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Passings: Stan Tracey, George Buck
Stan Tracey, the pianist sometimes called the godfather of British jazz, died on December 6. He was 86. Tracey helped to draw international attention to jazz in the United Kingdom and influenced the development of scores of younger players. Through most of the 1960s he was the house pianist at Ronnie Scott’s club in London and ...
Recent Listening: Holiday Albums
Every year, albums of Christmas music by jazz artists pop up in late October or early November, provide pleasure through the season, then are mostly forgotten. Once in a while, we get lucky with new releases that not only entertain us for the holidays but also leave music of permanent value. Think of Duke Ellington’s and ...
Grover Washington, Jr.
Grover Washington, Jr., was born on this day in 1943 and died on December 17, 1999. He was a tenor, alto and soprano saxophonist who had huge success as a popular artist, in great part because his 1974 album Mister Magic was high on the pop, soul and R&B charts for weeks. He followed with additional ...
Jim Hall, 1930-2013
Devra Hall Levy informed friends this morning that her father died last night in his sleep at home in New York, six days following his 83rd birthday. In her message, Ms. Levy wrote from Los Angeles, “He was not feeling well, but had not to my knowledge been diagnosed with any particular illness.” Jim Hall was ...
Dave Brubeck: One Year
Today, one year following Dave Brubeck’s death, a new website celebrates his life and music. And, we relay an announcement that one of the finest jazz repertory orchestras will broadcast a program of Brubeck compositions. As John Bolger’s DaveBrubeckJazz.com debuts, the Irish Brubeck maven has unveiled an impressive site. In the “About” section, he outlines his ...
Chico Hamilton
Chico Hamilton’s drumming with the original Gerry Mulligan Quartet and his own small groups helped introduce many young listeners to jazz in the 1950s. His death last week in New York brought a reaction from Don Conner that may strike a chord with other Rifftides readers. R.I.P. Chico Hamilton! Chico died recently at 92. This was ...
Frank Wess, January 4, 1922 - October 30, 2013
We have confirmation that Frank Wess died today. The flutist and saxophonist succumbed to kidney failure at 91. Wess played with undiminished spirit and creativity that kept him in the forefront of jazz soloists for decades after most of his contemporaries had retired or died. A professional from the age of 19, following service in World ...
Oscar Castro-Neves, 73
News comes of the death of Oscar Castro-Neves, one of the leading guitarists to emerge from Brazil’s bossa nova movement. As samba music moved north in the 1960s and became a powerful element in US popular music and jazz, Castro-Neves was an important player, coach, producer and catalyst. After hearing him at Seattle’s Jazz Alley with ...
Gerald Wilson is 95
Gerald Wilson celebrated his 95th birthday yesterday. He looks back on a career studded with achievement as a trumpeter, bandleader, composer and pioneering arranger. Early on in his writing Wilson achieved the unexpected, incorporating daring classical harmonic techniques in his big band arrangements and making them accessible to general audiences. He is the personification of a ...
Weekend Extra: Bing and Trane
I don’t know whether “Love Thy Neighbor” is the most unlikely song John Coltrane ever recorded, but his 1958 version is one of the most delightful. Mack Gordon and Harry Revel wrote it for the 1934 movie We’re Not Dressing, a classic of the shipwreck survivor genre. Bing Crosby sang it beautifully in a contrived sequence ...
