Home » Jazz News
Video / DVD News
Timely announcements covering new album releases, tours, concert series, special events, job postings, crowdfunding campaigns and more. You can find more news by searching our website, viewing our news stream, seeing what's trending or reading our blog posts. Subscribe to our news RSS feed and/or embed AAJ news content on your website or blog. Learn about our news service here. Submit news here.
Miles Davis: Miles 54, the Prestige Recordings
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
In 1954, Miles Davis's future meant considerably more than his past. Recording for Prestige since 1951 (The New Sounds was his first album for the label), the trumpeter came into his own in 1954. Returning to New York in February of that year after kicking his heroin habit, Davis had also kicked his bebop fixation. What emerged was a cooler sound that came with space, a trumpet mute and a style influenced by vocalist Helen Merrill's close, breathy proximity to ...
Continue Reading
Summer Samba: Astrud Gilberto in Italy, 1967
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
By 1967, Brazilian bossa-nova singer Astrud Gilberto had become a solo artist. She was finally out from under the menacing tyranny and harassment of tenor saxophonist Stan Getz. Astrud had been fronting Getz's groups ever since the album Getz/Gilberto came out in March 1964 and became a massive hit. When Getz/Gilberto was recorded in 1963, Verve producer Creed Taylor had her sing English lyrics to two songs off the LP—The Girl From Ipanema and Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars). ...
Continue Reading
Quincy Jones in Paris, 1957-1960
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
It is impossible to fully appreciate the delight of the late Quincy Jones without doing a deep dive into his years in Paris. From 1957 to 1960, Jones studied composition and theory there with Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen, performed at the Paris Olympia, toured Europe and became music director at Barclay Records. The French label founded by Eddie Barclay not only released albums on its Barclay label but also had a licensing agreement with Mercury to release Barclay product ...
Continue Reading
Sarah Vaughan: Concert in Stockholm (1967)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
By the late 1960s, more jazz singers and musicians had tabled the American songbook and were digging into the new standards by the decade's contemporary pop composers. They had to if they wanted to attract younger audiences. This was especially true while performing abroad. [Photo above of Sarah Vaughan in Stockholm in 1967, courtesy of YouTube] On October 31, 1967, Sarah Vaughan was at Stockholm Gothenburg Concert Hall, with Bob James on piano, Herb Mickman on bass and Omar Clay ...
Continue Reading
Toots Thielemans: Live in Liège, Belgium (2012)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
In 2012, jazz-pop guitarist and harmonicist Toots Thielemans turned 90. On May 17 of that year, he performed a concert at Le Chapiteau, the opera house in Liège, Belgium. The performance was taped for the release of a live recording. The rhythm section featured Toots Thielemans (harmonica), Karel Boehlee (piano and synthesizer), Hein van de Geyn (bass) and Hans van Oosterhout (drums), with special guests Kenny Werner (piano) and Trijntje Oosterhuis (vocals). Toots Thielemans died in 2016. Here's the entire ...
Continue Reading
Perfection: George Shearing - I'll Be Around, 1951
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
As you can see, I'm still hooked on I'll Be Around, one of composer Alec Wilder's best songs. He reportedly wrote the music in 10 minutes while riding in a cab in Baltimore. But the words “took much longer," he said in an interview before his death in 1980. Recorded first by Cab Calloway, then by Eugenie Baird with Tony Pastor and after by the Mills Brothers, who made it a huge hit, I'll Be Around was a huge seller ...
Continue Reading
Eugenie Baird: Overlooked Vocalist
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
It's a strange admission, but I came to jazz through the big bands of the 1930s and '40. And I'm glad this was the case. Through these bands, my ear became atuned to syncopation and swing, and I developed a deep appreciation for large ensembles playing for dancers, easing worriers and encouraging dreamers. I also became familiar with dozens of songs that modern jazz artists reconfigured. The bands are still great training for post-war jazz. The big bands emerged in ...
Continue Reading
Why Benny Golson Was Special
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
The late Benny Golson was rare in jazz. Among his many gifts were original songs with catchy melodies, glamorous harmony and romantic sophistication, His improvisational style was both fluid and relentlessly elegant. Best of all, his music had a way of making you feel sexy and cool. For me, Benny was one of the Sensual Four—a group that included Tadd Dameron, Gigi Gryce and Quincy Jones. There was a European charm about their music and chord voicings that appealed to ...
Continue Reading
