Radio's Next Dimension
Gary McFarland towed the line between samba infused light jazz and orchestral mood music. He was a vibist from California who was known as much for his vibe playing as he was for his arranging and orchestrations for others. After serving in the army where he took up trombone, trumpet and keyboards, McFarland settled on [...]
It was a summit between the leading purveyor of the Hammond B-3 organ, “The Incredible” Jimmy Smith, and one of greatest jazz guitarists of all time, Wes Montgomery. And together, they unleashed not one classic album, but two. They didn’t call him “Incredible” for nothing. Jimmy Smith was the single most influential jazz organ player [...]
Welcome to the sonic space where Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time meets King Crimson. Sound intriguing? If it doesn’t, read no further because today’s Song Of The Day is not for the faint of heart or those of closed mind. Despite his exotic name, Rudresh Mahanthappa was born in Italy of Indian descent, but raised in [...]
It was the year of Sgt. Pepper’s and Are You Experienced. Rock was becoming jazzy…and jazz was taking on the current crop of rock greats. Hence today’s Song Of The Day. Credited to Bob Thiele and his New time Happy Orchestra with Gabor Szabo on guitar, here we have one of the great lost guitar [...]
Some stone cold advice from Mr. Jordan and company waxed back in 1947. It’s all here on this track…the roots of rock ‘n’ roll…rap…and comedy all rolled up into one tall tale of hilarity. That’s Wild Bill Davis on the piano and, of course, Jordan himself on the vocals. When it came to big band, [...]
You can tell a lot about people by the records they own. A relative of a friend dropped some records off at my house this weekend for me to look at. While most had condition issues and were hardly worth selling on eBay, the guy did have some interesting and really good records which he [...]
Blind from cataracts at an early age, Art Tatum used his gift of perfect pitch to teach himself how to play piano. The child prodigy grew to be one of the most lyrical and technically proficient stride piano players of all time. As a child, Tatum moved to the Toledo School Of Music where he [...]
If the essence of Jazz is to listen to and improvise off of the musical ideas of those you are playing with, and you are in essence a one man band, can you still consider the music you make jazz? The orchestrion is a mechanically controlled mini orchestra that was designed by Pat Metheny and [...]
The innovative instrumentation and arrangements of Miles Davis’ landmark Birth Of The Cool nonet sessions from 1948, on which Gerry Mulligan played baritone saxophone, was a major influence on Mulligan’s Tentette recordings from January of 1953 that included “Simbah,” today’s Song Of The Day. But even though the Tentette recordings are less well known than [...]
Herbie Mann was already ten years into a career that established him as a purveyor of Afro Cuban Jazz, Latin Jazz and Bossa Nova music by 1971 and the release of his album Push Push. Mann had released albums for Bethlehem, Prestige, Epic, Verve and Savoy, before signing with Atlantic Records in 1962 where he [...]
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