"IN THE GROOVE" on KUSP

IN THE GROOVE Is On The Move

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 10:05:16 -0800

The IN THE GROOVE blog has moved »

Denzil Best”s “Move” played by the George Shearing Quintet in 1950 -

George Shearing (p)
Joe Roland (vib)
Chuck Wayne (g)
John Levy (b)
Denzil Best (ds)

Season's Greetings!

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 12:38:34 -0800

Here’s a video of the great Charles Brown singing “Merry Christmas, Baby” [h/t Tom Reney/Jazz à la Mode” at WFCR, Amherst].

Bob Brookmeyer, R.I.P.

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:43:03 -0800

This week Alan Mertens on KUSP’s Things Ain’t What They Used To Be features a tribute to Bob Brookmeyer, valve trombonist, bandleader, arranger, and educator, who passed away recently at age 81. It is (as usual) a wonderful show; you can listen to the entire show online (one of KUSP’s one week music show archives).

Also, here is the first of a five part interview with Brookmeyer by Marc Myers on Jazz Wax. Here, here, and here (this last includes an episode of NPR’s Jazz Profile dedicated to Brookmeyer) are some obits. Brookmeyer’s own website also includes information on his recent release, Standards. [photo: David Gross]

Good videos highlighting Bob Brookmeyer:

"Their Last Time Out"

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:00:05 -0800

This week we listen to another track by the original Dave Brubeck Quartet on their previously unreleased last concert recorded Dec. 26, 1967.
“La Paloma Azul (The Blue Dove)” is about 79 minutes into the show and can be found for one week at KUSP’s archive of the show [listen to the show here] [the show playlist is here].

Doug Ramsey, discussing the Quartet’s recent CDs in his blog Rifftides, says: “In all, the Pittsburgh concert is a substantial addition to the Brubeck discography.”

Personnel: Dave Brubeck - Piano; Paul Desmond - Alto Saxophone; Eugene Wright - Bass; Joe Morello

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Here’s a video recorded a year earlier —

Phineas Newborn Jr. Videos

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:46:58 -0800

On the Oscar Brown, Jr. TV show Jazz Scene USA, Newborn is playing with Al McKibbon (bass) and Kenny Dennis (drums) —

In The Groove: Focus on Phineas

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:12:15 -0800

The show highlights pianist PHINEAS NEWBORN, JR., whose 80th birthday anniversary is this Wednesday.

Also we hear a selection by the original Dave Brubeck Quartet from their previously unreleased last concert, vocalist Karrin Allyson, tenor saxophonist Chu Berry, as well as the Chocolate Dandies, Al Cohn & Zoot Sims, and the Larry Goldings Trio, a soul-jazz organ group who will play at Kuumbwa Jazz this Thursday. [William Claxton photo of Phineas Newborn, Jr.]

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At The Crossroads

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:45:00 -0800

Saxophonist James Carter’s “JC Off The Set” is featured on this week’s IN THE GROOVE [listen to the show here »]. The ballad can be found about two hours in [here’s the show complete playlist »].

From Thom Jurek’s review of this new release on the All About Jazz site: At The Crossroads “showcases Carter’s development from his earliest days shedding in the Motor City to his current status as a jazz virtuoso.”

Trio personnel: James Carter: saxophones; Leonard King Jr.: drums; Gerard Gibbs: organ; plus a number of guests.

Here’s a recent performance of “Come Sunday,” which is also on the album:

Roy Is Roy-Alty

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:00:05 -0800

Roy Haynes’ new CD Roy-Alty is featured on this week’s show [listen to the show here »]. A selection, “Pinky,” plays about 30 minutes into the show. [Here’s the show playlist »].

Tim Niland on All About Jazz says the album “shows why Roy Haynes has been at the forefront of jazz for as long as he has. From bop to free playing to ballads, everyone is pulling together toward a common goal of making great music and succeeding in grand fashion.”

On his latest release Haynes is joined by his Fountain of Youth Band (Jaleel Shaw, alto sax; Martin Berejano, piano; and David Wong on bass), plus Marcus Strictland on tenor sax, Roy Hargrove on trumpet, and percussionists Roberto Quintero, Robert Rodriguez, and Craig Haynes. Chick Corea appears on two piano/drum duos.

Wynton Kelly Featured

Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:34:00 -0800

This week we listen to selections by pianist WYNTON KELLY, whose 80th birthday anniversary was this last Friday, plus Emily Remler, Jimmy Noone, and pieces from two groups that will be coming to Kuumbwa Jazz — the Hot Club of San Francisco, and the Charlie Hunter Duo with Scott Amendola. (Wynton Kelly photo by Lee Tanner)

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Personnel: John Coltrane, tenor saxophone; Stan Getz, tenor saxophone; Wynton Kelly, piano; Paul Chamber, bass; and Jimmy Cobb, drums. Probably during a Jazz At The Philharmonic tour in Dusseldorf on April 1, 1960, when Miles Davis was sick.

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Here’s another video with John Coltrane, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb—

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New from Keith Jarrett

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 11:27:45 -0800

A track from Jarrett’s concert in Rio earlier this year is featured on this week’s IN THE GROOVE [listen here »]. The selection is toward the end of the show [here’s this week’s playlist »].

Orlando Bird says about the performance in All About Jazz: “After forty years of spontaneous composition, Jarrett remains a great original, and on Rio, his voice is as clear as ever.”

Here’s a video taste of the album:

Ellington Live At Tivoli Gardens

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:09:00 -0800

Including Paul Gonsalves (ts), John Lamb (b), Rufus “Speedy” Jones (d). Copenhagen, January 23, 1967 —

Complete DVD available from Netflix.

In The Groove | Nov. 30th

Wed, 30 Nov 2011 13:31:38 -0800

KENNY WERNER

On the show this week recordings by Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Clifford Brown, and Art Farmer, as well as recent selections by the Ernie Watts Quartet, Keith Jarrett, and the Pizzarelli Boys. The show will also include pieces by artists who are performing at Kuumbwa Jazz this coming week: the New West Guitar Group this Thursday, Sista Monica Parker this Friday, and the Kenny Werner Quintet on Monday.

Artist / Song / Album / Label

Gary Burton / Walkin’ In Music / Next Generation / Concord
Tito Carrillo / Song For Elisa / Opening Statement / Origin
Kenny Werner / Sada / Balloons / Half Note
Sista Monica Parker / Georgia On My Mind / Love, Soul & Spirit , Vol. 1 / Mo Music
Pizzarelli Boys / Waiting For The Phantom / Desert Island Dreamers / Arbors Jazz
Bill Heid / I Can Be Nice / Dark Secrets / Savant
Duke Ellington/Charles Mingus/Max Roach / Very Special / Money Jungle / Blue Note
Duke Ellington And His Orchestra / Blue Goose / Blanton-Webster Band / RCA
Duke Ellington And His Orchestra / In A Mellotone / Blanton-Webster Band / RCA
Duke Ellington And His Orchestra / Morning Glory / Blanton-Webster Band / RCA
Lionel Hampton And His Quartet / Limehouse Blues / Midnight Sun / Decca Jazz
Clifford Brown / Gone With The Wind / Complete Blue Note & Pacific Jazz Recordings / Blue Note
Cedar Walton / Got To Get To The Island / The Bouncer / High Note
New West Guitar Group / Arrowhead / Round Trip Ticket / Summit
Keith Jarrett / Rio, Part XIV / Rio / ECM
Art Farmer / Coming Home / Silk Road / Arabesque
Bill O’Connell / Bill’s Blues / Triple Play Plus Three / Zoho
Richard Underhill / In The Shadows / Kensington Suite / Stubby
Joey DeFrancesco / Life Is Good / 40 / High Note
Ernie Watts Quartet / One Day I’ll Fly Away / Oasis / Flying Dolphin
Fattigfolket / Brentanopark / Park / Ozella Music

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Paul Motian R.I.P.

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 17:19:00 -0800

“Paul Motian, a drummer, bandleader, composer and one of the most influential jazz musicians of the last 50 years, died on Tuesday in Manhattan.” — more from NYT obit here.
Discussions of Motian’s career here, here, here, and here.

In The Groove | Nov. 23rd

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 16:41:19 -0800

NAT ADDERLEY

This week we listen to Edmond Hall, Benny Carter, Eddie Henderson, and to Nat Adderley, whose 80th birthday anniversary is this Friday. There will be recordings by Paul Motian, who died yesterday at age 80, and by arranger and conductor Russ Garcia, who passed away recently at age 95. We also hear new selections by tenor saxophonist Houston Person and by the bassist Christian McBride.

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Etta Jones

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:27:00 -0800

Two wonderful performances. More Etta on this week’s show.

Houston Person - tenor sax
Stan Hope - piano
Peter Martin Weiss - bass
Cecil Brooks III - drums

In The Groove | Nov. 16th

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:26:42 -0800

On the show this week — recordings by Etta Jones, Teddy Charles, John Coltrane with Red Garland, George Benson, and the last live performance of the original 1960’s Dave Brubeck Quartet. The tapes of this set were recently discovered in Brubeck’s archives and released as a 2 CD package titled “Their Last Time Out.”

We also listen to a recent selection from Ray Brown’s Great Big Band. They perform this Monday, Nov. 21st, at the Cabrillo College Crocker Theatre.

Later in the show recordings by trumpeter Don Cherry who is celebrating his 75th birthday this Friday.

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Buck Clayton's Centennial

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 15:27:38 -0800

Here’s trumpeter BUCK CLAYTON with Ben Webster playing “C Jam Blues” —

Vic Dickenson (tbn), Hank Jones (p), George Duvivier (b), and Jo Jones (d)

The Buck Clayton All Stars —

Recorded in Belgium in a relaxed studio setting. The musicians with Buck are Emmett Berry (also trumpet), Earle Warren (alto), Buddy Tate (tenor), Sir Charles Thompson (p), Gene Ramey (b), and Oliver Jackson (d).

More Buck Clayton on tonight’s show, which you can listen to this week on KUSP’s Music Show Player »

In The Groove | Nov. 6th

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:55:50 -0800

On the show this week recordings by Jackie McLean, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, Carmen Lundy, and Jelly Roll Morton. We also celebrate the centennial of the trumpeter Buck Clayton.

This Thursday, Nov. 10th, The Blues Broads featuring Tracy Nelson, Angela Strehli, Dorothy Morrison and Annie Sampsom will perform at Kuumbwa Jazz; we hear a preview of that show toward the midnight hour tonight.

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A Great Read

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:14:12 -0700

Clark: The Autobiography of Clark Terry

“Compelling from cover to cover, this is the story of one of the most recorded and beloved jazz trumpeters of all time.

With unsparing honesty and a superb eye for detail, Clark Terry, born in 1920, takes us from his impoverished childhood in St. Louis, Missouri, where jazz could be heard everywhere, to the smoke-filled small clubs and carnivals across the Jim Crow South where he got his start, and on to worldwide acclaim.

Terry takes us behind the scenes of jazz history as he introduces scores of legendary greats–Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Peterson, Dizzy Gillespie, Dinah Washington, Doc Severinsen, Ray Charles, Thelonious Monk, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Coleman Hawkins, Zoot Sims, and Dianne Reeves, among many others.

Terry also reveals much about his own personal life, his experiences with racism, how he helped break the color barrier in 1960 when he joined the Tonight Show band on NBC, and why–at ninety years old–his students from around the world still call and visit him for lessons.”

Clark Terry (flh), Ronnie Scott (ts), Milt Jackson (vib), Oscar Peterson (p), Joe Pass (g), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (b), Bobby Durham (d). Montreux Jazz Festival, Casino De Montreux, Switzerland, July 14, 1977.

In The Groove | Nov. 2nd

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:43:00 -0700

PHIL WOODS (Photo by David W. Coulter)

Recordings this week by the pianist Gene Harris, the organist Jimmy Smith, the Benny Goodman Sextet, and a new CD from Poncho Sanchez and Terence Blanchard.

Trumpeter Clark Terry has written (with his wife Gwen) a lively autobiography titled “Clark.” It’s just out; a great read!

Lou Donaldson turned 85 on Nov. 1st, and Phil Woods, who also plays the alto, celebrates his 80th birthday today, Nov. 2nd. Jazz pianist Walter Norris passed away on Oct. 29th at age 79.

The show will also feature a recording by Paul Contos, who will bring his quintet to Kuumbwa Jazz on Thursday, Nov. 3rd. And there will be selections by vocalist Paula West who performs at Kuumbwa on Monday.

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