Art Blakey

A Google search turned up the attached video. It runs 48-minutes and as you can see features Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers in 1961. Unfortunately no further information is provided.
Since it would be a few years after this was recorded before I became interested in jazz, I was only 15 at the time, I do not recognize any of the players except Blakey. Use the email link in the right column if you can share any information. Thanks!

2007 NEA Jazz Masters Special Online Event

LEGENDS OF JAZZ Presents the 2007 NEA Jazz Masters Special Online Event


Available Online all month long

TV special profiles NEA Jazz Masters Ramsey Lewis, Phil Woods,
Jimmy Scott, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Frank Wess, & Curtis Fuller

In honor of Jazz Appreciation Month (April) 2008, LRSmedia debuts LEGENDS OF JAZZ Presents the 2007 NEA Jazz Masters as a special webcast premiere in conjunction with the entire online jazz community.

This one-hour television special, hosted by 2007 NEA Jazz Master Ramsey Lewis, will feature conversation and musical performances by bandleader and pianist Toshiko Akiyoshi, trombonist Curtis Fuller, vocalist Jimmy Scott, flutist Frank Wess, and saxophonist Phil Woods. Special guest and co-host Nancy Wilson will interview Ramsey Lewis about his music, 50-year career and his selection as an NEA Jazz Master.

Watch online here.

Sir Roland

I first met Sir Roland Hanna when he filled in for an ailing Joe Pass on a concert I was producing. It may seem odd to have a pianist subbing for a guitarist but in the role of the melodic anchor of a band either of the two instruments works nicely.

I had wanted to book Hanna for several years anyway and this lucky happenstance made that happen. I was familiar with his work with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra and a host of trio and quartet dates which spanned several decades. Of course who can forget his work on those CTI albums including the Jim Hall session Concerto.

However, it was one particular recording that caught my attention and made Roland Hanna a regular on my radio show. The recording was a solo session for the tiny Town Crier label. I believe the session took place in a church. However, the recording quality was exceptional and Roland’s playing was captivating. I believe this is the only time he recorded his composition Century Rag. To me it was the highlight of the album.

The concert was a success and I asked Roland to put together a group for a return the following season. The return engagement featured the legendary Richard Davis on bass and Bill Easley on sax. The audience was treated to an evening of good friends making good music.

For me the highlight of the day came before the performance when we were walking to the concert hall from dinner. Roland remarked that my voice sounded familiar. He continued that I sounded like the announcer on a jazz show he briefly listened to while driving from New York to Washington, D.C.

He explained that after playing a Sunday matinee on Broadway he would drive to his home in Washington to spend his off day at home with his wife. It turned out that his route carried him into the signal area of the radio station for which I was doing a Sunday night jazz show. However, he only was able to listen briefly and had not heard me identify myself. I’ve since wondered who else was out there when I was playing jazz on the radio.

Over the years I’ve managed to collect a number of Sir Roland’s recordings including the 2003 tribute to Tommy Flanagan entitled “Tributaries.” I think that recording also serves as an appropriate summary to Roland’s career. To coin a phrase, his playing is soulful but stately.

The Piano/Herbie Hancock

In 1978 Herbie Hancock went into a Tokyo studio to record a solo piano session for release in Japan. What made the recording noteworthy was the way it was recorded.

The album was recorded using the Direct-To-Disc method where the music goes from the studio to a master disc from which the vinyl LPs are pressed. In the pre compact disc era Direct-To-Disc represented the peak of recorded quality.

For his session Hancock chose three standards as well as four original tunes. Because of the recording technique each 16-minute side of the LP was to be recorded in one pass with only slight pauses between tunes.

The resulting album, “The Piano” was never released in the United States. However, in 2004 a compact disc was produced that included not only the 1978 release but also several alternate tracks. It can be found on the Columbia Legacy label.

The music here is absolutely stunning. Hancock rose to the challenge of performing under the constraints of the technology. His impressionistic intro to the opening track, “My Funny Valentine” is in itself worth the price of admission. Of the originals “Harvest Time” is a standout. The bonus of hearing additional takes of four of the tunes gives the listener a glimpse into Hancock’s creative process.

This is a piano recording done the way all piano recordings should be done. The instrument is well tuned and recorded with a presence and clarity that approaches the experience of hearing a live instrument. You hear the piano from the pianist’s perspective. The right hand is on the right channel and the left hand in the left channel. A gem of a recording!

Dave McKenna

Back in the early 1990’s I was producing a series of summer jazz concerts here in Pennsylvania. Over the course of six years I met a lot of great jazz players and heard some exceptional music.

One of the artists whom I got to know a little was pianist Dave McKenna. I was familiar with his playing through his recordings that I was playing on my radio show.

When I was assembling a series of solo piano concerts Dave was one of the first names that came to mind. I knew that his rumbling left hand bass notes would roll like thunder through the open-air concert hall.

To see Dave McKenna without knowing what his profession was one would think he might have been an accountant or some other office scribe. He was the quietest most self-effacing person I had ever met.

Make no mistake, you could engage him in conversation about music or his beloved Red Sox and you’d find a friendly though soft-spoken man. However, for the most part he let his music do the talking. For instance, in the two concerts he performed for me he never spoke a word to the audience. He would acknowledge their applause with a smile and nod of the head and then it would be back to work.

Of course his playing was sublime and swung like crazy. I was able, with his permission, to record the second concert for radio. What strikes me the most from the recording is McKenna’s seemingly spontaneous assembly of tunes into lengthy cohesive medleys.

My friend and recording engineer had just become a father a day or two before the gig. Dave must have heard us talking about the birth because to our amazement the second half of the concert contained a lengthy medley of tunes each with the word baby in the title.

I’ve frequently wondered what happened to Dave McKenna. Wikipedia says he retired around the turn of the millennium. Too bad for we fans but good for him.

Giant Steps

Ever just type something into a search engine and see where it takes you? These video takes on Coltrane's "Giant Steps" are the result of just such an idle search.

First, for all the sight readers here's a look at the solo.


Next we have McCoy Tyner's version.


Finally, there's this thing.


I hope it has an "off" switch!

Grammy Awards for Jazz

As promised, here is the list of Grammy Award winners in the Jazz categories. As just about everyone knows, Herbie Hancock also won Album of the Year.

Jazz Grammy Winners 2008


Category 45
Best Contemporary Jazz Album

* River: The Joni Letters
Herbie Hancock
[Verve]


Category 46
Best Jazz Vocal Album

* Avant Gershwin
Patti Austin
[Rendezvous Entertainment]


Category 47
Best Jazz Instrumental Solo

* Anagram
Michael Brecker, soloist
Track from: Pilgrimage
[Heads Up International]


Category 48
Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group

* Pilgrimage
Michael Brecker
[Heads Up International]


Category 49
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album

* A Tale Of God's Will (A Requiem For Katrina)
Terence Blanchard
[Blue Note]


Category 50
Best Latin Jazz Album

* Funk Tango
Paquito D'Rivera Quintet
[Paquito Records]