Sunday, December 20, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Tony Williams article
Peter S. from the U.K. brought my attention to this older article on Tony Wiliams. Enjoy the read!
Friday, December 18, 2009
Miles From India
Here's the concert, direct recording on HD of the radio broadcast and brought to you in FLAC...
Enjoy!
Miles From India
Cité de la Musique, Salle des concerts
November 2nd 2009
RB
France Musique 17.12.2009
1. Intro Radio Ann.
2. All Blues
3. Ann R.M.
4. IASW
5. So What
6. Blue In Green
7. Ife
8. Jean Pierre
9. Ann & crowd
10. Encore Miles runs the Voodo down
11. Radio outro
Nicholas Payton , Trompette
John Beasley, Clavier
Adam Holzman, Clavier
Rudresh Mahanthappa, Saxophone
Darryl Jones, Contrebasse
Badal Roy, Tabla
U. Shrinivas, Mandoline
Ndugu Chancler, Batterie
Vince Wilburn, Batterie
V. Selvaganesh, Khanjira
V. K. Raman flûte, Voix
Anantha Krishnan, Mridangam
Links are in the comments section !
Enjoy!
Miles From India
Cité de la Musique, Salle des concerts
November 2nd 2009
RB
France Musique 17.12.2009
1. Intro Radio Ann.
2. All Blues
3. Ann R.M.
4. IASW
5. So What
6. Blue In Green
7. Ife
8. Jean Pierre
9. Ann & crowd
10. Encore Miles runs the Voodo down
11. Radio outro
Nicholas Payton , Trompette
John Beasley, Clavier
Adam Holzman, Clavier
Rudresh Mahanthappa, Saxophone
Darryl Jones, Contrebasse
Badal Roy, Tabla
U. Shrinivas, Mandoline
Ndugu Chancler, Batterie
Vince Wilburn, Batterie
V. Selvaganesh, Khanjira
V. K. Raman flûte, Voix
Anantha Krishnan, Mridangam
Links are in the comments section !
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Miles From India
This evening at 20.00 PM France Musique will broadcast the following concert :
Miles from India
Concert donné le 2 novembre 2009 à la Cité de la Musique, Salle des concerts
Nicholas Payton , Trompette
John Beasley, Clavier
Adam Holzman, Clavier
Rudresh Mahanthappa, Saxophone
Darryl Jones, Contrebasse
Badal Roy, Tabla
U. Shrinivas, Mandoline
Ndugu Chancler, Batterie
Vince Wilburn, Batterie
V. Selvaganesh, Khanjira
V. K. Raman flûte, Voix
Anantha Krishnan, Mridangam
Miles from India
Concert donné le 2 novembre 2009 à la Cité de la Musique, Salle des concerts
Nicholas Payton , Trompette
John Beasley, Clavier
Adam Holzman, Clavier
Rudresh Mahanthappa, Saxophone
Darryl Jones, Contrebasse
Badal Roy, Tabla
U. Shrinivas, Mandoline
Ndugu Chancler, Batterie
Vince Wilburn, Batterie
V. Selvaganesh, Khanjira
V. K. Raman flûte, Voix
Anantha Krishnan, Mridangam
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
House honors Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue"
Miles Davis
House honors Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue"
Dec. 15, 2009, 2:28 PM EST
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fifty years after jazz legend Miles Davis recorded "Kind of Blue," the House voted Tuesday to honor the landmark album's contribution to the genre.
Davis collaborated on the record with saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb.
Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat who sponsored the measure, H.Res.894, said the group "made musical history and changed the artistic landscape of this country and in some ways the world." The resolution recognizing the album's 50th anniversary passed on a 409-0 vote.
Columbia Records released the album in August 1959. The original album — only 37 minutes — had a huge impact that extended beyond jazz to other types of music — from rock musicians such as the Allman Brothers and Carlos Santana to minimalist composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass.
Davis, one of the greatest trumpeters in jazz history, died of a stroke in 1991 at age 65. He was renowned for morphing his cool jazz into fusion and experimental sounds that later gave way to jazz funk and hip-hop grooves. Cobb is the only musician from the "Kind of Blue" sessions who is still alive.
House honors Miles Davis' "Kind of Blue"
Dec. 15, 2009, 2:28 PM EST
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Fifty years after jazz legend Miles Davis recorded "Kind of Blue," the House voted Tuesday to honor the landmark album's contribution to the genre.
Davis collaborated on the record with saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, pianists Bill Evans and Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers and drummer Jimmy Cobb.
Rep. John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat who sponsored the measure, H.Res.894, said the group "made musical history and changed the artistic landscape of this country and in some ways the world." The resolution recognizing the album's 50th anniversary passed on a 409-0 vote.
Columbia Records released the album in August 1959. The original album — only 37 minutes — had a huge impact that extended beyond jazz to other types of music — from rock musicians such as the Allman Brothers and Carlos Santana to minimalist composers like Steve Reich and Philip Glass.
Davis, one of the greatest trumpeters in jazz history, died of a stroke in 1991 at age 65. He was renowned for morphing his cool jazz into fusion and experimental sounds that later gave way to jazz funk and hip-hop grooves. Cobb is the only musician from the "Kind of Blue" sessions who is still alive.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
A quote by René Magritte
"We mustn't fear daylight just because it almost always illuminates a miserable world."
"Il ne faut pas craindre la lumière du soleil sous prétexte qu'elle n'a presque toujours servi qu'à éclairer un monde misérable"
René Magritte
"Il ne faut pas craindre la lumière du soleil sous prétexte qu'elle n'a presque toujours servi qu'à éclairer un monde misérable"
René Magritte
Monday, December 14, 2009
A whole night of Dave Brubeck on France Musique
As they did for Wayne Shorter and Miles Davis recently (and earlier on for Trane, Chet,..) France Musique spends tonight a whole night with Dave Brubeck. You can find more info here. It's possible i'll record it, don't know yet. It starts at 01.00 A.M. and lasts until 07.00 A.M.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
ROIO OF THE WEEK : Marcus Miller NSJF, 2002
I recorded this in the early days of my 2nd radio recording career;-). A Marcus Miller show from the North Sea Jazz Fesitval, The Hague in 2002. It's a radio broadcast as far as i may remember, or possoibly a soundrip from a tv broadcast. Anwyay decent sound after all. I thought it fits perfectly with the 'We want Miles' expo in Paris and the concerts Marcus Miller is doin here in Europe these days.
Links are at its usual place.
Enjoy!
Marcus Miller
NSJF, The Hague
00.07.2002
RB/TB? -) EAC -) HD -) FLAC
1. So What
2. Ann.
3. Lonnie's Lament
4. Killing me Softly
5. When Your Life Is Low
6. Tutu
Marcus Miller el. b.
Michael Stewart tp
Lalah Hathaway voc on 4 & 5
Dean Brown g
Poogie Bell ds
Roger Byam sax
Bruce Flowers keyb
Links are at its usual place.
Enjoy!
Marcus Miller
NSJF, The Hague
00.07.2002
RB/TB? -) EAC -) HD -) FLAC
1. So What
2. Ann.
3. Lonnie's Lament
4. Killing me Softly
5. When Your Life Is Low
6. Tutu
Marcus Miller el. b.
Michael Stewart tp
Lalah Hathaway voc on 4 & 5
Dean Brown g
Poogie Bell ds
Roger Byam sax
Bruce Flowers keyb
Saturday, December 12, 2009
We Want Miles article by George Cole
The Guardian published a review of the 'We Want Miles' expo written by 'The Last Miles' author George Cole. Enjoy the read!
Empress Josephine: The woman who taught France to drink
Empress Josephine: The woman who taught France to drink By John Lichfield
10:30 AM Thursday Dec 10, 2009
An exhibition at Paris' Chateau de Malmaison (pictured) examines the role Napoleon Bonaparte's first wife, the Empress Josephine, had in changing France's wine tastes. Photo / Wikimedia Commons image from user Wabill
When Marie-Josephe-Rose de Tascher de La Pagerie died in 1814, she left a heap of unpaid bills and a golden legacy to social historians.
Marie-Josephe-Rose, better known as the Empress Josephine, the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, was, among other things, a great connoisseur and collector of clothes, and an innovative gardener and botanist.
The written inventory of her final possessions in her chateau west of Paris has inspired learned studies and exhibitions on subjects as varied as the fashion trends and gardening styles of the early 19th century.
Josephine was also a celebrated hostess and, although not a great drinker, a great collector of wine.
The official inventory of her possessions at her death includes more than 13,000 bottles of wine from all over the world, from the Cape to Hungary to Champagne.
Study of her 1814 "wine list" reveals something that may seem unsurprising but was, at that time, extraordinary. Almost half of her bottles and barrels came from vineyards around Bordeaux.
Most of them, though little-known in France at that time, would later come to be recognised as among the greatest names in wine: the four "top" Medoc chateaux of Latour, Lafite, Margaux and Haut-Brion.
At the time of the Revolution 25 years earlier, the wine cellars of King Louis XVI had contained not a single bottle from the vineyards of south-west France. In aristocratic French society in the 18th century, Burgundy and Champagne reigned supreme.
Bordeaux was regarded as fit mostly for the English (who had been stubborn lovers of claret, or red Bordeaux wine, for four centuries).
Was the Empress Josephine a precursor of the great switch in French wine tastes which allowed the vineyards of Bordeaux, and especially the great chateaux of the Medoc, to emerge by the mid-19th century as the most prized wines in France and the world?
This is one of the subjects explored in an entertaining exhibition, La Cave de Josephine (Josephine's Cellar), which has started at the Chateau de Malmaison, west of Paris. It was here that Josephine lived for the last 15 years of her life, and died in June 1814, aged 50.
The exhibition, which will move to Germany and Italy next year, also examines other changes in the art de vivre of the French nobility which followed the fall of the monarchy.
Before the Revolution, an aristocratic French dinner-party was a kind of immense, stand-up buffet in which all dishes were served at once. Wine glasses were kept on trays by servants and topped up as required.
After the revolution, France gradually adopted the "Russian" style, now universal, of serving different, sit-down courses one after another.
Wine glasses began, finally, to be placed permanently on the table. These changes were driven partly by the post-Revolutionary dearth of legions of ill-paid servants.
France had also finally cracked the "industrial secret" of how to make crystal wine glasses, something previously known only to the British.
Elisabeth Caude, the joint curator of the exhibition, and joint curator of the chateau itself, says the Empress Josephine did not originate these shifts in the style of French dining but she did become one of their most celebrated exponents.
The Chateau de Malmaison, when bought by Napoleon and Josephine in 1799, was in wooded, open countryside beside one of the great loops of the river Seine west of Paris.
The site has now been enveloped by the suburban sprawl of the French capital but the chateau has been restored by the French state and looks, inside and out, much as it did in 1814.
When Napoleon divorced Josephine in 1809, he gave her the building and its contents. Josephine retained the title of Empress and maintained a kind of second imperial court. Hence her well-stocked wine cellar and her debts.
The new exhibition provides an entertaining insight into Josephine's life in Malmaison but also offers a freeze-frame of a pivotal moment in the history of wine.
In the late 18th century, two-thirds of all the vines planted in the world were in France. Domestic French tastes were dominated by white wine, mostly sweet, and by wine from Burgundy and Champagne.
The Emperor Napoleon was something of an exception. He would drank only Chambertin, a wonderful red wine from Burgundy which he insisted - following the habit of the times - in drowning in iced water.
How then did the cellar of the Empress Josephine, a dedicated follower and maker of fashion, contain so many barrels and bottles of unfashionable Bordeaux? How did it come to be dominated by red wine, rather than white?
The exhibition has borrowed huge, dusty ledgers from, among other places, the Chateau Latour in Medoc, showing the Empress Josephine's wine orders inscribed in ornate hand-writing.
It displays, among other things, the beautiful, porcelain labels which were hung around the necks of wine bottles before paper stick-on labels became common.
Of the 13,286 bottles of wine in her collection, no less than 5,973 came from Bordeaux. Only 419 (and one half) bottles came from Burgundy.
"Partly, you have to put those figures in perspective," Ms Caude said.
"We know there had been a great deal of entertaining just before Josephine's death. It is likely that the stocks of Burgundy and Champagne had been run down and were waiting to be replenished."
All the same, she says, the presence of so much Bordeaux, and not just any Bordeaux, is intriguing. The Napoleonic wars had cut off the traditional, British markets of the Bordeaux negociants, or traders.
One of Josephine's "knights of honour" and the manager of her household was Andre Bonnin de la Bonniniere, the Marquis of Beaumont. He was also the co-proprietor of the Chateau Latour vineyard in Medoc.
"It is obvious Bordeaux was desperate, at that time, to find new markets in France," Ms Caude said.
"One can also presume that the Marquis de Beaumont influenced Josephine's wine purchases, in an attempt to introduce the best kinds of Bordeaux to the imperial court and, therefore, to leading French society.
"But Josephine was also a woman of great character and great taste. She would certainly not have served her guests wine that she hadn't, herself, tasted and approved of. We can, therefore, say Josephine, as a leading figure in the new Imperial society of the early 1800s, did point the way to a change in the French taste in wine, which, by mid-19th century, had enthusiastically embraced Bordeaux."
The rest is oenological history. The days when British wine-lovers had the best Bordeaux chateaux to themselves have long gone.
The Empress Josephine died of pneumonia, after she wore a fashionably light gown outside on a chilly day. She was taking the Tsar of Russia on a tour of her famous gardens at the time.
She would have done better to stay inside and introduce him to her wine collection.
- INDEPENDENT
By John Lichfield
10:30 AM Thursday Dec 10, 2009
An exhibition at Paris' Chateau de Malmaison (pictured) examines the role Napoleon Bonaparte's first wife, the Empress Josephine, had in changing France's wine tastes. Photo / Wikimedia Commons image from user Wabill
When Marie-Josephe-Rose de Tascher de La Pagerie died in 1814, she left a heap of unpaid bills and a golden legacy to social historians.
Marie-Josephe-Rose, better known as the Empress Josephine, the first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, was, among other things, a great connoisseur and collector of clothes, and an innovative gardener and botanist.
The written inventory of her final possessions in her chateau west of Paris has inspired learned studies and exhibitions on subjects as varied as the fashion trends and gardening styles of the early 19th century.
Josephine was also a celebrated hostess and, although not a great drinker, a great collector of wine.
The official inventory of her possessions at her death includes more than 13,000 bottles of wine from all over the world, from the Cape to Hungary to Champagne.
Study of her 1814 "wine list" reveals something that may seem unsurprising but was, at that time, extraordinary. Almost half of her bottles and barrels came from vineyards around Bordeaux.
Most of them, though little-known in France at that time, would later come to be recognised as among the greatest names in wine: the four "top" Medoc chateaux of Latour, Lafite, Margaux and Haut-Brion.
At the time of the Revolution 25 years earlier, the wine cellars of King Louis XVI had contained not a single bottle from the vineyards of south-west France. In aristocratic French society in the 18th century, Burgundy and Champagne reigned supreme.
Bordeaux was regarded as fit mostly for the English (who had been stubborn lovers of claret, or red Bordeaux wine, for four centuries).
Was the Empress Josephine a precursor of the great switch in French wine tastes which allowed the vineyards of Bordeaux, and especially the great chateaux of the Medoc, to emerge by the mid-19th century as the most prized wines in France and the world?
This is one of the subjects explored in an entertaining exhibition, La Cave de Josephine (Josephine's Cellar), which has started at the Chateau de Malmaison, west of Paris. It was here that Josephine lived for the last 15 years of her life, and died in June 1814, aged 50.
The exhibition, which will move to Germany and Italy next year, also examines other changes in the art de vivre of the French nobility which followed the fall of the monarchy.
Before the Revolution, an aristocratic French dinner-party was a kind of immense, stand-up buffet in which all dishes were served at once. Wine glasses were kept on trays by servants and topped up as required.
After the revolution, France gradually adopted the "Russian" style, now universal, of serving different, sit-down courses one after another.
Wine glasses began, finally, to be placed permanently on the table. These changes were driven partly by the post-Revolutionary dearth of legions of ill-paid servants.
France had also finally cracked the "industrial secret" of how to make crystal wine glasses, something previously known only to the British.
Elisabeth Caude, the joint curator of the exhibition, and joint curator of the chateau itself, says the Empress Josephine did not originate these shifts in the style of French dining but she did become one of their most celebrated exponents.
The Chateau de Malmaison, when bought by Napoleon and Josephine in 1799, was in wooded, open countryside beside one of the great loops of the river Seine west of Paris.
The site has now been enveloped by the suburban sprawl of the French capital but the chateau has been restored by the French state and looks, inside and out, much as it did in 1814.
When Napoleon divorced Josephine in 1809, he gave her the building and its contents. Josephine retained the title of Empress and maintained a kind of second imperial court. Hence her well-stocked wine cellar and her debts.
The new exhibition provides an entertaining insight into Josephine's life in Malmaison but also offers a freeze-frame of a pivotal moment in the history of wine.
In the late 18th century, two-thirds of all the vines planted in the world were in France. Domestic French tastes were dominated by white wine, mostly sweet, and by wine from Burgundy and Champagne.
The Emperor Napoleon was something of an exception. He would drank only Chambertin, a wonderful red wine from Burgundy which he insisted - following the habit of the times - in drowning in iced water.
How then did the cellar of the Empress Josephine, a dedicated follower and maker of fashion, contain so many barrels and bottles of unfashionable Bordeaux? How did it come to be dominated by red wine, rather than white?
The exhibition has borrowed huge, dusty ledgers from, among other places, the Chateau Latour in Medoc, showing the Empress Josephine's wine orders inscribed in ornate hand-writing.
It displays, among other things, the beautiful, porcelain labels which were hung around the necks of wine bottles before paper stick-on labels became common.
Of the 13,286 bottles of wine in her collection, no less than 5,973 came from Bordeaux. Only 419 (and one half) bottles came from Burgundy.
"Partly, you have to put those figures in perspective," Ms Caude said.
"We know there had been a great deal of entertaining just before Josephine's death. It is likely that the stocks of Burgundy and Champagne had been run down and were waiting to be replenished."
All the same, she says, the presence of so much Bordeaux, and not just any Bordeaux, is intriguing. The Napoleonic wars had cut off the traditional, British markets of the Bordeaux negociants, or traders.
One of Josephine's "knights of honour" and the manager of her household was Andre Bonnin de la Bonniniere, the Marquis of Beaumont. He was also the co-proprietor of the Chateau Latour vineyard in Medoc.
"It is obvious Bordeaux was desperate, at that time, to find new markets in France," Ms Caude said.
"One can also presume that the Marquis de Beaumont influenced Josephine's wine purchases, in an attempt to introduce the best kinds of Bordeaux to the imperial court and, therefore, to leading French society.
"But Josephine was also a woman of great character and great taste. She would certainly not have served her guests wine that she hadn't, herself, tasted and approved of. We can, therefore, say Josephine, as a leading figure in the new Imperial society of the early 1800s, did point the way to a change in the French taste in wine, which, by mid-19th century, had enthusiastically embraced Bordeaux."
The rest is oenological history. The days when British wine-lovers had the best Bordeaux chateaux to themselves have long gone.
The Empress Josephine died of pneumonia, after she wore a fashionably light gown outside on a chilly day. She was taking the Tsar of Russia on a tour of her famous gardens at the time.
She would have done better to stay inside and introduce him to her wine collection.
- INDEPENDENT
By John Lichfield
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Sonny Rollins at The Kennedy Center
Source :
By Sriram Gopal in Arts and Events on December 3, 2009
During the 1960s, a great debate among jazz aficionados was over who was the better saxophonist, John Coltrane or Sonny Rollins. A fool's errand, really, as they had completely different approaches to music. Both were master technicians who could run the gamut, from aggressive to serene. Coltrane's playing had a deeper spirituality, while Rollins was the more mischievous, always playing with a witty edge. And while 'Trane's group was probably more groundbreaking, Sonny deserves a great deal of credit for his sheer longevity and high quality output over a 50+ year career. Few jazzers of his generation remain, making the 79-year-old saxophonist an artistic treasure, and totally deserving of the standing ovation that greeted him as he took the Concert Hall stage last night at the Kennedy Center.
Though walking with a bit of a hobble due to age, any sign of frailty disappeared the second Rollins brought the horn to his mouth. Opening with and uptempo swinger, he prowled about the stage, upper body bobbing back and forth, like a prize fighter throwing musical jabs at each of his bandmates. His tone was as powerful as ever, and the elder was the only band member who did not take a seat for the duration of his two-hour, two-set performance. Time has also not diminished Rollins's stylish flair. Always known for being one of the cleanest cats on the scene, yesterday he was looking quite dapper, with his hair slicked back while sporting a white blazer, dark pants, and his trademark sunglasses. Rollins even changed during intermission, returning to the stage with an equally eye-catching bright red shirt.
The evening's heartwarming moment came just before the band performed the ballad, "Cabin in the Sky," the title song to the 1943 picture starring the wonderful Lena Horne. Rollins recalled seeing the picture as a youngster at a movie theater in Annapolis, while on a trip to the nearby Carr's Beach and Sparrow's Beach, waterfront spots available to African-Americans during segregation. Rollins went on to tell a story of how he saw a big band while at the beach, and was heartbroken to see his crush sitting on the bandstand. But that same concert also planted the seed of his love of jazz, something he remembers, he said, every time he plays in this area. The song itself featured a soulful trombone solo from Clifton Anderson, who also shined on a moving tribute to J.J. Johnson, the trombonist who gave Rollins one of his early breaks.
While this was clearly Sonny's show, he gave his formidable bandmates plenty of space to shine. The first set closed with a Rollins original, "Nice Lady," an island theme that showcased the musicality of percussionist Victor Y. See Yuen, who gave a clinic in balancing technical prowess with taste and restraint. The second set began with another uptempo number that saw Rollins trade phrases with Kobie Watkins, a versatile young drummer with no shortage of chops, but who is also steeped in tradition. Guitarist Bobby Broom was given several solos throughout the evening, and rocked out on "Sonny, Please," the title track to the 2005 release. Bass guitarist Bob Cranshaw, who has been collaborating with Rollins since the late 1950s, spent most of the night holding things down, but was given a moment on the closer, "Don't Stop the Carnival." An homage to his parents' Virgin Island roots, the Rollins staple is built on an instantly hummable melody played over an infectious calypso groove, which brought the boisterous crowd to its feet once more.
In an interview conducted last year, Rollins told DCist that he does not listen to much music anymore. That remark struck us as odd, given the inherent desire artists have to grow and evolve. But like a grandfather who is unapologetically set in his ways, even artists of Rollins' stature probably reach a point where they don't feel that inner fire lighting an explorer's spirit. Instead, they are content to express the emotions and knowledge they have amassed over decades. And like that same grandfather who doles out words of wisdom for us to cherish, last night's audience could feel blessed that Rollins is still around to lend us his sweet, sweet sound.
By Sriram Gopal in Arts and Events on December 3, 2009
During the 1960s, a great debate among jazz aficionados was over who was the better saxophonist, John Coltrane or Sonny Rollins. A fool's errand, really, as they had completely different approaches to music. Both were master technicians who could run the gamut, from aggressive to serene. Coltrane's playing had a deeper spirituality, while Rollins was the more mischievous, always playing with a witty edge. And while 'Trane's group was probably more groundbreaking, Sonny deserves a great deal of credit for his sheer longevity and high quality output over a 50+ year career. Few jazzers of his generation remain, making the 79-year-old saxophonist an artistic treasure, and totally deserving of the standing ovation that greeted him as he took the Concert Hall stage last night at the Kennedy Center.
Though walking with a bit of a hobble due to age, any sign of frailty disappeared the second Rollins brought the horn to his mouth. Opening with and uptempo swinger, he prowled about the stage, upper body bobbing back and forth, like a prize fighter throwing musical jabs at each of his bandmates. His tone was as powerful as ever, and the elder was the only band member who did not take a seat for the duration of his two-hour, two-set performance. Time has also not diminished Rollins's stylish flair. Always known for being one of the cleanest cats on the scene, yesterday he was looking quite dapper, with his hair slicked back while sporting a white blazer, dark pants, and his trademark sunglasses. Rollins even changed during intermission, returning to the stage with an equally eye-catching bright red shirt.
The evening's heartwarming moment came just before the band performed the ballad, "Cabin in the Sky," the title song to the 1943 picture starring the wonderful Lena Horne. Rollins recalled seeing the picture as a youngster at a movie theater in Annapolis, while on a trip to the nearby Carr's Beach and Sparrow's Beach, waterfront spots available to African-Americans during segregation. Rollins went on to tell a story of how he saw a big band while at the beach, and was heartbroken to see his crush sitting on the bandstand. But that same concert also planted the seed of his love of jazz, something he remembers, he said, every time he plays in this area. The song itself featured a soulful trombone solo from Clifton Anderson, who also shined on a moving tribute to J.J. Johnson, the trombonist who gave Rollins one of his early breaks.
While this was clearly Sonny's show, he gave his formidable bandmates plenty of space to shine. The first set closed with a Rollins original, "Nice Lady," an island theme that showcased the musicality of percussionist Victor Y. See Yuen, who gave a clinic in balancing technical prowess with taste and restraint. The second set began with another uptempo number that saw Rollins trade phrases with Kobie Watkins, a versatile young drummer with no shortage of chops, but who is also steeped in tradition. Guitarist Bobby Broom was given several solos throughout the evening, and rocked out on "Sonny, Please," the title track to the 2005 release. Bass guitarist Bob Cranshaw, who has been collaborating with Rollins since the late 1950s, spent most of the night holding things down, but was given a moment on the closer, "Don't Stop the Carnival." An homage to his parents' Virgin Island roots, the Rollins staple is built on an instantly hummable melody played over an infectious calypso groove, which brought the boisterous crowd to its feet once more.
In an interview conducted last year, Rollins told DCist that he does not listen to much music anymore. That remark struck us as odd, given the inherent desire artists have to grow and evolve. But like a grandfather who is unapologetically set in his ways, even artists of Rollins' stature probably reach a point where they don't feel that inner fire lighting an explorer's spirit. Instead, they are content to express the emotions and knowledge they have amassed over decades. And like that same grandfather who doles out words of wisdom for us to cherish, last night's audience could feel blessed that Rollins is still around to lend us his sweet, sweet sound.
Friday, December 4, 2009
New York Times : review of 2 books on Jazz
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Miles Davis in Belgrade 1971
BBC Radio Scotland broadcasted yesterday a small excerpt of Miles' concert at Belgrade 1971. I captured it from the net and the links can be found in the comments section.
More info on the complete concert can be found here
Miles Davis
November 3, 1971
Dom Sindikata, Belgrade (Yugoslavia)
1. Radio Intro
2. Yesternow (inc)
3. Radio Ann
Miles Davis (tpt)
Gary Bartz (ss, as)
Keith Jarrett (el-p, org)
Michael Henderson (el-b)
Ndugu Leon Chancler (d)
Charles Don Alias (cga, perc)
James Mtume Forman (cga, perc)
Monday, November 23, 2009
George V. Higgins : The Friends of Eddie Coyle
A month ago wbur.org published an article on George V. Higgins which you can read here. Be sure to check out the commentary section as well! It makes me realise it's ages ago i saw the film, and check out the book as well again.
Enjoy!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
ROIO Of The Week : Imani Winds
Now for something different, after the jazz ROIO's here some actual classical music brought to you by Iamni Winds. They played together with Wayne Shorter at different festivals and concerts and at thisn concert they play a Wayne Shorter composition.
Sit back, relax and enjoy!
More on Imani Winds can be found on their here and on this wiki.
Imani Winds
Perelman Theater
Kimmel Center
Philadelphia
Fresh Ink Series
Friday, October 24, 2008 | 7:30pm
FM>Total Recorder>HD>CD Wave>FLAC Frontend (level 8)
Valerie Coleman, flute
Toyin Spellman-Diaz, oboe
Mariam Adam, clarinet
Jeff Scott, French horn
Monica Ellis, bassoon
01. Station ID 0:29
02. Introduction 2:52
03. Call (Toyin Spellman-Diaz) 5:49
04. Announcement 4:08
05. Speech and Canzone (Valerie Coleman) 13:51
06. Announcement 2:40
07. Cane (Jason Moran) 11:15
08. Announcement 1:24
09. Terra Incognita (Wayne Shorter) 10:39
Total Time: 53:09
Performed but not included on this recording:
Ten Pieces for Wind Quintet (Gyorgy Ligeti)
Contrabajissimo (Astor Piazzolla - Arr. Jeff Scott)
Sit back, relax and enjoy!
More on Imani Winds can be found on their here and on this wiki.
Imani Winds
Perelman Theater
Kimmel Center
Philadelphia
Fresh Ink Series
Friday, October 24, 2008 | 7:30pm
FM>Total Recorder>HD>CD Wave>FLAC Frontend (level 8)
Valerie Coleman, flute
Toyin Spellman-Diaz, oboe
Mariam Adam, clarinet
Jeff Scott, French horn
Monica Ellis, bassoon
01. Station ID 0:29
02. Introduction 2:52
03. Call (Toyin Spellman-Diaz) 5:49
04. Announcement 4:08
05. Speech and Canzone (Valerie Coleman) 13:51
06. Announcement 2:40
07. Cane (Jason Moran) 11:15
08. Announcement 1:24
09. Terra Incognita (Wayne Shorter) 10:39
Total Time: 53:09
Performed but not included on this recording:
Ten Pieces for Wind Quintet (Gyorgy Ligeti)
Contrabajissimo (Astor Piazzolla - Arr. Jeff Scott)
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Dick Katz R.I.P.
Dick Katz passed away on November 10th.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/arts/music/13katz.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries
November 13, 2009 - NY TIMES - By Ben Ratliff
Dick Katz, 85, Jazzman of Many Gifts Over 6 Decades, Is Dead
Dick Katz, a pianist, record producer, educator and writer whose
knowledge of jazz from the stride-piano era to 1960s modernism made
him a valuable presence on New York’s jazz scene for six decades, died
on Tuesday in Manhattan. He was 85.
The cause was lung cancer, said his son Jamie.
Mr. Katz’s piano idols were soloist royalty: Teddy Wilson, Art Tatum,
Fats Waller. But he was a more reserved musician, finding his place
somewhere between accompanist, arranger and subtle improviser.
One of his breakthrough moments was his role as pianist on the
saxophonist and composer Benny Carter’s 1961 album “Further
Definitions,” meshing with a first-class multigenerational crew
including swing-era veterans and younger musicians. Another was his
1965 collaboration with the singer Helen Merrill, “The Feeling Is
Mutual,” an arty, cooled-out album of jazz standards of which he was
co-leader, arranger and producer.
Richard Aaron Katz, born in Baltimore on March 13, 1924, was already
playing in local clubs there as a teenager before he left for the
University of North Carolina to study music. He joined the Navy in
1942 and fought in the battle of Saipan; in 1946 he became a
professional musician in New York.
While working for his father’s advertising agency, he studied at the
Manhattan School of Music, where John Lewis, later of the Modern Jazz
Quartet, was a fellow student. In 1950 he took private lessons with
Wilson. By the early 1950s he was performing regularly with the
clarinetist Tony Scott’s group at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem and
making a string of records with Mr. Scott, including “Music After
Midnight” and “Jazz for G.I.’s.”
For several years in the mid-’50s, Mr. Katz played in the house rhythm
section at the Cafe Bohemia in the West Village with the bassist Oscar
Pettiford and the drummer Kenny Clarke, backing Miles Davis, among
others. He also toured with the popular twin-trombone band led by J.
J. Johnson and Kai Winding and played with the trumpeter Kenny
Dorham’s Jazz Prophets.
His old friend Lewis helped Mr. Katz secure a record deal with
Atlantic in 1958, which resulted in the album “Piano and Pen.” Through
the ’50s and ‘60s he appeared frequently as a sideman, on records by
the vocalist Carmen McRae, the saxophonist Sonny Rollins and others.
Starting in the late ’60s, two of his most frequent collaborators were
the trumpeter Roy Eldridge and the saxophonist Lee Konitz — brilliant
players on opposite chronological sides of bebop, jazz’s great
stylistic divide.
In 1966 Mr. Katz and the veteran record producer Orrin Keepnews
founded the jazz label Milestone. Staying with the company until the
early ’70s, he produced records by Mr. Konitz and others, as well as
“Alone Together,” a highly regarded duet album by the guitarist Jim
Hall and the bassist Ron Carter.
Beginning in the middle ‘80s Mr. Katz worked with the American Jazz
Orchestra, a repertory ensemble directed by Lewis, and the saxophonist
Loren Schoenberg’s big band. From the ’80s onward he taught at the New
School, the Manhattan School of Music and Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Mr. Katz was also among a select group of jazz musicians who wrote
well about their art. His astute essays about Davis and Tatum in The
Jazz Review, published in 1959 and 1960, led to other writings, for
books and album liner notes. He received Grammy Award nominations for
the notes he wrote for “Jazz Piano: A Smithsonian Collection” (1990)
and “The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio” (1993).
Mr. Katz’s first marriage, to the former Edith Shapiro, ended in
divorce. He is survived by his wife, the former Joan Seifer, as well
as four sons — Jamie and Frank, of Manhattan; Jeffrey, of Washington;
and Ivan, of Brooklyn — and two grandchildren.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/arts/music/13katz.html?_r=1&ref=obituaries
November 13, 2009 - NY TIMES - By Ben Ratliff
Dick Katz, 85, Jazzman of Many Gifts Over 6 Decades, Is Dead
Dick Katz, a pianist, record producer, educator and writer whose
knowledge of jazz from the stride-piano era to 1960s modernism made
him a valuable presence on New York’s jazz scene for six decades, died
on Tuesday in Manhattan. He was 85.
The cause was lung cancer, said his son Jamie.
Mr. Katz’s piano idols were soloist royalty: Teddy Wilson, Art Tatum,
Fats Waller. But he was a more reserved musician, finding his place
somewhere between accompanist, arranger and subtle improviser.
One of his breakthrough moments was his role as pianist on the
saxophonist and composer Benny Carter’s 1961 album “Further
Definitions,” meshing with a first-class multigenerational crew
including swing-era veterans and younger musicians. Another was his
1965 collaboration with the singer Helen Merrill, “The Feeling Is
Mutual,” an arty, cooled-out album of jazz standards of which he was
co-leader, arranger and producer.
Richard Aaron Katz, born in Baltimore on March 13, 1924, was already
playing in local clubs there as a teenager before he left for the
University of North Carolina to study music. He joined the Navy in
1942 and fought in the battle of Saipan; in 1946 he became a
professional musician in New York.
While working for his father’s advertising agency, he studied at the
Manhattan School of Music, where John Lewis, later of the Modern Jazz
Quartet, was a fellow student. In 1950 he took private lessons with
Wilson. By the early 1950s he was performing regularly with the
clarinetist Tony Scott’s group at Minton’s Playhouse in Harlem and
making a string of records with Mr. Scott, including “Music After
Midnight” and “Jazz for G.I.’s.”
For several years in the mid-’50s, Mr. Katz played in the house rhythm
section at the Cafe Bohemia in the West Village with the bassist Oscar
Pettiford and the drummer Kenny Clarke, backing Miles Davis, among
others. He also toured with the popular twin-trombone band led by J.
J. Johnson and Kai Winding and played with the trumpeter Kenny
Dorham’s Jazz Prophets.
His old friend Lewis helped Mr. Katz secure a record deal with
Atlantic in 1958, which resulted in the album “Piano and Pen.” Through
the ’50s and ‘60s he appeared frequently as a sideman, on records by
the vocalist Carmen McRae, the saxophonist Sonny Rollins and others.
Starting in the late ’60s, two of his most frequent collaborators were
the trumpeter Roy Eldridge and the saxophonist Lee Konitz — brilliant
players on opposite chronological sides of bebop, jazz’s great
stylistic divide.
In 1966 Mr. Katz and the veteran record producer Orrin Keepnews
founded the jazz label Milestone. Staying with the company until the
early ’70s, he produced records by Mr. Konitz and others, as well as
“Alone Together,” a highly regarded duet album by the guitarist Jim
Hall and the bassist Ron Carter.
Beginning in the middle ‘80s Mr. Katz worked with the American Jazz
Orchestra, a repertory ensemble directed by Lewis, and the saxophonist
Loren Schoenberg’s big band. From the ’80s onward he taught at the New
School, the Manhattan School of Music and Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Mr. Katz was also among a select group of jazz musicians who wrote
well about their art. His astute essays about Davis and Tatum in The
Jazz Review, published in 1959 and 1960, led to other writings, for
books and album liner notes. He received Grammy Award nominations for
the notes he wrote for “Jazz Piano: A Smithsonian Collection” (1990)
and “The Complete Capitol Recordings of the Nat King Cole Trio” (1993).
Mr. Katz’s first marriage, to the former Edith Shapiro, ended in
divorce. He is survived by his wife, the former Joan Seifer, as well
as four sons — Jamie and Frank, of Manhattan; Jeffrey, of Washington;
and Ivan, of Brooklyn — and two grandchildren.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Spending a night with Miles : Yes we can!
This night from 23.30 on you have the opportunity to spend a night with Miles. Look at the marvelous program here.
Having connected my radio and my pc i must be able to record it all in FM quality.... I'll try to post the different parts the coming days - weeks as MP3.
Have fun!
Friday, November 13, 2009
Sonny Rollins to Perform Benefit Concert for Pete Seeger's Clearwate
Tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins and his band will perform a special benefit concert for Hudson River Sloop Clearwater on Sunday, December 6, 2009 at the Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown, NY. The concert will begin at 2:00 pm.
Rollins's performance in Tarrytown on behalf of Pete Seeger's Clearwater will mark the first time the renowned environmental organization has ever hosted a benefit concert dedicated solely to jazz, and is also the first time that the saxophonist has performed a fund-raiser for any cause. The concert, to be presented by Jazz Forum Arts, is Rollins's only 2009 New York area appearance.
Performing with Sonny Rollins will be his working band: Clifton Anderson, trombone; Bobby Broom, guitar; Bob Cranshaw, bass; Kobie Watkins, drums; and Victor See-Yuen, percussion. Tickets for the concert range from $75 to $100; a limited number of premium tickets (which include a reception with Rollins) are also available. For information and ticket purchases, visit www.tarrytownmusichall.org or call 877-840-0457. The theater is located at 13 Main Street, Tarrytown.
In 1998 Sonny Rollins, for years an ardent environmentalist, released an album called Global Warming, which included songs such as "Echo-Side Blue," "Mother Nature's Blues," "Clear-Cut Boogie," and the title track, which he frequently performs to this day. The CD package contained a poem by Rollins, reading in part: "We got to stop assumin' / We can just go on consumin' . . . Live light on the planet, sister and brother / 'Cause if we kill it, there ain't no other / Not that much time left neither."
"My views have changed a little bit since then," says Rollins. "I still agree that people should be more aware of the environment and their own personal habits--like throwing stuff out of the window. Overall I see the environmental crisis less as 'us versus them' and more as part of the big picture. It's okay in a way. But people still have to take action. It doesn't affect what we should be doing. It's more of a moral question. Being against the environment is being against yourself and your neighbor."
Rollins has resided since 1972 in an old farmhouse in Columbia County, New York, in the Hudson River Valley. He eagerly accepted the opportunity to lend his talents for an organization founded in 1969 by another Hudson Valley musical icon and environmentalist. "Pete Seeger and I have the same heroes and beliefs," says Rollins. "We are in the same family. He is my brother."
Presently in the midst of an eight-city European tour--which takes in Groningen, Toulouse, Paris, Milan, Zagreb, Salzburg, Rome, and London--Rollins is also scheduled to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on 12/2. While in Salzburg (11/8), he will be awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class. The award is one of Austria's highest honors, given to leading international figures for distinguished achievements. The only other American artists who have received this recognition are Frank Sinatra and Jessye Norman.
Rollins's performance in Tarrytown on behalf of Pete Seeger's Clearwater will mark the first time the renowned environmental organization has ever hosted a benefit concert dedicated solely to jazz, and is also the first time that the saxophonist has performed a fund-raiser for any cause. The concert, to be presented by Jazz Forum Arts, is Rollins's only 2009 New York area appearance.
Performing with Sonny Rollins will be his working band: Clifton Anderson, trombone; Bobby Broom, guitar; Bob Cranshaw, bass; Kobie Watkins, drums; and Victor See-Yuen, percussion. Tickets for the concert range from $75 to $100; a limited number of premium tickets (which include a reception with Rollins) are also available. For information and ticket purchases, visit www.tarrytownmusichall.org or call 877-840-0457. The theater is located at 13 Main Street, Tarrytown.
In 1998 Sonny Rollins, for years an ardent environmentalist, released an album called Global Warming, which included songs such as "Echo-Side Blue," "Mother Nature's Blues," "Clear-Cut Boogie," and the title track, which he frequently performs to this day. The CD package contained a poem by Rollins, reading in part: "We got to stop assumin' / We can just go on consumin' . . . Live light on the planet, sister and brother / 'Cause if we kill it, there ain't no other / Not that much time left neither."
"My views have changed a little bit since then," says Rollins. "I still agree that people should be more aware of the environment and their own personal habits--like throwing stuff out of the window. Overall I see the environmental crisis less as 'us versus them' and more as part of the big picture. It's okay in a way. But people still have to take action. It doesn't affect what we should be doing. It's more of a moral question. Being against the environment is being against yourself and your neighbor."
Rollins has resided since 1972 in an old farmhouse in Columbia County, New York, in the Hudson River Valley. He eagerly accepted the opportunity to lend his talents for an organization founded in 1969 by another Hudson Valley musical icon and environmentalist. "Pete Seeger and I have the same heroes and beliefs," says Rollins. "We are in the same family. He is my brother."
Presently in the midst of an eight-city European tour--which takes in Groningen, Toulouse, Paris, Milan, Zagreb, Salzburg, Rome, and London--Rollins is also scheduled to perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on 12/2. While in Salzburg (11/8), he will be awarded the Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, First Class. The award is one of Austria's highest honors, given to leading international figures for distinguished achievements. The only other American artists who have received this recognition are Frank Sinatra and Jessye Norman.
Friday, November 6, 2009
John Le Carré
John Le Carré left his publisher Hodder. Read more about it in John Sutherlands article for The Guardian.
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