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Lou Donaldson (1926-2024)
Lou Donaldson, a Charlie Parker-influenced alto saxophonist who played major roles in the invention of two major jazz movements and bridged the gap between jazz, soul and what he called “swinging bebop," died on November 9. He was 98. In 1952, Lou led a Blue Note recording that became one of the earliest hard bop sessions. ...
Backgrounder: Jazz Studio, From Hollywood (1954)
In 1954, when Decca began to issue 12-inch pop LPs, it suddenly had a vast pipeline to fill with new releases. To load up the schedule of LPs, Decca producers on the East and West coasts turned to jazz studio players to crank out recordings. Not only could these musicians compose and arrange songs fast, they ...
Take Five With Trombonist-Composer Naomi Moon Siegel
by AAJ Staff
An award-winning trombonist, improviser, composer and educator, Naomi Moon Siegel is committed to creating a positive, transformative music culture beyond conventional genre norms. She has been an innovative performer and recording artist since graduating from Oberlin Conservatory in 2006. Siegel kicked off her professional career on the West Coast in Oakland, California, and came of age ...
Perfection: Chet Baker, Estate (1985)
In November 1985, three years before his death at age 58, Baker performed at the Moonlight Club in Macerata, on Italy's east coast, halfway between Florence and Rome. Baker had been touring in Europe that year with a range of different European musicians, and he extended the tour by a month in Italy, hiring Michel Graillier ...
Quincy Jones in Paris, 1957-1960
It is impossible to fully appreciate the delight of the late Quincy Jones without doing a deep dive into his years in Paris. From 1957 to 1960, Jones studied composition and theory there with Nadia Boulanger and Olivier Messiaen, performed at the Paris Olympia, toured Europe and became music director at Barclay Records. The French label ...
Take Five with Vocalist Teodora Brody
by AAJ Staff
Meet Teodora Brody Born in Romania, and now based in Switzerland, Teodora Brody initially trained in classical jazz and rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s singing with legendary jazz pianist Johnny Răducanu . Acclaimed for her extraordinary vocal power and creative vision, Teodora pioneered the fusion of jazz with Doina--Romania's ...
Quincy Jones (1933-2024)
Quincy Jones, whose name became synonymous with excellence in music and whose contributions to jazz opened a new age of swinging elegance influenced by French pop and modern classical, died on November 3. He was 91. Rather than write again about Jones's many accomplishments, I feel it's more illustrative to listen to his career in 14 ...
Take Five with Pianist / Composer Joe Elefante
by AAJ Staff
About Joe Elefante: Joe has traveled 4 continents playing and conducting jazz and musical theater. Joe founded the Joe Elefante Big Band in 2001, which was the house band at Cecil's Jazz Club for three years, and was featured on ABC's Nightline and in the Wall Street Journal. He was named a Jazz Ambassador by the ...
Gerry Mulligan: 'Spring in Stockholm,' 1959
In early 1958, baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan formed a new pianoless quartet, featuring Art Farmer on trumpet, Henry Grimes on bass and Dave Bailey on drums. By July, Bill Crow had replaced Grimes on bass. The post-war, no-piano format was first pioneered by Mulligan in 1952, with Chet Baker on trumpet, Bob Whitlock on bass and ...
Backgrounder: Jimmy Forrest - Out of the Forrest
Tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest began his recording career in 1943 with Andy Kirk's band. There, he learned all he needed to know about swing. By 1949, he was touring and recording with Duke Ellington. Next came his first leadership album, Night Train, in 1951, featuring the hit title song. Night Train, a lift from Ellington's Happy ...
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