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Racism and Jazz
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.When Richard Sudhalter [who passed away in 2008] published LOST CHORDS: WHITE MUSICIANS AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO JAZZ - 1915-1945...
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Rahsaan Roland Kirk - "Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year"
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Certainly the most unusual recording artist I ever encountered was Roland Kirk, who later added “Rahsaan” to his name. Shortly after I joined...
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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...
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Sonny Criss: An Overlooked Giant
© - Steven A. Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“ a piercing, passionate sound.”- Mark Gardner“I was playing with Sonny Criss and Hampton Hawes – a great Jazz pianist. … Sonny had such a...
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Art Van Damme - The Accordion in Jazz [From the Archives with Revisions]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“Art Van Damme, in his prime years, played so many gigs in clubs, hotels and concert stages across the USA and Europe that it is said that he...
View ArticleLee Konitz - I'll Remember April
Lee Konitz on alto sax with bassist Sonny Dallas and drummer Elvin Jones.
View ArticleChick Corea - Akoustik Band - Spain
I've listen to so many, other versions of Chick's "Spain" that it's nice to get back to the source. With John Patitucci on bass and Dave Weckl on drums, Corea's "akoustic" trio has to be one of the...
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Lee Konitz: How to Get Away from Fixed Functions - Mike Zwerin
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."Over the fifty years or so that I have been listening to Lee Konitz, I have always been struck by the fact that Lee seemed to limit...
View ArticleNueva Manteca - CRIME
"The Theme from The Godfather" as arranged by pianist Jan Laurens Hartong for the group Nueva Manteca featuring Ilja Reijngoud, trombone,Ben van den Dungen, sax, Ed Verhoeff, guitar, Jeroen Vierdag,...
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Chick Corea - The Chameleon by Mike Zwerin
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Chick Corea is one of the most prodigious performers and prolific composers of our time. The recipient of 15 Grammy Awards and...
View ArticleSome Other Time from 'The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album'
The 90th anniversary of Bill Evans' birth is coming up on August 16th.Thought I'd get an early start on the celebration by listening to the recordings he made with Tony Bennett.“The greatest music...
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Leloir - Lensman: Jean-Pierre and Jazz
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.“As I look back to the photo that Jean-Pierre captured of Sassy [Sarah Vaughan] and me sitting on the floor at my home in Paris...
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Terry Gibbs Dream Band - The Jack Tracy Notes
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.Terry Gibbs and I recently became friends on Facebook, and to celebrate that occasion, I put recordings by his big band in my CD...
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Larry Bunker and Gary Burton [From The Archives]
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.As a young man, I had the good fortune to study drums with the late Victor Feldman and the late Larry Bunker, both of whom were superb...
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"Bill Evans’s Influential Interplay" by John Edward Hasse
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved.As Curator, and now, Curator Emeritus of American Music at The Smithsonian Institute, John Edward Hasse has done so much for Jazz...
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"George Benson: The Ticking of the Clock is Loud" by Mike Zwerin
© Copyright ® Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."If you play music for the right reasons, the rest of the things will come. The right reason to play music is that you love it....
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Porgy and Bess - The Jim Cullum Jazz Band
© -Steven Cerra, copyright protected; all rights reserved."Jazz is the voice of the American Soul"— George Gershwin, Theatre Magazine, June 1926Porgy and Bess is an English-language [light] opera...
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