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Jay and Kai - J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding - Tonal Trombone Textures
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Jay Jay Johnson and Kai Winding have formed a group. Why didn't such a natural combination band together before? It's almost like asking why...
View ArticleBud Shank, Baritone Sax - "Sultry Serenade" - From "New Groove" (1961)
Working on a two part Bud Shank feature that starts tomorrow on my blog.The following video features Bud Shank, baritone sax, Carmell Jones, trumpet, Dennis Budimir, guitar, Gary Peacock, bass and Mel...
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Bud Shank: Part 1 – by Doug Ramsey
- © Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Bud Shank is too much. I told him I had his contract ready but I can’t get him to leave California. He was the greatest part of the...
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Bud Shank: Part 2 - by Gordon Jack
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“The Jazz improviser … is in a very pure sense, a creator of melodies. In common with any composer, he is constantly making decisions which...
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Marco Pacassoni - Frank and Ruth
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Although I’ve never met him because of the geographical distance between California and Fano [near Urbino], in the northeast Tuscan-Romagnolo...
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"The Forming of Philly Joe Jones" - by Ralph J. Gleason
© - Steven A. Cerra - copyright protected; all rights reserved.The year 1960 arguably found Philly Joe Jones at the top of the heap of modern Jazz drummers. He had just finished a five-year...
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Lennie Niehaus - A Consummate Pro
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.For different reasons, the author Max Harrison and the alto saxophonist, composer and arranger, Lennie Niehaus have been people I have...
View ArticleStanley Turrentine/Oliver Nelson Big Band - "A Kettle of Fish" (feat. Herbie...
Stanley, Herbie and Oliver! Herbie Hancock was still working as a sideman when this was recorded in 1965. Checkout what he does with a simple figure beginning at 0.44 to set the groove for the track....
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The Mastersounds on Fresh Sound
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“With almost the same instrumentation as the Modern Jazz Quartet, The Mastersounds burst on the late 1950s scene when the MJQ was already...
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Dave Tough: 1908 -1948 [From the Archives]
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.[The following piece on drummer Davy Tough was one of the earliest posted to the blog and I am re-posting it in order to correct a number...
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Bill Perkins - The Gordon Jack Interview
© -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,...
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A Jazz Conversation with Composer-Arranger Lisa Maxwell
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.For Immediate Release PleaseComposer/Arranger Lisa Maxwell to release highly-anticipated projectShiny!Boasts all-star big band lineup,...
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Cal Tjader - An Understated Vibraphonist
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“The vibraphone invites overplaying almost by its very nature. … Unlike a horn player, the vibraphonist is unable to sustain notes for very...
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Charlie Parker - The 1949 Downbeat Interview
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.The following interview appeared in the September 9, 1949 edition of Downbeat magazine, although at times, the style employed by Michael Levin...
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Baby Dodds by George Wettling
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Jazz drumming has on occasion been referred to as The Engine Room with the obvious implication that the drummer powers the music.Of course,...
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