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Documenary: Ira Gitler Lives!
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
The late Ira Gitler was the delicatessen of jazz writers. While most jazz scribes of the 1950s and beyond had a fork-and-knife feel to their prose, Ira's liner notes on the backs of albums and his books were meant to be eaten with both hands. He was the New York cabbie, the cop on the beat, the seltzer delivery man and the construction worker. He was jazz's everyman, and his liner notes always came with a pickle on the side. ...
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John Graas: French Horn Jazz
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
According to Tom Lord's Jazz Discography, the French horn in jazz dates back to 1921. By the 1930s, the instrument was popping up on recordings by Bing Crosby and Woody Herman. In the 1940s, Artie Shaw, Claude Thornhill, Harry James and other bandleaders included the horn when they added strings. Neal Hefti used Vincent Jacobs on French horn when he recorded Repetition with Charlie Parker in 1947. Junior Collins was on the horn during Miles Davis's Birth of the Cool" ...
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Bill Evans in England, 1969
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
The year 1969 was a busy one for pianist Bill Evans. In January and March, Evans with bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marty Morell recorded What's New with flutist Jeremy Steig. In February, the trio was recorded furtively at New York's Village Vanguard (The Secret Sessions). Then they moved on to Holland in March (Live In Hilversum 1969) and Italy in July (Autumn Leaves). Back in New York in early November, Evans began recording From Left to Right, his moody ...
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Wes Montgomery: Back on Indy
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Back in 2012, Resonance producer Zev Feldman was contacted by Brook Reindollar, who worked with Carroll DeCamp, an Indianapolis pianist and self-taught arranger. Reindollar said he had digital audio tapes (DAT) of guitarist Wes Montgomery recorded in Indianapolis. Reindollar was passed along to Zev by Lewis Porter, a jazzz historian, professor of music at Rutgers University and pianist. Reindollar said part of the DAT was recorded in a studio while the balance was live. Fortunately for us, DeCamp in the ...
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Weekend Extra: Clifford Brown
Source:
Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
The recent post featuring the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet in the 1950s led a couple of Rifftides readers to suggest that we hear more of Brown’s sparkling trumpet playing. He became a major jazz artist before his death at 26 in an automobile accident in 1956 and has been a major influence on every generation of trumpet players since. Let’s listen to his composition “Tiny Capers,” with Clifford leading an ensemble that also includes Zoot Sims, tenor saxophone; Bob Gordon, ...
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Omar Sosa & Yilian Cañizares Music Video "Oshun" From The CD Aguas
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Omar Sosa
Following the October 2018 release of their acclaimed CD, Aguas, Omar Sosa & Yilian Cañizares are set to showcase their third music video, Oshun," in support of the recording. Aguas is a beautiful and very personal album, reflecting the perspectives of two generations of Cuban artists living outside their homeland, interpreting their Afro-traditions in unique and subtle ways. The album is dedicated to water, and especially to Oshun, the Goddess of Love and Mistress of Rivers in the Lucumí tradition ...
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Johnny Mandel at the Movies
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Another jazz artist who became a spectacular composer, arranger and conductor for the movies starting in the late 1950s is Johnny Mandel. His haunting love themes, sweeping strings and nocturnal horns were more brooding and jazz influenced than any other Hollywood arranger. Here are 10 of my favorite Johnny Mandel scores: Here's the main theme from I Want to Live (1957), with Gerry Mulligan on baritone saxophone... Here's Emily from The Americanization of Emily (1964)... Here's The Shadow of Your ...
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