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Bill Evans: Live in 1972 and '73
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
As the early 1970s unfolded, rock became a viable album and entertainment business. National record chains sprang up, rock bands filled arenas and FM radio was ruled by young DJs spinning entire sides of new rock releases. A shadow began to fall over acoustic jazz as producers, promoters, marketers, publicists and others were let go or shifted to the rock and jazz fusion sides of major labels. Pianist Bill Evans, who throughout the 1960s looked like an accountant or advertising ...
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Emmet Cohen Trio: Webcast Sessions
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
YouTube algorithms are scary. Based on what you've watched before, these formulas automatically figure out what you should watch next. If you're a frequent YouTube user, you know what I'm talking about—those video clips perched on the right-hand side like a line of cats waiting for their heads to be stroked. A week or two ago, these algorithms lined up videos by Emmet Cohen from his ongoing webcast series called Live From Emmet's Place. As Emmet told me in a ...
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Lockjaw and Zoot in France, 1975
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Imagine a concert with Dorothy Donegan on piano, Arvell Shaw on bass and Panama Francis on drums. Then add tenor saxophonists Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis and Zoot Sims and trumpeter Harry “Sweets" Edison in the front line. On July 19, 1975, that's exactly what happened at the Nice Jazz Festival, held at Arènes de Cimiez, a Roman amphitheater. Of the three songs taped for French TV, Out of Nowhere is particularly special, with extraordinary solos all around, including a rare muteless ...
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Herman Chittison: Pride of Stride
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
On Monday, when I posted my 2011 interview with Chick Corea, a comment Chick made echoed. It grabbed me when I originally wrote up the interview 10 years ago, but because I was too busy editing the text and preparing it for posting, I forgot to follow up. It was one of those situations where you make a mental note but later can't remember what you were supposed to recall. The mental flag came after I asked Chick what it ...
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Lockjaw Davis Meets the Hammond
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Tenor saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis was among the first jazz saxophonists who used an organ combo on tour and when recording. Like many horn players who started out in R&B bands along the Chitlin' Circuit in Black communities throughout the upper Midwest in the early 1950s, Davis realized that the Hammond B-3 organ was a moneymaker. Instead of hiring a costly big band, the organ could simulate the spectrum of reed and bass tones and provide excitement. The instrument not ...
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Beautiful Cat: Joan Chamorro
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Joan Chamorro is a jazz hero. A brilliant musician who plays bass, saxophones and clarinet, Joan is the founder and director of the Sant Andreu Jazz Band, a youth band in Barcelona, Spain. All you have to do is watch him in action in video clips to see the love he spreads and receives from his ensembles. He proves that for great jazz to flower, you need to encourage kindness and respect as well as hard work and determination. He ...
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Lucky Thompson's Ballads (1953-'56)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Lucky Thompson was one of the most gorgeous tenor saxophonists of the post-war period. His tone was pronounced, slippery and confidential and his improvising was as fluid and as seamless as syrup. His sweet spot was mid-tempo numbers, like Lullaby in Rhythm and East of the Sun, but his ballads also were standouts. Delivered with a Ben Webster-like feel, Thompson's crawlers were deeply felt and soulful, especially when he dropped into the lower register. Here are 10 Lucky Thompson ballads: ...
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Dexter Gordon's Ballads (1946-'52)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Dexter Gordon in the late 1940s and early '50s was best known for jumpers such as The Chase, The Hunt and Dexter's Deck. But among his many high-energy 78s are a handful of ballads that show off his yearning, romantic tone. Here are five Dexter Gordon ballads and a bonus track: Here's Gordon in New York playing I Can't Escape From You in January 1946, with Bud Powell (p), Curly Russell (b) and Max Roach (d)... Here's Gordon in Hollywood ...
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