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CuberQuest - Ronnie Cuber "Meets The Beets Brothers"
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.Ronnie Cuber was born in New York in 1941. Ronald Edward Cuber made his debut in the late 1950’s in trombonist and music educator’s...
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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...
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The Terry Gibbs Dream Band - Fantastic and Full of Fun
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Although The Terry Gibbs Big Band existed for only 3 years [1959 - 1962], performed in relative obscurity because it never toured and...
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The Terry Gibbs Dream Band
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Whether it’s the arrangements, the ensemble playing, the solos or the rhythm section, one would be hard-pressed to find a better big band in...
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Terry Gibbs Dream Band - One More Time
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.During the twenty-five years or so of its existence, West Coast Jazz was derided and chided as bloodless, boring and banal by musicians,...
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Tiny Kahn: Over 300 But Less Than 30
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Tiny's ears are what really got to me. I don't know if he had absolute pitch. Very likely he did—or came very close to it. He...
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Aretha Franklin - A Deeper Love
© - The Economist, August 25, 2018, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“AT POINTS in her concerts, which enthralled America for 50 years, Aretha Franklin would fling her arms out wide. Sometimes...
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Book Review - Major Dudes: A Steely Dan Companion by Barney Hoskyns
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."Compelling and revealing."—The Washington Post“What enthralled me, and still does, is how the Dan’s happily seditious lyrics are wed to...
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Hank Mobley's Recordings with Miles Davis by Simon Spillett - UPDATED
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Here’s another posting in our “Quest” series, a set of related pieces designed to shed more light on Jazz musicians whom the editorial...
View ArticleWhen Johnny Comes Marching Home Again:The Charlie Mariano- Jerry Dodgion...
Happy Birthday Jerry Dodgion.Charlie Mariano, Jerry Dodgion, alto sax, Victor Feldman, vibes, Jimmy Rowles, piano, Monty Budwig, bass and Shelly Manne, drums performing "When Johnny Comes Marching Home...
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THE FORGOTTEN ONES - GIGI GRYCE by Gordon Jack
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“GIGI GRYCE, a shy, studious musician, barely out of his 'twenties, has been one of the herculean pillars of the modern jazz scene in New...
View ArticleWinning the West -Buddy Rich Big Band - Bill Holman, composer/arranger
Woody Herman and Stan Kenton often receive credit, and deservedly so, for maintaining a big band over the span of decades in which many young Jazz musicians learned to ply their trade. Their bands'...
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The Lighthouse All-Stars in Performance 29 August 1956
This was recorded in stereo at The Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach, CA by Ray Angona on August 29, 1956 with Frank Rosolino, trombone, Bob Cooper, tenor sax, Howard Rumsey on bass, Stan Levey on drums...
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Cool Struttin' With Sonny Clark
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Sonny Clark was an important figure in hard bop piano, but his reputation has perhaps suffered a little from the fact that his creative...
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CuberQuest - Ronnie Cuber on Steeplechase
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Every so often, I get caught up in the music of someone who floors me; who - metaphorically - knocks me out.Sometimes this involves a...
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Stan Levey - The Alun Morgan Interview
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Like Max Roach, Levey was an essential figure in the progression and development of bebop. Unlike the swing music of the 1930s and ’40s,...
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