Jason Moran to Jam with Skateboarders at SFJazz
Jason Moran, ever pushing the envelope, ramps it up as he and his Bandwagon take the stage at SF Jazz this weekend, accompanied by eight skateboarders. He thinks of it as a “jam.” Moran talks with Richard Scheinin of the San Jose Mercury-News about his upcoming daredevil pursuit and about his life with skateboarding. Don’t try this at home.
-Nick Moy
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A Price For The Priceless
When we conceived of Mosaic, we wanted to create definitive limited-edition boxed sets with real value And the plan has held to form over the last thirty years. Here’s our Miles Davis Gil Evans LP set with a starting bid of more than twice the set’s original price. Our series of Miles Davis LPs set have even reached winning bids of over $1000.
-Michael Cuscuna
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A Price For The Priceless
Jimmy Garrison, After John Coltrane
Wow, a nice nod to Jimmy Garrison by Doug Ramsey, on what would have been his 79th birthday, plus a posted 1968 video of the Elvin Jones trio with Joe Farrell and Garrison. I had no idea there was any footage on this trio. A lovely discovery. I only worked with Jimmy Garrison once on an Archie Shepp album about a year before he died. For such a large talent on his instrument, he was modest and kind person.
-Michael Cuscuna
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What Great Jazz Musicians and Great Business People Have in Common
Another one of those business think pieces; this one muses that qualities great jazz musicians have, often in abundance, can also be seen in great business people. So the argument goes, emulate these qualities of the great jazz musicians to succeed in business. A lot of the points make perfect sense, and the story in its way flatters the great jazz players. I can’t wait for the sequel: does the argument work the other way around?
-Nick Moy
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The Last Days of Jimi Hendrix
This column on Jimi Hendrix by the wonderfully talented writer/critic Richard Williams is spot on about the slew of posthumous albums since Hendrix’s death 43 years ago. There are great live shows and just okay live shows (by Hendrix standards) that have come out, but the studio material is essentially unfinished and not revelatory. Had Hendrix been able to pursue the music he was hearing in his head, and lived long enough to bring it to fruition, the story might be quite different.
Richard brings up something I’d totally forgotten. The last time I saw Hendrix was in 1970, at a Philadelphia arena. I was emceeing the concert and noticed Hendrix was skittish and out of it. In fact, even though the audience was sitting on a field 30 feet below the stage, Hendrix got spooked that the audience was getting to close, and left me to distract a massive, tired audience sitting in a wet football field in the dark, for what was probably 10 minutes but felt like 4 hours.
-Michael Cuscuna
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Freddie Hubbard at CTI – a 21st Century Appraisal
Freddie Hubbard’s career took a conspicuous, and in some quarters, suspicious turn, when he signed with Creed Taylor’s CTI Records in 1970. David Brent Johnson’s feature on Indiana Public Media surveys Hubbard’s recordings from his CTI period, and sets forth the case that Hubbard expanded his art, rather than compromised it, with recordings like Red Clay – now more visibly, in the light of 21st century day, one of his classics.
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Read MoreRandall’s Island Carnival Of Swing Concert - 1938
On May 29, 1938, a benefit concert (for Musician’s Local 802’s Hospital Fund) was held at Randall’s Island, NY, to a crowd of 23,000 swing fans. WNEW broadcast part of the event, however, no audio either filmed or disc has surfaced. In this clip we see what is was like to be a swing fan during those years along with images of the Count Basie band (with Lester Young) and a dubbed airshot of “I Got Rhythm” from the Southland Ballroom in Boston (1939).
In a preview of what would happen 18 years later at Newport, the highlight of the show was Duke Ellington’s “Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue”. During the selection, 3,000 grandstand spectators rushed onto the field in an effort to get near the bandstand. This delayed the concert about ten minutes while emergency police restored order.
Other artists who performed that day were Chick Webb, Vincent Lopez, Artie Shaw, Hal Kemp, Sammy Kaye, Bunny Berigan, Kay Kayser, Russ Morgan, Will Hudson, Milt Herth, Stuff Smith, Larry Clinton, Will Osborne and the Andrews Sisters. Also visible on the “sidelines” diggin’ the Basie band is Stuff Smith and Teddy Bunn.
-Scott Wenzel
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View VideoThe Remarkable Recycled Orchestra
This video tells a remarkable tale of human creativity and resourcefulness and the power of music in a small village in Paraguay. This town built on a landfill is home to the Recycled Orchestra, also known as the Landfill Harmonic Orchestra. Move over, Stradivarius.
-Michael Cuscuna
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View VideoStan Getz: Seven Steps to Heaven
Stan Getz was not only a magnificent tenor saxophonist with a gorgeous sound all his own, but also had an uncanny knack for assembling great rhythm sections out of unlikely combinations of people. This rendition of Victor Feldman’s “Seven Steps To Heaven” is driven by a young and deftly swinging Teri Lyne Carrington. Kenny Barron, who had a wonderful rapport with Getz musically, sparkles throughout.
-Michael Cuscuna
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View VideoExcellent Documentary Footage On The Miles Davis Quintet
Check out this with great interview segments with Miles, Herbie Hancock and Tony Williams. I’d never seen this before but it’s a wonderful 14-mnute crash course on of the most complex and intuitive ensembles in jazz history.
-Michael Cuscuna
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