"Bourbon Street is like playing, a tourist, you know? It's just a tourist attraction ... those musicians on Bourbon Street, they play all day. They might start at 12 noon and end at 3 in the morning, like, it's like sets, like a job. You go play, take a break, play again, take a break, then later on that night, the club gets busier, then you play some more. There's pride. They're a group of great musicians- and they're holding it down." - Trombone Shorty
source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)
Trombone Shorty Quotes
"Those type of people [in New Orleans] keep me happy and just smiling, you know? I just go hang out and talk with them and they tell me all types of old stories, and sometimes I might even pull my horn out in the middle of the block, and they're playing on beer bottles and different things, and we just do a little second line type thing, just us, four or five people, who are just having fun. That makes me day to be able to do that and go hang out with the people in the (Treme) neighborhood, and to do some shows around town, you know?" - Trombone Shorty
source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)
source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)
Trombone Shorty Quotes
"I'm a big fan of music, I'm a student of music, and I just wanna learn and keep enhancing my education about the music." - Trombone Shorty
source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)
source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)
Trombone Shorty Quotes
"As I was a kid, I had a bunch of musicians, they always told me that I should listen to all styles of music and try to play all styles and be authentic at it, if I can, because you never know who's gonna call you. This was coming from fellow horn players who would get the call to play with different types of people. Since I was a kid, that was just something I was always interested in." - Trombone Shorty
source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)
source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)
Trombone Shorty Quotes
"I started off playing by ear, and being around a bunch of musicians and playing in the streets and in the different parades and, then, I got accepted to go to New Orleans Center for Creative Artists ... it's where Wynton Marsalis, Harry Connick, Jr. and all those guys went out." - Trombone Shorty
source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)
source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)
Trombone Shorty Quotes
"As soon as I was born, my mom said I was humming 'When the Saints Go Marching In,' or something like that, you know? It's in the family. And in that neighborhood [Treme, in New Orleans], I think everybody in the neighborhood has some type of musical influence, even if they don't play instruments or anything. It's the way they talk to you, the way they say your name — it's all musical." - Trombone Shorty
source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)
source: Interview with NPR (May 2, 2010)
Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes
"It was horrific, it was really ugly. You're talking about tens of thousands of people – the elderly, infants, normal citizens, who were told, 'wait here we’ll come get you’ and nobody came. It's not like it's Haiti, this is the United States for crying out loud." - Harry Connick, Jr. (about New Orleans, following hurricane Katrina)
source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)
source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)
Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes
"[My mother is] a half-Chinese, half-Jamaican woman, who grew up the ninth of nine kids, getting a law degree from Harvard. Academically brilliant, but also incredibly strong-willed and ethical. My mother was like that, my sister is, and my wife is too." - Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes
source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)
source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)
Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes
"It was a house full of rules. You couldn't walk around the house barefoot. Whenever anyone older than you came into the room, you stood up. You didn't speak until you were spoken to, you had to say, Sir or Ma'm." - Harry Connick, Jr.
source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)
source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)
Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes
"I was no Miley Cyrus. I had tons of friends, played ball with my friends on the street, and did the normal things." - Harry Connick, Jr.
source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)
source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)
Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes
"You basically have to play everything (in New Orleans), because you’re getting calls to play gigs of all different styles, from classical to R&B to funk; modern jazz to traditional jazz." - Harry Connick, Jr.
source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)
source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)
Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes
"I just liked the feeling of being on stage. My parents weren't pushing me, they didn't have to, I was obsessed." - Harry Connick, Jr.
source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)
source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)
Harry Connick, Jr. Quotes
"I'm gay, it’s all a big scam. My kids don't even know who their mother is." - Harry Connick, Jr.
source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)
source: The Daily Telegraph (October 23, 2009)
Chris Botti a hit at Vuitton salon
The Louis Vuitton store on Union Square was transformed into a salon one recent balmy evening. No hairdressers in sight (though the crowd was well coiffed indeed), the 250 or so invited guests gathered for a modern-day take on the centuries-old French tradition of mingling with artists, sipping fine wines and Champagne and savoring delightful food (on this night, an array of hors d'oeuvres from Michael Mina).
On the evening before his sold-out appearance with the San Francisco Symphony, Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Chris Botti played a lively 20-minute set with...
Read More:
http://www.sfgate.com/06/22/chris-botti/
On the evening before his sold-out appearance with the San Francisco Symphony, Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Chris Botti played a lively 20-minute set with...
Read More:
http://www.sfgate.com/06/22/chris-botti/
Jamie Cullum cooks up new batch of songs
During a performance at the Algonquin Hotel’s famed Oak Room recently, Jamie Cullum disappeared.
No, this wasn’t a magic show. But it certainly felt like one when the diminutive singer-songwriter dropped to the floor and slid beneath the piano.
A confused gentleman sitting in one of the intimate venue’s dimly lit corners asked his wife, “Where did he go?” But soon enough, the sound of Cullum beating the base of the piano like a bongo let everyone know that the musician indeed hadn’t checked out of the show.
If you’ve seen Cullum in concert, you’re familiar with his antics: He’s a piano DJ of sorts, making the instrument his drum, bass and turntable … even a launch pad. (He’s been known to jump off the piano at times.)
The gig was a celebration for the Londoner. His new album, “The Pursuit” (Verve Forecast), had just come out. And he was in a familiar place, having enjoyed a monthlong run at the...
Read More:
http://therfw.com/jamie-cullum-new-songs/
No, this wasn’t a magic show. But it certainly felt like one when the diminutive singer-songwriter dropped to the floor and slid beneath the piano.
A confused gentleman sitting in one of the intimate venue’s dimly lit corners asked his wife, “Where did he go?” But soon enough, the sound of Cullum beating the base of the piano like a bongo let everyone know that the musician indeed hadn’t checked out of the show.
If you’ve seen Cullum in concert, you’re familiar with his antics: He’s a piano DJ of sorts, making the instrument his drum, bass and turntable … even a launch pad. (He’s been known to jump off the piano at times.)
The gig was a celebration for the Londoner. His new album, “The Pursuit” (Verve Forecast), had just come out. And he was in a familiar place, having enjoyed a monthlong run at the...
Read More:
http://therfw.com/jamie-cullum-new-songs/
Singer Melody Gardot tantalizes in Fillmore show
How does one explain what Melody Gardot does and what makes it so compelling?
A knockout in her SFJAZZ debut last year, the singer proved to be even more irresistibly confounding in a lightly publicized appearance Thursday at The Fillmore.
From her airy, sensual vocal style to her sizzling appearance to the few physical concessions she must still make to the accident that nearly killed her (a walking stick for support and sunglasses to ward off photosensitive headaches), Gardot was an enigma wrapped in a firecracker. She has the kind of stage presence you might get from...
Read More:
http://www.examiner.com/Singer-Melody-Gardot-Fillmore
A knockout in her SFJAZZ debut last year, the singer proved to be even more irresistibly confounding in a lightly publicized appearance Thursday at The Fillmore.
From her airy, sensual vocal style to her sizzling appearance to the few physical concessions she must still make to the accident that nearly killed her (a walking stick for support and sunglasses to ward off photosensitive headaches), Gardot was an enigma wrapped in a firecracker. She has the kind of stage presence you might get from...
Read More:
http://www.examiner.com/Singer-Melody-Gardot-Fillmore
Stanley Clarke pays tribute to pioneering fusion bands
Nearly 40 years after forming the pioneering fusion act Return to Forever, Stanley Clarke and Chick Corea remain good friends—and sometimes friendly rivals, most recently for the sonic favours of the young Japanese pianist Hiromi Uehara. Corea wooed her first, recording the live Duet in 2008. But it didn’t take long for his bass-playing counterpart to add Uehara, whose own band was a surprise hit at the 2009 edition of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival, to his long list of musical partners.
“Chick turned me on to Hiromi, although I’d met her in London many, many years ago,” Clarke explains, on the line from his L.A. home. “I knew she was a very good pianist. But then Chick told me about...
Read More:
http://www.straight.com/stanley-clarke-fusion-bands
“Chick turned me on to Hiromi, although I’d met her in London many, many years ago,” Clarke explains, on the line from his L.A. home. “I knew she was a very good pianist. But then Chick told me about...
Read More:
http://www.straight.com/stanley-clarke-fusion-bands
Teen Nikki Yanofsky already a prodigious jazz musician
Last week, Nikki Yanofsky couldn't come to the phone because she was home in Montreal studying for her high-school exams.
"I know that school is just as important," she explains simply.
So while she's writing exams, her blossoming career as a jazz singer has been put on hold.
"I don't talk about it in school," adds Yanofsky. "There's not much jealousy. Everything is great. Everyone is supportive."
This week, she almost didn't come to the phone because she had a TV appearance in New York that...
Read More:
http://www.theprovince.com/Teen+Nikki+Yanofsky+jazz+musician
"I know that school is just as important," she explains simply.
So while she's writing exams, her blossoming career as a jazz singer has been put on hold.
"I don't talk about it in school," adds Yanofsky. "There's not much jealousy. Everything is great. Everyone is supportive."
This week, she almost didn't come to the phone because she had a TV appearance in New York that...
Read More:
http://www.theprovince.com/Teen+Nikki+Yanofsky+jazz+musician
Portland's 2010 Blues Festival: Troy 'Trombone Shorty' Andrews blows into town with his fusion of jazz, funk, rock and soul
Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews is in the middle of making a point about growing up in the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans when his voice is drowned out by a gate agent with a lot to say and a particularly loud speaker through which to speak.
"Hold on a second," Andrews says.
Not a problem, and since we're on the subjects of airports and Andrews' home turf, there was a wonderful scene in HBO's "Treme" featuring an airport and Andrews that serves as a nice introduction, if one is needed.
Wendell Pierce's character, the trombone-playing, forever-short-of-cab-fare, always-in-need-of-a-gig Antoine Batiste found one playing at...
Read More:
http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2010/06/2010_blues_festival_troy_tromb.html
"Hold on a second," Andrews says.
Not a problem, and since we're on the subjects of airports and Andrews' home turf, there was a wonderful scene in HBO's "Treme" featuring an airport and Andrews that serves as a nice introduction, if one is needed.
Wendell Pierce's character, the trombone-playing, forever-short-of-cab-fare, always-in-need-of-a-gig Antoine Batiste found one playing at...
Read More:
http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2010/06/2010_blues_festival_troy_tromb.html
Herbie Hancock Celebrates Seventieth Birthday At Carnegie Hall In New York
Among a number of high-ranking pianists in New York this week — McCoy Tyner, Keith Jarrett, Junior Mance, Cyrus Chestnut, Eric Reed, Gerald Clayton, Hiromi — Herbie Hancock commanded the biggest ticket prices. But then, he's so much more than a pianist. To say the least, this was a game of two halves, with an almost unbridgeable gulf between the first set and the largely vocal follow-up based on his new album, The Imagine Project.
A token comedy bit by Bill Cosby with Herbie as straight-man led to an hour honouring the Miles era. The rotating personnel including Jack DeJohnette, both Terence Blanchard and Wallace Roney, both Wayne Shorter and Joe Lovano, both Ron Carter and Dave Holland played in different line-ups — unusually, remaining on stage when not performing — and nailed Shorter's 'Footprints' and Carter's ‘81’. But it wasn’t until a short ‘Funny Valentine’ featuring Roney (of course) and a free-ish collective ‘Eye Of The Hurricane’ that things really took off.
Lionel Loueke looked distinctly out of place here, but was the only one to stay on for the second set, anchored by keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, bassist Tal Wilkenfeld (she also sang ‘Times They Are A-Changing’) and Vinnie Colaiuta — notably more sensitive than with the McLaughlin/Corea band. One of the strengths was all-purpose vocalist Kristina Train, who did a Joni on ‘Court And Spark’ and, if I'm not mistaken, sang in Irish as well as playing fiddle in a brief reference to the Chieftains. The even briefer contribution of India.Arie on ‘Imagine’ and a longer dose of Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks with ‘Learning To Live Together’ took us into feel-good territory, while an a cappella ‘Happy Birthday’ (for Herbie’s 70th two months before) underlined the slightly self-congratulatory air of the exercise.
A token comedy bit by Bill Cosby with Herbie as straight-man led to an hour honouring the Miles era. The rotating personnel including Jack DeJohnette, both Terence Blanchard and Wallace Roney, both Wayne Shorter and Joe Lovano, both Ron Carter and Dave Holland played in different line-ups — unusually, remaining on stage when not performing — and nailed Shorter's 'Footprints' and Carter's ‘81’. But it wasn’t until a short ‘Funny Valentine’ featuring Roney (of course) and a free-ish collective ‘Eye Of The Hurricane’ that things really took off.
Lionel Loueke looked distinctly out of place here, but was the only one to stay on for the second set, anchored by keyboardist Greg Phillinganes, bassist Tal Wilkenfeld (she also sang ‘Times They Are A-Changing’) and Vinnie Colaiuta — notably more sensitive than with the McLaughlin/Corea band. One of the strengths was all-purpose vocalist Kristina Train, who did a Joni on ‘Court And Spark’ and, if I'm not mistaken, sang in Irish as well as playing fiddle in a brief reference to the Chieftains. The even briefer contribution of India.Arie on ‘Imagine’ and a longer dose of Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks with ‘Learning To Live Together’ took us into feel-good territory, while an a cappella ‘Happy Birthday’ (for Herbie’s 70th two months before) underlined the slightly self-congratulatory air of the exercise.
Harry Connick, Jr., finds joy in jazz classics at Chicago Theatre
No one in jazz idealizes the past as effectively as Harry Connick, Jr.
Depending on your point of view, that's either a great achievement or a dubious one.
To the crowd that packed the Chicago Theatre on Tuesday evening, Connick's celebration of music of the swing era was nothing less than a jolt of electricity, prompting thunderous ovations. Whether he crooned, played the piano, led his band or simply conversed with the audience, he drew heated response.
For good reason, too. The sheer craft of this concert – with its sterling orchestral arrangements, brilliant lighting design and charismatic vocal performance – stands apart from anything else in...
Read More:
http://chicagotribune.com/2010-06-23/harry-connick-music
Depending on your point of view, that's either a great achievement or a dubious one.
To the crowd that packed the Chicago Theatre on Tuesday evening, Connick's celebration of music of the swing era was nothing less than a jolt of electricity, prompting thunderous ovations. Whether he crooned, played the piano, led his band or simply conversed with the audience, he drew heated response.
For good reason, too. The sheer craft of this concert – with its sterling orchestral arrangements, brilliant lighting design and charismatic vocal performance – stands apart from anything else in...
Read More:
http://chicagotribune.com/2010-06-23/harry-connick-music
Michael Bublé has Crazy Love for Tulsa
Tulsa, was the first stop for Michael Bublé’s Crazy Love North American tour, after a series of sold out European shows. He now starts the second leg of his tour with Naturally 7 the opening act. Running late, I still loved Naturally 7’s music - an a cappella band, but what a surprise. The band calls their style “Vocal Play” and uses the same name for their newest album (coming late summer). It sounds like a full band, but the only instruments are their voices. Eyes closed you hear guitars, drums, bass, even a harmonica, but all made with the human voice. I highly recommend them and they were just the opening act.
Nearly packed; the arena crowd was standing in eager anticipation for Michael Bublé. As he appeared, the crowd went wild in cheers and...
Read More:
http://www.tulsatoday.com/michael-buble-has-crazy-love-tulsa
Nearly packed; the arena crowd was standing in eager anticipation for Michael Bublé. As he appeared, the crowd went wild in cheers and...
Read More:
http://www.tulsatoday.com/michael-buble-has-crazy-love-tulsa
Top 100 jazz songs, The 100 great jazz songs of all time
By: illminatus
1. “So What” – Miles Davis
Miles. Trane. Cannonball. Evans. Chambers. Cobb. The greatest lineup in jazz history. ‘Nuff said.
2. “My Favorite Things” – John Coltrane
This interpretation of the Rodgers/Hammerstein classic tune turned on a whole new audience to the brilliance of John Coltrane. It also offered a glimpse of the path that Trane was about to embark upon.
3. “Take Five” – Dave Brubeck
The first jazz instrumental to sell a million copies. A song everyone, jazz fans or not, have heard. Timeless.
4. “Acknowledgement” – John Coltrane
Trane’s spiritual awakening and the start of his ultimate quest. One of the most powerful, transcendent songs ever. This is true gospel.
5. “Birdland” – Weather Report
An excellent introduction to the late Jaco Pastorious. This tune pushed Weather Report to the forefront of the fusion movement and into the mainstream.
6. “Freddie Freeloader” – Miles Davis
Another stone-cold classic from the best jazz album (Kind of Blue) of all time. Never to be duplicated, this is jazz at its highest form.
7. “Psalm” – John Coltrane
Closes out one of the most important albums ever, regardless of genre, on a plateau others could never hope to scale. Monumental.
8. “Strange Fruit” – Billie Holiday
One of the most chilling and haunting, yet utterly compelling, songs of all time. Lady Day poured her heart, soul and every fabric of her being into this cut.
9. “Salt Peanuts” – Dizzy Gillespie
If there were a Mount Rushmore of jazz, Dizz would be carved in stone. And this tune would be playing in the background. Go cat, go!
10. “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” – Cannonball Adderley
Proving their was life after Miles Davis, Cannonball hooked up with then little-known composer/keyboardist Joe Zainwaul and churned out this soulful masterpiece. Who says jazz ain’t got no soul?
11. “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” – Charles Mingus
One of the cornerstone songs of jazz from one of its most covered composers. Mingus could do it all. And he influenced them all.
12. “Chameleon” – Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters
Funk. Funky. Funkiest. This cut molded jazz into something different. Something more urban and more groovy.
13. “Straight Life” – Freddy Hubbard
After the triumph that was Red Clay, Hubbard proved that he had plenty more left in his trick bag on this 17-minute cut. He swung for the fences and hit a grand-slam with this one.
14. “The Creator has a Master Plan” – Pharaoh Sanders
Thirty-two and a half minutes of pure, free form bliss. Enough to induce a deep, fulfilling trance-like state. An under-appreciated artist and song.
15. “Blue in Green” – Miles Davis
More from one of the most incredible pieces of art ever fashioned – Kind of Blue. Miles at his most inventive.
16. “One O’Clock Jump” – Count Basie
Superb joint from one of the masters of swing. Many were the imitators, yet none could touch the magic of Count Basie and his Orchestra. Then or now.
17. “Bumpin’ on Sunset” – Wes Montgomery
The one, the only, Wes Montgomery burning up the fretboard without a pick. Set the standard for those who chose to follow.
18. Naima” – John Coltrane
A powerfully-beautiful and tender ballad, named for Trane’s then wife. This is where Coltrane started to come into his own, composition-wise. As this one proved, the sky was the limit.
19. “Back at the Chicken Shack” – Jimmy Smith
A slice of sweaty, Hammond B-3 heaven from the best of the bunch. Created a template that a thousand jambands would follow 40 years after the fact.
20. “Mister Magic” – Grover Washington, Jr.
Gone way before his time, this cut is a prime example of the way Grover Washington, Jr. could create a wave and ride it all the way to the sunset. Smooth jazz that was anything but smooth.
21. “Giant Steps” – John Coltrane
22. “In a Silent Way” – Miles Davis
23. “Dolphin Dance” – Herbie Hancock
24. “In N’ Out” – Joe Henderson
25. “Resolution” – John Coltrane
26. “Alone Together” – Grant Green
27. “St. Louis Blues” – W.C. Handy
28. “Rocket Number Nine Take off for the Planet Venus” – Sun Ra and his Arkestra
29. “Tipitina” – Professor Longhair
30. “Breakfast Feud” – Charlie Christian
31. “Naguine” – Django Reinhardt
32. “It Might as Well be Spring” – Sarah Vaughan
33. “Captain Fingers” – Lee Ritenour
34. “Science Funktion” – Donald Byrd
35. “Blue Rondo A La Turk” – Dave Brubeck
36. “A Remark You Made” – Weather Report
37. “Black Satin” – Miles Davis
38. “Just the Two of Us” – Grover Washington, Jr.
39. “Minnie the Moocher” – Cab Calloway
40. “Aerial Boundaries” – Michael Hedges
41. “Red Clay” – Freddie Hubbard
42. “Round Midnight” – Thelonious Monk
43. “Bright Size Life” – Pat Metheny
44. “Maiden Voyage” – Herbie Hancock
45. “Portrait of Tracy” – Jaco Pastorious
46. “Mood Indigo” – Duke Ellington
47. “Body & Soul” – Coleman Hawkins
48. “Moanin’” – Art Blakey
49. “Straight, No Chaser” – Thelonious Monk
50. “Right Off” – Miles Davis
51. “Jelly Roll Blues” – Jelly Roll Morton
52. “Stratus” – Billy Cobham
53. “(They call me) Dr. Professor Longhair” – Professor Longhair
54. “Sun Goddess” – Ramsey Lewis
55. “Miles Beyond” – Mahavishnu Orchestra
56. “Fables of Faubus” – Charles Mingus
57. “Room 335” – Larry Carlton
58. “Epistrophy” – Thelonious Monk
59. “The Girl From Ipanema” – Getz/Gilberto
60. “Lonely Woman” – Ornette Coleman
61. “The Perfect Man” – Sun Ra and his Arkestra
62. “Hello, Dolly” – Louis Armstrong
63. “Chasin’ the Bird” – Charlie Parker
64. “Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy” – Return to Forever
65. “God Bless the Child” – Billie Holiday
66. “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers” – Jeff Beck
67. “Tea for Two” – Art Tatum
68. “Volunteered Slavery” – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
69. “Pharoah’s Dance” – Miles Davis
70. “A Night in Tunisia” – Sonny Rollins
71. “Pursuance” – John Coltrane
72. “Satin Doll” – Duke Ellington
73. “Speak no Evil” – Wayne Shorter
74. “Chitlins Con Carne” – Kenny Burrell
75. “Potato Head Blues” – Louis Armstrong
76. “My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now” – Dirty Dozen Brass Band
77. “Cover Girl” – Larry Coryell
78. “Willow Weep for Me” – Wes Montgomery
79. “A Long Drink of the Blues” – Jackie McLean
80. “Three Views of a Secret” – Jaco Pastorious
81. “Places and Spaces” – Donald Byrd
82. “When you’re in Love” – Horace Silver
83. “Lazy River” – Pete Fountain
84. “Tones for Elvin Jones” – John McLaughlin
85. “Icarus” – Winter Consort
86. “Bemsha Swing” – Thelonious Monk
87. “Moon Tune” – Bob James/David Sanborn
88. “Eternal Child” – Chick Corea’s Elektric Band
89. “Out of the Night” – Brian Melvin Trio
90. “School Days” – Stanley Clarke
91. “Five Hundred Miles High” – Stan Getz
92. “Hog Callin’ Blues” – Charles Mingus
93. “My Funny Valentine” – Gerry Mulligan/Chet Baker
94. “Race with Devil on Spanish Highway” – Al DiMeola
95. “Moritat” – Sonny Rollins
96. “Son of Mr. Green Genes” – Frank Zappa
97. “Big Chief” – Professor Longhair
98. “Anonymous Skulls” – Medeski, Martin & Wood
99. “The Hong Kong Incident” – Jing Chi
100. “Hamp’s Hump” - Galactic
1. “So What” – Miles Davis
Miles. Trane. Cannonball. Evans. Chambers. Cobb. The greatest lineup in jazz history. ‘Nuff said.
2. “My Favorite Things” – John Coltrane
This interpretation of the Rodgers/Hammerstein classic tune turned on a whole new audience to the brilliance of John Coltrane. It also offered a glimpse of the path that Trane was about to embark upon.
3. “Take Five” – Dave Brubeck
The first jazz instrumental to sell a million copies. A song everyone, jazz fans or not, have heard. Timeless.
4. “Acknowledgement” – John Coltrane
Trane’s spiritual awakening and the start of his ultimate quest. One of the most powerful, transcendent songs ever. This is true gospel.
5. “Birdland” – Weather Report
An excellent introduction to the late Jaco Pastorious. This tune pushed Weather Report to the forefront of the fusion movement and into the mainstream.
6. “Freddie Freeloader” – Miles Davis
Another stone-cold classic from the best jazz album (Kind of Blue) of all time. Never to be duplicated, this is jazz at its highest form.
7. “Psalm” – John Coltrane
Closes out one of the most important albums ever, regardless of genre, on a plateau others could never hope to scale. Monumental.
8. “Strange Fruit” – Billie Holiday
One of the most chilling and haunting, yet utterly compelling, songs of all time. Lady Day poured her heart, soul and every fabric of her being into this cut.
9. “Salt Peanuts” – Dizzy Gillespie
If there were a Mount Rushmore of jazz, Dizz would be carved in stone. And this tune would be playing in the background. Go cat, go!
10. “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” – Cannonball Adderley
Proving their was life after Miles Davis, Cannonball hooked up with then little-known composer/keyboardist Joe Zainwaul and churned out this soulful masterpiece. Who says jazz ain’t got no soul?
11. “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” – Charles Mingus
One of the cornerstone songs of jazz from one of its most covered composers. Mingus could do it all. And he influenced them all.
12. “Chameleon” – Herbie Hancock and the Headhunters
Funk. Funky. Funkiest. This cut molded jazz into something different. Something more urban and more groovy.
13. “Straight Life” – Freddy Hubbard
After the triumph that was Red Clay, Hubbard proved that he had plenty more left in his trick bag on this 17-minute cut. He swung for the fences and hit a grand-slam with this one.
14. “The Creator has a Master Plan” – Pharaoh Sanders
Thirty-two and a half minutes of pure, free form bliss. Enough to induce a deep, fulfilling trance-like state. An under-appreciated artist and song.
15. “Blue in Green” – Miles Davis
More from one of the most incredible pieces of art ever fashioned – Kind of Blue. Miles at his most inventive.
16. “One O’Clock Jump” – Count Basie
Superb joint from one of the masters of swing. Many were the imitators, yet none could touch the magic of Count Basie and his Orchestra. Then or now.
17. “Bumpin’ on Sunset” – Wes Montgomery
The one, the only, Wes Montgomery burning up the fretboard without a pick. Set the standard for those who chose to follow.
18. Naima” – John Coltrane
A powerfully-beautiful and tender ballad, named for Trane’s then wife. This is where Coltrane started to come into his own, composition-wise. As this one proved, the sky was the limit.
19. “Back at the Chicken Shack” – Jimmy Smith
A slice of sweaty, Hammond B-3 heaven from the best of the bunch. Created a template that a thousand jambands would follow 40 years after the fact.
20. “Mister Magic” – Grover Washington, Jr.
Gone way before his time, this cut is a prime example of the way Grover Washington, Jr. could create a wave and ride it all the way to the sunset. Smooth jazz that was anything but smooth.
21. “Giant Steps” – John Coltrane
22. “In a Silent Way” – Miles Davis
23. “Dolphin Dance” – Herbie Hancock
24. “In N’ Out” – Joe Henderson
25. “Resolution” – John Coltrane
26. “Alone Together” – Grant Green
27. “St. Louis Blues” – W.C. Handy
28. “Rocket Number Nine Take off for the Planet Venus” – Sun Ra and his Arkestra
29. “Tipitina” – Professor Longhair
30. “Breakfast Feud” – Charlie Christian
31. “Naguine” – Django Reinhardt
32. “It Might as Well be Spring” – Sarah Vaughan
33. “Captain Fingers” – Lee Ritenour
34. “Science Funktion” – Donald Byrd
35. “Blue Rondo A La Turk” – Dave Brubeck
36. “A Remark You Made” – Weather Report
37. “Black Satin” – Miles Davis
38. “Just the Two of Us” – Grover Washington, Jr.
39. “Minnie the Moocher” – Cab Calloway
40. “Aerial Boundaries” – Michael Hedges
41. “Red Clay” – Freddie Hubbard
42. “Round Midnight” – Thelonious Monk
43. “Bright Size Life” – Pat Metheny
44. “Maiden Voyage” – Herbie Hancock
45. “Portrait of Tracy” – Jaco Pastorious
46. “Mood Indigo” – Duke Ellington
47. “Body & Soul” – Coleman Hawkins
48. “Moanin’” – Art Blakey
49. “Straight, No Chaser” – Thelonious Monk
50. “Right Off” – Miles Davis
51. “Jelly Roll Blues” – Jelly Roll Morton
52. “Stratus” – Billy Cobham
53. “(They call me) Dr. Professor Longhair” – Professor Longhair
54. “Sun Goddess” – Ramsey Lewis
55. “Miles Beyond” – Mahavishnu Orchestra
56. “Fables of Faubus” – Charles Mingus
57. “Room 335” – Larry Carlton
58. “Epistrophy” – Thelonious Monk
59. “The Girl From Ipanema” – Getz/Gilberto
60. “Lonely Woman” – Ornette Coleman
61. “The Perfect Man” – Sun Ra and his Arkestra
62. “Hello, Dolly” – Louis Armstrong
63. “Chasin’ the Bird” – Charlie Parker
64. “Hymn of the Seventh Galaxy” – Return to Forever
65. “God Bless the Child” – Billie Holiday
66. “Cause We’ve Ended as Lovers” – Jeff Beck
67. “Tea for Two” – Art Tatum
68. “Volunteered Slavery” – Rahsaan Roland Kirk
69. “Pharoah’s Dance” – Miles Davis
70. “A Night in Tunisia” – Sonny Rollins
71. “Pursuance” – John Coltrane
72. “Satin Doll” – Duke Ellington
73. “Speak no Evil” – Wayne Shorter
74. “Chitlins Con Carne” – Kenny Burrell
75. “Potato Head Blues” – Louis Armstrong
76. “My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now” – Dirty Dozen Brass Band
77. “Cover Girl” – Larry Coryell
78. “Willow Weep for Me” – Wes Montgomery
79. “A Long Drink of the Blues” – Jackie McLean
80. “Three Views of a Secret” – Jaco Pastorious
81. “Places and Spaces” – Donald Byrd
82. “When you’re in Love” – Horace Silver
83. “Lazy River” – Pete Fountain
84. “Tones for Elvin Jones” – John McLaughlin
85. “Icarus” – Winter Consort
86. “Bemsha Swing” – Thelonious Monk
87. “Moon Tune” – Bob James/David Sanborn
88. “Eternal Child” – Chick Corea’s Elektric Band
89. “Out of the Night” – Brian Melvin Trio
90. “School Days” – Stanley Clarke
91. “Five Hundred Miles High” – Stan Getz
92. “Hog Callin’ Blues” – Charles Mingus
93. “My Funny Valentine” – Gerry Mulligan/Chet Baker
94. “Race with Devil on Spanish Highway” – Al DiMeola
95. “Moritat” – Sonny Rollins
96. “Son of Mr. Green Genes” – Frank Zappa
97. “Big Chief” – Professor Longhair
98. “Anonymous Skulls” – Medeski, Martin & Wood
99. “The Hong Kong Incident” – Jing Chi
100. “Hamp’s Hump” - Galactic
Michael Buble Quotes
"When I went to New York to work with the Dap Kings, we actually recorded the 8 track. In Vancouver, we did 'StarDust' and we did 'Somebody Loves You' and it was live on the floor, we did three takes. And we took the best one. And while it wasn't as perfect as some of my previous records -it wasn't as slick, or as flawless- to me, there was such presence and such energy, and I felt that -for me- that had been lacking a little bit, and I was really really happy that I could feel this record, as opposed to sounding good, it felt good." - Michael Buble
source: Interview with Inside Thirteen (March 1, 2010)
source: Interview with Inside Thirteen (March 1, 2010)
Michael Buble Quotes
"I'm not a jazz musician, because, I mean, firstly, I can't play anything. I'm not bad on the tamborine. I have a certain way with the triangle. But I'm not a jazz musician ... my band, they always joke, they always say that I'm a disposable, pop, jazz superstar." - Michael Buble
source: Interview with Inside Thirteen (March 1, 2010)
source: Interview with Inside Thirteen (March 1, 2010)
Michael Buble Quotes
"I had this strange belief, perhaps naively, that somehow, if I kept working hard, and I kept doing it with integrity, that I would get my chance." - Michael Buble
source: Interview with Inside Thirteen (March 1, 2010)
source: Interview with Inside Thirteen (March 1, 2010)
Michael Buble Quotes
"I was about a ten year overnight success. From 16 through 26 I moved throughout Canada and the U.S., and I did everything from theater to singing in restaurants or shopping malls, or basically anything that would help me to have that break, or take a step, or learn my craft, and I lived on my potential every day for ten years." - Michael Buble
source: Interview with Inside Thirteen (March 1, 2010)
source: Interview with Inside Thirteen (March 1, 2010)
Michael Buble Quotes
"I think that—and I believe very strongly about this—but I know that if I concentrate, and I work hard, I know that I can take this world on, two women at a time." - Michael Buble
Michael Buble Quotes
"You can try to trick the people and me come out wearing a fedora and a tuxedo but that's not me. I was born in the late 70's, I wear jeans. I don't hang out in casinos. The lifestyle isn't my thing. I don't drink martinis and I don't smoke cigars." - Michael Buble
Michael Buble Quotes
"Most people are like, 'I'd die for chocolate'. Fuck chocolate, give me bacon and cheese!" - Michael Buble
Michael Buble Quotes
"It's scary. You go out there and your knees are shaking and you try to hold onto the microphone and not look like your hands are shaking. And at some point I just settle in and think to myself, how wonderful is this?" - Michael Buble
Michael Buble Quotes
"You know for a long time, I thought that I was crazy. I remember thinking, am I the only one my age that loves this stuff? Maybe there’s just a wire that isn’t quite connecting in my brain but it comes down to the basics, that this is good music." - Michael Buble
Michael Buble Quotes
"It's a bit shocking when you show up in Africa or you're in the middle of Spain and there are people that know the words and the young kids singing along." - Michael Buble
Bill Cosby Quotes
"...among the guitarists, Wes Montgomery is fantastic. He's always good to let you know what the art form is all about. It's the same still life that everybody is painting, but in comes Wes Montgomery, and it's right there!" - Bill Cosby
source: Interview with Victor L. Schermer of AAJ (June 2, 2010)
source: Interview with Victor L. Schermer of AAJ (June 2, 2010)
Bill Cosby Quotes
"I don't see why my fans wouldn't know about my interest in jazz. First of all, if you look at 'The Huxtables,' I had Art Blakey, Tito Puente, Bobby Sanabria, and the Mario Bauza Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra. I had Nancy Wilson. There's one show with Cliff down in the cellar trying to teach Malcolm or Theo about the music. Then we had Big Maybelle [R&B singer Maybelle Louise Smith] do her classic version of 'Candy,' and had Claire lip synch to it. [laughter] Wonderful things you can do when your show is number 1." - Bill Cosby
source: Interview with Victor L. Schermer of AAJ (June 2, 2010)
source: Interview with Victor L. Schermer of AAJ (June 2, 2010)
Stanford Jazz Festival goes global
Since 1972, Stanford has celebrated the most American of art forms – now it looks to jazz's African forebears and its cousins in Brazil, Europe and around the world.
America's most undisputed legacy to world arts is jazz.
So it's fitting that Stanford University celebrates it – every year – with a world-class jazz festival. But though jazz was born in America, its forebears and cousins also will have a share in this year's Stanford Jazz Festival, which begins its 39th six-week season on Friday, June 25, and continues through Aug. 7.
The festival kicks off at 8 p.m. Friday in Dinkelspiel Auditorium with an event that has a distinctly international feel: "A Night of Brazilian Jazz" with Grammy Award-winning vocalist Luciana Souza, guitarist Romero Lubambo and saxophonist Harvey Wainapel and his all-Brazilian jazz quartet Alegritude.
"Most people think that jazz began in New Orleans – but, no, this music began thousands of years ago," says the 84-year-old National Endowment for the Arts master Randy Weston, a Moroccan-based American jazz pianist and composer of Jamaican parentage. The festival will honor jazz's African roots with...
Read More:
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/june/stanford-jazz-festival-062210.html
America's most undisputed legacy to world arts is jazz.
So it's fitting that Stanford University celebrates it – every year – with a world-class jazz festival. But though jazz was born in America, its forebears and cousins also will have a share in this year's Stanford Jazz Festival, which begins its 39th six-week season on Friday, June 25, and continues through Aug. 7.
The festival kicks off at 8 p.m. Friday in Dinkelspiel Auditorium with an event that has a distinctly international feel: "A Night of Brazilian Jazz" with Grammy Award-winning vocalist Luciana Souza, guitarist Romero Lubambo and saxophonist Harvey Wainapel and his all-Brazilian jazz quartet Alegritude.
"Most people think that jazz began in New Orleans – but, no, this music began thousands of years ago," says the 84-year-old National Endowment for the Arts master Randy Weston, a Moroccan-based American jazz pianist and composer of Jamaican parentage. The festival will honor jazz's African roots with...
Read More:
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/june/stanford-jazz-festival-062210.html
Michael Max Fleming Quotes
"I still practice, in the hope of continually developing. I practice the things I can do well, and I push myself to find a way to do things different, in a world in which nothing is new under the sun. That’s what I have strived for. That’s called innovation." - Michael Max Fleming
source: Interview with the New York Times (June 23, 2010)
source: Interview with the New York Times (June 23, 2010)
Michael Max Fleming Quotes
I came to New York City in 1963, and the place was really jumping. I worked at the Five Spot with Rahsaan. That’s when they would book two bands playing together for four-week stints. I played with Rahsaan opposite Sonny Rollins. There was a lot of great music in the city then. I didn’t come here to be famous, I came here to play with famous people. There was a time in New York when you could play six days a week, every week of the year. I feel sorry for the younger musicians now, because there’s something to be said about playing every day in front of an audience." - Michael Max Fleming
source: Interview with the New York Times (June 23, 2010)
source: Interview with the New York Times (June 23, 2010)
Michael Max Fleming Quotes
"I started playing the piano at six. I made my television debut at 9 years old on Coco the Clown’s show in Cincinnati, singing “Rag Mop” and accompanying myself on the accordion. Later, I sang doo wop. By the time I was 16, I toured all over the Midwest singing with the Charms." - Michael Max Fleming
source: Interview with the New York Times (June 23, 2010)
source: Interview with the New York Times (June 23, 2010)
Paul Smoker Quotes
"Once I leave the studio I'm ready to do the next thing. There are records I made that I haven't heard." - Paul Smoker
source: Interview with Ron Netsky / Rochester City Newspaper (June 22, 2010)
source: Interview with Ron Netsky / Rochester City Newspaper (June 22, 2010)
Paul Smoker Quotes
"I go down to New York, do the project, and leave. I have no interest in participating in the rat race down there. Hip jazz fans know who I am. There's a generation of musicians in New York who know my records better than I do." - Paul Smoker
source: Interview with Ron Netsky / Rochester City Newspaper (June 22, 2010)
source: Interview with Ron Netsky / Rochester City Newspaper (June 22, 2010)
Paul Smoker Quotes
"I don't really have a career as a jazz musician. I don't really have a career as a classical musician. I don't really have a career as a college professor, and yet I did all those things and I did them well. I put out some records in the 1980's and 1990's that changed the way some trumpet players played." - Paul Smoker
source: Interview with Ron Netsky / Rochester City Newspaper (June 22, 2010)
source: Interview with Ron Netsky / Rochester City Newspaper (June 22, 2010)
Paul Smoker Quotes
"I don't know if the music moves forward anymore. I haven't heard anything for years - except refinement - coming out of the jazz world." - Paul Smoker
source: Interview with Ron Netsky / Rochester City Newspaper (June 22, 2010)
source: Interview with Ron Netsky / Rochester City Newspaper (June 22, 2010)
Paul Smoker Quotes
"I use a lot of double-tonguing [using the tongue to control airflow]; that allows me to play as fast as if I was slurring, but with clean articulation on every note." - Paul Smoker
source: Interview with Ron Netsky / Rochester City Newspaper (June 22, 2010)
source: Interview with Ron Netsky / Rochester City Newspaper (June 22, 2010)
Paul Smoker Quotes
"There was a time, in my early 20s, when I picked up the trumpet and said, ‘I've got to change what I'm doing.' I wasn't putting enough air through the horn. The tone I wanted was bigger than what I had. I was out of control." - Paul Smoker
source: Interview with Ron Netsky / Rochester City Newspaper (June 22, 2010)
source: Interview with Ron Netsky / Rochester City Newspaper (June 22, 2010)
Paul Smoker Quotes
"When I was in high school I made the discovery that if I was playing in a jazz club, and there were black people in the club, if I could get the black people to like what I was doing, I was on the right track. So I began to play to those people because they knew what the authentic music was. I've always had that in the back of my head." - Paul Smoker
source: Interview with Ron Netsky / Rochester City Newspaper (June 22, 2010)
source: Interview with Ron Netsky / Rochester City Newspaper (June 22, 2010)
The Jazz Capital of the World: Festival International de Jazz de Montreal
Montreal has been the summertime jazz capital of the world for the past 31 years as the city opens its arms to music lovers for the annual Festival International de Jazz de Montreal. Fans of the festival - who number well into the millions when you add up the attendance for the past three decades - will tell you that while "jazz" may be in the title, the festival organizers pride themselves on presenting a wide variety of musical acts designed to make sure that there's something for everyone to enjoy during the event.
"Of course, we love jazz music, but it's just as important to step back and look at the different styles of music that have been influenced by jazz, be it rock and blues or world music," said Laurent Saulnier, vice president of programming for the Festival. "We have visitors who don't make plans for the festival until the schedule comes out so they can make sure they see the specific artists that they are interested in, and then we have those people who...
Read More:
http://www.colormagazineusa.com/jazz-festival-intl-de-jazz-de-montreal
"Of course, we love jazz music, but it's just as important to step back and look at the different styles of music that have been influenced by jazz, be it rock and blues or world music," said Laurent Saulnier, vice president of programming for the Festival. "We have visitors who don't make plans for the festival until the schedule comes out so they can make sure they see the specific artists that they are interested in, and then we have those people who...
Read More:
http://www.colormagazineusa.com/jazz-festival-intl-de-jazz-de-montreal
Wendell Logan, Composer of Jazz and Concert Music, Dies at 69
Wendell Logan, a composer of jazz and concert music who more than two decades ago founded the jazz department at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, long a bastion of high-level classical training, died on June 15 in Cleveland. He was 69 and lived in Oberlin, Ohio.
Professor Logan died after a short illness, Marci Janas, a conservatory spokeswoman, said. At his death he was chairman of the jazz studies department and professor of African-American music at the conservatory, which is part of Oberlin College.
Though Oberlin had been turning out world-caliber classical soloists, conductors and orchestral performers for generations, jazz there had long been an extracurricular subject at best.
Professor Logan, who played soprano saxophone and trumpet, joined the faculty in 1973 and began offering jazz classes soon afterward. But it was not until...
Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/arts/music/23logan.html
Professor Logan died after a short illness, Marci Janas, a conservatory spokeswoman, said. At his death he was chairman of the jazz studies department and professor of African-American music at the conservatory, which is part of Oberlin College.
Though Oberlin had been turning out world-caliber classical soloists, conductors and orchestral performers for generations, jazz there had long been an extracurricular subject at best.
Professor Logan, who played soprano saxophone and trumpet, joined the faculty in 1973 and began offering jazz classes soon afterward. But it was not until...
Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/arts/music/23logan.html
Bud Shank Quotes
"One of the big things that was a great help to me, at fifteen or sixteen, was the fact that a lot of black bands came through North Carolina on the road at that time, playing dances for black people only. Some great bands—one of the best I ever remember was Billy Eckstine's band, that had people like Dizzy Gillespie and Dexter Gordon on it. He came through there several times, and there were a few white guys who were permitted to be way up in the top balcony, looking down on the thing. I learned more, I think, from those circumstances than anything else. There were many other bands other than B's band—Ellington, Basie and a lot of lesser–known black bands—but that's the one that always stuck in my mind." - Bud Shank
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
Bud Shank Quotes
"Jazz musicians are making records and working clubs now; guys who, like myself, had been buried during the 'sixties, are coming back out again. A whole bunch of born–again beboppers!" - Bud Shank
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
Bud Shank Quotes
"Ronnie's is quite a delightful club; our early shows have been very well attended, which has made us feel good. The second show, which started about 1.30 a. m., tended to get a little noisy sometimes; in our particular kind of group, that can be disturbing. But these are the things that happen in nightclubs. Other than that, everything has been great. Ronnie and Pete take very good care of the people who work there; all the facilities on and off the stand could not be better. It compares very well with clubs in the States; it's better than a lot of them. And we've had a very nice reception from the people at all times." - Bud Shank
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
Gary Giddins Quotes
"No one in jazz history—including Armstrong, Ellington, Gillespie, Parker, you name him or her—was more universally admired by his brethren." - Gary Giddins (on Benny Carter)
source: The Village Voice (August 20, 2003)
source: The Village Voice (August 20, 2003)
Ben Webster Quotes
"I had the chance to play with Benny 'The King' Carter here in Copenhagen for three days in the Montmartre, and two days in Paris. 'What a Thrill.' He knows so much music, and he is the only person that I get the shakes trying to play my horn behind or with him (smile). However, it was a ball." - Ben Webster
source: A letter to Mary Lou Williams (postmarked: Copenhagen, September 16, 1971)
source: A letter to Mary Lou Williams (postmarked: Copenhagen, September 16, 1971)
Wynton Marsalis Quotes
"He [Benny Carter] is all that every jazz musician the world over wants to be. He's performed 20,000 nights. How many shoes have been shined? How much mascara put on? Rouge? How many of those impossible bowties have been tied? How many love songs have been sung? How many dances have been danced? How many have passed to the sound of his music? It's been said that a man should not be forced to live up to his art. Benny Carter is one of the rare instances when we wonder whether the great art that a man has created can live up to him." - Wynton Marsalis
source: Excerpt from remarks at Kennedy Center Honors program (December 3, 1996)
source: Excerpt from remarks at Kennedy Center Honors program (December 3, 1996)
Bill Clinton Quotes
"From the small clubs of the Harlem Renaissance where he began playing saxophone to world tours for the biggest of the big bands, Benny Carter redefined American jazz. From the start, his fellow musicians said the way he played the sax was amazing. They say that about me, too. (Laughter.) But I don't think they mean it in quite the same way." - Bill Clinton
source: Excerpt from remarks at Kennedy Center Honors reception (December 8, 1996)
source: Excerpt from remarks at Kennedy Center Honors reception (December 8, 1996)
Dizzy Gillespie Quotes
"When I grow up I want to be just like Benny Carter!" - Dizzy Gillespie
source: Concert, Princeton University (November 11, 1979)
source: Concert, Princeton University (November 11, 1979)
Quincy Jones Quotes
"Benny [Carter] opened the eyes of a lot of producers and studios, so that they could understand that you could go to blacks for other things outside of blues and barbecue. He's a total musician. He was the pioneer, he was the foundation. He made it possible for that doubt to be taken away." - Quincy Jones
source: 'Benny Carter: Symphony in Riffs', a film by Harrison Engle, 1991
source: 'Benny Carter: Symphony in Riffs', a film by Harrison Engle, 1991
Ella Fitzgerald Quotes
"He's everything a musician would want to be." - Ella Fitzgerald (on Benny Carter)
source: 'Benny Carter: Symphony in Riffs', a film by Harrison Engle, 1991
source: 'Benny Carter: Symphony in Riffs', a film by Harrison Engle, 1991
Miles Davis Quotes
"Everybody ought to listen to Benny [Carter]. He's a whole musical education." - Miles Davis
source: Interview with Leonard Feather, Down Beat (May 25, 1961)
source: Interview with Leonard Feather, Down Beat (May 25, 1961)
Louis Armstrong Quotes
"You got Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and my man, the Earl of Hines, right? Well, Benny's right up there with all them cats. Everybody that knows who he is calls him 'King.' He is a king! -- Louis Armstrong (on Benny Carter)
source: 'A Call to Assembly' by Willie Ruff, Viking, 1991.
source: 'A Call to Assembly' by Willie Ruff, Viking, 1991.
Duke Ellington Quotes
"The problem of expressing the contributions that Benny Carter has made to popular music is so tremendous it completely fazes me, so extraordinary a musician is he." - Duke Ellington
source: Metronome (November, 1943)
source: Metronome (November, 1943)
Benny Carter Quotes
"In all honesty, I think I just played what I felt was right for me. And I think I would have done the same thing, even if I'd been born later, when Charlie Parker was influencing everybody. The truth is, I never gave it much thought. I just played what I had to play." - Benny Carter
Benny Carter Quotes
"I didn't know Charlie Parker well, but I spent some time with him, and he was articulate and well-spoken with a lot of curiosity about music and the world. But the only way he seems to be depicted is as a junkie. And that's not the full picture." - Benny Carter
Benny Carter Quotes
"And you know, Doc Cheatham could play saxophone too. A lot of people don't know about that. There's also someone down at the University of Miami who made a big-band recording in which he played all the parts, except for the drums." - Benny Carter
Benny Carter Quotes
"I took the eye test and passed it on the spot. Then, when he asked me to sign something, I pulled out my reading glasses." - Benny Carter
Benny Carter Quotes
"At my age, I realize that my most precious possession is time, and I've got too much unfinished work to do to spend even a minute talking about myself." - Benny Carter
Art Pepper Quotes
"I guess it's like James Joyce when he was a kid, you know. He hung out with all the great writers of the day, and he was a little kid, like, with tennis shoes on, and they said 'Look at this lame!' They didn't use those words in those days. They said 'God, here comes this nut.' And he told them, 'I'm great!' And he sat with them, and he loved to be with them, and it ended up that he was great." — Art Pepper
Art Pepper Quotes
"If I have a drink, she [Art's wife, Laurie Pepper] can tell immediately, She'll be sitting at a table or something ... this happened just recently in this club; she was sitting with these friends of mine, I started playing a tune, and all of a sudden she turned round, looked at me, looked back at them and said: "Art's been drinking." And they didn't hear anything different at all than the first set. I played a couple of notes, and she knew. She went up to the bar, asked for the tab, and she saw that I'd had two drinks." - Art Pepper
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
Art Pepper Quotes
"Without (my wife) Laurie, I would never be here right now, I know that. I would either be in a coffin, or stashed away doing a life sentence some place. Or running and hiding some place, if I was still alive. I'm certain I wouldn't be playing music. She's just been perfect for me. And she's a protector also; she protects me from myself, from temptations, and bad associations. She's constantly shielding me from walking the red hot coals of existing as a game." - Art Pepper
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
Art Pepper Quotes
"I tried to stay out of it [drugs] for a long time, knowing what it might do. I think that, in my searching for something—for love, acceptance or whatever it is, to be a real man, to relate to my father, and all those things—going to prison was a help. It was part of my evolution, as a human being and as a musician. I feel that I have much deeper feelings now than I would have had, had I just been a musician all that time, which would have been a very dull existence. You know, I wanted something more than just being thought of as a musician, period. To be labelled 'Art Pepper, musician', period, would just be awful—what a boring life that would be." - Art Pepper
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
Art Pepper Quotes
"I enjoy playing with a big band occasionally, but it's too restricting; you really don't have a chance to stretch out and do what you want to do. Getting that thing of relating to a large band is great experience; I relate much better, though, if it's a small band." - Art Pepper
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
Art Pepper Quotes
"Alto (saxophone) is just a very hard instrument; there's so few people that play it really well. I feel it's the best one, too, now. At first I didn't feel that way; I wanted to be a tenor player. It took a long time for me to feel that alto was the most expressive of the saxophones." - Art Pepper
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
Art Pepper Quotes
"The way so many musicians slavishly imitated Coltrane, that's the way it was with Charlie Parker — only even more so, if that can be imagined. Everyone that I knew changed totally. But they took the worst things of his playing—that harsh sound; it just didn't come off the way they did it. The way he did it was great, Their way wasn't good at all. I just would listen to 'em, say: 'That's a Bird imitator', and that would be it; I would never care to listen to them again." - Art Pepper
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
source: Interview with Les Tomkins (1979)
Thelonious Monk - Blue Monk
Thelonious Monk on piano, Charlie Rouse on tenor. Larry Gales on bass, and Ben Riley on drums.
Bill Crow Quotes
"We sailed to Italy on the Andrea Doria, a year before it sank, and Zoot (Sims) and I played a lot of ping-pong on deck during that trip. Zoot sparked that [Gerry Mulligan's] sextet in an extraordinary way, soloing with joyous abandon and infusing the ensemble parts with his special brand of swing." - Bill Crow
source: Interview with Jazz Profiles (January 17, 2009)
source: Interview with Jazz Profiles (January 17, 2009)
Bill Crow Quotes
"I recorded with Hank (Jones) a number of times, usually on dates where Milt was unavailable, and I thought he was the perfect pianist. He had a beautiful touch, knew all the best ways around the chord changes, and swung mightily. And he brought an air of cheerful competence to every date, making us all feel that it would be possible to make some very good music that day." - Bill Crow
source: Interview with Jazz Profiles (January 17, 2009)
source: Interview with Jazz Profiles (January 17, 2009)
Bill Crow Quotes
"Roger (Kellaway) amazed us all. Blessed with great technique, he could play any style, from ragtime to space music. Whatever style he chose to play at the moment would be filled with wonderful surprises that kept the rest of us continually delighted." - Bill Crow
source: Interview with Jazz Profiles (January 17, 2009)
source: Interview with Jazz Profiles (January 17, 2009)
Bill Crow Quotes
"(Joe) Morello had developed what he called his finger technique, in which he could keep his left stick tapping the drumhead with just the pressure of his left forefinger, and then he could add accents by rotating his wrist at the same time. Sitting with him at a back booth in the Hickory House, where he always had a pair of drumsticks and practiced on a folded napkin on the table, I borrowed a stick and figured out his finger trick, and I could keep it going pretty well. Joe loved to tell admiring students who visited us at the club, “There’s nothing to the finger technique. Anybody can do it. Here, look, even my bass player can do it!” And he would hand me a stick and have me demonstrate." - Bill Crow
source: Interview with Jazz Profiles (January 17, 2009)
source: Interview with Jazz Profiles (January 17, 2009)
Bill Crow Quotes
"My reading was good enough to play big-band charts, but I ran into trouble with Claude (Thornhill)’s theme song “Snowfall,” which had a repeating bass line in D-flat that was very difficult for me to finger using my self-taught technique. I spent one morning figuring out an alternate fingering, and that started me on the way to learning a better use of the fingerboard." - Bill Crow
source: Interview with Jazz Profiles (January 17, 2009)
source: Interview with Jazz Profiles (January 17, 2009)
Stan Getz Quotes
"I never have any trouble playing anything I can think of. The trouble is in thinking of what to play." - Stan Getz
Bill Crow Quotes
"I found a guy in the Bronx who had an old plywood Kay bass that he wanted $75 for. He held it for me, and I gave him a few dollars every time I could scrape some extra money together. Meanwhile I borrowed or rented basses for jam sessions and paying jobs. It was a great thrill when I finally took possession of my Kay." - Bill Crow
source: billcrowbass.com
source: billcrowbass.com
Bill Crow Quotes
"My school music teacher, Al Bennest, introduced me to jazz by playing Louis Armstrong's record of "West End Blues" for me. I found more jazz on the radio, and began looking for records. My paper route money, and later, money I earned working after school in a print shop and a butcher shop went toward buying jazz records. I taught myself the alto saxophone and the drums in order to play in my high school dance band." - Bill Crow
source: billcrowbass.com
source: billcrowbass.com
John Coltrane Quotes
"Tone wise, I would like to be able to produce a more beautiful sound, but now I'm primarily interested in trying to work what I have - what I know - down, into a more lyrical line - that's what I mean by beautiful - more lyrical, so it'll be, you know, easily understood." - John Coltrane
source: Interview with Carl-Erik Lindgren (1960)
source: Interview with Carl-Erik Lindgren (1960)
John Coltrane Quotes
"The reason I play so many sounds, maybe it sounds angry, is because I'm trying so many things at one time, you see? I haven't sorted them out. I have a whole bag of things that I'm trying to work through and get the one essential." - John Coltrane
source: Interview with Carl-Erik Lindgren (1960)
source: Interview with Carl-Erik Lindgren (1960)
Carlos Santana Quotes
"John Coltrane represented getting to the Promised Land without the needle. He took the keys from hell with his sound, telling us that we don't have to do drugs in order to be connected anywhere from the microcosm to the top of the galaxy. He made a different kind of commitment with music." - Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana Quotes
"I've known for a long time that John Coltrane and Bob Marley re-arrange your molecular structure." - Carlos Santana
Reggie Workman Quotes
"You will get the message (of 'A Love Supreme') if you are ready for it, as Hindu philosophy teaches us, if you're not ready for it, you got to go back and prepare and come that way again. OK?" - Reggie Workman
Patti Smith Quotes
"I cant say why it's so popular, but perhaps it fulfills people's need for prayer. 'A Love Supreme' has a feeling of moral authority in the most humble and spiritual way. - Patti Smith
Bono Quotes
"I was at the top of the Grand Hotel in Chicago (on tour 1987) listening to 'a Love Supreme' and learning the lesson of a lifetime. Earlier i had been watching televangelists remake God in their own image: tiny, petty and greedy. I knew from my earliest memories that the world was winding in a direction away from love, and I too was caught in it's drag. There is so much wickedness in this world but beauty is our consolation prize ... the beauty of John Coltrane's reedy voice, it's whispers, it's knowingness, it's sly sexuality, it's praise of creation. And so Coltrane began to make sense to me. I left the music on repeat and I stayed awake listening to a man facing God with the gift of his music." - Bono
Maurice White Quotes
"I remember when 'A Love Supreme' was released - I heard it at a friends house. Man, it was incredible. That record sounded different than the rest. I was trying to gather my spirituality together, trying to get an understanding of life ... I felt [John] Coltrane was the first musician who made a transition from one side to the other." - Maurice White (of 'Earth, Wind and Fire')
Robby Kreiger Quotes
"The chords in ‘Light My Fire’ are based on [John] Coltrane’s version of this song. He just solos over A minor and B minor, which is exactly what we did. Coltrane had played with Miles on Kind of Blue and took the idea of modal soloing over one or two chords farther out than anybody. He was a real pioneer - he just kept evolving, going where no one had ever gone. He could always attain this state of ecstasy when he played. Live, there was so much energy, you couldn’t believe it. He would play for hours. It was indescribable." - Robby Kreiger (guitarist of 'The Doors')
Carlos Santana Quotes
"John Coltrane is still probably one of the greatest musicians of this century. His tone truly puts demons on a leash. His gift is directly from the mind of God and is very powerful. ..... The first time I heard A Love Supreme, it was really an assault. It could've been from mars as far as i was concerned, or another galaxy. I remember the album cover and the name, but the music didn't fit into the patterns of my brain at that point. It was like someone trying to tell a monkey about spirituality or computers, you know, it just didn't compute." - Carlos Santana
Sam Andrew Quotes
"I took LSD and listened to Coltrane a lot; a lot of people did." - Sam Andrew (guitarist and founding member of Janis Joplin's Big Brother & the Holding Company)
