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Bill Evans by Chuck Israels
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Chuck Israels is a composer/arranger/bassist who has worked with Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Stan Getz, Herbie...
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The Gene Harris Trio Plus One [Stanley Turrentine]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Unlike the grooves in an LP, thank goodness that it is impossible to wear out a compact disc because if that were the case I would have worn...
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Eric Dolphy Musical Prophet: The Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Zev Feldman assembled a three-LP set of primarily previously unreleased material by saxophonist-flutist Eric Dolphy titled “Musical Prophet.”...
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Art Ensemble of Chicago - The John Litweiler Interview
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."Once you've heard the Art Ensemble of Chicago it's hard not to appreciate the zaniness, sobriety and universality of their music. Once the...
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Monk on Monk as told to Valerie Wilmer
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Here’s a rarity: an interview with Thelonious Monk in which he actually says something about himself and his music.I suspect the fact that...
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Randy Weston - The Len Lyons Interview
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.With the death of pianist, composer-arranger and bandleader Randy Weston on September 1, 2018, the editorial staff at JazzProfiles...
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La Fiesta - Mike Barone Big Band
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Impressions?The first thing that comes to mind when I listen to Mike Barone’s big band arrangements is swinging textures [sonority is...
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Lou Levy - The RCA Recordings
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.Because of his long associations with female Jazz vocalists such as Peggy Lee [circa 1955-75], Ella Fitzgerald [1957-1962] and later...
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Lou Levy - An Interview with Steve Voce
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.The following interview appeared in Vol. 35, 1982 of Jazz Journal International under the title of “Lou Levy Talks to Steve Voce” and...
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Part 1 - Lullaby of Gangland by Fredric Dannen
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved."An entertaining collection of anecdotes about an uproariously unsavory subculture of egomaniacs, sybarites, goniffs, and music lovers......
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Part 2 - Lullaby of Gangland by Fredric Dannen
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved."An entertaining collection of anecdotes about an uproariously unsavory subculture of egomaniacs, sybarites, goniffs, and music lovers......
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Art Blakey and Muscle Jazz
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Art Blakey was one of jazz's staunchest advocates throughout his long life in the music. The little speech he would deliver at the end of...
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Tony Bennett: “A Quality That Let’s You In”
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Jazz has always drawn on popular music for material, while at the same time influencing it. George Gershwin, Harold Arlen, and many other...
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Pat Martino: First Impressions
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“The guitar has its own mystique. The most ancient of instruments, it is the most pervasive in contemporary music. Those who mastered its...
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African Rhythms - The Autobiography of Randy Weston
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Piano music is as old as the piano which as an instrument, in variations of its present form, dates back some 250 years. Millions of ringers...
View ArticleLee Morgan & Conte Candoli - 1957 - Double or Nothin' - Reggie Of Chester
Drummer Stan Levey's "other" career began early as he took this and other photographs in 1957 at the Liberty Records studios in Hollywood, CA at which these recordings were made. Conte Candoli and Lee...
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Bud Shank - Burning Brighter
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.One of the more enjoyable dividends of writing this blog is searching through the Jazz literature for content, especially material that...
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The Genius of Louis Armstrong - Volume 1: 1923-1933 [Columbia G 30416 double LP]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."You are too young to know the impact Louis had in the 1920s," he said. "By the time you were old enough to appreciate Louis, you had been...
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