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Johnny Mercer by Gene Lees - 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...
View ArticleHorace SILVER The outlaw (1958)
"The Outlaw," a most unorthodox, but brilliantly fashioned composition in the true Silver tradition. It consists of two 13-bar sections with the first seven bars in straight time and the last six in...
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Johnny Mercer by Gene Lees - 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...
View ArticleA Jump Ahead (Remastered)
As Herbie explains in the Nat Hentoff quotation, A Jump Ahead does not have a conventional melody or theme. Instead, the tune gets its structure from a four-bar ostinato played by bassist Paul...
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Rob Pronk: The Bebop Years - Studio Sessions 1950-1957 [NJA 2001] - The...
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Over the years, many venues in Europe recorded performances by visiting American Jazz luminaries during the heyday of the modern...
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Bill Evans “in” Paris “with” Gene Lees [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved. “It is difficult for me to write about Bill. His life, Helen's [Keane, Bill’s producer], and my own were too closely involved for too long a...
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"These Rooms" - Jim Hall Trio Featuring Tom Harrell [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.It seems like Herb Wong, the late Jazz author, education, record and concert producer and all-around good friend of Jazz was everywhere in the...
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Johnny Mercer by Gene Lees - 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 by Gene Lees - 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...
View ArticlePhilly Jazz - John Swana - On Target
This piece was originally written for a non-musician friend to help him follow along with what was happening in the music. The tune is Philly Jazz. It was written by trumpeter John Swana who, as you...
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Johnny Mercer by Gene Lees - 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...
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Bill Henderson - The Complete Recordings, 1958-1961
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Never underestimate the power of the rasp. However, you wouldn't be the first if you did—the rasp is a traditionally neglected...
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Chet Baker : Blue Room - The 1979 Vara Studio Sessions in Holland
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“In February of 2O21, while I was working on another Chet Baker production with my partners Jordi Soley and Carlos Agustin at...
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The Case for Hoagy Carmichael by Richard Sudhalter [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."Play me a Hoagy Carmichael song and I hear the banging of a screen door and the whine of an outboard motor on a lake — sounds of summer in a...
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Horace Silver - The Ralph J. Gleason Interview [From the Archives]
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Foreword“DID RALPH GLEASON REALLY leave us forty years ago? It certainly doesn't feel that way. Even today, you will find Gleason's...
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Jazz Piano Innovator Ahmad Jamal Is Dead at Age 92 by Ted Gioia
Ahmad Jamal at Keystone Korner, SF 1980, photo by Brian McMillen (Wikimedia Commons)Ted Gioia is known to Jazz fans from his many books on various aspects of the music which are chock-full of erudite...
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Ahmad Jamal - Darn that Dream
Featuring pianist Ahmad Jamal, Israel Crosby on bass and Vernel Fournier on drums.With the passing of Ahmad Jamal on April 16, 2023, the editorial staff at JazzProfiles will post this week a series of...
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Ahmad Jamal - The Critics Speak
AHMAD JAMAL: THE COMPLETE AHMAD JAMAL TRIO ARGO SESSIONS 1956-62 The jazz piano sage Ahmad Jamal, now into his eighth decade, earned his stature as a young man, more than half a century ago. The...
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Ahmad Jamal, measured maestro of the jazz piano, dies at 92 NPR Obituaries
OBITUARIESAhmad Jamal, measured maestro of the jazz piano, dies at 92April 16, 20237:54 PM ETBy Martin JohnsonAhmad Jamal, pictured in 2016.Rémy Gabalda/AFP via Getty ImagesFor most jazz performers, a...
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