CiTR -- The Jazz Show

This is a fine album and a debut date for flutist Prince Lasha and alto saxophonist Sonny Simmons. Both of these men from different states met when they both moved to Oakland, Calif. Both were influenced by the music and philosophy of Ornette Coleman. They formed a mutual musical alliance and wrote all of their repertoire together. They performed as a unit around small clubs in Oakland and the Bay...

Alto saxophonist John Jenkins was prominent in the late 50s as he emigrated to New York from his hometown of Chicago in March 1957. He first worked with Charles Mingus and recorded as a sideman. John was a very distinctive alto saxophonist and a well trained player. Tonight's Jazz Feature is his debut album that came out on Blue Note. John only did one other date under his own name but this one is...

For the second of our Jazz Features spotlighting great voices of the alto saxophone who are either overlooked, underrated or under recorded, we present perhaps the best known exponent of this month's line-up William "Sonny" Criss. Sonny was a passionate player who was influenced by Charlie Parker but whose sound recalled earlier voices of the instrument like Benny Carter or Pete Brown. Sonny had a...

This month of October The Jazz Show presents as our Jazz Features lesser known or obscure exponents of the alto saxophone. All of these players are well worth hearing and if you've never heard of most of them it's because in the majority of cases they recorded little or were on the Jazz scene briefly. In the case of tonight's artist Jimmy Woods, he only recorded two albums under his own name and w...

This album marked a comeback of sorts for Sonny Rollins. He had left New york in late 1954 to get his personal life together and shed some bad habits. This date signaled his return to New York in late 1955 and coincided with his joining the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet, one of the most important Jazz bands of the time. Sonny entered the studio with a young pianist from Philadelphia named Ray B...

This is the second of The Jazz Show's "back to school" feature which involves education and entertainment with the classic recording narrated by Leonard Bernstein. Bernstein tells you with musical examples by his piano and his voice plus examples by famous musicians like Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Coleman Hawkins, Phil Woods, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and many more. With these...

This recording is a Jazz Show tradition and we present this every September to welcome back the school year. It is a brief history of Jazz narrated by the great alto saxophonist/bandleader Cannonball Adderley. He takes us through the early forms of the music and up to when this album was recorded in 1960. It is interspersed with musical examples. Despite the changes in the world and music since 19...

This album has been considered the "holy grail" of discoveries and just issued a few months ago. A n undiscovered recording session by John Coltrane's "classic quartet" at their peak. This session from March 6,1963 was never issued before. The reasons are long and complex but basically the session was done and forgotten during a very busy time in Coltrane's career. Gigs, concerts and other recordi...

Bassist Richard Davis has always been one of the leading exponents of that noble instrument. Davis has had long experience in many styles of music from symphony work with the New York Philharmonic to recordings and gigs with some of Jazz music's most adventuresome spirits like Eric Dolphy, Booker Little, Andrew Hill, Booker Ervin, Miles Davis and many others. He was a charter member of the famous...

Tenor saxophonist Roland Alexander gets the Jazz Feature spotlight tonight. as our month of obscure records continues. This time most of the artists here including Mr. Alexander are undeservedly obscure. Roland worked and recorded with several leaders including trumpeter Howard McGhee, drummer Charlie Persip and His Jazz Statesmen , Max Roach, Sun Ra, and Abdullah Ibrahim among others but made onl...

This album continues The Jazz Show's policy for this month.....rare recordings. This album gets it's rare status as it is often overlooked in the many recordings that bassist/composer Charles Mingus did. The main reason being is that it doesn't feature his Jazz Workshop ensemble but a piano trio with bass, piano and drums. Pianist Hampton Hawes who Mingus liked from his early days in Los Angeles w...

This was trumpeter Johnny Coles' debut album under his name and this begins a series for August of rare and sometimes hard to find recordings by artists well known or more obscure. Coles lies in the middle as he like many musicians should be better known. His distinctive approach to the trumpet marked him as being a superbly individual voice. Johnny was widely admired but never achieved that legen...

Walter Davis Jr. was a pianist of major stature who had been unfairly overlooked. He appeared on many Blue Note dates but only made this one called "Davis Cup". This wraps up our month long series of Jazz Features that spotlighted artists who only made one album under their name for Blue Note. Walter was a classically trained pianist who was influenced by Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk but brought...

Art Taylor was one of the most ubiquitous musicians on the Jazz scene in the 50's and 60's and recorded with everyone from Charlie Parker to Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell...everyone! Art appeared on hundreds of recording sessions because not only because he was great but because he was easy to record and his clear distinctive cymbal ride was one of his great assets. His drum style combined his two m...

Sonny Red (birth name Sylvester Kyner Junior) was a distinctive and passionate voice on the alto saxophone. He is one of the lesser known young men who were born in Detroit and learned to play there and who in the mid-50's emigrated to better opportunities in New York. Kenny Burrell, Curtis Fuller, Thad and Elvin Jones, Donald Byrd, Tommy Flanagan were some of the better known emigres but Sonny Re...

This month our Jazz Features will consist of some fine albums recorded for Blue Note Records by artists that only recorded one date under their own name. They may have been frequent sidemen on various dates for the label but for unexplained reasons only did a single album under their name. Pianist Duke Jordan had a long history in Jazz working with Charlie Parker, Stan Getz and many others. Duke w...

This album was the debut date for this creative young trombonist/composer: Grachan Moncur 111. Grachan had apprenticed with bandleaders Nat Phipps and Ray Charles and Art Farmer and Benny Golson's Jazztet before plunging headlong into the more adventurous side of the New York Jazz scene with alto saxophonist Jackie McLean who in the early 60s was looking at some new ways to express himself. Pionee...

Tonight's Jazz Feature is a special one as it spotlights a working band led by one of the bright lights of the vibraphone, the late Bobby Hutcherson. Bobby emerged in the 60s and played many styles of Jazz with his very adaptable concept and open mind. From straight-up swinging bop to the outer reaches of the avant-guard, Bobby was there. After resettling in the Bay Area Bobby formed this band wit...

Tonight's Jazz Feature from March of 1960 was John Coltrane's last hurrah as a regular sideman with Miles Davis. Coltrane by this time had recorded several important albums under his own name and was at this time the most influential voice of the tenor saxophone. He was also part of Miles Davis' bands. Miles, with the departure of alto saxophonist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley had reverted to a qui...

This special edition of The Jazz Show is one of the very best overviews of The Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Host Gavin Walker defers to one of the founding fathers of The Jazz Festival and the Media Director of The Coastal Jazz and Blues Society, the producers of the Festival and also a radio host of his own show on CO-OP Radio 100.5 FM...I'm speaking of Mr. John Orysik. John will pick a...

This Jazz Feature is a continuation of our exploration of the traditional "Jazz Quintet". This Jazz Feature is a rarity as it became a hit not only for the artist but for Blue Note Records. The album is trumpeter Lee Morgan's "comeback" date called "The Sidewinder". Lee had fallen badly from late 1961 through 1963 due to drug addiction. He entered rehab and embarked on pulling his life together an...

This gem is one of alto saxophonist Jackie McLean's more overlooked gems. It's part 2 of our look at the "standard quintet" (tenor or alto saxophone, trumpet,piano,bass and drums). The standard quintet is one of the most common set-ups in Modern Jazz. This album is wonderful and it's not a working band but one put together for the recording session. Jackie McLean and his distinctive "no sugar adde...

Dave Holland is to this day one of the premier bassists and composers of Jazz. This iconic album was made after Holland emigrated to America and had just finished a long tenure with Miles Davis. From Davis he became part of a short-lived band led by pianist Chick Corea. It was called "Circle" and had Corea, multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton, Holland and drummer Barry Altschul, Corea soon broke...

For the fourth episode of The Jazz Show's Jazz Features we are spotlighting some of the creative changes in Jazz music in the late 60s and early 70s. We turn to master musician Herbie Hancock who at age 78 is still a vital force in the music. This album marks a special period in Hancock's varied and eclectic explorations of almost every conceivable musical style. Hancock, after leaving Miles Davis...

Chick Corea moved from the bubbling chauldron of Miles Davis' band to the adventurous quartet called "Circle" and soon after left Circle in late 1971 to form "Return to Forever". Return to Forever combined flamenco, bossa nova, samba and Afro-Brazilian rhythms to the mix. The music was accessible, light, lyrical but deep as well. The instrumentation of Return to Forever combined the vocals of Flor...