Articles

Daily articles carefully curated by the All About Jazz staff. Read our popular and future articles.

ALBUM REVIEW November 10, 2020

Charles McPherson: Jazz Dance Suites

Read "Jazz Dance Suites" reviewed by Jerome Wilson

Alto saxophonist Charles McPherson has a reputation as one of the last true followers of the bebop tradition but this release shows that his talents stretch beyond that. The music consists of scores he wrote for the San Diego Ballet where his daughter Camille is a solo dancer. It encompasses two full suites and an excerpt from another. “Song Of Songs" is a set of compositions based on impressions about love drawn from the Song Of Solomon. The ...

INTERVIEW September 15, 2020

Charles McPherson: The Art Of Teaching

By Jim Trageser

Charles McPherson will always be known for his alto sax playing. A favorite of Hollywood director Clint Eastwood, McPherson first gained a national reputation playing in Charles Mingus' combo in the late 1950s. By 1964 he was recording as a leader (although he'd continue to perform with Mingus for another half-decade), and later re-created Charlie Parker's playing for the 1988 Eastwood film Bird. Still busy into his ninth decade, the 81-year-old McPherson has recently added another role to ...

RADIO October 22, 2019

Bebop in 60s - Howard McGhee, Charles McPherson, Barry Harris, Sonny Stitt (1961 - 1971)

By Russell Perry

Bebop was a revolutionary new music in the late 1930s, dominated jazz in the 1940s, and powerfully influenced all jazz that followed. By the 1960s it still had its adherents who were producing compelling music thirty years later. In this hour of Jazz at 100, we will hear bebop from trumpeter Howard McGhee, saxophonists Charles McPherson and Sonny Stitt, and pianist Barry Harris. Playlist Host Intro 0:00 Howard McGhee Quartet “Demon Chase" from Maggie's Back in Town (Contemporary) ...

RADIO October 1, 2018

Charles McPherson Quartet Live at BIMHUIS Amsterdam

By BIMHUIS

No one else alive today has mastered the musical language of Charlie Parker like Charles McPherson. The alto saxophonist, who played with, among others, Charles Mingus from 1960 to 1972, keeps bebop alive with his own music. Critics praise his powerful, confident playing on his most recent album The Journey. Personnel -Charles McPherson: alto saxophone; Alberto Palau: piano; Joris Teepe: bass; Stephen Keogh: drums. Playlist BIMHUIS Radio Intro -00:00 Live Concert @ BIMHUIS First Set: ...

CATCHING UP WITH March 15, 2018

Charles McPherson: The Man and His Muse

By Joan Gannij

Acclaimed alto saxophone wizard Charles McPherson has a new muse: his 25-year-old daughter Camille, a premier dancer with the San Diego Ballet, where he also serves as composer-in-residence these days. McPherson was a young father in his twenties, with three children from a first marriage. Thirty years up the road, after marrying the lovely Lynn, a classical piano teacher in jny: San Diego, he became the father of a daughter once again. “Thirty years, that's a big difference," he says, ...

JAZZ BASTARD February 2, 2018

January 2018: Charles McPherson, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker

By Patrick Burnette

January opens with an interview with alto saxophonist, composer, and philosopher Charles McPherson and closes with Pat hosting a one-man show on Duke Ellington's suites. Episode 132 features a hundred-minute talk with alto saxophonist Charles McPherson, who discusses a formative encounter with Charlie Parker, his time playing in Charles Mingus' band, the lessons he learned from pianist Barry Harris, and his own solo career. Charles has led a fascinating life as a jazz musician and offers a unique ...

ALBUM REVIEW March 4, 2015

Charles McPherson: The Journey

By Edward Blanco

One of the original bebop artists of our time, alto saxophonist Charles McPherson adds to his legacy and marches through a selection of timely bop-infused material on The Journey, demonstrating his mastery of the idiom by transforming jazz classics into fresh-sounding bop tunes with a blend of originals rolled into one exciting package. Long associated with Charles Mingus--a twelve-year collaboration--McPherson has been in the public eye since the early 1960s and was the central figure in providing the sound track ...