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Another legend lost -- Tina Turner

 

 

She seemed ageless.  Her music certainly is.

First lady of song

That's Ella.  

Ella Fitzgerald, born today in 1917.  She gave us so much beautiful music. 

Click here for a sample...

Q = 90

 

Happy birthday Quincy Jones

Vinyl Lives

When CDs hit the market in 1982, many thought it would spell the end of vinyl records.  And it almost did.

Some thought vinyl LPs provide a superior sound than CDs, although I don't agree.  With CDs, you don't get the rumble or scratches and pops that you often hear on vinyl

CDs can hold more music, so you don't have to get up to turn a record over after 15 or 20 minutes. 

To me, the biggest drawback of CDs was the scaling down of the album cover art.

Even as CDs took over the market, vinyl maintained a loyal following, especially with fans of indie and punk bands.  But the numbers tipped heavily in favor of CDs, and by 1987 CDs were outselling vinyl.  

But there always remained a group loyal to vinyl.

The Recording Industry Association of America released sales figures a few days ago, and last year, for the first time since 1987, vinyl outsold CDs.  The RIAA says 41 million vinyl albums were sold last year, compared with 33 million CDs.

Part of the change comes from the fact that there aren't many "record" stores anymore.  Sam Goody, Tower Records and others are long gone and Barnes & Noble, which used to have a decent music selection, now has maybe one rack with a handful of CDs and some vinyl.  The records, which now are made on a thicker sheet of vinyl, are priced way above CDs -- averaging in the mid-$20 range and more. 

I have hundreds of vinyl records, almost all dating back pre-CD.  Almost all of my music purchases since the mid-80s have been CDs and, on the rare occasions that I buy recorded music now, it's on a CD.

Clearly, I'm the exception. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wayne Shorter

The jazz world is a bit bluer today, as we learn of the passing of sax man Wayne Shorter.    

He played with all the greats, from Art Blakey to Miles and later with jazz-fusion band Weather Report.  I played his tunes on my jazz show on college radio back in the late '60s.

Click here to listen to him, playing with Herbie Hancock, Joe Chambers and Reggie Workman, from one of his albums recorded in 1966. 

 

Jazz Birthday -- Grady Tate

When I was a kid, first getting into jazz, I'd see drummer Grady Tate's name on the credits on many of the jazz albums I'd buy.  He was one of the most in-demand studio drummers in New York,  He also was a member of the trio of one of my jazz heroes - Billy Taylor.

When I was in college radio in the late 1960s, I met bassist Ben Tucker, who played with Billy Taylor. We became friends and Ben invited me to a recording session he was producing -- the debut of Grady Tate as a vocalist.

I remember going to the studio, A&R Recording Studios on the 4th or 5th floor of a building on Seventh Avenue in Times Square.  Ben sat me in the control room, at the console next to Gary McFarland, the jazz vibes player who owned the label that was recording the session. I didn't realize at the time the array of jazz greats there in the studio, just on the other side of the glass.  But looking at the album credits now, I know the names included a who's who of New York's top jazz players -- Chuck Rainey and Eric Gale on guitar, Bernard Purdie on drums, Bob Cranshaw on bass, Herbie Hancock, piano, Jerome Richardson,sax, Snookie Young and Marvin Stamm, trumpet, Urbie Green, trombone.  Wow!  

The album was Windmills of My Mind, on Skye Records.  The recording dates are listed as June 24-28, 1968.  I think I was there on the second session.

I still have the album, which I played many times on  my jazz show back in the day, and I still put it on the turntable now.

Happy birthday to Grady Tate and thanks for so much great music... and an awesome memory. 

 

Jazz Birthday -- Oliver Nelson

One of my all-time favorite jazz musicians and composers, Oliver Nelson, was born on this day in 1932.    

I first heard his music when I was new to jazz, in high school in the early '60s.  Pianist/jazz educator Dr. Billy Taylor had a show on radio in New York, which is how I stumbled across jazz.  Billy had a new record out on Capitol, backed by a big band arranged and led by Oliver Nelson.  When I bought the album, I fell in love with one of Oliver Nelson's tunes called "Stolen Moments," which is now a jazz classic.  It has a beautifully haunting melody and, over the years, some great lyrics have been written to go with the tune.  Hear it here, from his album "Blues & The Abstract Truth."

When I was in college radio, I played Oliver Nelson's tunes many times on my jazz show.  I'd always crank up the volume, sit back and enjoy it.

Nelson only lived to age 43, which was a real loss to jazz since he undoubtedly had many more tunes in his head and heart.

Happy birthday Oliver Nelson and thanks for the great tunes that live on.

 

Click here to hear him perform "Black, Brown & Beautiful."

Happy Birthday to an American Icon

Today is Tony Bennett's birthday -- 95 and still swinging.  

I've seen him perform a couple of times and I met him briefly about 4 years ago when he attended a show at Dizzy's Club honoring conga master Candido on his 90th.  Candido was his percussionist-of-choice for many of his recordings and they've been longtime friends.

Thanks for all the great tunes, Tony. 

Click here for a couple of songs by Tony, from a 1981 Carnegie Hall concert.

Fandango at the Wall – An Eye-Opening Journey

 

I came across a film a few months ago called Fandango at the Wall.  It caught my eye because I saw that it featured Latin jazz artist Arturo O’Farrill, who I’ve seen in concert.

The film, which can be seen on-demand on HBO, is an exploration and a tribute to a music genre known as jarocho  -- a 300-year old style of folk music from the Veracruz region of Mexico.  It’s a beautiful form of storytelling that includes improvisation – a key aspect of my favorite music, jazz.

Director Varda Bar-Kar follows O’Farrill as he tours Veracruz with Jorge Francisco Castillo, the organizer of the annual Fandango Fronterizo Festival, which unites people on both sides of the Tijuana-San Diego border through music.  We get to know some of the jarocho masters, humble and warm musicians who blend storytelling and poetry with music that derives from indigenous, Spanish, and African traditions.

I was captivated by the music – which is simultaneously simple and complex.      

The film finishes with footage from the annual Fandango at the Wall, with musicians and audience literally on both sides of the border, separated by fencing that could not block out the music and its soul.  It was especially appropriate, I think, when it was filmed during the hate-filled anti-immigrant rhetoric of the previous U.S. administration.  But although the former president is gone from office,  much of the hate and prejudice unfortunately still exists.  This film helps form a hopeful bridge.

                  Photo at right:  Arturo O'Farrill at The Wall

I connected with the director via email several weeks ago.  I asked her why she made this film.

“When the former president started vilifying Mexicans and treating refugees like criminals, separating families and locking children in cages, I recognized his rhetoric as a false narrative fostering hatred and division--a narrative that could only lead to pain and suffering. I had to do something about it,” she wrote.  “I decided I would make a film with    musical elements.  It was right at this time that a friend of mine, a fellow filmmaker, sent out the word that she had a friend who was looking for someone to film a music festival at the United States-Mexican border.  I responded immediately and was soon on the phone with Producer Kabir Sehgal who has partnered with Producer Doug Davis.  As he described his and Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra Founder Arturo O'Farrill's vision of recording an album at Fandango Fronterizo, we started to riff about what a film about this project could be.  Our visions were fully aligned and within three weeks, I was in Tijuana meeting Jorge Francisco Castillo, founder of Fandango Fronterizo and starting to film.” 

I also asked her what thoughts she hopes to leave with viewers?   

“Appreciation for Mexico's deep and beautiful son jarocho culture and people. A desire to learn more about Mexico and go there one day.  An understanding that by getting to know people who are different from us, who come from different cultures, we can enrich our lives and transcend divisions. The insight that building walls does not serve the greater good and that by breaking down walls and building bridges we come to recognize our common humanity.  The belief that it is possible to achieve harmony between nations and a more prosperous, harmonious and peaceful world.”

I encourage you to watch this film.  I think it helps accomplish the goals Varda Bar-Kar set out to achieve.  Thanks, Varda, for taking us on this wonderful musical and cultural journey.

 

Here's a link to the trailer...30 seconds

Jimmy Heath... A Jazz Giant

The jazz world sounds a little bluer today, after learning of the passing of tenor sax player Jimmy Heath at 93.  

He was one of the Heath Brothers, who played together for many years.  Brother Percy, bassist, died several years ago.  Brother Albert “Tootie” is still playing drums.

Jimmy played with a who’s who of jazz, including Miles and Dizzy, and he also did lots of arranging.

Here's a sample of Jimmy Heath's sound.