Clik here to view.
Changing The Tune: The Kansas City Women's Jazz Festival, 1978-1985
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."Thank goodness for people like Carol Comer and Dianne Gregg who did their part to lift our culture by supporting and sharing with the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
FelliniJazz [CamJazz 5002]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Jazz musicians are constantly looking for sources for inspiration. The Blues, folk songs, Tin Pan Alley; after all, you gotta improvise on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Andy Kirk And His Twelve Clouds of Joy
© -Steven Cerra. Copyright protected; all rights reserved.For some time now, the editorial staff at JazzProfiles has envisioned brief features on some of the big bands of The Swing Era that have fallen...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Peter Bernstein - Jazz Guitarist [From The Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.The recent arrival of guitarist Peter Bernstein's latest recording Let Loose [Smoke session - recorded in 2016 with Gerald Clayton on...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Kennedy Dream - Oliver Nelson [From the Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."In February of 1967, Oliver Nelson recognized Kennedy’s contributions and assembled a big band to play music in his honor, with taped segments...
View ArticleClik here to view.
"Dexter Gordon: Both Sides of Midnight" - Stretching Out and Saying Something
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Stretch out. To improvise for an extended period, sufficiently long to allow a thorough working out of the possibilities offered by a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mr. Satch and Mr. Cros - Will Friedwald on Jazz Singing
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Mention Jazz singing in the context of books on the subject and the name “Will Friedwald” immediately springs up, no doubt because many Jazz...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Blumenthal on Thelonious
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“He dealt in phrases with odd shapes, placed into odd niches on the bar line, stressed in odd places. Melodically, he created tight, stark...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Four Freshmen: A Vocal Quartet with Quarter Tones
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.In retrospect, it’s amazing to consider having ever taken The Four Freshmen for granted.Yet for many years, that’s exactly what I did.I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Jazz Impressions of Dave Brubeck
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Dave Brubeck had an immensely successful career as a Jazz musician, but it was never a certain thing. He was based in San Francisco so he...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Doug Ramsey on Gene Lees
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Pavilion in the Rain“On warm summer nights, in that epoch between the wars and before air conditioning, the doors and wide wooden shutters...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Remembering Eddie Costa [1930-1962] [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.In 1962, the promising career of pianist Eddie Costa was cut short by a fatal car crash on the West Side Highway in New York City.Jazz...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Storytelling Ability - "Thinking in Jazz"
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.I have yet to find a better book at explaining what goes into making Jazz than Paul Berliner’s Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Terry Gibbs' Big Band - "Vamp 'Till Ready" by John Tynan
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“The Gibbs bands combined the high-energy swing of Lionel Hampton with the sophistication of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis outfits (Mel Lewis...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Modern Jazz Quartet - "No Sun In Venice" [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.It didn’t last very long, but it was fun while it did.Movies and TV series...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mel Rhyne: 1937-2013 - R.I.P.[From The Archives]
“Rhyne immediately sounds different from the prevailing Jimmy Smith school of organ players. Instead of swirling, bluesy chords, he favors sharp, almost staccato figures and lyrical single-note runs...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Dexter Gordon - "Take the 'A' Train"
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Earlier this year, the editorial staff at JazzProfiles posted reviews of two newly released recordings by the late, iconic tenor...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Stan Kenton: New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm - Parts 1 and 2 [From the...
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“There can be little doubt Stan Kenton saw himself as a musical visionary—a questing, exploratory spirit—and it's a tribute to his...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Advent of Jackie McLean: The Blue Note Years [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“He patented a sound that was compounded equally of bebop and the new, free style. Raw and urgent, no one else sounds quite like him.”-...
View ArticleClik here to view.
IRAKERE
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.For obvious reasons, drummers [even ex-drummers] love Latin or Afro-Cuban Jazz.I mean, c’mon, Latin rhythm sections never run out of things to...
View Article