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Nathen Page: Fiery Picker
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Guitarist Nathen Page was at home in the modal jazz idiom of the 1970s and '80s. Though not especially well known by jazz fans due to his retreat to Florida in the 1970s and his limited-distribution releases on his Hugo Music label, Page was a remarkable player. He straddled multiple genres, from a metallic sound found in rock at the time to a warmer jazz style. Born in West Virginia in 1937, Page was self-taught and early on listened only ...
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Astrud Gilberto: Gilberto Golden
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
In 1969, Verve released the label's last three albums by singer Astrud Gilberto. The first two were I Haven't Got Anything Better to Do and September 17, 1969. Al Gorgoni arranged the former and all of the latter except for Let's Have The Morning After (Instead of the Night Before), which was arranged by Michael Leonard. The two albums were recorded in New York—the former in February and the latter in September and November. Both albums are sensual and the ...
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Chico Hamilton: A Different Journey
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Last week, after my post on Bobby Hutcherson's Oblique, featuring Albert Stinson on bass, Bill Kirchner reminded me of Chico Hamilton's A Different Journey, featuring a superb Hamilton-led quintet that included Stinson. Recorded for Reprise in January 1963 in San Francisco, the quintet was comprised of George Bohanon (tb), Charles Lloyd (fl,ts,as), Gabor Szabo (g), Albert Stinson (b) and Chico Hamilton (d). By early 1963, Chico had completed his pioneering chamber-jazz experiments and shifted to hard bop and jazz inspired ...
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History of Jazz Piano in One Video
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
If you haven't seen this video before, you're in for a treat. If you have viewed it, see it again. It's a live jazz piano workshop held in Berlin in 1965. The pianists one after the next are Earl “Fatha" Hines, Teddy Wilson, a duet with Hines and Wilson, John Lewis, Lennie Tristano, Bill Evans, Jaki Byard and Byard and Hines duets. Except for James P. Johnson, Art Tatum, Erroll Garner, Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk, you have nearly 39 ...
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Jimmy Smith: Confirmation
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Back in the vinyl era, record-buying decisions were made based on the backs of albums. Jacket covers attracted your attention in stores but the personnel, song choices and liner notes on the back often were tipping points in terms of spending. Before shrink wrap sealed albums starting in the early 1960s, some stores let you listen to albums prior to purchase but most didn't. As a buyer, you were flying blind. Unless a friend had an album or you heard ...
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Walter Wanderley: Sideman Sessions
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Brazilian organist Walter Wanderley was a Tony Bennett discovery. On one of Tony's South American tours in the early 1960s, he heard Wanderley backing a singer in a hotel and was taken with Wanderley's arrangements, jazz-tinged chord voicings and staccato solos. Tony brought back a bunch of Wanderley's Brazilian albums and gave them to Verve producer Creed Taylor. In 1966, Creed sent contracts to Wanderley and his trio to record. That year, Wanderley moved to San Francisco and recorded Rain ...
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Miles Davis: Will You Still Be Mine?
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Written by Matt Dennis and Tom Adair, Will You Still Be Mine? was first recorded by Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra in February 1941, with an arrangement by Axel Stordahl and a vocal refrain by Connie Haines. There were roughly seven version between Dorsey and Miles Davis in 1955. Davis's rendition appeared on Musings of Miles and featured Davis (tp), Red Garland (p), Oscar Pettiford (b) and Philly Joe Jones (d). “Will You Still Be Mine?" is one of those ...
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Lennie Tristano: Duo Sessions
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
In 1968, pianist Lennie Tristano stopped touring. Traveling had become too much for him and he preferred to focus on teaching. During this period, he recorded with students in his home studio at his loft apartment at 317 East 32nd Street. The tapes of three of Tristano's students appear with him on an album called The Duo Sessions (Dot Time), released last year. The students were saxophonist Lenny Popkin, pianist Connie Crothers and drummer Roger Mancuso. Popkin's October 1970 tracks ...
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