Results for "Michael Ricci"

Interview: Herb Geller (Part 5)

May 3, 2010

For years, the events surrounding pianist Lorraine Geller's sudden death at age 30 in October 1958 have been shrouded in mystery. Depending on what you've read or who you've listened to, rumored causes have ranged from a weak heart to a drug overdose, with plenty of other reasons in between. For the sake of setting the ...

Interview: Herb Geller (Part 4)

May 3, 2010

Starting in the mid-1950s, Los Angeles became a boomtown for many trained jazz musicians. With the rise of the 12-inch LP and expansion of the movie studios, the demand for gifted musicians who could read music and record perfectly spiked. Many of the musicians who had relocated to the area were in the right place at ...

Interview: Herb Geller (Part 3)

May 3, 2010

By the early 1950s, the number of big bands that traveled the country's roads to perform was dwindling. The reasons were a matter of economics and fizzling demand. Transporting, housing and feeding upward of 18 musicians required solid money, and with married couples going out less often to dance and preferring to stay home and play ...

Gilles Peterson Digs Cuba

May 2, 2010

Two years ago, Gilles Peterson visited Cuba for the first time on a reconnaissance mission to check out the new generation of Havana-based artists.  The fruits of his labor culminated in the album he presented, Havana Cultura, which was recently released, but now his Brownswood Recordings imprint is preparing the release of Havana Cultura Remixed out ...

King Britt Interview

May 3, 2010

It may be hard to believe but the legendary Philadelphia DJ/Producer King Britt has been in the music game for twenty years now. Beginning his career in 1990 as E-Culture on the Strictly Rhythm label, Britt quickly became the DJ for the Grammy winning hip-hop group Digable Planets. Segueing into production work, hes remixed tracks for ...

Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band

May 3, 2010

"Now in Stores" - 4/25/2010 to 5/1/2010

May 3, 2010

We recommend five jazz albums that were released over the past week and here are this weeks five, released between April 25th and May 1st, 2010. 1. It's About That Time by Hot Club of Detroit (Mack Avenue, 4/27/2010) The family tree that traces its roots to the Quintette du Hot Club de France has sprouted ...

The Miles Davis Movie: Don Cheadle Talks Miles Davis Biopic Amid Iron Man 2 Hullabaloo

May 3, 2010

I'm not sure why the MTV news item about the Biopic not being a cradle-to-grave film should be adorned with an exclusive' headline. We covered this way back in August on the Biopic Blog. Oh well. Still... it's nice to see Don Cheadle having positive things about the Miles Davis Movie: “The story is really not ...

The Miles Davis Movie: Should the Miles Davis Biopic Premier at Cannes?

May 3, 2010

With the 2010 Festival de Cannes set for May 12-23, I am wondering about the Miles Davis Biopic and if, perhaps, the film could make its debut in the south of France. Once it's finally made, of course. This is pure conjecture, but it makes more sense by the minute, especially when you consider the unique ...

Artie Shaw: Swing and Loathing

May 3, 2010

Artie Shaw, the swing era's other great clarinetist, knew just about every romantic self-immolator in the history of jazz. He roomed with both Bix Beiderbecke and Bunny Berigan, he hired Billie Holiday to sing with his band and--at least by his own account--he turned down Charlie Parker's bid to join his saxophone section. ("I said, 'Bird, ...