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About Ray Bryant

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Musician

When Ray Bryant rose to national prominence in the 1950s, he was noted for his ability to meet the sophisticated harmonic demands of modern jazz while retaining the muscle and swing of old forms and the spirit of the gospel music that surrounded him when he was a child. Any performance by Bryant is steeped in the blues, even when he's not playing a blues. Born in Philadelphia, Bryant (whose older brother Tommy was a bassist) gained experience playing early rhythm ’n’ blues and swing with guitarist Tiny Grimes in the late 1940s. As the house pianist at Philadelphia’s Blue Note, he had opportunities to play with Charlie Parker, Lester Young, and Miles Davis

Article: Rising Stars

Introducing the New Jersey All-State Jazz Ensemble and Choir

by Sanford Josephson
November 7, 2026

"Ordinary People," a ballad about an up-and-down romance, was released as the second single on John Legend's 2004 inaugural album, Get Lifted (Columbia). It became his signature song. On Friday evening, November 13, the New Jersey High School All-State Jazz Ensemble and Choir will perform Michael Philip Mossman's arrangement of it at the New Jersey Performing ...

Album

Miles '55: The Prestige Recordings

By Miles Davis

Label: Craft Recordings
Released: 2025
Track listing: I Didn't; Will You Still Be Mine; I See Your Face Before Me; A Night in Tunisia; A Gal in Calico; Dr. Jackle; Bitty Ditty; Minor March; Changes; Stablemates; How Am I To Know/ Just Squeeze Me; There Is No Greater Love; The Theme; S'posin.

Article: Album Review

Mike LeDonne's Groover Quartet: Turn It Up!: Live at the Sidedoor

Read "Turn It Up!: Live at the Sidedoor" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
October 25, 2025

For over twenty-five years, Mike LeDonne's Groover Quartet has been a shining example of consistency and authenticity in the organ-jazz scene. The latest double-disc release, Turn It Up!: Live at the Sidedoor, captures the group at two different moments in time: 2024 at the Sidedoor Jazz Club in Old Lyme, Connecticut, and 2004 at Vancouver's Cellar ...

Article: Album Review

Mike LeDonne's Groover Quartet: Turn It Up!

Read "Turn It Up!" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
October 12, 2025

Turn It Up!, the latest recording by organist Mike LeDonne's superb and long-lived Groover Quartet, is actually a two- CD set that reprises concert sessions recorded twenty years apart--the first, You'll See! (Cellar Records, 2004) in Vancouver's now- defunct Cellar Jazz Club, the second,Turn It Up!, in 2024 at Ken Kitchings' The Side Door in Old ...

Article: Interview

Meet Andy Bey

by Chris M. Slawecki
May 12, 2025

From the 1995-2003 archive: This article first appeared on All About Jazz in February 2000. Listening for the first time to Andy Bey is like stepping into a quiet, still lake. Your foot first parts a surface that's smooth and tranquil, but you can't really tell from that surface how deeply your foot must ...

Article: Album Review

Ben Paterson: Cookin' in the Couvre

Read "Cookin' in the Couvre" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
January 11, 2025

Ben Paterson's release Cookin' in the Couve captures the energy and intimacy of a jazz trio in full swing. The album features Paterson on piano, Neal Miner on bass and Aaron Seeber on drums as they deliver hard-swinging blues-infused jazz, balancing technical finesse with soulful expression. The set list is a delightful mix of Paterson originals ...

Article: Radio & Podcasts

A Free Form 45 Format + Davis, Rollins & Hill

by David Brown
July 2, 2024

This week, for our first hour, we'll present a free-from 45 format. Spinning singles from this box of mini platters I have right here. Reading the recently released book titled “In with the In crowd, Popular Jazz in 1960s Black America" by Mike Smith, I was reminded that jazz artists in the mid-century were part of ...

Article: Album Review

Zaccai Curtis: Cubop Lives!

Read "Cubop Lives!" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
May 29, 2024

Pianist Zaccai Curtis's recent album Cubop Lives! is a vibrant acknowledgement of the rich legacy of bebop and Afro-Cuban jazz offering a compelling blend that respects tradition while infusing it with a contemporary flair. Backed by a scintillating ensemble of top-flight exponents of the style, including bassist Luques Curtis, drummer Willie Martinez III, conguero Camilo Molina ...

News: Recording

Backgrounder: Ray Bryant - Alone With the Blues

February 17, 2024

Recorded in December 1958, Alone With the Blues was Ray Bryant's first solo piano album. Growing up, Bryant was deeply influenced by the church, and gospel always played a big part in his approach to jazz. His mother was an ordained minister in Philadelphia and made sure Bryant was with her in the pews. He began ...