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STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: A Trip to "Swing Xing" with Bucky Pizzarelli, Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo
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St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
If you enjoy jazz guitar played in a traditional style, today's post might be right up your alley, as we feature not one, not two, but three guitarists - Bucky Pizzarelli, Frank Vignola and Vinny Raniolo - who will be performing together in a show called “Swing Xing: Three Generations of Jazz Guitar" next Saturday, November 15 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Pizzarelli, who will turn 89 in January, is of course one of the elder statesmen on his instrument, ...
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Weekend Extra: Shelly Manne and Friends
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Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
From 1960 to 1972 in Hollywood, drummer Shelly Manne operated Shelly’s Manne Hole, one of the great jazz clubs in the world. It was headquarters for his quintet known as Shelly Manne And His Men, which over the years included many of the era’s premier players, among them Charlie Mariano, Bill Holman, Richie Kamuca, Conte Candoli, Joe Gordon, Stu Williamson, Leroy Vinnegar, Russ Freeman, Victor Feldman and Monty Budwig. Now and then, though, Manne brought in a few friends for ...
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Video: Maynard Ferguson, '64
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
The long out-of-print Complete Roulette Recordings of the Maynard Ferguson Orchestra (Mosaic) is easily my favorite big-band boxed set, followed by the Complete Roulette Studio Recordings of Count Basie and the Complete Roulette Live Recordings of Count Basie (both Mosaic and both out of print). Listening to the Maynard Ferguson box yesterday, I nosed around on YouTube and found a treat. It's the Ferguson band in 1964 on tour playing Ernie Wilkins' knockout arrangement of his own composition, Great Guns. ...
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The Start of Something Big
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Like you, I often find myself fixated on a single song. Some songs are like that. For me, Steve Allen's This Could Be the Start of Something Big knocks me out, no matter who records it. The punchy, uplifting song has a swinging, “let's put on a show" feel, and I can't get enough of it. Published in 1956, Allen wrote it for a TV musical production of The Bachelor. Then it became his theme on the Tonight Show until ...
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STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Joshua Redman Trio
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St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Today, let's take a look at saxophonist Joshua Redman and his trio, who are coming to St. Louis to perform next Wednesday, November 5 through Saturday, November 8 at Jazz at the Bistro. Though Redman leads several different ensembles and also is a member of the cooperative band James Farm, his trio with bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Gregory Hutchinson remains one of his staple formats - so much so that the last time he came ...
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Count Basie Quartet: 1968
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Count Basie's piano is deceiving. We're so used to hearing the pow of his band after one of his abbreviated blues introductions that we forgot just how glorious a player he was. In the following video, we have a chance to hear and see Basie's minimalist swing style develop in the raw, without brass or reeds crashing in. As you listen, you realize that the band was really an explosive extension of Basie's pianistic sketches. You also get to hear ...
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How Records Were Made
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Back before Spotify and clouds and downloads and iTunes and CDs, there were things called records, which today are making something of a comeback. First came single-song sides spinning at 78rpm, followed by the 10-inch album, 7-inch 45rpm and the 12-inch LP. Turntables came with a tonearm and a needle attached. When you placed the needle on one of those records, music magically emerged from the speakers. The whole concept was ingenious and baffling—a platter with music hidden in its ...
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