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News: Obituary

Ronnell Bright (1930-2021)

August 16, 2021

Ronnell Bright, a jazz pianist and composer who accompanied many of the finest mid-century female jazz vocalists, including Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Nancy Wilson, Lena Horne, Lorez Alexandria and Anita O'Day and subbed for Count Basie on several albums and tours, died on August 12. Ronnell was 91. His wife, Dianne Bright, said the cause was ...

News: TV / Film

Documentary: Stan Tracey

August 13, 2021

Little-known in America but a jazz force in the U.K., Stan Tracey was a British pianist who was highly influenced by Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk. Tracey's keyboard attack was stormy, percussive and deeply felt, but he also could play straight-ahead jazz and worked and recorded with Ted Heath for years. He also was the house ...

News: TV / Film

Documentary: Tal Farlow

August 12, 2021

Self-taught, guitarist Tal Farlow was what's known as a big player. Influenced by Bud Powell, he could cover a great deal of ground on the neck of his electric guitar with his large hands. When he began recording as a leader in April 1954 for Blue Note, he had already been recording as a sideman for ...

News: Video / DVD

Duke Ellington: Berlin 1959

August 10, 2021

After my post last week on 16 jazz geniuses, I predictably received a flood of emails asking why Duke Ellington was missing from my list. As I explained, while Duke was exceptional, his piano didn't change the direction of jazz nor did a school emerge that emulated his approach. But the emails did give me pause. ...

News: Interview

Interview: Terry Waldo

August 9, 2021

Terry Waldo is a master of 1920s and '30s ragtime and piano. Like Dick Hyman, Terry is a preservationist, playing the music of another era authentically and with soul. His new album, I Double Dare You (Turtle Bay), with singer Tatiana Eva-Marie, revives the coy, syncopated music between the two World Wars and is superb for ...

News: Video / DVD

Sixteen Geniuses of Jazz

August 6, 2021

Yesterday, I received an email from clarinetist and saxophonist Pete Neighbor to wish JazzWax a happy 14th birthday. He also had a question on something I wrote in my Harold Land post. I took issue with those who refer to Land as a genius, since in my mind there were only about 10 true jazz geniuses. ...

News: Video / DVD

Thad Jones/Mel Lewis: Groove Merchant

August 6, 2021

The Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra was one of the last great big bands. Formed in 1965, the orchestra played Monday nights at New York's Village Vanguard and recorded and toured extensively, including a swing through the Soviet Union in 1972. When Jones decided to move to Copenhagen in 1978, the band became known as the Mel ...

News: Recording

Harold Land: Westward Bound!

August 4, 2021

Over the years, tenor saxophonist Harold Land has been positioned as unheralded, underappreciated and not fully celebrated. He has also been referred to as John Coltrane's true heir and a genius. None of this is true, of course. Land recorded 15 leadership albums between 1958 and 2001 and four times that number as a sideman. Jazz ...

News: Video / DVD

Doug Raney: New York Visits

August 2, 2021

In 1977, 20-year-old guitarist Doug Raney was touring Europe with his father, guitarist Jimmy Raney. Doug fell in love with the soul there and appreciation of club audiences and decided to move to Copenhagen at age 21. That's where he began his recording career and that's where he remained until his death at 59 in 2016. ...

News: TV / Film

Beverly Kenney: Vocalist in Distress

July 30, 2021

Beverly Kenney recorded seven albums between 1955 to 1959. She had a singing voice that was a cross between Blossom Dearie and Marilyn Monroe, but her approach on songs was courageous, taking risks on melodies that made her interesting to hear. What wasn't evident from her publicity photos—showing a poised, attractive and seemingly upbeat woman—was her ...