Clik here to view.
The Evolution of the Don Ellis Orchestra - Part 5 - "The Avant-Garde Is Not...
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Ellis's significance lies in his use of groundbreaking musical techniques and devices, new to the world of jazz. Ellis's innovations include...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Evolution of the Don Ellis Orchestra - Part 6 - "Times for Revolution" an...
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Regarding his own work in the late 1960s, Ellis said, "Music, like any art, hits you at an emotional level before you dissect it analytically....
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Evolution of the Don Ellis Orchestra - Part 7 "From Satchmo to Miles"...
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.For the next segment in our continuing series on the evolution of the Don Ellis Orchestra, circa 1964-1978, the editorial staff at...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Evolution of the Don Ellis Orchestra - Part 8 - "Don Ellis Electric...
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.While Jazz and its makers have historically been well-served by an aural record in the form of recordings, tapes and discs, all too...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Soaring with the Don Ellis Orchestra [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Don Ellis gave the concept of big band jazz. a completely new meaning.”- STEFAN FRANZEN “‘I believe in making use of as wide a range of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dupree Bolton: An Uneven Life By Steve Siegel
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.With previous features on pianist Wade Legge, the Great Day in Harlem Photograph “Mystery Man” - William J. Crump, drummer Frankie...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gerry Mulligan's Bari Sax Setup - From Reed to Wireless Mic by Ed Enright
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Jazz fans usually don’t give the actual instruments that Jazz musicians play much thought.They are more interested in what comes...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ted Gioia on Revising His "The History of Jazz"
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Ted Gioia's The History of Jazz has been universally hailed as the most comprehensive and accessible history of the genre of all...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Creative World of Stan Kenton -The Rock Years - Part 7
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Kenton 70's music had many things in common with the bands of other eras including great soloists, great section leaders and a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
E.S.P. - Miles Davis
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“This [1965-68] has always been an enigmatic period in Miles's career, a band and a set of relationships which didn't so much...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hal McKusick - Cross Section-Saxes
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Interview with Hal McKusick“Composer and alto saxophonist HAL McKUSICK, born 1924 in Medford, Massachusetts, plays most saxophones,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Creative World of Stan Kenton -The Rock Years - Part 8
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Some of the wise boys who say my music is loud, blatant and that's all,” he said, “should see the faces of the kids who have...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dave Frishberg by Gordon Jack
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Dave Frishberg has become jazz's definitive singer-songwriter-pianist, and his strengths and weaknesses typify the genre: Though...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Johnny Mandel on Sinatra, Shirley and the Singers: Part 5 - The Smithsonian...
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.The following is excerpted from the JOHNNY MANDEL [1925-2020] NEA Jazz Master (2011) interview that was conducted by Bill Kirchner...
View ArticleClik here to view.
"Birdland" - From Ross Russell BIRD LIVES! -The High Life and Hard Times of...
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Bird Lives! - and certainly Charlie Parker's influence always will. This is his remarkable and moving story.But Bird Lives! is more...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Charlie Parker - A Remembrance by Orrin Keepnews [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."He was an artist who paid a great price to be able to get out of himself some of the things that most disturbed him. He might have cheated a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Roberto Gatto - My Secret Place - Via Veneto Jazz - VVJ 138
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Internationally, Roberto Gatto is undoubtedly Italy’s best-known drummer. Born in Rome in 1958, he made his professional debut at...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bix Biederbecke and Dick Sudhalter, Part 1
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."Hearing Bix for the first time was like waking up to the first day of spring."- Nat Hentoff"All I've ever called the dear boy was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bix Biederbecke and Dick Sudhalter, Part 2
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“The tragedy of Bix Beiderbecke, if his early death and lapsed potential can be viewed as tragedy, lies not in the allegedly...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Hugo Friedhofer - A Compositional and Orchestral Genius [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."But if you feel about music as I do, you are always working at the outer periphery of your abilities. And that makes you...
View Article