Results for "Gene Lees"

Gene Lees

Bill Evans: Time Remembered (The Life and Music of Bill Evans)

By TROY DOSTERT

Bill Evans: Time Remembered (The Life and Music of Bill Evans) A Film by Bruce Spiegel 2016 In the opening segment of Bruce Spiegel's splendid Bill Evans documentary, Time Remembered, Evans explains in an early interview: “Ultimately, I came to the conclusion that all I must do is take care ...

Female Vocals 2017 I – Cynthia Hilts, Judith Nijland, Andrea Claburn, Sandy Cressman, Lisa Biales

By C. MICHAEL BAILEY

Take a day off and the recordings pile up and bury you. Female jazz vocals continue to dominate recordings with no indication on letting up. Most these recordings are very good and deserve recognition. So here is my picayune effort to address a few of them. Cynthia Hilts Lyric Fury

Paul Winter Sextet: Count Me In

By DUNCAN HEINING

The Paul Winter Sextet might just be one of the best early sixties groups you never heard. Their story, and that of their leader and altoist Paul Winter's, is certainly one of the most remarkable in jazz. Had some director made a film of the Sextet's short life, jazz buffs would have scoffed at the conceit. ...

Paul Jost: The First Thing is Heart

By CHRIS M. SLAWECKI

Even for a musician who has been playing and singing since age six, Paul Jost has just come through one exceptional year. First, he released his debut with The Jost Project, Can't Find My Way Home (2013, Dot.Time Records), featuring the leader on vocals, harmonica and guitar, with drummer Charlie Patierno, double bassist Kevin ...

Paul Jost: Breaking Through

By GLORIA KROLAK

One of the most endearing moments of jazz vocalist Paul Jost's new solo CD, Breaking Through, in an album of many such moments, is perhaps his chuckle and the “Oh, George," he lets out after a fresh rendition of “Singing in the Rain." Endearing because Jost connects with the listener by the sigh meant for and ...

Bill Mays: Inventions, Conventions and Dimensions

By DR. JUDITH SCHLESINGER

This title is more than a rhyme: it's an attempt to capture some of the legendary versatility of pianist Bill Mays. “Inventions" refers to his unprecedented, working jazz trio of piano, trumpet, and cello. “Conventions" is a nod to his invaluable contribution to the annual meeting of the International Society of Bassists (in 2013, he played ...

Sonny Rollins Elected as Member of American Academy of Arts & Sciences

By JACK BOWERS

This month's most welcome news has nothing to do with big bands but everything to do with artistry and excellence: saxophonist and jazz icon Sonny Rollins has been elected to membership in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. The Academy, a center for independent policy research (I don't quite understand what that has to do ...

Portrait Of Johnny: The Life Of John Herndon Mercer

By DAVID RICKERT

Gene Lees Portrait Of Johnny: The Life Of John Herndon Mercer Pantheon Books ISBN: 0-634-09929-9 384 pages 2004 When it comes to songwriting, lyricists don't get much credit. While many people may know, for instance, that Henry Mancini wrote the music for “Moon River, many fewer ...