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The Music of Hoagy Carmichael, Part 1

by Larry Slater
Hoagy Carmichael's career as one of America's great songwriters is unlike any of his peers. Carmichael, like George Gershwin, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin, was born at the tail end of the 19th century, but he was never a Broadway composer, and he wasn't from New York. He was a midwesterner from Indiana, drawn more to ...
Jazz Interpretations Of The Film Music Of Henry Mancini, Part 2

by Larry Slater
Henry Mancini was born Enrico Nicola Mancini in the Little Italy neighborhood of Cleveland to Italian immigrant parents. He is universally acknowledged as one of the great American film composers, and his melodies have long appealed to jazz artists. Mancini had an affinity for jazz. In the '50s and early '60s he led his ...
Jazz Interpretations of the film music of Henry Mancini, Part 1

by Larry Slater
Henry Mancini was one of the greatest composers in the history of film, and many of Mancini's scores swung. Henry Mancini was born Enrico Nicola Mancini in the Little Italy neighborhood of Cleveland to Italian immigrant parents. It's no surprise that many of Mancini's tunes have jazz sensibilities because he had deep jazz roots. ...
The Mysterious Disappearance of Dupree Bolton and Baby Face Willette

by Larry Slater
Every so often, musicians appear seemingly out of nowhere, make an impressive splash in the jazz world, and then seem to disappear into thin air. That's the story of two musicians who had remarkable debuts, and then were never heard from again: the trumpeter Dupree Bolton and B3 organist Baby Face Willette.Dupree Bolton caused ...
Herschel Evans and Chu Berry: the short careers of two tenor masters of the swing era

by Larry Slater
In the 1930's Coleman Hawkins' big sound and harmonic mastery ruled the roost, but there were tenor saxophonists who challenged Hawks throne, Two of these talented tenor players died before they had a chance to find fame: Chu Berry, and Herschel Evans. . Herschel Evans joined the Count Basie band In 1936, where he rose to ...
Slam Stewart and Eddie Durham: Forgotten Innovators

by Larry Slater
Since its inception, jazz musicians have attempted to bring something new to the music. We all know the major innovators: Charlie Parker, Monk, Ornette Coleman and John Coltrane. In this hour, we'll hear from two creative musicians who've been largely forgotten--bassist Slam Stewart and guitarist Eddie Durham.Both came of age during the '30s and ...
Chick Corea: A Retrospective

by Larry Slater
Chick Corea was a jazz master and a celebrated artist who explored harmonically adventurous post-bop, electric fusion, Latin, classical and solo piano. He emerged on the jazz scene as a member of Miles Davis's group, and went on to found the fusion group Return to Forever with Stanley Clarke. Throughout his career, Corea never ...
The Music of Carla Bley: Late Carla, Part 4

by Larry Slater
Carla Bley's career spanned 60 years and included big band, small group, and a few duet recordings with her long time partner Steve Swallow. The music ranged from raucous free jazz to meditative chamber music. Her distinctive music never had a large following, which was just fine with her. In 2018 Carla was diagnosed with brain ...
Interpreting the music of Carla Bley, Part 3

by Larry Slater
Carla Bley always considered herself a primarily a composer She said I would rather write music than perform it. I'm not an improviser, basically, because I'm not quick enough. I'm a composer because I'm so slow... my writing is just like playing very slowly and my playing is like writing..."Carla's legacy, like all composers, ...
The Music of Carla Bley, part 2; Small and Large Ensemble Recordings

by Larry Slater
The jazz world lost a true original free spirit in October of 2023 when t.he composer, arranger and pianist Carla Bley died at age 87. Carla led both big bands and smaller groups throughout the '70s, '80s and '90s, typically utilizing many of the same musicians, including the trombonist Gary Valente, saxophonists Andy Sheppard ...