Jazz Music Blog

Donald Byrd, R.I.P.

Donald Byrd, who died on February 4 at age 80, came to prominence in the mid-Fifties with bands led by Art Blakey, Horace Silver, and George Wallington. Hi

New Orleans on My Mind

I’ve never been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras proper, but my wife and I were in the Crescent City last year on the Feast of the Epiphany, better known as Twelth Night, the traditional start of the

It was reported on Friday that this photograph reputedly picturing the great bluesmen Robert Johnson (left) and Johnny Shines was donated by the Johnson estate to Getty Images. It’s only the

Little Jazz on the BBC

Yesterday was the 102^nd anniversary of the birth of Roy Eldridge. As he says up front in this BBC radio documentary, he was short and slight of build, and that earned him the nickn

Ralph Lalama: Big Band or Trio

Notwithstanding the essential role that records and CD’s play in the documenting of an artist’s or ensemble’s work; or in the writing of jazz history; or the private pleasures they bring listeners

Joe Albany: Low Down Proto Bopper on Film

Joe Albany wasn’t the first seeker to find his true voice in jazz, but he was among the more forthright about what the music meant to him. In the 1980 documentary, Joe Albany: A

Grant Stewart Here and There

If a change of scene is what you need ‘long about this time of year, the Punta Del Este International Jazz Festival in Uruguay may be good for what ails you. Tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart h

Do you know the Hayden Carruth poem that consists exclusively of The Fantastic Names of Jazz? It comes to mi

One of the greatest pleasures I’ve had as the host of Jazz a la Mode was getting to know Mort Fega, the legendary New York jazz DJ who was one of the most colorful voices in the history of my profe

Happy 91st, Frank Wess!

George Cables posted a note on Facebook today in which he said, “I'm having a great time at Birdland this week with Frank Wess, who's celebrating his 91st birthday today, but you'd never know it!

Billie Holiday interview

Here's a link to a feature on Billie Holiday that was posted by the CBC last week.&n

Merry Christmas!

I’m on my way to sing traditional carols and wish “Merry Christmas” and “Feliz Navidad” to my fellow Holyoke parishioners, but wanted to leave you with a few Christmas goodies that I found under th

In memory of Ana Grace Marquez-Greene

Jazz (Gift) Books

There’s no shortage of jazz biography and other writings continually adding to the sagging shelves of my bookcases, and an even greater profusion of titles in bl

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