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Francis A. & Edward K. and Billy May, Too
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.In researching material for the blog, I’m constantly amazed at how tight-knit and relatively small the Jazz community is and how...
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The Real Ambassadors: Dave and Iola Brubeck and Louis Armstrong Challenge...
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Documenting a largely untold history of Black and white jazz artists teaming up to challenge Jim Crow, with Cold War tensions and...
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Eric Ineke 75 ‘Swinging, Boppin’ and Burnin’ - Liner Notes
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.It was a privilege and an honor to be asked to write the liner notes to Eric Ineke 75 ‘Swinging, Boppin’ and Burnin’ - Daybreak...
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"THE GERRY MULLIGAN QUARTET 1952–1953" - Matthew Ruddick, My Funny Valentine:...
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.The following is excerpted from Matthew Ruddick, Funny Valentine The Story of Chet Baker. Melrose Books [2012]. Kindle Edition. It...
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The Blues is a Story by Joe Williams as told to Barbara Gardner
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.From the About the Writer insert in Down Beat magazine:“Barbara Gardner is a young Chicago writer who was born in Black Mountain,...
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CHARLIE VENTURA REMEMBERED by Gordon Jack [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Gordon Jack’s remembrance of saxophonist Charlie Ventura first appeared in the December 2013 edition of JazzJournal. The magazine’s website is...
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Harold in the Land of Jazz [From the Archives]
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.The “Harold” in the title of this piece is tenor saxophonist Harold Land [1928-2001]. If you were an Los Angeles based Jazz fan or...
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Gretsch Drum Night At Birdland [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Anyone who has been a casual visitor to these pages know that I have a bias toward Jazz drumming, what I think of as the heartbeat of...
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Revisiting The Hod O'Brien Trio at Blues Alley
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Although widely known and appreciated in Europe, outside of a relatively small coterie of devoted fans, Hod O’Brien, a sizzling,...
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Bix Beiderbecke - Indiana Twilights by Richard Sudhalter
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.This piece appeared in the February 1983 edition of Gene Lees’ Jazzletter which he began writing and publishing in August...
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JOHN HORLER INTERVIEW with Gordon Jack
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Gordon is the author of Fifties Jazz Talk An Oral Retrospectiveand he also developed the Gerry Mulligan discography in Raymond...
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Max Roach - Masterful, Magisterial and Momentous [From the Archives - Revised]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Where Kenny Clarke's bombs occurred every few measures, Roach's fall every two to four beats ... Where Clarke played just an occasional...
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Paul Desmond - The Complete RCA Victor Recordings featuring Jim Hall [From...
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Paul Desmond and Doug Ramsey were pals.All of us should be so lucky to have a friend like, Doug.In honor of his late, buddy’s...
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"Where's The Melody" By Martin Williams [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."A short, model primer on jazz, in which Mr. Williams triumphantly makes a difficult subject seem difficult and absolutely...
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TRUDY KERR by Gordon Jack
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved. Gordon Jack is a frequent contributor to the Jazz Journaland a very generous friend in allowingJazzProfilesto re-publish his...
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"Guy Lombardo - And about thirty years of jazz theology got blown to hell" by...
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“ONE of the most listened-to, talked-about and imitated big bands of all time was that of Guy Lombardo and His Royal Canadians....
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Stan Kenton: The Relentless Searcher [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved."Some of the wise boys [i.e. Jazz critics] who say my music is loud, blatant, and that's all, should see the faces of the kids who have...
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Ella Fitzgerald by Henry Pleasants [Revised from the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."I never knew how good our songs were," Ira Gershwin once said to George T. Simon, "until I heard Ella Fitzgerald sing them."“And then...
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Bill Frisell, Beautiful Dreamer: The Guitarist Who Changed the Sound of...
Appeared in the May 21, 2022, print edition as 'Bending the Neck of Jazz Guitar'.‘Beautiful Dreamer’ Review: Bill Frisell, Chameleon of JazzThe musician has made a career out of challenging notions...
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Ahmad Jamal - The Len Lyons Interview
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“His technique has scarcely changed over the years and remains closer to Eroll Garner than to anyone else, concentrating on fragile...
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