Results for "AAJ Staff"

Concert: Pat Martino Trio, 2014

November 4, 2021

In 2014, the Pat Martino Trio performed at the Lotos Jazz Festival in Poland. Martino's playing—backed by Pat Bianchi on organ and Carmen Intorre on drums—is spectacular. So good, in fact, that you can just let the concert play in the background while you work. Or even better, watch it. The tracks are Catch, Full House, ...

Tony Bennett: If I Ruled the World

November 3, 2021

Readers frequently ask what, in my opinion, defines a great jazz vocal. I typically reply that it's a combination of the singer empathizing with the song's lyrics, vocalizing the song in such a way that the listener feels your delivery emotionally, and knowing where to improvise to give the song your special touch. I now have ...

Pat Martino (1944-2021)

November 2, 2021

Pat Martino, a hard-swinging jazz guitarist whose singular soul-jazz feel elevated his visibility in 1970s only to suffer a health crisis that forced him to relearn the instrument with miraculous results, died on Nov. 1. He was 77. Martino's recording career began in 1963 under his real name, Pat Azzara. He started as a sideman on ...

Dave Brubeck and Mort Sahl

November 1, 2021

Mort Sahl, a Canadian-born American comedian who helped pioneer socio-political satire in the 1950s and '60s, died on October 26. He was 94. For a brief moment in 1958, he hosted a pilot for a local San Franciso TV jazz show called Jam Session. He wasn't the show's planned host but he agreed to sit in. ...

Documentary: Billie Holiday

October 29, 2021

Ginny Mancini (1924-2021)

October 28, 2021

Ginny Mancini, the wife of the late composer-arranger Henry Mancini, a polished singer who was one of the original Mel-Tones, and an elegant and graceful woman who was as down to earth as she was charming, died on October 25. She was 97. An ardent JazzWax reader, Ginny's last email to me arrived in May, in ...

Video: Herbie Hancock in 1972

October 27, 2021

A year and a half before keyboardist Herbie Hancock recorded his seminal Headhunters album in the fall of 1973, he was in Paris performing with his Mwandishi Sextet. Mwandishi is Swahili for composer and it's a name Hancock called himself in the late 1960s and early '70s. Members of his group followed suit: Mchezaji ("player," someone ...

The Early Autumn Story and 10 Faves

October 26, 2021

In 1946, at the height of Stravinsky's and modern classical's influence on big band jazz, arranger Ralph Burns brought a three-part suite to bandleader Woody Herman called Summer Sequence, Parts 1-3. Herman recorded the three parts in September '46, when saxophonist Flip Phillips was the band's chief saxophone soloist. But in the 78 era, three parts ...

Colorized Video: Mingus and Dolphy

October 25, 2021

In April 1964, bassist Charles Mingus was on tour in Liège, Belgium, and recorded for the Belgian TV show, Jazz Pour Tous. This 30-minute broadcast was recently colorized using Deoldify. The songs performed are Farewell Eric Dolphy, Carlye Goodbye and Meditations. The group featured Mingus on bass; Dolphy on alto sax, bass clarinet and flute; Clifford ...

Take Five with Mareille Merck

by AAJ Staff
October 23, 2021

Meet Mareille Merck Mareille Merck is a guitarist and composer who was born in Germany and lives in Zurich, Switzerland. She studied with Frank Möbus, Lionel Loueke, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Roberto Bossard and Kalle Kalima. At the young age of 25 she has already shared the stage with John McLaughlin and Michael League from Snarky Puppy. Mareille ...