Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.
Guitar Prodigy Julian Lage Finds His Sweet Spot With 'Arclight'
↧
↧
Henry Threadgill Doubles Up On 'Old Locks And Irregular Verbs'
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.
↧
Jazz Legend Sonny Rollins Revisits Past Performances With 'Holding The Stage'
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.
↧
Power Trio Mixes Old And New, And The Result Is 'Perfection'
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.
↧
Ralph Peterson Proves We're In A Golden Age Of Jazz Piano Trios
Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
↧
↧
Kindred Spirits Cuong Vu And Pat Metheny Come Together In A New Jazz Album
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.
↧
Jazz Drummer Matt Wilson's 'Big Happy Family' Is Heartfelt And Harmonious
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.
↧
Jazz Legend Allen Toussaint's Touch And Timing Shine On His Last Record
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.
↧
Jazz Pianist Dan Cray's 'Outside In' Features Slow Tempos, Meandering Melodies
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.
↧
↧
The Enduring Musical Influence Of Electric Guitarist Charlie Christian
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. This Friday marks the centennial of the birth of electric guitarist Charlie Christian, who was one of the most influential musicians of the last century. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead has this appreciation. (SOUNDBITE OF CHARLIE CHRISTIAN SONG) KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Charlie Christian was the single-greatest influence on the signature 20th century instrument, the electric guitar, even though he died at age 25 and did all his recording in under two years. He made most of his records in Benny Goodman's sextet, where he competed for space with other good soloists. In that band, he took beautifully crafted 30-second improvisations, serving up fresh variations on every take of a tune. (SOUNDBITE OF CHARLIE CHRISTIAN SONG) WHITEHEAD: Charlie Christian had started on ukulele as a little kid in Oklahoma City and crossed paths early with Lester Young. That saxophonist profoundly influenced the guitarist
↧
'Unheard Bird' Gives Fresh Insight Into Charlie Parker's Musical Genius
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.DAVE DAVIES, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. Alto saxophonist Charlie Parker, nicknamed Bird, was one of the single most influential jazz musicians. Critic Kevin Whitehead says it wasn't just other horn players who started phrasing like him, pianists, drummers and everyone else did too. Now a batch of previously unknown Parker performances from 1949 to '52 is out. Here's Kevin's review. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AN OSCAR FOR TREADWELL: INCOMPLETE 411-2") CHARLIE PARKER: On the down beat two, three. Yeah, OK. KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Charlie Parker on alto saxophone from "Unheard Bird: The Unissued Takes" on Verve. This new batch of Parker scraps and alternate takes has kicked up a spirited debate among jazz watchers. Do they reveal anything new about a great musician who's already so extensively documented? For other fans, the reaction is less complicated. You mean 60 years after he died, now we have more Charlie Parker? (SOUNDBITE OF CHARLIE
↧
New Releases Capture 'Inimitable' Tenor Saxophonist In His Neglected '70s Prime
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.DAVE DAVIES, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. The late tenor saxophonist Teddy Edwards, who was based in Los Angeles, was the rare musician to record with both trumpet giant Clifford Brown and singer Tom Waits. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says Edwards could be equally hair-raising playing uptempo or lingering over a ballad. Kevin reviews two Edwards reissues from the 1970s. (SOUNDBITE OF TEDDY EDWARDS COMPOSITION) KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Teddy Edwards in 1976. Decades earlier, Edwards was one of the very first bebop tenor saxophonists. He had switched over from the smaller, quicker alto and always made the bigger horn move. Edwards had so many strengths on tenor. It's a cinch he'd have had a bigger career if he'd wanted to live in New York. When he went there to record his quartet album, "The Inimitable Teddy Edwards," he showed the New Yorkers his stuff. Edwards mixed awesome technique and irresistably slinky phrases. He played something
↧
'Musical Monsters' Revisits A 1980 Concert By Cornet Player Don Cherry
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. A 1980 concert recording by the late cornet player Don Cherry has just been released. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says by 1980, Cherry had led a couple of jazz lives as the brass-playing alter ego for saxophonist Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler and as an international pied piper, mixing it up with players everywhere from Scandinavia to Turkey. That 1980 concert surrounded him with colleagues from Denmark and Switzerland. Here's Kevin's review. KEVIN WHITEHEAD: The five improvisors were in a playful mood when they convened at a Swiss festival in 1980. They included Don Cherry, the vagabond American trumpeter who was reunited with his old colleague, the Congolese Danish saxophonist John Tchicai. And Tchicai had a reunion with another occasional ally, the Swiss pianist Irene Schweizer. Much of the music they made that day was collectively improvised but laced with a few catchy tunes and some of
↧
↧
Jim Black's Trio Comes Into Its Own With A Lovely, 'Constant' Album
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. In the 1990s, Jim Black was one of the busiest drummers in New York's downtown jazz scene playing behind saxophonist Tim Byrne and Ellery Eskelin and trumpeter Dave Douglas, among many others, and in the co-operative band Human Feel. Later, he began leading his own groups. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says Jim Black's current trio packs a punch. (SOUNDBITE OF JIM BLACK TRIO SONG, "BLACK: CHINCHILLA") KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: The Jim Black Trio's mix of big beats and accessible melodies owe something to the Bad Plus, one of the most influential jazz bands around who incidentally are still going strong with a new album of their own. But when the guys in that trio were coming up, drummer Jim Black was already slipping rockish beats under the jazz bands he played in. He gave those groups a distinctive jittery energy. (SOUNDBITE OF JIM BLACK TRIO SONG, "SONG H") WHITEHEAD: With their third album "The
↧
Two New Records Showcase The Range Of Jazz Drummer Andrew Cyrille
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. Andrew Cyrille is a particularly versatile jazz drummer who came up swinging behind Coleman Hawkins and Mary Lou Williams and then played free jazz with Cecil Taylor. Cyrille has led his own bands and percussion ensembles and has explored the rhythms of Haiti and played in duos that blur the sound of drums and electronics. Andrew Cyrille has two new albums out. Our jazz critic Kevin Whitehead has a review. (SOUNDBITE OF ANDREW CYRILLE QUARTET COMPOSITION, "FABULA") KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Andrew Cyrille with tenor saxophone Bill McHenry from their duo album "Proximity." The drummer contains multitudes and two contrasting new records on different labels only hint at his range. "Proximity" is all about the drums and their melodic potential, and we'll get back to it. Cyrille's other album, for quartet, is more about atmospheres and soundscapes where you can't always tell who's playing what. That
↧
Wadada Leo Smith Celebrates The Centennial Of America's National Parks
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air.TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. Our jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says five decades after Wadada Leo Smith began recording, the trumpeter and composer is having his moment with a Pulitzer nomination three years ago and a bounty of institutional support. Smith's Golden Quintet is both a jazz band and a chamber ensemble. Their new album is called "America's National Parks." Here's Kevin's review. (SOUNDBITE OF WADADA LEO SMITH COMPOSITION, "THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER: DARK AND DEEP DREAMS FLOW THE RIVER - A NATIONAL MEMORIAL PARK C. 5000 BC") KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Wadada Leo Smith came up in Chicago as part of a group of African-American composers, including Muhal Richard Abrams and Anthony Braxton. Mostly trained in jazz, they drew on and sometimes floated between the languages of improvised and modern composed music. They didn't care if the classical establishment found them naive or if jazz watchdogs accused them of watering
↧
Mary Halvorson Leaves Some Room For Weirdness In 'Away With You'
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air . TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. Three years ago, the prolific guitarist Mary Halvorson put out a CD by a seven-piece band. Their follow up is for the same lineup plus one new member. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says much as he liked that previous album, this new arrival really shakes things up. (SOUNDBITE OF MARY HALVORSON OCTET SONG, "AWAY WITH YOU - NO 55") KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Guitarist Mary Halvorson's octet sounding like it's playing a last page from the Burt Bacharach songbook. That's the title tune from Halvorson's album "Away With You," where there's a new snap to her music. The catalyst is a musician new to her circle, Susan Alcorn, a leading exponent of the pedal steel guitar in improvised music. Halvorson selflessly gives her all the best lines. (SOUNDBITE OF MARY HALVORSON OCTET SONG, "SPIRIT SPLITTER - NO 54") WHITEHEAD: Pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn played in country bands in East Texas early on and
↧
↧
Remembering The Jazz Greats Who Died In 2016
Copyright 2016 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air . TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. We lost some great jazz musicians this year including singers Ernestine Anderson and Kay Starr, saxophonists Gato Barbieri and Joe Temperley, pianists Connie Crothers and Sir Charles Thompson, clarinetist Pete Fountain, flutist Jeremy Steig, harmonica player Toots Thielemans. Our jazz critic Kevin Whitehead remembers a few other musicians who died this year. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG) KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson in 1963 with Bob Cranshaw on bass recorded by engineer Rudy Van Gelder. We lost all three of them in 2016 - Hutcherson, one of the grand masters of the vibes, Bob Cranshaw, Sonny Rollins' longtime bassist of choice and Rudy Van Gelder who over five decades recorded more classic jazz albums than anyone at his home studios in New Jersey. Bobby Hutcherson could sound radically clanky early on with Eric Dolphy, though he spent more time exploring the vibe's fluid
↧
BassDrumBone Marks 40 Years Of Playing Together With 'The Long Road'
Copyright 2017 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air . TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. Trombonist Ray Anderson, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Gerry Hemingway first played together as a trio in 1977. That band came to be called BassDrumBone. The trio is still at it and has a new double album. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says this group still delivers. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG) KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: The trio BassDrumBone has been playing together 40 years, but they don't play together all the time. They're less like old married people than friends from school days who vacation together, reverting to old roles even as they show how they'd grown. It makes for a richer if instantly comfortable conversation. It's great to hear the interactive drummer Gerry Hemingway react to and provoke trombonist Ray Anderson. They know each other's timing. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG) WHITEHEAD: In this trio without piano, bassist Mark Helias minds the structures, plays little background melodies and brings
↧
'Jumpin' At The Woodside' Catches Count Basie And His Band Honing Their Art
Copyright 2017 Fresh Air. To see more, visit Fresh Air . TERRY GROSS, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. Count Basie's band from Kansas City reached New York in December of 1936. Musicians took note immediately. But the general public took a little longer. Basie's big break came in July 1938 when the band started broadcasting from the 52nd Street club The Famous Door. Music from those broadcasts makes up half of a new sampler of live Basie from that period. Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead says it's choice. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SENT FOR YOU YESTERDAY") JIMMY RUSHING: (Singing) Sent for you yesterday, baby, here you come today. Sent for you yesterday, baby, here you come today. Baby, you can't love me and treat me that way. KEVIN WHITEHEAD, BYLINE: Vocalist Jimmy Rushing with Count Basie's band in 1939. Nobody ever sounded jollier singing the blues, and no band sounded happier playing it. Basie specialized in the brand of blues that laughs at trouble. The music's exceptional buoyancy stem from a four
↧
More Pages to Explore .....
