Clik here to view.
"Criticism" - by Martin Williams
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."Read anything of Williams you can lay your hands on.. . . His knowledge of jazz is all but unmatched." - Washington...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bill Evans: Time Remembered
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Time Remembered is an original composition by pianist Bill Evans, but in the context of the title of this feature it has an old and new...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Paquito D'Rivera: Portraits of Cuba [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“The thermometer outside of the venerable St. Peter's Church in Manhattan's Chelsea district read in the low 20s. Due to a momentary...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tal Farlow: Jazz Guitar and Bebop
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."In 1944-1945 I was in the service stationed outside Philadelphia. I used to go to this little night club in town located in an alley named...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Eric Alexander: 25 to 50
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."Developing your sound is a lifelong endeavor. Ninety percent of the practicing I do is working on my sound.""I guess more than anything,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Individualism of Gil Evans
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Born with the Victorian-sounding name Ian Ernest Gilmore Green, and first marketed by major record labels in the 1960’s as a middle-aged...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Complete Enrico Pieranunzi on Bill Evans: "Ritratto D'Artista Con...
“In 1958, my friend brought along Miles Davis’ latest – something called Jazz Track [Columbia CL 1268]. The piano on this stunning record was being played by an unknown musician with an ordinary name:...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Afro Cuban - Kenny Dorham
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Here’s another of our features based around favorite recordings, this time focusing on trumpeter Kenny Dorham’s Afro Cuban album for Blue...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gillespiana: Grand, Glorious and Glistening [From The Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Dizzy was almost entirely self-taught. They are treacherous terms, "self-taught" and "self-educated," often carrying a connotation of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
"Vanished Friend" - Richard Sudhalter In Memoriam
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.One of the great things about Jazz is the number of great people it has inspired to write about it.A primary focus of JazzProfiles is to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
When The World Was Young
© - 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, with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Brothers Candoli
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Being around the Southern California Jazz scene in the second half of the 20th century was great for so many reasons, not the least of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Young Lions
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Imagine putting a Jazz recording session together with a band featuring Lee Morgan on trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, Frank Strozier...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cecil Payne - December 14, 1922 – Nov. 27, 2007
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Although he was one of the finest baritone saxophonists to emerge from the bop era, Cecil Payne has been underrated and frequently...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jeroen de Valk's Biography of Chet Baker: Revised,Updated and Expanded
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."As a touring artist you are constantly surrounded by people who want something from you. People ask you for everything imaginable, offer...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Rosario Bonaccorso's "Beautiful Story" on Via Veneto Records and Jando Music
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.The press release that accompanies Via Veneto and Jando Music’s latest recording states that:“A Beautiful Story is the title of the new...
View ArticleClik here to view.
"Looking for Chet Baker" - Bill Moody
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Chet Baker—or Jet Faker, as I often called him—and I met in the early 1950s. The musical rapport between us was immediate. We worked,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Paquito D' Rivera: Live at the Blue Note
© -Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“There isn’t a weak link in Mr. D’Rivera’s band. And he has already honed it to a sharp edge – the ensemble playing is fastidiously tight,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers: Three Blind Mice
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Art Blakey. What a guy. Perhaps you know the famous story about Blakey and his sidemen driving between New York and Pittsburgh. They...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stan Kenton - The Innovations Orchestra [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."About that Stan Kenton band,” comedian Mort Sahl was telling audiences around this time, "a waiter dropped a tray and three couples got up to...
View Article