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Interview: Michael Abene
Michael Abene has always been a double threat. In addition to being a gorgeous pianist and accompanist, he's a towering arranger of big bands, orchestras, singers and instrumental ensembles. Fans of Maynard Ferguson are probably most familiar with his piano playing and arrangements for the band's recordings for Roulette and Mainstream in the 1960s. These days, ...
Backgrounder: Waltel Branco - Mancini Samba '65
There are dozens of albums that interpret the film music of composer-arranger Henry Mancini. Surprisingly, there aren't many of them by Latin leaders. Mancini himself released Mr. Lucky Goes Latin in 1961 and he often included a Latin number in soundtracks. Last week, I found a Brazilian take on Mancini from 1965: Waltel Branco – Mancini ...
George Cotsirilos: 'Refuge'
I loved George Cotsirilos's guitar the moment I heard it. His sound is shrewd and seasoned and he has a refined sense of history. There's ample swing, soul-jazz and a keen sense of fusion in his playing, and I can hear Grant Green's plucking, Pat Metheny's articulation, Joe Pass's chords and John Scofield's note-bending in his ...
Barbara McNair: Lost in the Crowd
Barbara McNair—like Nancy Wilson, Diahann Carroll, Gail Fisher, Della Reese and Freda Payne—was an enormously talented Black supper-club singer, variety show guest, and theater, TV and film actress. And while you likely are familiar with the other women I just mentioned, McNair may not be known to you at all. The songs she was given weren't ...
Interview: John Scofield, Solo
John Scofield has one of the most distinct and fascinating guitar sounds in jazz. Notes are picked and bent, creating a pizzicato-like, jagged sound that meows in places and lingers in others. John and I have been long-time e-mail pen pals and he's a regular reader of this blog, just as I am an avid John ...
Six Smokin' and Grillin' Mixes
Today in the U.S., it's Memorial Day, a national holiday when Americans think about loved ones who fought and perished in wars. But it's also the first unofficial day of summer, a weekend of family get-togethers, a day of BBQ smoking and grilling, and even shopping sales. If you're firing up the smoker or grill today—or ...
Swinging jazz, no holds barred
The Dan Miller-Lew Del Gatto quartet's weekly gig at the Barrel Room in downtown Fort Myers FL always has a surprise or two, and the Thursday, May 26 edition was no exception. Drummer Jim White, a close friend and occasional band-mate of trumpeter Miller's since 1987 when they were freshmen at the University of North Texas ...
Dick Hyman and Austin High Revisited
In 1922, five white high-school teens started a jazz revolution. All attended Austin High School on Chicago's West Side and were mad about jazz—the jazz that came up to the city from New Orleans in 1920. That's when Prohibition led to bootlegging, organized crime, and speakeasies and clubs run by gangsters who needed exciting music to ...
Backgrounder: Os Tatuis, 1965
Jose Roberto Bertrami played keyboards for Azymuth, a much heralded Brazilian trio that formed in 1972. The band mixed samba, bossa nova, jazz, folk and rock. He also composed and arranged for Elis Regina, Mark Murphy, Joe Pass, Sarah Vaughan, Milton Nascimento, Airto, Flora Purim among others. In 1965, Bertrami led a group on his first ...
Count, Duke, Stan, Harry, Gerald and Tubby in '65
Thought to be over and done in 1965, big bands staged a comeback. Most of their acclaim came on tours in Europe and and on TV, but the truth is that bands led by top names were undergoing a renaissance. With their kids in college or out of the house and rock starting to dominate, many ...
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