Thelonious Monk Quartet: Rollicking in Rhythm-a-Ning
This is an absolute killer version of “Rhythm-a-Ning” by the Thelonious Monk Quartet from Holland in 1961. Charlie Rouse was already his alter ego by this point and I think this video backs up my position that bassist John Ore and drummer Frankie Dunlop were one of the best rhythm teams that ever worked with Monk.
-Michael Cuscuna
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The Early Years of Jimmy Heath
We’ve been relating in the Gazette the resurgent interest in John Coltrane’s formative years in Philadelphia. Another distnguished musical citizen of that City was saxoophonist and composer Jimmy Heath. In this 2009 JazzWax interview, Marc Myers adroitly elicits Jimmy Heath’s impressions of the jazz world in the late 1940s — especially his first foray into Dizzy Gillespie’s world, from the eyes of youth — albeit highly talented youth.
-Nick Moy
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Norway + Bill Evans = Exquisite Listening
The Molde Jazz Festival takes place 2/3 of the way up the west coast of Norway, which is without doubt one of the most exquisite countries on the planet. The festival is set on the ocean’s coast among the fjords, mountains and rich green forests. Being these is an inspiration. It makes perfect sense that Bill Evans would render this gorgeous set in the context of that festival. It’s amazing how strong his playing became with his final trio (Marc Johnson and Joe LaBarbera). This is a real find.
-Michael Cuscuna
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Duke Ellington 101
“Duke’s Music Class” on Smithsonian Jazz certainly pick three winners to target with “Daybreak Express,” “Take The A Train” and “Sophisticated Lady” but of course this barely scratches the surface of the Ellington canon. What an amazing artist!
-Michael Cuscuna
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Read MoreDave Holland and McCoy Tyner
An exquisitely recorded look at Dave Holland and McCoy Tyner in concert at Jazz Baltica 2010. An extended look at Holland in peak form. Thanks to Bret Primack for the point.
-Nick Moy
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George, Abe and Lester: It’s President’s Day
If you guessed Bush, Beame and Maddox,step away from your computer and join the 400 Club. If you got Washington, Lincoln and Young, proceed to Doug Ramsey’s post and revel in the sounds of Prez playing “Sometimes I’m Happy.”
-Michael Cuscuna
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George Wein: Premer Producer Of Jazz Events
“The week after our exhilarating Armstrong incident, Big Sid (Catlett) came through once again. Hoagy Carmichael, composer of “Stardust,” and so many other standards, was working at the Copley Plaza Hotel across the square from Storyville. The Plaza had the most elegant music room in the city, and was charging a six-dollar cover for its show — steep by 1950 standards. Sid knew Hoagy, and when he went over to the Plaza, he was able to lure the songwriter back to Storyville, where to everyone’s surprise and delight, Hoagy played and sang an entire forty-minute set. First Pops, and now Hoagy. Who, I wondered, would drop in next?” -George Wein
This JerryJazzMusician interview with George Wein was conducted soon after his autobiography Myself Among Others: A Life In Music was published. In many ways, this lengthy Q & A gives you a more first-hand feel for the man because his spoken responses are transcribed as he said them. The book, on the other hand, is often written from his thought process. Here, you can hear his voice in the truest sense of that phrase.
-Michael Cuscuna
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Bill Frisell Outside Jazz: A Guided Tour
Guitarist Bill Frisell has never been shy about exploring the spectrum of music, both inside and outside jazz. This post by Nick DeRiso in Something Else! looks at some of Frisell’s collaborations with musicians less generally associated with jazz, like Marianne Faithfull, Lucinda Williams and Vernon Reid. The last video has another twist.
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John Coltrane Slept Here: Preserving His Home in Philadelphia
This All About Jazz column involves the preservation of the house in which John Coltrane lived from 1952 to ’58 in Philadelphia, where he was raised. Philly is only 90 minutes from New York City, but it seems worlds away. It’s a more provincial, insular community than Manhattan, which may be why all the great jazz musicians that it generated, including Coltrane, Lee Morgan, Benny Golson, Ray Bryant, the Heath brothers and dozens more left Philly to make their mark on the world.
-Michael Cuscuna
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Preserving the Nation’s Sound Archives: Track One
The Library of Congress has just announced a plan to preserve the nation’s audio archives. An admirable commitment from the standpoint of music lovers, and perhaps a good starting point, but Tom Cole’s NPR report raises a host of questions -– technical, legal, maybe political — about how this will actually happen. One such issue that lovers of vinyl might raise: is a digital copy really the best way to preserve sound? What do you think?
-Nick Moy
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