Wayne Shorter Talks Saxophone and Saxophonists
This 1992 interview of Wayne Shorter by fellow saxophonist Mel Martin is wonderfully in-depth and revealing. Wayne talks about horns, meeting John Coltrane and Lester Young, joining Blakey and Miles and other early career highlights.
-Michael Cuscuna
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A Conversation with Charles Lloyd
Jeffrey Brown’s interview with Charles Lloyd on the occasion of his 75th birthday is only about six minutes long, but covers a lot of ground with some fascinating stories about his early Memphis years. Scroll down the post for a beautiful version of “You’ve Changed” by Charles and Jason Moran from their duet album, “Hagar’s Song.”
-Michael Cuscuna
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The James Moody Story
Jazz is full of enigmatic, humorous, brilliant individualists. This 1997 NPR Jazz Profile on Moody is hosted by Nancy Wilson. The documentary is filled with classic recordings and wonderful stories from Moody, told in his inimitable style.
-Michael Cuscuna
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Phil Woods: Right To Swing
Marc Myers’ column on Phil Woods’ latest album “Right To Swing,”with the DePaul University Jazz Ensemble, explores Phil’s illustrious career with the great modern big bands of Quincy Jones, Oliver Nelson and so many others. Even at 81, Phil can still swing harder than any saxophonist I can think of, but what made him first call with every arranger is that he could sight read the most difficult chart with the right feeling and no mistakes. He really is a marvel in every way.
-Michael Cuscuna
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Lester Young and His Followers: Flip Phillips and Don Byas
From a website dedicated to the Berklee High School Jazz Festival comes an interesting piece written by Nik Rodewald as he takes a view of Lester Young and a couple of his disciples: Flip Phillips and Don Byas. There’s an incredible amount of great music of both Byas and Flip and I’m glad to see this site give some space to these giants.
-Scott Wenzel
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Saxophone Taxonomy 101
Leave it to the Harvard Crimson to publish this treatise by staff writer Kevin Sun on jazz saxophone lineage, starting with Sidney Bechet and extending, at least at this point in history, to Steve Lehman and Walter Smith III. This exercise in tracing the musical genealogy of jazz saxophonists can be intriguing and even provocative, although obviously neither simple nor beyond dispute. I suspect that somewhere around Harvard Yard (wonder if Bird have felt at home in this Yard) there’s meat for a dissertation here. Luckily for today’s students, Miles Davis won’t be available to sit in on the dissertation defense.
-Nick Moy
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Read MoreJohn Coltrane: Giant Steps
Wow, this is a riveting transcription of Coltrane’s “Giant Steps” that unfolds as the music is being played. It reminds me how miserably I failed at being able to sight read and how thoroughly amazed I am at what Coltrane played and at how someone could commit it to musical notation in less than ten years of time! Have fun, watch this and be amazed.
-Michael Cuscuna
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Clark Terry’s Recollections of Red Holloway
From one sweetheart to another! Clark Terry remembers the affable Red Holloway, Los Angeles’s resident soulful saxophonist, who was ubiquitous on the scene out there, from recording studios to the Parisian Room.
-Michael Cuscuna
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Joe Henderson’s Roots
Modern jazz sprang up in hot houses all over the country: not just in the fabled towns like New Orleans, Philadelphia, Chicago, Kansas City and Detroit, but also towns that elude the notice and adulation of many jazz scholars and pundits. Joe Henderson grew up in one of those towns — in Lima, Ohio. As Tom Reney notes in this post in JazzTimes, it sure didn’t stop Joe Henderson from reaching jazz greatness. Read how he did it.
-Nick Moy
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Warne Marsh: Seamless Solos That Don’t Seem To Require A Breath
Warne Marsh continues to be one of the most neglected giants in jazz. He was a pure improviser with amazing taste, a fluid sound and endless ideas devoid of cliché. Marc Myers lauds this Criss Cross release “Ballads” from 1983 as a great place to start with Warne’s music. In the early ‘80s, I recorded Warne and Red Mitchell at Sweet Basil in New York for NPR’s Jazz Alive program. For me, it was a revelation in pure creativity.
-Michael Cuscuna
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