Home » Search Center » Results: AAJ Staff

Results for "AAJ Staff"

News: Recording

Eddie Duran: Jazz Guitarist

May 25, 2021

Guitarist Eddie Duran was best known as a member of vibraphonist Cal Tjader's groups from 1954 forward and in pianist Vince Guaraldi's ensembles from 1962 onward. What all three musicians had in common was a San Francisco upbringing and marvelous musical taste. Unlike Tjader, Guaraldi and Dave Brubeck, another Bay Area native, Duran preferred to work ...

News: Interview

Interview: Jennifer Wharton

May 24, 2021

A couple of weeks ago while flying through Facebook, I saw on photographer John Abbott's page that he'd just finished a shoot with bass trombonist Jennifer Wharton. I've known John for years and in addition to being a great guy, he's a marvelous portraitist. When I asked him about Jennifer, he wrote back, “Jen Wharton is ...

News: Recording

Clifford Jordan: Royal Ballads

May 21, 2021

Tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan is probably best known for the eight live and studio recordings he made in 1964 with the sextet led by bassist Charles Mingus. But there was much more to Jordan. A prolific recording artist, Jordan had a big, round sound from the start in March 1957, when his Blowing in From Chicago ...

News: Video / DVD

Eliana Pittman: Brazilian Treasure

May 20, 2021

Last week I posted on Nara Leão, hipping you to one of Brazil's best kept vocal secrets. This week, I want to share with you Eliana Pittman, also a Brazilian treasure who today still tours moderately and acts on TV. Pittman is a singing star who started recording in 1962, when she teamed with her stepfather, ...

News: Video / DVD

Rob Madna: A Dutch Discovery

May 19, 2021

For many JazzWax readers, this blog is a resource that happily turns them onto jazz musicians and recordings they didn't know previously. But every so often, that wow sensation happens to me. My own discovery happened a few weeks ago while posting about Joy Marshall (here and here). In the latter post, I featured a video ...

News: Recording

Mike Neer: Keepin' It Real

May 18, 2021

When I last posted on Mike Neer in 2016, he had just released an album called Steelonious, a tribute album to Thelonious Monk performed on the lap steel guitar. What wouldn't seem like a good fit turned out to be a happy marriage. Monk interpreted by Mike on a lap steel guitar gave the music enormous ...

News: Recording

Meredith d'Ambrosio: Sometime Ago

May 17, 2021

What a joy to hear Meredith d'Ambrosio sing again. She just released a new album, Sometime Ago (Sunnyside), her first since 2012. And in keeping with all of her other albums, Meredith's artwork graces the cover. She's backed once again by an extraordinary group of musicians—Randy Halberstadt on piano, Daryl Johns on bass and his father ...

News: Video / DVD

Nara Leão: Muse of the Bossa Nova

May 14, 2021

Nara Leão (pronounced LEE-yay-yo) was a celebrated Brazilian bossa nova and Tropicália pop singer in the 1960s. Her father had given her a guitar at age 12, and as a teenager in the late 1950s, she became friends with many of the singer-songwriters who were pioneering the bossa nova. The list included including Roberto Menescal, Carlos ...

News: Music Industry

Creed Taylor: Shades of Green

May 13, 2021

Today is Creed Taylor's birthday. He's 92. The fabled producer had a significant influence over the direction of jazz from the mid-1950s on. His first job was at Bethlehem Records in New York in the summer of 1954, attracting talent and overseeing the recording of jazz singers and instrumentalists on the East Coast. Creed's vision was ...

News: Video / DVD

Herbie Steward: Three Horns

May 12, 2021

Herbie Steward was a crackerjack reed player. He toured and recorded with many of the toughest big bands of the 1940s, including Artie Shaw, Alvino Rey, George Handy, Jack Teagarden, Ralph Burns and Woody Herman. Steward is probably best know for being one of the saxophones on Herman's original recording of Jimmy Giurffre's composition and arrangement ...