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Before the Music Had a Name
When music genres wind up with a name, it's usually because the style became so commercially viable that someone in the media decided to label it with a clever word or phrase. To illustrate my point, let's look at three demarcation points in 20th century music, each 10 years apart: Swing existed years before Benny Goodman's ...
Backgrounder: Eumir Deodato Plays Marcos Valle
In 1964, Brazil's Equipe label released Impulso!, an album by a 20-year-old studio keyboardist and arranger named Eumir Deodato. Today, Deodato is probably best known for his 1973 album Prelude and his work for producer Creed Taylor and his CTI label in the 1970s. Back in Brazil in the early 1960s, Deodato played organ in the ...
Tina Turner (1939-2023)
The moment I heard that Tina Turner had died yesterday at 2:45 p.m., I started writing. I knew what was about to happen. Within minutes, I heard from the arts editor asking for an appreciation needed asap. An hour and 45 minutes later, my essay was done, fact-checked and filed. Tina was a force of nature. ...
Documentary: Born to Swing
In 1973, the BBC aired a 50-minute documentary from director John Jeremy on the alumni of the Count Basie Band of 1943. And then the documentary went out of print. Fortunately for us, the person behind Remembrance of Things at YouTube found an old VHS tape at the public library and uploaded it as a vital ...
Roy Budd: Brit Movie Soundtracks
In the 1970s, London had a second Swinging decade. While most everyone is familiar with the music-fueled pop fashion scene of the first Swinging London of the 1960s, those outside of the U.K. are probably scratching their heads when I refer to Swinging London Part 2. Instead of a music takeover, this one was by the ...
Luciano Troja: Second Earl Zindars Tribute
Fans of pianist Bill Evans know that one of his favorite composers was Earl Zindars. The American songwriter's work recorded by Evans includes Elsa, How My Heart Sings, Mother of Earl, Lullaby for Helene, Quiet Light and Sareen Jurer. Today, one of the most exquisite interpreters of Zindars' music is Italian pianist Luciano Troja (above). Luciano ...
Backgrounder: Grant Green, Gooden's Corner
If you're new to Grant Green and want to really get a sense of why the guitarist was so special, this week's Backgrounder is for you. Recorded in December 1961, Gooden's Corner was among a bunch of Blue Note albums by Green that weren't released soon after they were recorded. In this album's case, the album ...
Documentary: Johnny Dankworth
Jazz in Britain has a glorious and robust past. From the 1920 and '30s up until World War II in 1939, jazz in the U.K. was largely sweet and hotel in dance-band style. Bands were formal and highly accomplished. Remember, Cherokee was by Ray Noble, the English bandleader, composer and arranger who recorded it first in ...
Benny Green's New Album, 'Solo'
What sets Benny Green apart from many jazz pianists today is that he plays with his heart. By this, I don't mean soul. Most jazz pianists play with soul. It comes with the territory. With Benny, you can hear his emotions through his fingers. There's crying in there, bliss, melancholy, elation and wistfulness. On his new ...
Backgrounder: Red Garland's A Garland of Red
The centenary of Red Garland's birth is on Saturday. The pianist was born on March 13, 1923 and died on April 23, 1984. To celebrate Garland, I selected his tasty 1956 debut trio album A Garland of Red (Prestige) as a Backgrounder—the full album without ad interruption. The album features Garland, Paul Chambers on bass and ...
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