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Backgrounder: Ernest Ranglin's Wranglin'
Ernest Ranglin is one of Jamaica's finest jazz, ska, mento and rock-steady guitarists. Best of all, he has always mixed them up while playing—a technique that is astonishing and has always left me speechless. In 1962, when the James Bond film Dr. No was being shot in Jamaica, Ranglin was hired to compose music for some ...
Anita Kerr (1927-2022)
Anita Kerr, a recording studio soprano and vocal arranger whose Anita Kerr Singers released a staggering number of mellifluous albums under the group's own name as FM radio embraced the “beautiful music" stereo format starting in the late 1960s, died on October 10. She was 94. In addition to recording as a lead group, the Anita ...
One-Album Female Vocalists
In the mid-1950s and early 1960s, female vocalists were in high demand at America's record labels. Never before had so many new pop and jazz singers found their way into recording studios. The reason was the arrival of the 12-inch album. Sales of new phonograph consoles that could handle the 331/3 speed were surging as the ...
Franco Ambrosetti: Nora
When Alan Broadbent isn't playing extraordinary jazz piano with his trio, he's typically hard at work arranging and conducting a large orchestra for a jazz artist or vocalist. In the case of Swiss flugelhornist Franco Ambrosetti's new album, Nora (Enja), Alan is at the helm of a 22-piece string orchestra, and the result is gorgeous, reflective ...
Ronnie Cuber (1941-2022)
Ronnie Cuber, a saxophonist and flutist who primarily played the baritone and whose stampeding solo approach landed him in top big bands in the 1960s and '70s and leading jazz, rock, pop, Latin, funk and soul orchestras and combos in the 1980s and beyond, including the Saturday Night Live band, died October 7. He was 80. ...
Backgrounder: Buddy DeFranco & Tommy Gumina
In 1960, clarinetist Buddy DeFranco and accordionist Tommy Gumina got together with bass and drums to record the first of five albums—Pacific Standard (Swingin') Time. It was on Decca. The next four were on Mercury, including their first for the label—Presenting the Buddy DeFranco/Tommy Gumina Quartet, recorded in 1961. The tracks on Presenting were When Lights ...
Documentary: 'A Portrait of Mal Waldron'
In 1997, Belgian filmmaker Tom Van Overberghe released A Portrait of Mal Waldron, a 50-minute TV documentary on the jazz pianist. What you grasp when watching the film is how elegant Waldron was and what Billie Holiday saw in his relaxed personality, sophisticated ears and rich accompaniment. You also see how happy Waldron was in Europe, ...
Eliane Elias & Marc Johnson: Lost Bill Evans Song
Days before Bill Evans's death on September 15, 1980, the pianist handed his bassist, Marc Johnson, a cassette tape. On the tape was a previously unperformed original by Evans called Here Is Something for You. In 2007, Eliane Elias and her partner, Marc Johnson, performed the song on video, which is up at YouTube. As you'll ...
Michael Abene With the WDR Big Band
There are big bands, and then there are big bands. Among the best in the world now is the WDR Big Band in Germany. The band's roots date back to August 1946, a year after World War II ended. What a joyous feeling that must have been to play jazz after nearly a decade of misery, ...
Eric Ineke 75: Swinging, Boppin' and Burnin'
Drummer Eric Ineke is a swinging jazz giant from the Netherlands who has played and recorded with a lot of serious American cats. The list includes guitarists Jimmy Raney and his son, Doug Raney; Pepper Adams; Rob McConnell; Ben Webster, Maynard Ferguson, Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Lucky Thompson, Hank Mobley, George Coleman, Al Cohn, Barry Harris, ...
