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Perfection: Bird - Almost Like Being in Love (1952)
In March 1952, producer Norman Granz had Charlie Parker record with a big band for his Clef label. He assembled a stunning collection of New York talent: Jimmy Maxwell, Carl Poole, Al Porcino and Bernie Privin (tp); Bill Harris, Lou McGarity and Bart Varsalona (tb); Charlie Parker, Harry Terrill and Murray Williams (as); Flip Phillips and ...
Chuck Mangione (1940-2025)
Chuck Mangione, a trumpeter, flugelhornist and keyboardist who, along with George Benson, and a few other jazz musicians, successfully crossed over to pop in the late 1970s and pioneered what became known as smooth jazz, died on July 22, He was 84. Mangione, along with his brother, Gap, was born in Rochester, N.Y., a region with ...
Backgrounder: Count Basie's Sinatra Tribute (1963)
In 1963, Count Basie was persuaded by producer Norman Granz to record a tribute album to singer Frank Sinatra. Though Creed Taylor was Verve's executive producer by then, Granz held onto several of his artists, including Basie and Ella Fitzgerald, after the label was sold to MGM. By then, Sinatra and Basie had recorded and released ...
Perfection: Wes Montgomery - Lolita
Pianist Barry Harris composed the song Lolita in 1960. He first recorded it for his album Barry Harris at the Jazz Workshop, recorded live at San Francisco's Jazz Workshop in May 1960. Barry's recording is alternating between bop and Latin. Guitarist Wes Montgomery picked up on this feel when he recorded the song in 1963 for ...
Concert Video: Frank Sinatra in Tokyo, 1962
In 1962, Frank Sinatra went out on a world tour to raise money for underprivileged children. He personally funded the tour, with stops in Mexico, Japan, China, Israel, Greece, England, France, Italy and Monaco. A large chunk of the tour involved performing at benefit concerts and visiting hospitals and orphanage. Accompanying him on stage were Emil ...
Sir Charles Thompson in 15 Tracks
Pianist Sir John Thompson could play anything. And he did, from swing and jump blues to bebop and pop, on recording session after recording session. Lester Young dubbed him “Sir" in the early 1940s when they were both performing at Cafe Society in New York. Prez laid the moniker on Thompson to honor his elegant keyboard ...
Backgrounder: George Braith - 'Extension' (1967)
Imagine recording an album and waiting three years for it to come out. That's what happened to saxophonist George Braith with Extension (Blue Note), after recording it in 1964 The delay surely had something to do with the fact that he had already released two other LPs for the label—Soulstream (1963) and Laughing Soul (1966). Or ...
Perfection: Paul Smith - Under My Skin (1957)
Last weekend, I posted a video clip that included pianist Paul Smith accompanying Frank Sinatra. Smith belonged to a small group of superb West Coast jazz studio pianists that included Lou Levy, Jimmy Rowles and Pete Jolly. In the late 1950s, Smith recorded four albums for Capitol that became known as the Liquid Sound sessions. One ...
Video: Kenny Clarke Plays 'Black Knight' (1957)
On November 12, 1957, drummer Kenny Clarke was in a recording studio in Paris recording Kenny Clarke Plays Christian Chevallier for French Columbia. His band included composer-arranger Christian Chevallier, Ack van Rooyen (tp), Nat Peck (tb), Hubert Fol and Jean Aldegon (as), Georges Grenu (ts), Armand Migiani (bar), Maurice Vander (p) and Pierre Michelot (b). They ...
Vinnie Riccitelli (1926-2025)
Vinnie Riccitelli, a jazz composer-arranger, pianist and alto saxophonist who recorded one superb album as a playing leader in 1956 and then became a leading fixture in Broadway pit bands and jazz combos that played gigs and events in New York's tri-state area, died on July 9. He was 99. Riccitelli's desire to stay local in ...
