Results for "san francisco"

Jazz pianist Dee Spencer named director of SF State School of Music and Dance

September 14, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—Celebrated jazz artist Dianthe “Dee" Spencer was recently named director of the School of Music and Dance at San Francisco State University. She now leads one of the longest-standing and most diverse performing arts programs in Northern California. “Dee Spencer is poised to lead our School of Music and Dance with gusto," said Kurt ...

Happy Birthday, Cat Anderson!

September 13, 2010

Jazz trumpeter William “Cat" Anderson (1916-1981) was born in Greenville, South Carolina. His parents died when he was only four years old, so Cat grew up in an orphanage in Charleston. It was here that he learned how to play the trumpet. Fellow orphans gave him the nickname “Cat," not for his trumpet playing but for ...

A Fine Vintage Wein

September 9, 2010

George Wein knew and/or worked with just about everyone in jazz over the last half century. His autobiography, Myself Among Others (Da Capo, 2004), written with Nate Chinen, is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the life of a jazz producer and sometime performer. Wein grew up in the Boston area and opened the Storyville Club there ...

Scott Hamilton - "Just You, Just Me" (2007)

September 8, 2010

Jazz Poetry - "Lester Young"

September 5, 2010

By Ted Joans Sometimes he was cool like an eternalblue flame burning in the old KansasCity nunnerySometimes he was happy 'til he'd thinkabout his birth place and its bloodstained clay hills and crow-filled treesMost times he was blowin' on the wonderfultenor sax of his, preachin' in very cooltones, shouting only to remind you ofa certain point ...

Happy Birthday, Gene Harris!

September 2, 2010

Pianist Gene Harris (1933-2000) recorded prolifically during his long career. He started out playing in Army bands during the early 1950s. In 1956, he formed The Three Sounds with Andy Simpkins on bass and Bill Dowdy on drums. (Actually, it was originally The Four Sounds, but saxophonist Lonnie “The Sound" Walker dropped out after a year.) ...

Erroll Garner - "One Note Samba" (1962)

August 31, 2010

Bill Evans in Oslo

August 29, 2010

Bill Evans Trio: The Oslo Concerts (2006) presents two Bill Evans dates, one filmed at the Oslo Munch Museum in 1966 and the other at the Molde Jazz Festival in 1980. Evans is one of the least dynamic of performers, so filming him playing is almost a waste of film. But the music is a different ...

After Hours - A Great Blowing Session

August 24, 2010

I recently listened to an obscure Prestige album from 1957 called After Hours. It is a group blowing session without a true leader but with a stellar lineup: Thad Jones (trumpet), Frank Wess (flute and tenor sax), Kenny Burrell (guitar), Mal Waldron (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Arthur Taylor (drums). This is a wonderful collection of ...

Ben Webster - "Poutin'" (1964)

August 22, 2010