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Backgrounder: Spud Murphy - Gone With the Woodwinds
Lyle “Spud" Murphy was one of the more fascinating figures in jazz and today is among the least known. Murphy was a multi-instrumentalist, bandleader and arranger. He was one of Benny Goodman's arrangers in the mid-1930s and wrote charts for many other bands. But his claim to fame was his 12-volume course in composing, arranging, and ...
Perfection: Doug Raney - 'Lean Years' (1979)
Guitarist Doug Raney was one of the greats. The son of guitarist Jimmy Raney, Doug spent much of his career in Copenhagen. Doug was a hard-wired addict. As his brother, Jon, told me soon after Doug's death in 2016, at age 59: Doug was struggling with prior drug addiction and was on the program for a ...
Lew Tabackin: My 15 Favorite Tracks
The best way to appreciate Lew Tabackin is through a cross-section of his work over the years. Lew will be making a rare live appearance on New York's Upper East Side at 92NY on Saturday, July 19, at 7:30 p.m. You can attend in-person at the cultural institution (starting at $40 per seat) or purchase an ...
Interview: Lew Tabackin, Part 2
On the tenor saxophone, Lew Tabackin has a strong, bossy sound. Other major saxophonists who came up at the same time include Joe Henderson and Joe Farrell. On flute, Lew has a warm, pronounced tone. Lew will be making a rare live appearance on New York's Upper East Side at 92NY on Saturday, July 19, at ...
Interview: Lew Tabackin, Part 1
Lew Tabackin is a jazz legend but less well-known than he should be. A tenor saxophonist and flutist, Lew came up in the mid-1960s and played and recorded with dozens of jazz stars, including Maynard Ferguson, Duke Pearson, Donald Byrd, Frank Foster, Frank Wess, and most famously with pianist Toshiko Akyoshi. They began fronting small groups ...
Backgrounder: - Happen to Bossa Nova (1963)
For July 4th, America's birthday, I thought The Hi-Lo's Happen to Bossa Nova (Reprise), from 1963, would be a fitting Backgrounder. It's summery, breezy and my favorite Hi-Lo's album. Arranged by Chuck Sagle, the Hi-Lo's are in top form and in sync with the surfy feel of the bossa nova, BG/G. That's short for “Before Getz/Gilberto," ...
Perfection: Elliot Lawrence - But Not For Me (1955)
In need of cash in the late 1940s, Gerry Mulligan sold bandleader Elliot Lawrence a trove of arrangements. As Elliot told me in an interview before his death in 2021, “Early on, I had bought all of Gerry's arrangements. I paid him $50 per chart. If he wrote an original and arranged it, I’d pay him ...
Lalo Schifrin (1932-2025)
Lalo Schifrin, an Argentine-American pianist and composer-arranger who began as a jazz musician and wound up in Hollywood creating suspenseful soundtracks for popular American films and TV shows, died on June 26. He was 93. Lalo not only had enormous admiration for jazz musicians but also worked with Dizzy Gillespie and virtually every major jazz star. ...
Backgrounder: George Wallington - Showcase (1954)
George Wallington doesn't get enough credit for being one of bebop's earliest pianists. He played with Dizzy Gillespie and other nascent boppers in clubs on New York's 52nd Street in the mid-1940s. His compositions include Lemon Drop, recorded by Woody Herman, and Godchild, which was included on Miles Davis's Birth of the Cool recordings. He's a ...
Perfection: Keely Smith - The Song Is You (1958)
Few pop singers in the 1950s could swing like Keely Smith. Anita O'Day was certainly one of them, but Smith was the finer vocalist and surely knew more songs and required fewer takes in the studio. In some respects, Smith was the female Frank Sinatra, able to move ahead of the beat, behind it and go ...
