Don Cherry began to make his mark with his first recording session, on February 10, 1958, as foil for freebopping alto saxophonist Ornette Coleman on music recorded for Something Else! Their bebop forebears Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker favored rough-sounding unison melodies, a departure from the swing era's smooth blends, but the Coleman-Cherry mix was scrappier still. As soloist, Don took cues from how Ornette's solos didn't track a tune's harmonies too closely. They didn't… more »
In Chicago, they all but carry him around in a sedan chair: Von Freeman, the tenor saxophonist who's educated umpteen young musicians on the bandstand. In 2002, the city named a stretch of E. 75th Street after him, down by the New Apartment Lounge where he's led Tuesday night jams for decades. Among the folks who came out for the ceremony were jazz guru Steve Coleman, who'd flown in just to honor one of his… more »
Our story starts in Pennsylvania coal country, 1962. Jazz singer Sheila Jordan had taken her new friend George Russell to visit the hardscrabble hills where she'd spent her early years. At a local beer garden, Jordan performed an impromptu "You Are My Sunshine" with her grandmother on piano. Russell was an ultramodern composer, and the old song as corny as breakfast flakes - but Sheila's version got to him. Back in New York, he arranged… more »
While Virgo is often considered to be the one sign driven by an almost insane desire for perfection and purity, a fair number of the artists that fall under its arc - from August 23rd to September 22nd - can hardly be called Puritanical. A quick check finds Charlie Parker, the archetypal bebop mainliner, shooting junk while deconstructing the songbook of his day in blistering triple-times. Then there's Gene Simmons. While Simmons has eschewed alcohol… more »
A few years ago, Italian saxophonist Daniele D'Agaro was visiting Chicago, and a critic friend put on a fairly obscure record to stump him. D'Agaro listened for about three seconds, said: "Lucky."
Good ears. He knows the distinctive sound of Lucky Thompson after he started hanging out in Paris and playing sumptuous tenor saxophone ballads recalling old idol Don Byas's Parisian sides. On "Solitude" and "We'll Be Together Again," from Lucky in Paris 1959, his tenor's… more »
There were many British bands that swiveled rock's glorious adolescence, but for my nascent psychedelia and guitar drool, the Yardbirds have long held the most resonance. The wonder of first hearing the extended rave-up of "I'm A Man;" the Gregorian chants of "Still I'm Sad;" the eastern swami of "Over Under Sideways Down;" the clarion clang of the harpsichord in "For Your Love" forever changed for me how I would hear rock music.
I sometimes think… more »
As a leader, Charlie Parker recorded for Savoy and Dial during 1945-1948 and then for Verve exclusively (at least in the studios) during 1949-1954. This remarkable ten-CD box set, which adds quite a bit of material to an earlier ten-LP set, contains all of these recordings plus Bird’s earlier appearances with Jazz at the Philharmonic. The JATP jams are highlighted by Parker’s perfect solo on “Oh Lady Be Good,” a ferocious improvisation on “The Closer,” and a solo on “Embraceable You” that tops his more famous studio recording. In addition, this box has all of the “Bird and Strings” sides, his meetings with Machito’s Cuban orchestra, the 1950 session with Dizzy Gillespie and Thelonious Monk, small-group dates (including a 1951 meeting with Miles Davis), odd encounters with voices and studio bands, the famous “Jam Blues” with fellow altoists Johnny Hodges and Benny Carter, and his final recordings, a set of Cole Porter tunes. The fact-filled 34-page booklet is also indispensable. Highly recommended. – Scott Yanow
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