Home » Search Center » Results: AAJ Staff
Results for "AAJ Staff"
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 ...
Perfection: Jimmy Smith - 'Too Old to Dream'
In April 1960, organist Jimmy Smith joined forces with tenor saxophonist Stanley Turrentine and recorded Back at the Chicken Shack for Blue Note. One of the tracks was “When I Grow Too Old to Dream," by Oscar Hammerstein II, Sigmund Romberg. The song was introduced in The Night Is Young (1935) and was given a gospel-soul ...
Sarah Vaughan: Concert in Stockholm (1967)
By the late 1960s, more jazz singers and musicians had tabled the American songbook and were digging into the new standards by the decade's contemporary pop composers. They had to if they wanted to attract younger audiences. This was especially true while performing abroad. [Photo above of Sarah Vaughan in Stockholm in 1967, courtesy of YouTube] ...
Toots Thielemans: Live in Liège, Belgium (2012)
In 2012, jazz-pop guitarist and harmonicist Toots Thielemans turned 90. On May 17 of that year, he performed a concert at Le Chapiteau, the opera house in Liège, Belgium. The performance was taped for the release of a live recording. The rhythm section featured Toots Thielemans (harmonica), Karel Boehlee (piano and synthesizer), Hein van de Geyn ...
Diana Panton: Soft Winds and Roses (2024)
I'm big on sensitivity, so right off the bat vocalist Diana Panton had me with the first notes of her new album—Soft Winds and Roses (SRG). Her last recording, Blue (2022), was a mood work reflecting hard emotional times. On this one, the songs chosen have a gentle, talcum-soft feel that exposes her cheery side. Back ...
Glenn Miller: Chesterfield Broadcasts, 1940-42
If you want to know what America's home front felt like during World War II, listen to Glenn Miller. I know that's an odd thing to say, but that's what an old timer told me one afternoon when my parents had a party at our house. I had mentioned my interest in the big bands, and ...
