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.
Who Was Joe Holiday?
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
The beauty of jazz is its vast territory. No matter how many years you listen to this music, you invariably come across artists who will be new to you. The delight of new discoveries is largely the result of foreign labels releasing jazz that has been overlooked, forgotten or newly unearthed. No label does this better than Fresh Sound in Barcelona, Spain. I find gems largely by combing through discographies. There, I come across names of musicians who haven't received ...
Continue Reading
Bill Le Sage: New Directions in Jazz
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
If British pianist, vibraphonist, arranger, composer and bandleader Bill Le Sage had an American counterpart, that musician would probably be Mundell Lowe. Like Mundy, Le Sage (pronounced like massage) was exemplary on his instruments, and he arranged and composed for groups of all sizes and wrote for TV and the movies. Le Sage was so busy with projects that he didn't get around to recording as a leader until 1963, when he was 36. He directed a group called New ...
Continue Reading
Before the Music Had a Name
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
When music genres wind up with a name, it's usually because the style became so commercially viable that someone in the media decided to label it with a clever word or phrase. To illustrate my point, let's look at three demarcation points in 20th century music, each 10 years apart: Swing existed years before Benny Goodman's Palomar Ballroom appearance in 1935, bebop was around before Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie made their first Guild records together in 1945 and rock ...
Continue Reading
Backgrounder: Red Garland's A Garland of Red
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
The centenary of Red Garland's birth is on Saturday. The pianist was born on March 13, 1923 and died on April 23, 1984. To celebrate Garland, I selected his tasty 1956 debut trio album A Garland of Red (Prestige) as a Backgrounder—the full album without ad interruption. The album features Garland, Paul Chambers on bass and Art Taylor on drums. I saw Garland just once, at the Village Vanguard, in early 1978 and remained for all three sets. At the ...
Continue Reading
Color Video: Bill Evans in Copenhagen, 1970
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Earlier this month, when I reviewed the newly released album Bill Evans: Treasures (Elemental Music), I wrote about the tranquilizing affect that Denmark seemed to have on Evans. I pointed out that many of his best live recordings were made there, especially between 1965 and 1970. As you listen to Treasures, you can hear that Evans was thoroughly relaxed and it shows in his measured playing, delicate attack and lyrical optimism. Earlier this week, Dave Thompson brought to my attention ...
Continue Reading
A Craving for Oscar Peterson
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Yesterday, for some reason, I had a yen for Oscar Peterson. I'm not sure what triggered it. Perhaps it was the desire to create a sound wall as I wrote one of my “House Call" columns. Or maybe it came as I thought about Peterson's Motions and Emotions album from 1969. At any rate, I hopped on YouTube and discovered 10 relatively new videos of Peterson performances to share with you. Here are the clips: Here's Peterson with Ray Brown ...
Continue Reading
Backgrounder: Sonny Rollins Plays for Bird, 1957
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Sonny Rollins idolized Charlie Parker, as did all saxophonists in the late 1940s. But for Sonny, Parker was more of a mentor, someone to impress and seek his approval. Sonny achieved that in 1953, when he recorded with Parker and Miles Davis for Prestige. At the time, Parker was under contract to Norman Granz's Norgran label, so he recorded on tenor saxophone instead of alto and was listed as Charlie Chan on the session and recording. Parker would die two ...
Continue Reading
Eliane Elias Trio: Czech Republic, 2008
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
In 2008, pianist-singer Eliane Elias was on tour with her trio in Brno, the Czech Republic. Her performance was billed as a “Tribute to Bill Evans" in support of her album Something for You. As with all of Elaine's concerts, this one demonstrates yet again what an exceptional and powerful jazz pianist she is. By powerful, I mean sensitive, driven and strong. Having held her hands in mine, I can tell you she has enormous strength. Go make yourself some ...
Continue Reading
