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The Legacy of Billy Strayhorn: the Unknown Strayhorn
by Larry Slater
Billy Strayhorn ranks in the top tier of jazz composers, along with Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus and Jelly Roll Morton.Strayhorn wrote at least one piece a week during the thirty years he worked with Duke Ellington. That was more than the Ellington Orchestra could handle, especially since Duke himself composed constantly. Choices ...
Pete Mills: This Is Now
by Mark Corroto
Let us imagine asking a sociologist whether something like musical FOMO, fear of missing out, exists. Pete Mills makes a convincing case that it does with This Is Now. Even though we have the recorded evidence, there is a lingering sense that something special happened in the room, something listeners can hear but not fully share. ...
The Legacy of Billy Strayhorn, part III: Such Sweet Thunder and The Far East Suite
by Larry Slater
Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington recorded a number of musical suites in the 50s and 60s. The Shakespearean Suite “Such Suite Thunder" ranks up there with the greatest Ellington recordings. “The Far East Suite" was another important collaboration and highpoint in the Ellington discography. The band's famous reinterpretation of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, was all Strayhorn. Ellington's last ...
Alain Metrailler: Heights Prospection
by Dan McClenaghan
Who is going to be the next Miles Davis? Or the next John Coltrane? With their two most lauded albums--Kind Of Blue (Columbia, 1959) and A Love Supreme (Impulse, 1966, respectively, the trumpeter and saxophonist (again, respectively) set the bar for top-tier, post-bop jazz ensemble outings. A bar so high it may never be achieved again. ...
Fred Hersch: The Touch of Genius
by Ken Dryden
The sound of Fred Hersch at the piano is so distinctive, a couple of bars is usually enough to identify him. The mainly self-taught Cincinnati native excelled early, playing jazz in his home town before leaving to study with pianist Jaki Byard at the New England Conservatory of Music. From there, Fred moved to New York ...
The Legacy of Billy Strayhorn, part II: Lotus Blossom, Raincheck and some less well known tunes from the Strayhorn songbook.
by Larry Slater
Billy Strayhorn spent his career as Duke Ellington's “composing and arranging partner" but it wasn't until relatively recently that his remarkable contribution to jazz was fully appreciated. When Strayhorn's tunes began making their appearance in the early '40s, other musicians took notice. Gerry Mulligan said, “I was part of a small community of very young musicians ...
The Legacy of Billy Strayhorn, part I: Lush Life, Take the A Train and more
by Larry Slater
Billy Strayhorn had one of the most unusual careers in jazz. Today his genius as a composer of jazz and song is uniformly acknowledged, but that was not the case during his lifetime. Strayhorn spent his entire career as in Duke Ellington's words, “his composing and arranging partner."Many of his most famous creations were ...
Duke Ellington, Brian Wilson and Friends: Shimmering Prologue: The Lost Sandbox Sessions
by Mike Jurkovic
Picture this: LA: Tuesday, early September, '66. A few months after Pet Sounds (Capitol, 1966) reshaped the landscape. The weather (pre-climate change) breaks around the mid 70's with a slight breeze sliding in from the east. Mired in an un-stately creative slump, Duke Ellington finds himself being ushered into 6000 Sunset Boulevard (Western Studio ...
Alexa Tarantino: The Roar and the Whisper
by Mike Jurkovic
If there is one true sound to describe the sound of luminous liberation, young veteran saxophonist/flautist/composer Alexa Tarantino captures it handily and shares it profusely with her band and everyone else within earshot of The Roar and the Whisper. Tarantino, whose star continues to flare via her ongoing gig at Jazz At Lincoln Center ...
Dolomiti Ski Jazz – Edizione 2026
by Paolo Peviani
Dolomiti Ski Jazz--XXX Edizione Val di Fiemme, Val di Fassa, Val di Cembra 06--15 marzo 2026 Mentre nel mondo imperversano venti di guerra, in questo angolo del Trentino ci sono persone, come Enrico Tommasini e lo staff del festival Dolomiti Ski Jazz, che da trent'anni (trent'anni!) si impegnano con tenacia e passione ...
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