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News: Interview

Interview: Rudy Van Gelder (Part 3)

February 15, 2012

If you're not a jazz musician or a producer over age 70, then you are probably seeing the exterior of Rudy Van Gelder's recording studio at 25 Prospect Ave. in Hackensack, N.J., for the very first time (above). The studio where Rudy engineered hundreds of jazz sessions between 1946 and 1959 was located in his parents' ...

News: Interview

Interview: Rudy Van Gelder (Part 2)

February 14, 2012

A week before I drove out to Rudy Van Gelder's Englewood Cliffs, N.J., studio to interview him for the Wall Street Journal (go here), I spoke to Creed Taylor. The famed producer who recorded his Impulse, Verve, A&M and CTI recordings at Rudy's studio had some sage advice: “Don't wear wet shoes into the studio, and ...

News: Interview

Interview: Rudy Van Gelder (Part 1)

February 13, 2012

Rudy Van Gelder's name appears on more jazz albums than any other engineer, producer or musician. In all Rudy has recorded thousands of records for Blue Note, Prestige,Impulse, Verve, A&B, CTI and other labels—which means he has been personally responsible for a sizable chunk of post-war jazz history. A large percentage of these historic jazz albums ...

News: Video / DVD

Artie Shaw: Perfection Quest

February 10, 2012

It's Friday, and what better way to spend time at JazzWax thanwith a documentary on Artie Shaw, easily my favorite bandleader of the '30s and '40s. JazzWax reader John Cooper sent along links to Russell Davies' Quest for Perfection (2003). I apologize in advance. After I started watching this documentary, I couldn't stop until it was ...

News: Interview

Interview: Benny Golson

February 9, 2012

I hope when the Kennedy Center starts to think about this year's honoreers, they will give serious consideration to composer-saxophonist Benny Golson. As I write in today's Wall Street Journal (go here if you're a subscriber), Benny is the stylistic heir to Billy Strayhorn and Tadd Dameron. He is to jazz what Carole King and Harry ...

News: Recording

Maynard Ferguson on Cameo

February 7, 2012

Most Maynard Ferguson fans consider his years on the Roulette label (from 1958 to 1962) to be his finest big band recordings. They are ferocious on every level—from stampeding arrangements to spectacular musicianship by sections and soloists. But Ferguson's two records for Cameo that followed in 1963 come close. Both albums have just been reissued by ...

News: Interview

Interview: Roberta Flack

February 3, 2012

You haven't lived until you hear Roberta Flack sing Feel Like Makin' Love over the phone. Her folk-soul voice is still so warm and rich. In today's Wall Street Journal (go here), I write about Roberta's new Beatles album, Let It Be Roberta. This CD isn't your typical pop-tribute album. Instead, It's a bold, revisionist interpretation ...

News: Recording

Budd Johnson: Let's Swing!

February 2, 2012

I'm not sure why tenor saxophonist Budd Johnson didn't record more often as a leader. I suspect the reason rests with his enormously busy sideman schedule. Johnson appeared onnearly 400 recording sessions over the course of his career. In addition, he was likely more comfortable at top man in a reed section than standing front and center ...

News: Recording

Art Blakey Goes to the Movies

January 30, 2012

Back in October 2010, I posted twice (here and here) about a little-known Art Blakey session recorded in May 1956 in New York for The Cool Voice of Rita Reys, a Dutch singer. Onthe album, Jazz Messengers Donald Byrd (tp), Hank Mobley (ts), Horace Silver (p), Doug Watkins (b) and Blakey (d) accompanied a singer, a ...

News: Interview

Interview: Arno Marsh (Part 2)

January 27, 2012

On the phone, Arno Marsh sounds the way he plays. There's a smoothness to his voice, and the cadence of his words swings. Swinging, in general, is a lost art. Those who came up in the '40s and '50s have a real knack for it. When they start blowing,they slip right into the groove, with that ...