Home » Search Center » Results: JazzWax by Marc Myers
Results for "JazzWax by Marc Myers"
Chris Byars: Lucky Strikes Again
When the names of great tenor saxophonists are tossed around, the chain of succession generally runs like this: Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. All, of course, were reed titans, and Sonny still is. A half-step below this esteemed group is a second tier of greats that include Don Byas, Wardell ...
Ronnie Mathews: Doin' the Thang!
Ronnie Mathews is barely known today, but the pianist was a distinguished sideman starting in 1960 and a leader through the years. As a sideman, he appeared on Freddie Hubbard's Breaking Point (1964), Lee Morgan's Rumproller (1965) Max Roach's Drums Unlimited (1965) and Dexter Gordon's The Homecoming (1976), as well as on albums by many leading ...
Webster Young: For Lady
Add Webster Young to your list of little-known but consequential trumpeters. Born in South Carolina in 1932, Young met Louis Armstrong early on and asked for some pointers. He soon shifted to Dizzy Gillespie's style after hearing the bop trumpeter play. Eventually, Young landed on Miles Davis' patient, breathy sound, grasping the trumpeter's phrasing and economy ...
First Impulse: 50th Anniversary
After Creed Taylor formed Impulse Records in the summer of 1960, his first move wasn't to record and release LPs. It was to develop a strategic marketing plan. First, Creed and Fran Scott, his art director (and Tony Scott's wife) designed a strong logo. Next, they chose orange and black for the label's color scheme. These ...
Lockjaw Davis: Goin' to the Meeting
Fans of tenor saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis will completely understand what I'm about to say: There are great Lockjaw Davis albums. And then there are really great Lockjaw Davis albums. What constitutes a really superb Davis recording? Davis has to be a bit on edge and faced with formidable, assertive competition behind him. On such albums, ...
Ella Fitzgerald in Japan
Ella in Japan didn't exist until its release by Verve about a week ago. For years, the Norman Granz project known merely as Ella in Nippon wasn't part of Ella Fitzgerald's vast discography. That's because it was never officially released. All that was known about her recordings in Japan was that there were Scotch tape boxes ...
The Franzettis: Alborada
It's rare when classical and jazz merge perfectly. Most efforts tend to be ponderous and bombastic, particularly because most composers and arrangers forget that for such hybrids to win over American ears, the fusion needs to be an equal partnership with a dose of cinematic drama. Too often, jazz-classical efforts have been more classical than jazz, ...
Interview: Grace Slick
Grace Slick was Jefferson Airplane's lead singer. But she was much more than that. In the history of rock, her iconic voice, with its passing-gear force, stinging vibrato and flower-power passion marked a turning point in the music. Last week I interviewed Grace on a range of topics by phone. My Q&A with the San Francisco ...
Jazzwax List: Robert Farnon
Last week I posted on Paul Weston's Mood for 12, a mid-'50s relaxing delight that I feel is among the smartest “easy listening" albums of the decade. My Weston post triggered a wave of emails from secret easy-listening listeners who offered up their own suggestions. Among the emailers was arranger and historian Jeff Sultanof, who favors ...
Shirley Scott: Hip Soul
In the late '50s, through the '60s and into the '70s, albums by sax-organ combos seem to have been recorded every three minutes at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey. The Prestige label cornered the market on this format early, matching every possible Hammond B3 player with every conceivable tenor saxophonist. The number of reed-organ ...
Album Showcase
Trending
Jazz Raconteurs
Julius Hemphill: Marty Ehrlich and Tim Berne Remember a...
In Tribute To...
John Coltrane At 100: A Global Perspective
In Tribute To...
Points of View: Celebrating Dave Holland
History of Jazz
John Coltrane in Detroit: A Brief History
Live Review
Detroit Jazz Festival 2026: A Gathering in a Great Jazz City
Profile
Sequoia Snyder: Growing in the Light of the Masters
Interview
Jasur Khalilov: From Falak to Fusion
VOTE!
