Video / DVD News

The Way It Went Down

Source: Riffs on Jazz by John Anderson
May 24, 2010

Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer(2009) is a warts-and-all portrait of the great jazz vocalist, who passed away in 2006 at the age of 87. The film contains a trove of archival footage covering O'Day's entire career, extended interviews with O'Day, and comments from other musicians and critics. While the filmmakers obviously adore her, they don't shy away from the darker aspects of her life. Neither does O'Day herself - shy is not an adjective you could possibly ...

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STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: New Views of Miles Davis

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
May 23, 2010

Next Wednesday, May 26 is the 84th anniversary of Miles Davis' birth, and to commemorate the occasion, today we've got several video clips of the legendary trumpeter that have recently became available online.First up is the beginning of a 1964 concert in Milan, Italy, featuring what has come to be known as as Davis' classic quintet of the 1960s, with Herbie Hancock (piano), Wayne Shorter (tenor sax), Ron Carter (bass) ...

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Brubeck, Desmond, Mulligan: All the Things

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
May 23, 2010

The counterpoint that Dave Brubeck and Paul Desmond generated in the early-to-mid 1950s leads many serious listeners to consider the period the creative height of their partnership. For all the success of their later work, including “Take Five," after the late fifties counterpoint was a less frequent, less concentrated part of their work. There were exceptions, even after the Brubeck quartet disbanded in 1969. One came during a brief stage when the temporarily reconstituted quartet featured Gerry Mulligan as the ...

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Jimmy Smith - "The Sermon" (1964)

Source: Riffs on Jazz by John Anderson
May 23, 2010

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Order "Icons Among Us" (DVD) at shop.allaboutjazz.com!

Source: Michael Ricci
May 17, 2010

The wait is over! Show your support of AAJ and order your copy of Icons Among Us: jazz in the present tense at shop.allaboutjazz.com Click here for more information about Icons Among Us: jazz in the present tense. Praise for Icons Among Us “Without a doubt the best documentary on jazz that's ever been produced." --John Kelman, All About Jazz “ICONS AMONG US explores Jazz ...

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STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Marlena Shaw

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
May 15, 2010

This week, let's take a look at some clips featuring singer Marlena Shaw, who will be in St. Louis from Wednesday, May 26 through Saturday, May 29 to perform at Jazz at the Bistro. Shaw first came to wide public attention in the mid-1960s, when she cut her first album for the Cadet label. She's recorded a wide range of material over the years, encompassing everything from jazz, R&B and ...

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Time to Move On?

Source: The Augmented Ear by John Patten
May 12, 2010

I'm about to betray my generation, but I have to say I'm growing tired of the music of my youth. This is something that many of my fellow baby boomers apparently haven't felt ... yet.While I still dearly love listening to -- and regularly do -- the music I grew up with, from the Beatles to George Benson, and Deep Purple to Return to Forever, I am forever hunting down new music to enjoy.In recent years, ...

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Saturday Eye Candy: The Yardbirds

Source: JamBase
May 9, 2010

PERHAPS THE MOST UNDERRATED BRITISH INVASION BAND OF THEM ALL!

While the guitarists in the 1960s incarnations of The Yardbirds get the lion's share of historical recognition - easy to understand when one band helps launch the careers of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page - but today we salute co-founder and original bassist Paul Samwell-Smith, who turns 67 today. A noteworthy music producer since he left the band in 1966, Samwell-Smith helped forge one of the most original, ...

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