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Frank Wess: Magic 201

by Karl Ackermann
Despite a career that spanned more than half of a century, Frank Wess was not a household name. The flautist/saxophonist spent the 1950s and 60s playing with some of the best known big bands in the U.S. including those of Billy Eckstine, Count Basie and Clark Terry. During that period he was primarily recognized as a ...
Jazz Quanta: January

by C. Michael Bailey
The beauty of having written for All About Jazz since the early years is that I was given one of the first personal columns, Bailey's Bundles," as named by publisher Michael Ricci. I have used it mostly for thematically-based multiple record reviews, then my end-of-the-year lists. As the years sped on, I began to concentrate on ...
The Newly Minted Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia

by Victor L. Schermer
The newly minted Jazz Orchestra of Philadelphia is an exciting, ambitious project co-founded by renowned trumpeter and Temple University educator Terell Stafford and intrepid jazz supporter Deena Adler, Odean Pope's manager. The Orchestra has already made waves in the Philly jazz community through its two performances in the Courtyard of City Hall, symbolizing its close connection ...
Frank Wess: Magic 201

by Dan Bilawsky
What a wonderful coda on an incredible life and career. Saxophonist/Flautist Frank Wess' final recordings--the critically acclaimed Magic 101 (IPO, 2013) and this follow-up, recorded two months after that album--speak to his brilliance and clarity as a melody maker and improviser. His wisdom and elegance come through in every note on both recordings. ...
2013: The Year In Jazz

by Ken Franckling
The West Coast now has a jazz edifice of its own with strong roots, International Jazz Day grew in scope during year two, jazz made its mark on (and off) Broadway, and the number of musicians lost during the year was large and painful. Here's a look at significant happenings across the jazz world over the ...
Frank Wess: Magic 201

by Dan McClenaghan
Saxophonist Frank Wess was born in 1922. He played in Billy Ecstine's orchestra, after World War II interrupted his burgeoning career, and he played in Count Basie's band from 1953 to 1964. With those early experiences on his resume, the fact that he was a traditionalist in the mode of saxophonists Ben Webster, of Duke Ellington ...
Magic 201

By Frank Wess
Label: IPO Recordings
Released: 2013
Track listing: It Could Happen to You; A Cottage for Sale; After Paris; The Summer
Knows; Embraceable You; Blues for Ruby; If You Can't Call, Don't Come;
If It's the Last Thing I Do.
Magic 101

By Frank Wess
Label: IPO Recordings
Released: 2013
Track listing: Say It Isn’t So; The Very Thought of You; Pretty Lady; Come Rain or Come Shine; Easy Living; Blue Monk; All Too Soon.
Edmar Castaneda: A World Of Music

by Ian Patterson
The harp may be the least common instrument in jazz/improvised music--even the humble kazoo gets more of a run out. Dating back over 5,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia, the harp in its various guises is common to nearly all cultures across the continents. Throughout Asia, Africa and Latin America the harp is an important element of ...
Frank Wess, 91, Saxophonist and Flutist With the Basie Band, Dies

Frank Wess, who helped popularize the flute as a jazz instrument in the 1950s and ’60s with the Count Basie Orchestra, where he was also a standout saxophone soloist, died on Wednesday in Manhattan. He was 91. The cause was a heart attack related to kidney failure, said his longtime companion, Sara Tsutsumi. Mr. Wess was ...