What a find! Here’s the Max Roach Quintet, complete with an interview, at the Alhambra in Paris in 1960. Note the emphasis Max places on […]
Mose Allison 1927-2016
Musical Messages As a Kind of Delayed Fiction
Mose Allison, who died on November 15, four days after his 89th birthday, told NPR in 1986 that his songs could be grouped in three […]
Hampton Hawes and President Kennedy
From Watts to the White House, A Successful Bid for Clemency
“…I thought, that’s the right cat; looks like he got some soul and might listen.”
Phil Woods Elected to Downbeat Hall of Fame
Readers Poll Heavily for the Late Saxophonist
What Phil also remembered from that day [with Bird] was an experience that I think most young fans of jazz and blues discover, namely the accessibility of the masters. As Phil put it, “Here was one of the greatest musicians in the world. There was no presidium. There was no pretense. It was, ‘You want a piece of pie.’ What kindness!”
Bob Cranshaw, R.I.P.
A Half-Century with Sonny Rollins, and Many Others Along the Way
Sonny’s renown signaled to Bob that he was “moving up” in auditioning for the gig, but he proved equal to the task, and he promptly accepted Sonny’s offer of the permanent job.
Lou Donaldson
Still Groovin' at 90!
I take note of these patronizing attitudes toward Donaldson not only with respect to the remarkably sustained quality of the music he’s played over the course of his 65 year-long career, but in light of the continual decline in the audience for jazz.