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Take Five With Bassist / Composer Yosef Gutman Levitt
by AAJ Staff
Meet Yosef Gutman Yosef Gutman Levitt, born in 1979 in South Africa, grew up on a farm in Knoppieslaagte. His musical journey began with piano lessons, which he later abandoned for skateboarding. At 16, inspired by the work of Jaco Pastorius, he picked up the bass guitar. He earned a scholarship to Berklee College of Music ...
Perfection: Gene Krupa - Mulligan Stew
On October 20, 21 and 22 of 1958, drummer Gene Krupa assembled a crack New York big band to record Gene Krupa Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements for Verve. The idea was brilliant. One of the most interesting songs out of the 12 recorded was Mulligan Stew, a sexy bop chart. The material is terrific—from the song's ...
Interview: Jon De Lucia on the Brubeck Octet
With World War II over at the end of August 1945, Dave Brubeck returned home from Europe and was discharged from the Army. He returned to California and immediately began studying at Mills College with Darius Milhaud, the famed French modern-classical composer and conductor who had a great reverence for jazz. That year, Milhaud (above) asked ...
Coleman Hawkins Meets the Big Sax Section
An interesting Coleman Hawkins album that's unavailable and virtually unknown today is Coleman Hawkins Meets the Big Sax Section. Originally entitled The Saxophone Section, Featuring Coleman Hawkins, it was recorded in April 1958 for the World Wide label. When Savoy re-issued the album, the label changed the title. The LP featured 4/5 of Count Basie's sax ...
Best Jazz Albums of 2024: All-Star Break Edition
by AAJ Staff
As we hit the halfway mark of 2024, All About Jazz has adopted Major League Baseball's All-Star break approach but with albums instead of homers. Our team gathered to pick their top three albums of the year so far, and Charles Lloyd's The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow along with Vijay Iyer's Compassion, Tomeka Reid's ...
Backgrounder: The Complete Chet Baker Sings
The first songs trumpeter Chet Baker recorded on which he sang were I Fall in Love Too Easily and The Thrill is Gone in October 1953. What struck listeners then and now was his vulnerable articulation, the humid romanticism and relaxed androgyny of his voice. Previously, no male singer had approached vocalizing this way. What made ...
Perfection: Miles Davis - A Gal in Calico
On June 7, 1955, Miles Davis recorded Musings of Miles for Prestige. One of the tracks for the album was “A Gal in Calico," composed by Arthur Schwartz. It was introduced in the 1946 film The Time, the Place and the Girl. Musings of Miles was the trumpeter's first 12-inch LP (earlier ones were 10 inches). ...
Take Five with Bassist / Composer Andrew Vogt
by AAJ Staff
Meet Andrew Vogt Chicago-based bassist/composer Andrew Vogt has written original pieces and arrangements for the all-female led ATLYS String Quartet, EDM artist Seven Lions, '80s hit machine Tom Kelly and electric jazz ensemble Bonzo Squad. As a sideman, he has worked with jazz legends such as Randy Brecker, Bob Reynolds, Ernie Watts and Donny McCaslin as ...
Eight New Joan Chamorro Videos From Spain
This holiday weekend, a special treat. Instead of my usual post of WSJ links and rounds-ups, I have a wonderful surprise that I'll tell you about momentarily. We'll return to the usual weekend format next week. Nearly a month ago, Jordi Pujol, owner of Fresh Sound Records, shared with me eight videos he made when he ...
Backgrounder: Phineas Newborn's Great Jazz Piano
Following my post on Howard McGhee's 1961 album, Maggie's Back in Town, I received many emails asking me to feature Phineas Newborn Jr. This week's Backgrounder speaks volumes about his technique and touch. If I played this album as a blindfold test, many might guess s young Oscar Peterson. Born in Whiteville, Tenn., in 1931, Newborn ...
