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Documentary: Ben Webster - 'Big Ben' (1971)
Shot for the Danish national television network in 1971, Big Ben profiled the tenor saxophone great Ben Webster two years before his death. Jazz players didn't come sweeter or more soulful than the Brute. Here Webster records with strings and talks about his life. It is impossible to stop a Webster recording once it begins. Your ...
Eddie Palmieri (1936-2025)
Eddie Palmieri, a pianist, composer and leader who pioneered a smoldering Latin-jazz sound fronted by trombones and incorporated the jazz jam session into his approach, helping him widen his music and win eight Grammy Awards, died on August 6. He was 88. Eddie was the younger brother of Charlie Palmieri, a Latin pianist with enormous rhythmic ...
Perfection: Buddy Childers - Sentimental Sam (1955)
Summer always reminds me of Los Angeles and the thick, humid heat. But it's not so much the heat as it is the mood. Because I'm a romantic, when I'm in L.A. in the summer, I always imagine it's 1955. A private detective with his tie loosened and light-colored suit jacket off is sitting in a ...
New Vinyl: Golson and McIntyre
Two Prestige albums recorded nearly one year apart have just been re-issued by Craft Recordings on 180-gram vinyl. Both were cut from the original stereo masters by Kevin Gray. Benny Golson's Gone With Golson was recorded in June 1959, and Ken McIntyre's Looking Ahead, with Eric Dolphy, was recording in June 1960. Both albums are superb ...
Cleo Laine (1927-2025)
Cleo Laine, Britain's finest and most-celebrated jazz-pop singer who, with tenor saxophonist Johnny Dankworth, began recording together in 1951 but became much better known in the U.K. than in the U.S., died on July 24. She was 97. Dankworth and Laine married in 1958, and over the course of her career, she was showered with British ...
Backgrounder: Clarke/Boland - Latin Kaleidoscope
Today, the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band still doesn't get the respect it deserves. Perhaps that's because the band was comprised of American and European musicians, many of whom were little known to record buyers. The band also did much of its touring abroad. But there were other reasons. Most of their records were released on ...
Perfection: Bird - Almost Like Being in Love (1952)
In March 1952, producer Norman Granz had Charlie Parker record with a big band for his Clef label. He assembled a stunning collection of New York talent: Jimmy Maxwell, Carl Poole, Al Porcino and Bernie Privin (tp); Bill Harris, Lou McGarity and Bart Varsalona (tb); Charlie Parker, Harry Terrill and Murray Williams (as); Flip Phillips and ...
Chuck Mangione (1940-2025)
Chuck Mangione, a trumpeter, flugelhornist and keyboardist who, along with George Benson, and a few other jazz musicians, successfully crossed over to pop in the late 1970s and pioneered what became known as smooth jazz, died on July 22, He was 84. Mangione, along with his brother, Gap, was born in Rochester, N.Y., a region with ...
Backgrounder: Count Basie's Sinatra Tribute (1963)
In 1963, Count Basie was persuaded by producer Norman Granz to record a tribute album to singer Frank Sinatra. Though Creed Taylor was Verve's executive producer by then, Granz held onto several of his artists, including Basie and Ella Fitzgerald, after the label was sold to MGM. By then, Sinatra and Basie had recorded and released ...
Take Five with Bassist Phil Ravita
by AAJ Staff
Meet Bassist Phil Ravita One of the Mid-Atlantic's most versatile and sought-after bassists, Phil Ravita leads Ravita Jazz and appears with many other jazz and classical ensembles and orchestras. He is also host of a weekly radio program on WMTB 89.9 FM. Tune in on Mondays at 8 PM EST. He has shared the stage with music ...
