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News: Video / DVD

Thad, Hank and Elvin Jones

August 12, 2020

It's not surprising that Thad Jones, Hank Jones and Elvin Jones were jazz musicians. What is astonishing is that all three were exceptional, each with a distinctive and accomplished playing and recording career. By my count, the three brothers recorded together four times, on Keeping Up With the Joneses (1958), Herb Geller's Gypsy (1959) and Elvin ...

News: Video / DVD

Ed Sullivan: Jazz and Pop

August 11, 2020

Yesterday I posted a new YouTube video clip of Carmen McRae on The Ed Sullivan Show. Today, here are a nine more recent jazz and pop additions to the Sullivan YouTube channel: Here's Nancy Wilson singing Face It, Girl It's Over in 1968 Nancy told me when I interviewed her that she was pregnant when she ...

News: Video / DVD

Carmen McRae: London, 1961

August 10, 2020

In May 1961, singer Carmen McRae was booked into London's popular Flamingo jazz club for a two-week run. The Flamingo, at 33 Wardour Street in Soho, was a dodgy basement nightspot that on the weekends remained open until 6 a.m. On the bright side, the club was known for its sterling sound system. Just over a ...

News: Recording

Hank Mobley: Soul Station

August 6, 2020

When I write, I often wish I had pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Art Blakey as my backing trio. I'd set them up in my office, and their swinging feel would motivate me to finish twice the work I set out to accomplish. While this isn't possible and wouldn't be even if they ...

News: Video / DVD

J.J. Johnson and Bobby Jaspar

August 5, 2020

Tropical storm Isaias blew into New York around 11 a.m. yesterday, whipped things around and split at about 3 p.m. When it did, the sun came out and the 35-mph gusts began, cooling things off a bit. For some reason, I craved J.J. Johnson and his distinct, muffled trombone sound. The albums I turned to were ...

News: Video / DVD

Earle Spencer: Early Progressive

August 4, 2020

The start of progressive orchestral jazz can be traced to the day Igor Stravinsky became a naturalized U.S. citizen in January 1946. The aristocratic Russian composer was at the forefront of modern classical music and long had ties to American classical institutions. After being sponsored for citizenship by actor Edward G. Robinson, Stravinsky was shrewd enough ...

News: Recording

CDs of Note Short Takes

July 30, 2020

Taking a closer look at CDs by The 3D Jazz Trio, Artemis, Mayita Dinos, theTNEK Jazz Quintet, and Bernard Purdie, Christian Fabian & Ron Oswanski…. 3D Jazz Trio, I Love to See You Smile (DIVA Jazz) Six years ago when they were backing dancer Maurice Hines’ show Tappin’ Through Life, drummer Sherrie Maricle, bassist Amy Shook ...

News: Video / DVD

Roy Ayers + Maceo Parker

July 30, 2020

Roy Ayers and Maceo Parker are two of my favorite jazz-soul and jazz-funk artists. Both recently released new albums. And both musicians started out as jazz players but invented new R&B forms during their careers—Ayers as a neo-soul vibraphonist and Parker as a bump-and-funk alto saxophonist. Their new albums are moody, funky and chill. Ayers is ...

News: Recording

Pat Martino: Young Guns

July 29, 2020

Guitarist Pat Martino cooks in clubs. He's probably best known for his version of Sunny, recorded at New York's Folk City on his Live! album in 1972. Back in 2014, High Tone Records came into possession of previously unreleased live recordings made between 1968 and '69 at Club 118 in Louisville, Ky. Entitled Young Guns, the ...

News: Video / DVD

Doc: Dexter Gordon, 1996

July 28, 2020

In 1996, director Don McGlynn released a documentary on tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon entitled More Than You Know. What made the documentary special was that virtually the entire story of Gordon's life came out of his mouth. McGlynn culled footage of Gordon being interviewed from multiple sources to create a flavorful oral history. Here's a clean ...