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Nothing But Denzil Best
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Those of you familiar with the music of pianist George Shearing’s classic quintet, especially during the first few years of its...
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Al Cohn and Zoot Sims at The Half Note [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."Well, listening to [Al and Zoot’s] music takes me back ... which is OK because — let's face it — the past is home to me. It's home to me and...
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Jon Eardley [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“… [Born in 1943], Jon Eardley is a musician who must certainly be categorized as a "modern." Yet, his playing, unlike that of so many young...
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The Photographs of Don Hunstein - "Keeping Time: The Unseen Archive of...
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“… [In 1955, Hunstein] moved into the job of staff photographer, and there he stayed until Columbia dismantled its in-house photo...
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Sir George Shearing and The Guv'nor, Robert Farnon [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“To call George Shearing a jazz pianist is certainly accurate, yet also limiting and nowhere near complete. It fails to encompass the...
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The Genius of Coleman Hawkins
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Every so often, I like to pull a record out of the collection and share some comments and thoughts about it with you. I’m...
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Roy Eldridge - "Swingin' on the Town"
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.When they first came out in the late 1990s, I snapped up as many of the three dozen or so limited edition Verve Elite series CDs as...
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Blue Train - John Coltrane Keeps His Promise
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.JOHN COLTRANE has often been called a "searching" musician. His literally wailing sound—spearing, sharp and resonant that seems to...
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Tommy Flanagan - A Bebopper of Gentlemanly Distinction - [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“One of the piano masters of Detroit, he played on many major recordings in the late '50's but thereafter sought an accompanist's...
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Jon Gordon - Stranger Than Fiction
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Jon Gordon is one of these amazing young musicians I'm speaking of. We first met in 1988 when Jon called me for a lesson. I was...
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Ed Reed: From San Quentin to Jazz at Lincoln Center 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...
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Johnny Mercer/ Nat King Cole - "When The World Was Young" [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“The late Alan Jay Lerner, himself a major lyricist, considered Johnny Mercer the finest of all American lyricists. Alan Bergman who,...
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Johnny Mercer - Part 1 [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Mercer was a successful jazz singer with a distinctive, engaging style; he cultivated a relaxed manner of delivery, which emphasized his...
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Johnny Mercer - Part 2 [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Johnny Mercer was the only member of the "And then I wrote" bunch who didn't need the protection of a piano when he got up in front of an...
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Johnny Mercer - Part 3 [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Johnny had nerve, what denizens of the theater world called moxie. That becomes obvious in any examination of his early life. This nerve was...
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Johnny Mercer - Part 4 [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Even songwriters who emerged in the lyrically expansive wake of Dylan and The Beatles point to Mercer as the master. When the late Harry...
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Johnny Mercer - Part 5 [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“When people write about Johnny Mercer, they usually talk about his fabulous career, the sheer quantity of his output, the speed and ease with...
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Colin Bailey: The Epitome of A Jazz Drummer
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Colin Bailey: The Epitome of A Jazz DrummerI started to edit this because it sounds dated in places before I realized: Of course...
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Jazz Centenaries in The Decade of the 2020's - Duke at The Cotton Club
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.This decade - the 2020’s - marks the 100th anniversary of many significant dates and events in the development of what Gunther...
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BILL EVANS: Suicide Was Painful
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved. From time-to-time, the editorial staff at JazzProfiles enjoys adding new features to its stash of Bill Evans publications featured...
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