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Lars Gullin: Swede and Low
Lars Gullin was a giant of jazz who just happened to be from Sweden. He should be thought of on the same level as other 1950s baritone saxophonists who excelled in small groups, including Gerry Mulligan, Serge Chaloff, Jimmy Giuffre and Bob Gordon, among others. Gullin's dry, lyrical tone was probably closest to Mulligan's and Gordon's. ...
Christian Chevallier: Formidable!
We've been bouncing around the world this week as I highlight worthy albums by non-U.S. jazz artists with whom you may be unfamiliar. Today is no exception. Christian Chevallier is barely known in the States, yet he's one of the finest French big band arrangers of the 1950s. What set Chevallier apart was his ability to ...
Joe Harriott; Free Form
Yesterday I posted about Jamaican tenor saxophonist Wilton Gaynair. Today, I want to hip you to Jamaican alto saxophonist Joe Harriott. Like Gaynair, Harriott was educated at the Alpha Boys School in Kingston. And like Gaynair, Harriott moved to Europe, but instead of relocating to Germany, he settled in the U.K. in 1951 and became a ...
Wilton Gaynair: Blue Bogey
Jamaica in the 1950s and '60s produced many great jazz musicians. The list includes Monty Alexander, Don Shirley, Harold McNair, Montego Joe, Dizzy Reece and Ralph McDonald. But the list is long, and there were many others with whom you may be less familiar. One of them is Wilton Bogey" Gaynair, a mighty tenor saxophonist with ...
Sérgio Mendes: Brasil '66
Suffering from poor albums sales as a jazz-bossa pianist at Atlantic Records in 1965, Sérgio Mendes decided to listen to a recommendation made by Richard Adler, a producer at A&M Records. Adler, who would become Mendes's partner, urged him to keep his Brazilian feel but bring on American female vocalists to sing contemporary pop hits in ...
Melvin Sparks: Live at Nectar's
Just three months before guitarist Melvin Sparks died on March 15, 2011 at age 64, he recorded at a club in Burlington, Vt., called Nectar's, a club that's still there today (go here). Sparks was backed by members of his working trio—organist Beau Sasser and drummer Bill Carbone. But on this night, he added alto saxophonist ...
Jazz Cultural Theatre Lives!
Back in 1982, pianist Barry Harris opened a jazz club in New York's Chelsea neighborhood. Harris followed in the wake of a long tradition. Musicians from Shelly Manne and Buddy Rich to Count Basie and others over the years took stabs at running music establishments. The difference was the kind of club that Harris operated. Called ...
Billy Mitchell: Detroit Colossus
It's a disgrace that many of Billy Mitchell's leadership albums aren't available on CD or by download. Mitchell was a tenor saxophonist of extraordinary power and skill, and yet today he's virtually unknown. Many jazz musicians had the misfortune of recording for labels in the 1960s and '70s that were so small that the master tapes ...
Joe Newman: Happy Cats
Joe Newman doesn't get nearly enough credit for being a juicy jazz trumpeter. Usually, he's merely thought of as a member of Count Basie's post-1952 orchestra or as a sideman. But from 1954 to 1984, Newman recorded nearly 30 albums as a leader, with several others arriving after his passing in 1992. Many of these albums ...
Ella Fitzgerald at 100
Ella Fitzgerald was born 100 years ago today and died on June 15, 1996. By any measure, she was easily the most important singer of the 20th century. By the time she was 21 in 1938, she had completely transformed pop singing, dragging the vocal into the Swing Era by giving it more relaxed, jazz-influenced feel. ...


