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Ronnie Cuber on Maynard (PT. 1)
Ronnie Cuber is a baritone saxophonist with a beefy sound who came up through the big bands of the 1960s. During this problematic big band era, rock and soul put the squeeze on orchestras' abilities to earn a profit. Yet top-name leaders still managed to tour and record, in many cases by arranging rock and soul ...
Interview: Eddie Floyd
As I write in today's Wall Street Journal (go here), the Stax Music Academy is working wonders down in Memphis giving at-risk high school students purpose and direction. Most interesting is that the academy treats soul like classical music and jazz—taking it seriously and teaching the next generation the essence and art of the music and ...
Nick Travis: The Panic is On
You could say that trumpeter Nick Travis was the East Coast Don Fagerquist. Blowing with a warm tone and lyrical style, Travis could swing. And like Fagerquist, Travis was always busy in the studios. Though he died at age 38 in 1964, he was on 350 jazz recording sessions, which is quite a significant number over ...
Terry Vosbein: Fleet Street
Remember when jazz orchestras skillfully adapted the music of Broadway musicals? Notable examples from the '50s and '60s include Les Brown's Dance to South Pacific (1958) and Stan Kenton's West Side Story (1961). Rather than send up cute pop caricatures, the best arrangers crafted interpretations that often were bigger, bolder and more dynamic than the originals. ...
Jazzwax List: '60s Wedding Songs
In the 1960s, many jazz musicians found club gigs harder to find. Many top players joined TV studio orchestras or went to work for Muzak. Others took teaching jobs. And a good number performed at weddings. Back then, kids often were dragged along to the fussy marriages of uncles, older cousins and friends of parents. The ...
Jerry Leiber (1933-2011)
Lyricist Jerry Leiber died on Monday at age 78. As I write in today's Wall Street Journal (go here), Leiber was the first major wordsmith of the rock 'n' roll era, composing hundreds of songs with writing partner Mike Stoller starting in 1952. His list of hits includes Hound Dog, Kansas City, Jailhouse Rock, Love Potion ...
Barry Harris: Luminescence!
In April 1967, pianist Barry Harris assembled a magical sextet for what would turn out to be one of his most exciting record dates. The album for Prestige was called Luminescence! and it featured trombonist Slide Hampton, tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams, bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Lennie McBrowne, with Harris on piano. ...
John Graas: Complete '50s Sessions
What's surprising about the French horn isn't that it became a jazz instrument but that there were so many fine jazz players in the late 1940s and '50s. Among the best were Junior Collins, Julius Watkins, David Amram, John Cave, Willie Ruff, Tony Miranda, Jimmy Buffington and Gunther Schuller. But perhaps the finest of them all ...
Deep Blue Organ Trio: Wonderful!
Back in the '70s, jazz organists such as Jimmy McGriff, Charles Earland and Leon Spencer Jr. took on soul hits of the day, giving them a funky, dynamic groove. Now the '70s are again being taken seriously by contemporary jazz artists. On their third album, Wonderful!, the Deep Blue Organ Trio pays tribute to the music ...
Sarah Vaughan: Roulette Years
Jazz artsts' recordings in the late 1950s and early '60s were often a direct reflection of their labels' budgets, producers' visions and arrangers' whims. Count Basie, for example, sounded a bit stiff and buttoned up on Verve but unleashed on Roulette. Sonny Stitt sounded thought out and on point on Roost but a bit let's-get-this-over-with on ...
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