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Joe Newman - A Relaxed and Poised Trumpeter
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.In 1955 and 1956, trumpeter Joe Newman made a series of recordings for RCA that I want to commend to you for their musicianship, their...
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Jack Teagarden: The Man with the Blues in His Heart by Otis Ferguson
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.The JazzProfiles blog is as much a tribute to Jazz writers as it is an homage to the music and its makers. Jazz authors, editors and...
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Buddy Rich - The Drummer as Dancer
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.The following is an excerpt from John McDonough’s detailed and insightful insert notes to The Argo, Emarcy and Verve Small Group Sessions...
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Murray Talks Music: Albert Murray on Jazz and Blues - The JazzProfiles Synopsis
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“We could say that art is a means by which you process raw experience into aesthetic statement. . . the aesthetic statement. . . feeds...
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Ken Burns Jazz - A Retrospective Review - Part 3
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Among the many important subjects Ken Burns’ Jazz does not explore is this:If jazz bespeaks the black experience, and only blacks can...
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McCoy Tyner - At The Beginning
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Sometimes, when John is soloing, I lay out completely.Something important is involved here, I think. The pianist tends to play chords...
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Scott LaFaro - "Young Mr. LaFaro" - Part 1
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.The editorial staff at JazzProfiles is currently preparing a synopsis of Jade Visions: The Life and Music of Scott LaFaro (University of...
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Scott LaFaro - "Young Mr. LaFaro" - Part 2
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Extending a concept begun by Red Mitchell and Charles Mingus, Scott LaFaro developed a rapid fingering and plucking system, and found...
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Scott LaFaro - "Young Mr. LaFaro" - Part 3
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.“VICTOR FELDMAN, THE ARRIVAL OF VICTOR FELDMAN (Contemporary Records, 1958)Vibraphone and piano: Victor Feldman Bass: Scott LaFaro Drums:...
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Scott LaFaro - "Young Mr. LaFaro" - Part 4
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.[As you read the following substitute the words “string bass” for “violin.”]“Grammarians are to authors what a violin maker is to a...
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"Introducing Scott LaFaro" by Martin Williams
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.“The Jazz Review was founded by Nat Hentoff, Martin Williams and Hsio Wen Shih in New York in 1958. The Jazz Review was the premier...
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The Organ in Jazz - Part 1
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.Other than a comprehensive retrospective in Barry Kernfeld’s The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz which was edited and reprinted in 1995 and...
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The Organ in Jazz - Part 2
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.“WHILE BILL DAVIS, Doggett, and Jackie Davis were slowly but irrevocably organizing the bars and grills of America, the whole process...
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Jessica Williams Revisited
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.I first “met” Jessica around 1980. This was back in the days when one could kill a few minutes waiting for a business appointment or a...
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"Joe Albany: Portrait of a Legend by Ira Gitler"
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.The Bop Landscape is dotted with pianists who “made the scene” [i.e.: achieved some degree of national recognition] and then, apparently,...
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Victor Feldman: A Long Way from Piccadilly by John Tynan
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.Strictly speaking, I know he was just doing his job as the West Coast Editor of Down Beat [1955-1965], but if John Tynan had not written...
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Erwin Blumenfeld and Bill Evans - Superimposition and Overdubbing [Revisited]]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Given the vagaries of copyright law, the blog got one back from the regulators and it features in the form of the video at the end of this...
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Shelly Manne - The Kenton Years - Part 1
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.With Shelly Manne joining the Kenton organization, Stan had found the final link that would enable him to expand the band's concept, to truly...
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Shelly Manne - The Kenton Years - Part 2
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.On the bandstand, Shelly was constantly tuning and re tuning his drums. While calf drumheads are susceptible to change with varying humidity,...
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Shelly Manne - The Kenton Years - Part 3
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Bebop was causing the swing drummers fits because of the jabs and stabs required of the left hand and right foot — snare drum and bass drum —...
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