Nicknames decorate the jazz landscape. Some were titles bestowed in admiration: ‘King’ Joe Oliver, Lester ‘Pres’ Young, ‘Duke’ Ellington, ‘Count’ Basie, Billie ‘Lady Day’ Holiday. Then there were the monickers affectionately rooted in physical appearance: Louis ‘Satchmo’ (contraction of ‘Satchelmouth’) [...]
Two master clarinettists commanded the big band scene during the Swing Era. The first was Benny Goodman who’d been anointed ‘King Of Swing’ at the height of his fame by Time magazine in 1937. The second was Artie Shaw (see [...]
In my opinion, the most romantic track in all of jazz also has the word ‘dust’ in the title. Let me explain. It all began in the 1920s with a Midwesterner, Hoagy (short for ‘Hoagland’) Howard Carmichael, who financed his [...]
What do these tracks (spoiler alert: that’s a clue) have in common? Robert Johnson’s ‘Honky Tonk Train Blues,Louis Jordan’s ‘Choo-Choo Ch’Boogie’, Louis Armstrong’s ‘2:19 Blues’, Bessie Smith’s ‘Trouble In Mind’, Count Basie’s ‘9:20 Special’, Thelonious Monk’s ‘Little Rootie Tootie’, John [...]
Incidents occur and myths multiply. Some time ago, while reviewing the highly rewarding Don Byas Mosaic collection, I mentioned a memorable session when a high-powered group was booked to accompany a low-powered blues singer that, over the decades, has grown [...]
Shirley Horn, who blended fine jazz piano with spine-tingling ballad interpretation, was born in 1934 and started music studies aged four. But, because she spent a significant chunk of her career working clubs around her native Washington D.C., her career [...]
Massive confession: even though generations of jazz (and not a few distinguished classical) pianists have worshipped Art Tatum as the God of the Keyboard, I find that, after lengthy exposure to solo exhibitions of superhuman ability, Rococo ornamentation, repeated glissandi [...]
Last week, this column tried to placate the ‘mini-beef’ (his words) of a slightly disgruntled critic who felt that using the word ‘dust’ disrespected all the jazz of the past. But he also added (and I quote) “There is currently [...]
“I’m attempting to uncover generations of neglect by introducing individual gems and providing a touch of context to an audience who might have a predisposition to listening.” Len writes: Last week I received a message from our esteemed Editor. It [...]
At first sight, a disparate line-up, a stylistic hodge podge. From Stan Kenton’s ‘progressive jazz’ orchestra,bassist Eddie Safranski and Danish trombonist Kai Winding. Then add Teddy Wilson, the elegantly mannered pianist who formed one-third of the Benny Goodman Trio. Then [...]
