David Friend of Vanity Fair wrote this astute 2010 appreciation of Herman Leonard’s magnificent photography (Herman’s was still alive at the time). Be sure to click on the slide show to see some of his greatest images.

-Michael Cuscuna

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Howard Mandel salutes the late Fred Anderson, a legendary Chicago tenor man, in this informative and personal column. Fred left great recordings on Nessa and Delmark, but there were too few of them. Like Von Freeman, Fred Anderson was a unique Chicago tenor saxophonist who had no urge to left his native environs to seek greater fame.

-Michael Cuscuna

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Marc Myers’ JazzWax sheds light on an interesting point about the Basie band. Many have often called the first incarnation the “Old Testament” band. Then, after Basie re-organized his big band in the early 50s, that ensemble was coined the “New Testament” band. But with the band moving to the Reprise label (including best sellers as they backed Sinatra) there could very well be a “Third Testament” band. A BBC television broadcast happily captures this marvelous band, which showcased Marshall Royal, Eric Dixon, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and arrangements by Quincy Jones, Billy Byers and Bobby Plater.

-Scott Wenzel

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Here’s a lovely valentine to the recently departed Butch Morris by the ubiquitous Adam Shatz on LRB blog. Butch was a one-of-a-kind as a conceptualist, composer and theorist. The contemporary music scene was the richer for his presence and contributions.

-Michael Cuscuna

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Donald Byrd passed away on February 4th; he was 80 years old. Donald Byrd was an unstoppable force who always did things his own way and on his own terms. He came from Detroit’s rich talent pool that seemed to be perpetually fermenting and releasing great jazz artists throughout the ’40s and ’50s. When he came to New York in 1955, he quickly rose to the top of the hard bop ranks in clubs and recording sessions during those hectic, prolific times.

He told me on several occasions that he got all that work because word quickly spread that he was that rare individual at the time, a drug-free non-drinker. Everyone wanted to hire him because every gig and every record date needed one straight, responsible musician.

Well, he would have gotten the work anyway just on the merits of his lyrical style and clarion, bell-like trumpet sound. His abilities as a composer and band leader grew to the extent that by 1958 he signed with Blue Note Records and was co-leading his own band with Pepper Adams.

Donald Byrd was a chronic learner and a natural teacher. When he studied in Paris with composer Nadia Boulanger in 1958, he caught the teaching bug. It was also there that he began collecting art - right city, right time! Over the years, Donald amassed an armful of degrees and started teaching at a number of leading universities.

In the early ’70s, when the jazz scene was almost moribund, Donald enlisted two of his students Larry and Fonce Mizell, both staff producer/arrangers at Motown at the time, to produce a new kind of album for him. What they came up with was something that was not any kind of hyphened, hybrid version of jazz; it was pure, fresh-sounding, melodic music. When the first album became an instant hit, the slings and arrows of the jazz establishment reigned down on Professor Byrd. I’m sure my voice was heard among the detractors, although I later released that what Donald and the Mizells were dong wasn’t bastardized bad jazz, - it was a marvelous new brand of music.

By the late ’70s, Donald was immersed in the university life. He was shuttled between three schools spread across the country in which he had a teaching position, a rented house or apartment and a girlfriend. How he kept track of the utility bills let alone the girl friends or curriculum is beyond me.

In the 1990’s when hip-hop’s prolific use of jazz samples was getting notice, Donald didn’t sit home and just deposit all those lovely checks. He went into the studio with Guru for the rapper’s “Jazzmatazz” album and toured the world with him.

Donald was innovative, fearless and stubborn as hell - a man who lived his life totally on his terms.

-Michael Cuscuna

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Percussionist Andrew Cyrille has such unquestioned musical stature that his partnerships with so many major figures in improvisational music should come as no surprise. This interview with Ted Panken just grazes the surface of Andrew’s storied collaborations — including Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, Oliver Lake, Tony Oxley and David Murray. Other  fabled collaborators with Andrew escaped mention here: Milford Graves and David S. Ware come to mind. Andrew’s remarks offer a glimmer of the keen vision and perception that has drawn so many new music greats his way.  

-Nick Moy

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When I was a student at Towson State University in Maryland, I found that Baltimoreans were quite fond of their hometown hero Eubie Blake. When his 100th birthday rolled around in 1983, I was there to witness many fine tributes and to feel the love they felt for this remarkable talent. I played a couple of hours of his music on my radio show “We Called It Music” on WCVT-FM and there were television and concert tributes all over the City and surrounding areas. In fact, I think people felt it was more of a shock when he died only days after his centennial birthday, than it was that he lived so long. Doug Ramsey from Rifftides gives us a look at this ragtime and popular song genius.

-Scott Wenzel

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”Wardell was a very good saxophonist who knew his instrument very well. His playing was very fluid, very clean. Although his sound wasn’t overwhelming he always managed to make everything very interesting, very musical. I always enjoyed playing with him. He had a lot of drive and profusion of ideas. He was stimulating to me.”– Dexter Gordon

Wardell Gray was one of many great unsung talents in jazz. His constant flow of ideas, his rich, smooth tone and his impeccable technique and enunciation set him apart from legions of other tenor saxophonists to emerge in the ‘40s. Thanks to wardellgray.org a wealth of information about him and music by him remains available. They have posted almost fifty rare gems on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/user/WardellGrayDotOrg/videos?view=0

-Michael Cuscuna

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St. Valentine’s Day began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. The most popular martyrology associated with Saint Valentine was that he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire; during his imprisonment, he is said to have healed the daughter of his jailer Asterius

Legend states that before his execution he wrote “from your Valentine” as a farewell to her. Today, Saint Valentine’s Day is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion, as well as in the Lutheran Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrates Saint Valentine’s Day, albeit on July 6th and July 30th, the former date in honor of the Roman presbyter Saint Valentine, and the latter date in honor of Hieromartyr Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni).

The day was first associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. By the 15th century, it had evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as valentines). Valentine’s Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards. - Wikipedia

Percy Sledge Sings When A Man Loves A Woman
Al Green Sings Love And Happiness
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