Joe Jackson is promising a a decidedly unconventional salute to Ellington, hoping to highlight the timeless brilliance of his classic compositions even while showcasing Jackson’s own skills as an arranger, instrumentalist and vocal interpreter. You May Also Like: Joe Jackson’s Rain underscored a complete modern-era return to form Sacred andRead More

In a genre that’s rapidly becoming overwhelmed with vocalists reinterpreting the Great American Snoozebook (important in their time, but rapidly becoming threadbare old saws — if only because of their endless modern repetitions), Lorraine Feather (daughter of the legendary jazz critic Leonard Feather) is not kidding with this album title.Read More

When Duke Ellington strolled out on stage for this 1958 date, it had been 25 years since he’d previously appeared in Europe. You May Also Like: Sacred and Great Gigs in the Sky: The Vocalise Tradition from Duke Ellington to Pink Floyd Nick Finzer’s Thoughtful ‘Hear and Now’ Also HonorsRead More

Many a jazz singer has stumbled through the Great American Songbook, slowed by imitative missteps or the inability to keep pace with a swinging quartet surrounding him. David Paul Mesler is not that singer. You May Also Like: Shawn E. Hansen, Mike Pride + Clayton Thomas – ‘DREAMBAND’ (2023)

I wasn’t familiar with the work of vibraphonist Bill Ware (though a quick Allmusic search said that he’s played with the Jazz Passengers, Groove Collective and even Steely Dan) but I was, then as now, a sucker for the sound of vibes. What’s more, I’ll buy anything with the nameRead More

Why wasn’t Roland Hanna, a first-rate piano improviser and brilliant accompanist, more famous? Newly unearthed sessions for the IPO Recordings release Colors From a Giant’s Kit, again first-rate, again brilliant, don’t do anything to solve the riddle. You May Also Like: No related posts.

Some fun facts about this track: 1. “East St. Louis Toodle-oo” is the only Steely Dan track in which Becker and Fagen are not in the songwriting credits. This one was written about fifty years earlier by Duke Ellington and his trumpet player, Bubber Miley. You May Also Like: FiveRead More

Dancing with Duke, the second album as a leader from North Carolina bassist John Brown (Nnenna Freelon), follows the thematic pattern established by his well-received initial recording — a tribute to Art Blakey. But this homage to Ellington explores more interesting territory, in that Blakey’s music has always been associatedRead More

Delfeayo Marsalis talks about working with his brothers, even while he established his own musical philosophy away from them.

Early on, you never heard much piano from Duke Ellington, a grievous thing. It was only in the twilight of his career that this American jazz master regularly consented to taping some shows where his impish wit at the instrument could be heard front and center. You May Also Like:Read More