Clik here to view.
Bill Perkins - "A Kind of Comet"
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."Nobody could have been luckier" than to play with Herman and Kenton, Perkins told the Los Angeles Times."Though they were both very different,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Milt Bernhart - Have Trombone Will Travel Parts 1-4 Complete
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.The title of this piece contains more than one element of a poor attempt at a pun on my part as Milt was both a journeyman trombone player...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Milton Hinton and Jazz History: Parallel Courses [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Born in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1910 and relocated to Chicago by his family at the close of World War I in 1918, it seems that bassist...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Frank Strozier - Cloudy, Cool and Concealed [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."Frank Strozier is one of the finest saxophone players I've had the pleasure of working with. He is creative. He is an individualist. He has a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nat Hentoff, Journalist and Social Commentator, Dies at 91
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Back in the blog’s earliest days, I wanted to do a compilation of various writings about the late baritone saxophonist, composer-arranger and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
"Nat Hentoff [1925- 2017] - A Link to Jazz's Founding Fathers"
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.The editorial staff at JazzProfiles wanted to say “Goodbye” one more time on these pages to Nat Hentoff, a Jazz author and critic who has...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Remembering Don Elliott [1926-1984]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Don Elliott spread his talent across so many endeavors that he never received his due as an inventive Jazz artist. Elliott played trumpet,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich - The Willis Conover Interview
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Impresario Norman Granz often got slammed for putting on his Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts by Jazz “purists” who accused him of everything...
View ArticleClik here to view.
MJT+3 [1957-62]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.If a generation is twenty years, then the recordings by the MJT+3 can be said to span three of them, yet they sound as fresh today as when they...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jean “Toots” Thielemans: A Tasteful, Talented Treat [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Thielemans recorded ‘Bluesette’ in 1961, after working in George Shearing’s quintet [since 1952]; his first hit had him playing guitar...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Paul Desmond - "Summertime" [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Much of the critical praise Desmond has received was given in the manner of abackhanded compliment; the ploy was to praise Desmond at...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Milt Hinton: We Are Like Atlas - Part 1
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Milt Hinton is a unique figure in jazz. As a bass player, he spans seven decades of the music's history. Starting out with Cab Calloway in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Victor's Vibes [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.For many years, the late Milt Jackson, affectionately known as “Bags,” was heralded as the undisputed king of the vibraphone and most...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Teddy Edwards – Jazz Tenor Saxophonist of Importance [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Right from the beginning, Edwards’s recordings have been of consistently high quality, testimony to his likeable and no-nonsense approach. …...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Harold Land - The Hard Bop Legacy [1928-2001] [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.At a round-table discussion on West Coast jazz held in 1988, Buddy Collette offered a few words about fellow saxophonist Harold...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Harry "Sweets" Edison - The Barbara Gardner Interview
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Bravo, Barbara!I want to congratulate Barbara Gardner for the splendid work she's done on articles interviewing jazz vocalists. So far I've...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fried Bananas - Dexter Gordon with Rein de Graaff, Henk Haverhoek and Eric Ineke
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“DEXTER GORDONMy first tour with Dexter was in September 1972 with the Rein de Graaff Trio lasting about 6 weeks. It was organized by Wim Wigt...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Remembering Don Redman: 1900-1964 - The First Master of Jazz Orchestration
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Redman was an outstanding jazz arranger and the first master of jazz orchestration; several of his innovations have since become standard...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Hot Record Society
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Back in the mid 1930s, when jazz itself was as young as most of the musicians playing it, a handful of devoted fans banded together to share...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Eli “Lucky” Thompson [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Lucky Thompson was a vastly under-acclaimed tenor saxophonist.”- Doug RamseyEli “Lucky” Thompson was born on June 16, 1924 in Columbia,...
View Article