Results for "Benny Carter"

Benny Carter

Benny Carter's long career was consistently characterized by high musical achievement, and he developed a unique and readily identifiable style as both an alto saxophonist and an arranger. He was able to double on trumpet and was also proficient on clarinet, piano, and trombone. His saxophone playing was pure-toned, fluid, and flawlessly phrased. One of the trademark sounds of his arrangements was four saxophones harmonizing one of his swooping melodies as if they were one instrument improvising. He also created the big-band model of contending brass and reed sections, anticipated harmonic trends that would later appear in bebop, and transformed a clunky Western notion of musical time into something more buoyant and fresh. Benjamin Lester Carter was born on August 8, 1907, in New York City and grew up in tManhattan (near Lincoln Center). He took piano lessons from his mother as a young boy, but his musical heroes were trumpeters like his cousin, Theodore Bennett, and Bubber Miley, who played with Duke Ellington

Into the ‘Now’s The Time’ Warp & Much More

By MARC COHN

Oh, what a show for you! We start with twenty-first century New-Orleans-centric sounds from Charlie Dennard on the B-3, Billy Martin's Wicked Knee, Binker Golding, and a sexy song from Herlin Riley. We celebrate the life of Sonny Rollins with tracks from his Jazz Contrasts sideman gig with Kenny Dorham. And then there are two really ...

Impulse! Records: An Alternative Top 20 Zeitgeist Seizing Albums

By CHRIS MAY

There can be little argument that a jazz label ever captured a zeitgeist more completely than Impulse! did during its original 1960s incarnation. In the US, the fight back against white racism was cresting, opposition to the Vietnam war was growing, outrage over the assassinations of figures of hope such as President Kennedy, Martin Luther King ...

Jazz & Film: An Alternative Top 20 Soundtrack Albums

By CHRIS MAY

Jazz and the movies have a shared history stretching back almost a hundred years. The relationship came into its own in the US in the mid twentieth century. Elia Kazan's 1950 movie Panic In The Streets is an early example of how film makers used jazz-based soundtracks to enhance drama and atmosphere and create ambiances of ...

Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman Records: Ten High Altitude Albums

By CHRIS MAY

Bob Thiele is best remembered for his years as the artistic director and house producer of Impulse!. He took over from founder producer Creed Taylor in 1961 and stayed with the label until 1969, when he left to run his own Flying Dutchman Records. Thiele's tenure at Impulse! was its most glorious period, when Thiele curated ...

Saxattack & More

By MARC COHN

Well, not every track is saxed, but we've got some heavyweights here: Johnny Griffin, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Sonny Rollins, Branford Marsalis, Charlie Parker, Benny Carter, and Sidney Bechet. Breathers from pianists Brad Mehldau, Kris Davis and Bill Evans; as well as the Uptown Jazz Orchestra from New Orleans; trumpeters Roy Eldridge, Fats Navarro, Miles Davis; and ...

Ian Shaw, Iain Ballamy, Jamie Safir: What's New

By CHRIS MAY

What's new? Not the dozen songs on this enchanting trio album. Most of them have been around for well over fifty years and people will likely still be enjoying them in another fifty. The composers include Duke Ellington, Richard Rodgers, Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Van Heusen, Michel Legrand and Leonard Bernstein. Musically sophisticated and lyrically literate, the ...

Jimmy Haslip: Amperes Beyond The BASSics, Part 1

By JIM WORSLEY

The name Jimmy Haslip needs no introduction. So, he doesn't get one. Seriously, we had a lot of ground to cover and he had so many great stories and interesting asides to share that we are breaking the interview into two parts as it is. So, without further ado... All About Jazz: I ...