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Interview: Big Jay McNeely (Part 1)
Last Sunday I wrote that Big Jay McNeely viewed himself in the late 1940s as a new breed of jazz musician. A reader posted a comment in response, chiding me for saying so. After scouring books on Big Jay, the reader wrote, he couldn't find any reference to the r&b musician's jazz roots or how he ...
Interview: Med Flory (Part 2)
Throughout the 1950s, saxophonist Med Flory was known in jazz circles for his aw-shucks demeanor and aggressive ambition. After moving to Los Angeles in 1956 with his wife and singer Joan Fry, Med began landing a steady stream of work in the TV and movie studios of Burbank and Hollywood. He also continued to play in ...
Interview: Med Flory (Part 1)
Med Flory is perhaps best known as the co-founder of Supersax, the commercially successful reed ensemble started in 1972 that plays transcriptions of Charlie Parker's solos. But before Supersax, Med was one of the most dynamic alto saxophonists, arrangers and bandleaders on the New York and Los Angeles scenes in the 1950s. If you listen to ...
Art Pepper: Art History
Art Pepper is one of only a handful of jazz artists whose life story is perhaps as well known as his recordings. Thanks largely to the publication of Straight Life in 1979, a searing autobiography written by Pepper with his literary wife Laurie, Pepper's music has much greater meaning and dimension today now that the back-story ...
Billy Taylor Said It
Today is Billy Taylor's 88th birthday. Happy birthday, Billy! In 1982, the pianist who was mentored by Art Tatum, wrote a book called Billy Taylor: Jazz Piano in Jazz History. When I saw him several months ago, he graciously gave me a copy. Beautifully written, it's an authoritative historical analysis of the jazz piano from the ...
Hefti, Quincy and Vocalese
With the enormous success of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross' Sing a Song of Basie in 1958, copycat groups were quickly formed to duplicate the swinging vocalese and rake in some of the dough. Though none could compare with the magical vocal harmonies and lyric treatments of Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross, two attempts you ...
Interview: Dick Katz
It's hard to peg Dick Katz. The pianist was on the New York jazz scene starting in the early 1950s. He has played with virtually all of the greats, including Oscar Pettiford, Coleman Hawkins, J.J. Johnson and others. He has recorded on quite a few significant albums, including Benny Carter's masterpiece Further Definitions. He has arranged ...
Bill Evans: Six Vocal Versions
I don't generally go for vocal versions of Bill Evans' compositions. Too many attempts feel trite or lack the sensitivity and depth of Evans' piano originals. In other cases, the vocalist doesn't have enough technique, a problem instantly exposed when attempting an Evans piece. But there are exceptions. Here are my favorite vocal interpretations of Evans' ...
Chantale Gagne: Silent Strength
I came upon Chantale Gagne's Silent Strength completely by accident. The French-Canadian jazz pianist recorded this album in 2007, but I only discovered it last weekend while searching to see who had recorded Bill Evans' Peri's Scope. After sampling the Evans track and then others, I had to get hold of the CD. And ask Chantale ...
Gabriel Espinosa: Yucatan to Rio
Bassist Gabriel Espinosa grew up in Merida, capital of the Mexican state of Yucatan. There, on the tip of Mexico's curled base in the early 1960s, Espinosa fell in love with the seductive bossa nova played by traveling Brazilian bands that stopped over in Merida on tour. After emigrating to the U.S., Espinosa attended Central College ...
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