Results for "AAJ Staff"
Phil Spector (1939-2021)
Phil Spector, a record producer, songwriter and co-founder of Philles Records whose “wall of sound" studio formula launched a new, influential approach to pop-rock orchestration in the early 1960s, died at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton on January 16 at age 81. He was 11 years into a 19-year prison sentence for killing actress-model ...
Documentary: Bird in K.C.
Charlie Parker was born in Kansas City, Kan., in 1920. When he was 7, his family moved to Kansas City, Mo. In fifth grade, Parker began playing the saxophone in school after the city put in force a music-education program. As he progressed, his mother bought him an alto saxophone in a pawn shop for $40. ...
A Day for 10 Jazz-Folk Clips
For some reason, today feels like we need some jazz-folk to remind us all what's most important—country, freedom, truth and respecting our differences. Here are 10 jazz-folk clips: Here's Brother John Sellers' Down By the Riverside in 1954, with Sir Charles Thompson (p), Freddie Green (g), Walter Page (b) and Jo Jones (d)... Here's Kitty White ...
Junior Mance (1928-2021)
Junior Mance, a pianist and early proponent of church-infused soul-jazz who played and recorded with nearly all of jazz's post-war greats before beginning a leadership career in 1959, died on January 16. He was 92. Junior's playing channeled both urban gospel and rural spirituals and hymns, resulting in a style that exuded introspective soul. Junior's brand ...
Sammy Nestico (1924-2021)
Sammy Nestico, whose swing-happy compositions and arrangements for Count Basie's orchestra in the 1960s and '70s gave the band fresh relevance and enabled Nestico to fulfill a lifelong ambition, died January 17. He was 96. Nestico started young, in the early 1940s, in the orchestra of Pittsburgh's ABC affiliate radio station before joining Charlie Barnet's band ...
StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: A Dave Weckl Sampler
This week, StLJN salutes drummer and St. Charles native Dave Weckl, who celebrated his 61st birthday earlier this month on Friday, January 8. First gaining wide recognition in the mid-1980s as a sideman with Chick Corea, Weckl over the course of his career has become a very popular and oft-imitated drummer and bandleader, with fans all ...
Duke Jordan: Stan Getz Plays
On December 12 and 29, 1952, tenor saxophonist Stan Getz took his working quintet into a studio in New York to record two 10-inch LPs for Norman Granz's Clef Records. They would be named Stan Getz Plays and The Artistry of Stan Getz. On piano was Duke Jordan, with Jimmy Raney on guitar, Bill Crow on ...
Duke Jordan: Flight to Jordan
Yesterday, I posted on pianist Duke Jordan's first trio leadership session, in 1954. Today, I want to share one of his finest albums, Flight to Jordan, his first and only Blue Note release. The album is solid for several reasons: the group is tight and in the groove; all of the tracks, except I Should Care, ...
Duke Jordan: First Trio Session
Pianist Duke Jordan has always been exceptional. At age 25, in 1947, he began playing and recording with the Charlie Parker Quintet, which included Miles Davis (tp), Tommy Potter (b) and Max Roach (d). As a bebop pianist, Jordan's genius was his ability to operate on three levels at once. He kept superb time on the ...
The Brief Genius of Alice Clark
When Bob Shad started Mainstream Records in 1964, his mission was to record what he liked. Freed from the confines of Mercury and EmArcy in the 1950s, Shad created a catalog at Mainstream that was highly diverse, from Johnny Mandel's Harper soundtrack to Big Brother & the Holding Company's first album. One of the artists he ...
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