Results for "J. Robert Bragonier"

J. Robert Bragonier

Born: July 4, 1937

I was born and raised in Iowa but have lived in the greater Los Angeles area since 1970. In 2002 I retired as Director of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health, County of Los Angeles Department of Health Services; I was Adjunct Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the UCLA School of Medicine for 32 years.

I began playing the piano at age 4, the trombone at age 11, and the vibraphone during college. I have loved jazz for more than 50 years, working my way through both college and medical school as a "disc jockey" of jazz and classical music on FM stations in Iowa and Nebraska. I have accumulated a collection of jazz and classical music that approximates 6,000 pieces

Lynne Arriale: Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival

by J. Robert Bragonier
November 7, 2000

The year was 1994; the location, Orlando, Florida. I was visiting for meetings and, out for a stroll in the evening, I wandered into a small bar with a piano trio. For the next hour or more, I sat entranced by the poise and artistry of Lynne Arriale, a totally new name to me. Her touch, ...

Jacques Voyemant Septet: Arrival

by J. Robert Bragonier
July 21, 2009

Just when it seems everything the trombone has to offer in a jazz setting has been heard, along comes a talent that demands a fresh hearing on its own merit. Jacques Voyemant is that kind of talent, and the group he has assembled provides a finely-honed voice, not only for his distinctive trombone sound, but for ...

Conjunto Jardin: Yerba Buena

by J. Robert Bragonier
August 7, 2008

Conjunto Jardin Yerba BuenaTrova 2008Son jarocho is the captivating sound of Veracruz, a Mexican state that sits prominently on the Gulf of Mexico. The city of Veracruz has been an important port for nearly five centuries, serving as a point of entry for cultural influences from Africa, the ...

Being Prez: The Life & Music of Lester Young

by J. Robert Bragonier
March 25, 2008

Being Prez: The Life & Music of Lester Young Dave Gelly Hardcover; 170 pages. ISBN: 978 0195334777 Oxford University Press 2008 A New History of Jazz, arguably the seminal jazz history text, was written in 2001 by Alyn Shipton, a Brit. ...

Chasin' the Bird: The Life and Legacy of Charlie Parker

by J. Robert Bragonier
October 16, 2007

Chasin' the Bird: The Life and Legacy of Charlie Parker Brian Priestley Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0-19--532709-0 2007 Brian Priestley is a recorded jazz pianist and arranger with extensive British jazz-radio experience to boot, and discovering that a biographer is himself a musician tends to impress me. Priestley ...

The Biographical Encyclopedia Of Jazz

by J. Robert Bragonier
September 26, 2007

The Biographical Encyclopedia Of Jazz Leonard Feathter & Ira Gitler ISBN 978-19-532000-8 Oxford University Press 2007 When I was asked to review Leonard Feather & Ira Gitler's Biographical Encyclopedia Of Jazz, I jumped at the chance. My copy of Feather's original 1984 tome is dog-eared and ...

The Ragtime Kid

by J. Robert Bragonier
May 11, 2007

The Ragtime Kid Larry Karp Poisoned Pen Press ISBN: 10: 1-59058-326-4 ISBN: 13: 978-1-59058-326-5 2007 “Brun Campbell heard a piano, and that was all she wrote. Any time Brun heard a piano, that was all she ever wrote. The piano was Brun's one true love, and ...

Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia

by J. Robert Bragonier
May 9, 2007

Richard Cook Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia Penguin ISBN-10: 0141026464 ISBN-13: 978-0141026466 2007 Why, you may be asking, do we need another jazz encyclopedia? Leonard Feather's original 1955 tome, published in eleven editions between then and 1984, is still kicking around, and besides, Ira Gitler ...

Django Reinhardt And The Illustrated History Of Gypsy Jazz

by J. Robert Bragonier
May 7, 2007

Django Reinhardt And The Illustrated History Of Gypsy Jazz Michael Dregni, with Alain Antonietto and Anne Legrand Speck Press ISBN: 10: 1-933108-10-x ISBN: 13: 978-1-933108-10-0 2007 My middle-aged son is an orthopaedic surgeon, after-hours jazz musician and lover of Gypsy swing in general (and ...