Results for "Count Basie"

Count Basie

Bill Basie studied music with his mother as a child and played piano in early childhood. He picked up the basics of early ragtime from some of the great Harlem pianists and studied organ informally with Fats Waller. He made his professional debut as an accompanist for vaudeville acts and replaced Waller in an act called Katie Crippen and her Kids. He also worked with June Clark and Sonny Greer who was later to become Duke Ellington’s drummer. It was while traveling with the Gonzel White vaudeville show that Basie became stranded in Kansas City when the outfit suddenly broke up. He played at a silent movie house for a while and then became a member of the Walter Page Blue Devils in 1928 and ’29

Spike Wilner, Count Basie, Clark Terry and more

By JOE DIMINO

The world of jazz is in survival mode. The shift from live shows to livestream is now how the art form is coping. This week we open with club owner Spike Wilner and a cut off a new Live at Smalls CD. The rest of the episode focuses on artists with new material and how they ...

Sherman Irby, Count Basie, Karl Denson and More

By JOE DIMINO

The pandemic goes on and jazz musicians keep on finding innovative ways to stay relevant and creative. This week we focus on some of those that are doing so by releasing new material and good thoughts into the world. We start the hour with a veteran of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in Sherman Irby. ...

John Patitucci, Dick Oatts, Count Basie and More

By JOE DIMINO

This week we focus on new releases and look for a unique perspective on this COVID-19 pandemic world. We hear from John Patitucci, Avram Fefer, Paul Jost and Marc Benham. This hour also features a host of legends and a special dedication to Chadwick Boseman. Playlist John Patitucci with John Beasley “Sam Rivers" MONK'estra ...

Jay Thomas Quartet: Upside

By PAUL RAUCH

Seattle-based musician Jay Thomas may be considered the oddest of ducks in the jazz universe. By that, I am referring to his fierce musicality expressed both on trumpet and saxophone, as well as most members of the brass and woodwind families. Inspired early in his career by the like minded veteran Ira Sullivan, Thomas in a ...

Charlie Parker: Ten High Flying Albums Of Paradigm Shifting Genius

By CHRIS MAY

Born in Kansas City, Kansas in 1920, and brought up across the state line in anything-goes, jazz-friendly Kansas City, Missouri, controlled from the mid 1920s to the late 1930s by the spectacularly corrupt politician Tom Prendergast, alto saxophonist Charlie Parker lived fast and hard and passed in 1955, aged only 34 years. A founding father of ...

August Birthdays

By MARC COHN

August birthdays this week, celebrating the centennials of Charlie Parker, singer Jimmy Witherspoon and bassist George Duvivier. George only did one session as a leader for a French label, which I have never been able to find. So, we pair him with other August celebrants: Jimmy Rushing, Lester Young, Arnett Cobb and Art Farmer. We also ...

Marvin Stamm: Team Player

By R.J. DELUKE

Trumpeter Marvin Stamm is known for being part of a gazillion albums, having that ability to go into a studio and play exactly what's required, whether it's for a records by pop singers, jazz artists, Paul McCartney, Donny Hathaway or touring with Frank Sinatra. It's a reputation the highly skilled player earned with hard work.

Subtle Is as Subtle Does

By PATRICK BURNETTE

Ya want big bands? We got big bands. Sometimes we got one in each speaker. In this exploration of the more extroverted side of jazz, the boys check out works by a blazing trumpet player (and world-class womanizer), a so-so clarinetist with a heart of gold, two piano-playing band leaders who both worship Duke Ellington, and ...