Jazz Articles

Jam Session Coast To Coast/Jammin' at Condon's

by Mark Barnett
October 15, 2018

Getting Started If you're new to jazz, go to our Getting Into Jazz primer for some hints on how to listen. CD Capsule 1950's straight-ahead jazz, spiced with ad lib commentary by impressario/guitarist Condon. The musicians are laid back and having fun. Kick off your shoes and join them. Background In the 1940's and '50s, Eddie Condon was a legendary presence in the world of jazz. A tireless promoter, proselytizer and spokesman, he presided over his ...

Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Brotherman to the Fatherland

by Kurt Gottschalk
September 19, 2006

Of all the people trying to put jazz on the pop charts in the anything-goes period of the late '60s and early '70s--all the way up to Albert Ayler, for the love of Pete--probably the most successful at bridging the gap without watering it down was Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Long before the Steven Bernsteins and JA Granellis of the world were inflecting pop covers with jazz energy (and ignoring the instrumental and lethargic pop renditions of his contemporaries), Kirk was ...

Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Brotherman in the Fatherland

by Rex Butters
August 19, 2006

The Masked Announcer, Joel Dorn, once again conjures up a brilliant, unheard tape by the late, lamented, legendary Rahsaan Roland Kirk. This time he brings us 34-year-old performances recorded for German radio and television (a later DVD edition, perhaps?), and officially released here for the first time. Relaxed and happy within the context of his regular working band, Rahsaan bares it all, from inhuman technique to limitless imagination, oceanic heart and soul. The collection focuses on Kirk's mastery of the ...

Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Brotherman in the Fatherland

by David Rickert
June 4, 2006

It must have been something to catch a live performance by Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Of course he plays multiple instruments at the same time on albums, but wouldn't it have been cool to actually see him do it? Unfortunately, this trick tended to obscure Kirk's talents as an improviser and composer in some circles, as his detractors labeled him a sideshow instead of a serious musician.

Brotherman In the Fatherland, a 1972 concert recording from Germany's Funkhaus, will ...

Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Brotherman In The Fatherland

by Glenn Astarita
April 19, 2006

If there's any doubt left about Rahsaan Roland Kirk's brilliance, then this newly issued and previously unreleased live recording provides yet more evidence of his talents. Culled from tapes of his band's 1972 performance at Hamburg, Germany's Funkhaus, these sides present Kirk's all-encompassing approach to jazz. Asymmetrical combining free-form, pop-jazz and dabs of world music, the multi-reedman uses his modified saxophones, manzello and stritch, for additional tone clusters and divergence. Pianist Ron Burton's ascending choruses and harmonic chord progressions draw ...

Rahsaan Roland Kirk: Brotherman in the Fatherland

by Mike Perciaccante
April 18, 2006

Rahsaan Roland Kirk was a master whose genius had to be seen to be believed. His live performances were legendary. Unfortunately Kirk left us in 1977; although we can never truly experience his magic live, we can still hear the electricity of his live performances.

Brotherman in the Fatherland is Hyena Records' third Kirk offering, after a reissue of The Man Who Cried Fire and the highly regarded Compliments of the Mysterious Phantom. Like the latter CD, Brotherman ...

Joe Bushkin: In Concert Town Hall

by David Rickert
May 25, 2003

Piano jazz is a lot like pizza; even when it's terrible, it's still fairly good. Case in point is Joe Bushkin, a fine pianist for Eddie Condon who later watered down his style to appeal to a mass audience in concerts such as this 1963 performance. One can almost hear more passionate pianists shaking their fist at Bushkin because they are far more deserving of the recognition. To be fair, Bushkin is still a terrific pianist who can ...

Shorty Rogers: Bossa Nova/Jazz Waltz

by David Rickert
May 12, 2003

Like Stan Kenton, Shorty Rogers led a big band that featured some of the greatest names in West Coast jazz. No less than Shelley Manne, Jimmy Giuffre, and Bob Shank appeared on early classics like The Big Shorty Rogers Express and Portrait of Shorty. However, Rogers’ band always seemed like a lot more fun to be in than Kenton’s, since Rogers exhibited a goofy sense of experimentation and a knack for writing peppy horn charts that exhibited a great deal ...

Joe Zawinul: The Rise & Fall of the Third Stream

by David Rickert
May 10, 2003

The term “Third Stream" was coined to describe the marriage of classical and jazz music in composition and performance. Despite bordering on pretension, in most cases this ambitious movement created some of the worst records in history. Fans of either genre remained content to keep their music free from the perceived impurities of the other.

Third Stream music had more or less fallen by the wayside by the mid-sixties, but a chance meeting between Zawinul and composer ...

Eddie Condon: Jam Session Coast To Coast/Jammin

by David Rickert
May 9, 2003

The biggest obstacle with the 78 format was its running time; what solos were allowed had to be brief and only crudely approximated the energy generated during a live performance. Thus Eddie Condon must have welcomed the LP era, which allowed him to indulge in the lengthy jam sessions allowed in clubs and concert halls. The two early '50s records featured on the this compilation, Jam Session Coast To Coast and Jammin’ at Condon’s, are filled with prime small group ...