You can tell that if you were a girl on a date with Clint Eastwood and he wanted to sleep with you, there wouldn't be a thing you could do about it. And I don't mean in some smug James Bond way or furious date rape way, I mean he'd play the perfect music at all the perfect times, speak eloquently of Thelonious Monk and Charles Mingus and when he finally smiled wide enough to show his teeth, you'd find...
Wherein 1958 was a good year Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots, Vaughn Monroe Blue Dress, Depeche Mode Blue Skirt Waltz, Jimmy Sturr Blue Suede Shoes, Carl Perkins Boot-Leg, Booker T & the MGs Boots, Laurie Berkner Bring Your Clothes, Laurie Berkner Button Up Your Overcoat, Dick Haymes Buttons, Sia Chantilly Lace, Jerry Lee Lewis Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes, Paul Simon & Ladysmith...
Drummer and composer Ted Sirota draws from a wide range of influences to create an interesting spin on post-bop instrumental jazz. Influenced by afro-pop, funk, reggae, ska and hip-hop as well as jazz, the group creates an interesting instrumental soundscape. Sirota is accompanied on this album by Geof Bradfield on tenor and soprano saxophones and bass clarinet, Greg Ward on alto saxophone, Dave Miller...
European Jazz Jamboree Berlin, Germany September 18-24, 2009 20 years after the Berlin Wall came down, the global appreciation of Germany's jazz is arguably finally getting its due, with no small help from the European Jazz Jamboree (EJJ). In its sophomore year, EJJ has quickly garnered attention throughout Europe, and now the States, too, is (and/or should be) taking notice. Founded and run by entrepreneur...
Downbeat: The Great Jazz Interviews: A 75th Anniversary Anthology. Edited and Compiled By Frank Alkyer. In July of 1934 the first issue of DownBeat magazine hit newsstands in Chicago. For the next seven-plus decades and counting the publication has been synonymous with jazz. DownBeat has chronicled every facet of jazz; every trend; every new and emerging sound. They have charted the birth and rise...
Here's the playlist for my latest Popsurfing radio show. It airs weekly on WEFT Champaign 90.1 fm on Thursday night/Friday morning from 1 am to 3 am. You can stream it live online at weft.org. PLAYLIST FOR COLORS (airdate: 11-12-2009) 01. The Wellingtons -- "Wonderful World Of Color" 02. Opener -- fall leaves; lipstick color monologue 03. 7 Worlds Collide -- "Too Blue" 04. Joni...
In his Ash Grove recording, guitarist Dave Alvin laments the loss of a favorite Los Angeles club, a venue that should be on the National Register of Historic Places. It would have to be in an urn, however, the club burned not once, but three times. Ed Pearl (an uncle of Spirit's Randy California) founded the 250-seat Ash Grove in 1958.
Bassoonist Smith takes a clutch of bebop, post-bop and blues standards and play them in a solid and accomplished nature. The unusual tone of the bassoon (for jazz anyway) makes for an interesting spin on this familiar material, holding listeners attention on what might otherwise run the risk of being a routine run through of well known songs. The buzzing sound of the instrument adds a different ambiance...
The next meeting of the Jazz St. Louis CD Listening Club will be held at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 8 at Borders, 1519 S. Brentwood Blvd. in Brentwood.Jazz historian, photographer, and DJ Dennis Owsley will serve as host and moderator, and the featured CD will be Mingus Ah Um, the classic 1959 reco...
At this blog, I pride myself on offering not merely entertainment, but anything else you, the esteemed blog reader, might need. I have limits, however. Here’s a short list of six things I’ll do, and four things I won’t. “I’ll Make Love to You Anytime”/Eric Clapton. From Backless, an album that many critics consider lifeless to [...]
Aimee Mann Andrew Bird Ani DiFranco Art Tatum Avett Brothers The Beatles Bettye Lavette Big Joe Turner Big Star Bill Evans Bill Hicks Bill Monroe Bill Withers Billy Bragg Biz Markie Bo Diddley Bob Dylan Bobby Timmons Booker T Jones, with or without MG's British Sea Power Bruce Springsteen Buck Owens Bud Powell The Carter Family Charles Mingus Charlie Parker Chet Atkins Chet Baker Chic Coleman Hawkins...
Powerful jazz double bassist with a gift for improvisation Back in 1971, three adventurous young US jazz musicians formed an uncompromising improv group called the Revolutionary Ensemble – a title that had resonances in the civil rights movement, the Vietnam war, and the radical transformation of jazzmaking that had been ignited by Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor and John Coltrane. The work of...
In Manhattan in the late 1950s, it was great to be young and a jazz fan. The drinking age in New York state was 18, so a college student with a draft card and the price of a couple of beers could sit at the bar of a club and catch a full evening of Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Bill Evans, or other greats.
As you may recall from parts 1 and 2, our theme in this series is that by concentrating on the lines played by a good string bassist, you can gain an understanding of the shape and structure of a piece...
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