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 »
Of all the popular music styles and sub-genres of the late '60s and early '70s, "horn rock" is perhaps the only one that hasn't been revived and revered by subsequent generations.
A perhaps inevitable offshoot of mid-'60s "blue eyed soul" acts like Tom Jones, The Righteous Brothers and Mitch Ryder & the Detroit Wheels, the "horn rock" movement began in earnest in 1967 when Chicago pop group The Buckinghams, under the direction of producer James William… 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 »
Dizzy Gillespie was at the peak of his powers throughout the 1950s, still the pacesetter among trumpeters. This double CD matches Dizzy with Stan Getz, the Oscar Peterson Trio and drummer Max Roach. Getz, although identified with the “cool” school, thrived on competition and is both relaxed and combative on the uptempo explorations of “It Don’t Mean a Thing” and “Impromptu.” – Scott Yanow
