Results for "AAJ Staff"

Video: Sad Story of Jackie Wilson

January 1, 2015

Want a sense of just how ugly and predatory the record industry could be in the 1960s, especially the smaller labels? Dig how Jackie Wilson went from being one of the biggest-selling and highly influential soul artists of his generation to penniless and incapacitated in the 1970s. Here's an ABC 20/20 segment on Wilson from the 1990s... ...

Videos: Martha Davis and Spouse

January 2, 2015

Even if you're up on past female jazz stars, odds are you've never heard boogie-woogie pianist Martha Davis. Davis came up in the 1930s playing in Chicago clubs and in 1939 married her bassist, Calvin Ponder. In the late 1940s, as the number of Los Angeles record labels proliferated following the settlement of the first musicians' ...

The Lead Sheet: Twin Cities Live Jazz, January 2-8

January 2, 2015

Happy New Year! If this week is any indication, the jazz scene is off to a good start for 2015. It's cold, so never a better time to come indoors and warm up your ears. Big Gigs This Week Friday, January 2.  Jazz Central kicks off the 2015 Bridge Series with composer/pianist Jeremy Walker's Small City ...

Jazz this week: New Year's Eve and more

December 31, 2014

While the usual holiday-season dearth of touring jazz acts continues, St. Louis' own jazz and creative musicians nevertheless will be taking to local stages this week to celebrate New Year's Eve and subsequently usher in the first weekend of 2015. Here's what's on the schedule... Wednesday, December 31 The annual First Night St. Louis will feature ...

Videos: Sonny Stitt, London 1964

December 31, 2014

When I was a kid in the '70s, Sonny Stitt was my favorite saxophonist. I loved his lyricism, aggression and intensity. Then I tried to collect him and found it impossible. There were simply too many recordings, and back then albums cost real money, which didn't come easy to teens. I'm still collecting Stitt all these ...

The Year in Jazz: Twin Cities 2014

December 31, 2014

I could join others and come up with a top ten recordings list, or a top ten gig list— although it seems that, save Pamela Espeland, I would probably be alone in the media in naming a best of anything in jazz for 2014. Instead, I am going to try to recap what I think are ...

Monday Recommendation: Edward Simon

December 30, 2014

Edward Simon, Venezuelan Suite (Sunnyside) Few jazz albums have been devoted to the music of Venezuela. Victor Feldman’s superb The Venezuelan Joropo (1967) was an exception. Latin musicians were impressed with the authenticity that Feldman achieved using Los Angeles colleagues to interpret traditional Venezuelan music. When it comes to authenticity, however, Edward Simon has an advantage. ...

Video: Cafe Montmartre, '59-'76

December 30, 2014

Oscar Pettiford was one of the great jazz bassists on the New York recording scene in the 1940s and '50s. Sadly, his name today is slipping into obscurity. In 1958, Pettiford moved to Copenhagen, where he died in 1960 at age 37. He was the first to play jazz cello in 1949, and few could match ...

Chet Baker: Belgium, 1964

December 30, 2014

Video: Stan Kenton, 1962

December 29, 2014

In October 1962, Stan Kenton and his Mellophonium Orchestra appeared on Jazz Scene USA, hosted by Oscar Brown Jr. The spectacular band featured Conte Candoli, Marvin Stamm, Bob Behrendt, Dalton Smith and Keith LaMotte (tp); Bud Parker, Tom Ringo and Bob Fitzpatrick (tb); Jim Amlotte (b-tb); Dave Wheeler (b-tb, tuba); Dwight Carver, Joe Burnett, Lou Gasca ...