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News: Video / DVD

Dexter Gordon's Ballads (1946-'52)

February 4, 2021

Dexter Gordon in the late 1940s and early '50s was best known for jumpers such as The Chase, The Hunt and Dexter's Deck. But among his many high-energy 78s are a handful of ballads that show off his yearning, romantic tone. Here are five Dexter Gordon ballads and a bonus track: Here's Gordon in New York ...

News: Video / DVD

Gene Ammons' Ballads (1950-'53)

February 3, 2021

Jazz has a long history of tenor saxophone pairings. The list includes Al Cohn and Zoot Sims, Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis and Johnny Griffin, and Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray. Such duos initially began as improvisational battles, which were popular in clubs and then on recordings. My favorite tenor duelists were Gene “Jug" Ammons and Sonny Stitt. ...

News: Video / DVD

Sonny Stitt's Ballads (1950-'51)

February 2, 2021

Between 1949 and 1952, Sonny Stitt recorded for Prestige Records. His playing was sensational—on tenor, alto and baritone saxophones. Of particular note during this period were his ballads. Here are nine of them: Here's Ain't Misbehavin', with Kenny Drew (p), Tommy Potter (b) and Art Blakey (d), in February 1950... Here's Mean to Me, from the ...

News: TV / Film

Norwegian Charlie Parker Documentary

January 30, 2021

Last week, I shared with you a PBS documentary on Charlie Parker's years growing up in Kansas City. Today, I have another fabulous Parker documentary for you—this one directed by Jan Horne and produced by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corp. in 1989. It runs 3 1/2 hours. Here are all four parts of The Bird: Charlie “Bird" ...

News: Video / DVD

3 Don Patterson Ballads

January 29, 2021

When I started collecting Don Patterson albums in the early 1970s, I'd buy them without hearing the music first on the radio. Always a daring move back then, since you couldn't return what you didn't like. If you sliced open the plastic, you owned it. The reason I made these purchases with such confidence is that ...

News: Video / DVD

Teddy Charles and Two Bookers

January 28, 2021

Teddy Charles was a heavy hitter. A vibraphonist, composer, arranger and a producer, Teddy could swing as easily as he could explore modal territory with his groups. When I started this blog back in 2007, there were a number of musicians I wanted to interview first. Among them were Danny Bank, Hal McKusick, Sol Schlinger and ...

News: Recording

The Other Side of Benny Golson

January 27, 2021

Yesterday was Benny Golson's birthday. He turned 92, and he remains one of jazz's greatest tenor saxophonists and composers. Following his graduation from Howard University, Benny played with saxophonist-singer “Bull Moose" Jackson's R&B band. In the 1950s, he also played extensively with Tadd Dameron and Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers before forming the Jazztet with ...

News: Interview

Interview: Wendell Brunious

January 26, 2021

If the name Wendell Brunious is not familiar to you, I assure you that the sound of his trumpet will stick with you the moment you hear it. Wendell, 66, has spent much of his life in New Orleans, growing up in a musical family rich in the New Orleans jazz tradition. From 1987 into the ...

News: Obituary

Phil Spector (1939-2021)

January 23, 2021

Phil Spector, a record producer, songwriter and co-founder of Philles Records whose “wall of sound" studio formula launched a new, influential approach to pop-rock orchestration in the early 1960s, died at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton on January 16 at age 81. He was 11 years into a 19-year prison sentence for killing actress-model ...

News: TV / Film

Documentary: Bird in K.C.

January 22, 2021

Charlie Parker was born in Kansas City, Kan., in 1920. When he was 7, his family moved to Kansas City, Mo. In fifth grade, Parker began playing the saxophone in school after the city put in force a music-education program. As he progressed, his mother bought him an alto saxophone in a pawn shop for $40. ...