that band has been co-led by Lew Tabackin, whom she married in 1969. She also formed several bands with her previous husband—alto saxophonist Charlie Mariano, whom she married in 1959 and divorced in 1967. Akiyoshi grew up in Japan after World War II when her parents moved back to the country from Manchuria. She began playing piano at ...
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