CiTR -- The Jazz Show

This rather informal jam-type date was done just before Miles Davis formed his "first great quintet" and it features a newly healthy and strong Miles Davis just at the beginning of rise to Jazz stardom. It's an ad-hoc date with vibist Milt Jackson as the co-star. Miles had recorded with Milt on the legendary "Bags' Groove" date on Christmas Eve in 1954 and wanted to do more with Milt. Jackie McLea...

There are really few words to describe the musical genius of Phineas Newborn Jr. He was born in Memphis on December 14, 1931 and died at age 57 in 1989. He could play a variety of instruments besides the piano....bass, drums, trumpet, tenor saxophone but it is genius at the piano that will give Mr. Newborn his place in Jazz History. Newborn had it all, touch, he made the piano ring with beauty, he...

"Screamin' The Blues" is really a classic album that doesn't enjoy the same fame as Mr. Nelson's "The Blues And The Abstract Truth". It was recorded by similiar personnel but for a smaller label (Prestige/New Jazz) and about 8 months before the "Abstract Truth" date. Make no mistake the level of music is just as high as it the creativity. The people involved on this session are Richard "Notes" Wil...

The great producer Norman Granz was responsible for bringing the jam session which he felt was the core of Jazz music, to the stage. He also recorded many studio produced jams with some of the greatest musicians in the world. Charlie Parker, Oscar Peterson, Illinois Jacquet, Count Basie, Buddy Rich and literally hundreds of others. Many of these recordings are now considered classic and essential...

This feature has a large orchestra playing music composed and arranged by Oliver Nelson who not only conducts the orchestra but is heard with others on alto and tenor saxophones. The 7 part suite is a depiction of the history of African/American people from their origin in Africa to their arrival in the USA as slaves, their emancipation and all the triumphs and tribulations ending in the optimisti...

This album was Herbie Hancock's last for Blue Note Records. He was a rising star as he had been part of Miles Davis' ground breaking "second great quintet" for 7 years and had just formed his own sextet. He had just signed a very lucrative contract with Warner Bros. Records but owed Blue Note one more and Blue Note went out of their way to provide Herbie with everything he needed. His new sextet c...

This album is not as overt a protest or as political as last week's Jazz feature by Max Roach but has political overtones, a reflection the time it was recorded in 1961. This was the time of The Freedom Riders, young people both black and caucasian from the North who headed down to the militant Southern States to fight the segregation laws that were illegal but still practised. The members of this...

By 1960 drummer Max Roach had been for years a keen student of politics and civil rights and as a black American he realized that his mission was to combine politics and his music. He would do this without compromising the quality of his music in any way. Roach was one of the music's greatest drummers and a pioneer of Modern Jazz. The Freedom Now Suite was his first fully political statement and i...

Lee Konitz is one of the foremost voices of the alto saxophone. He was one of the first to emerge in the late 1940s and NOT play like Charlie Parker. He hooked up with pianist/teacher/guru Lennie Tristano and became one of his leading disciples. Konitz went on to play with Miles Davis and tour with Stan Kenton and then formed his own ensembles. Konitz has never been an "in your face" kind of playe...

Bob Florence was born and raised in Los Angeles on May 20 1932 and passed away on May 15,2008 at age 75. He began his career as a concert pianist but was converted to Jazz at the Los Angeles City College. He began playing every variety of gig on piano, movie soundtracks, TV shows,backing singers of every variety but continued to compose and arrange. He wrote for Kenton, Basie, Ellington, Herman,Bu...

Billed at "The Last Concert" and performed by the longest permanent group in Jazz music the Modern Jazz Quartet was going to disband. John Lewis, piano and musical director, vibist Milt Jackson, the group's major solo voice, bassist Percy Heath and drummer Connie Kay were going to go their separate ways. This great "last concert" took place at Avery Fisher Hall in New York on November 25,1974 and...

"Mingus Dynasty" was bassist/composer Charles Mingus' second album for Columbia Records. His first "Mingus Ah Um" was his best selling album and it elevated Mingus out of the Jazz underground. Mingus was on his way. This second album was even more varied and much better programmed. It featured Mingus' working group with John Handy (alto), Booker Ervin (tenor) Jimmy Knepper (trombone) and Dannie Ri...

This is an often overlooked album recorded over two days on Nov.24 and Dec. 2,1959. It was done after his milestone recording "Giant Steps" and his great classic "My Favourite Things". It is a relaxed date with Mr. Coltrane and his partners from Miles Davis' band. In fact they were all in the employ of Davis at this time. We hear Coltrane with Wynton Kelly on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy...

This famous (sometimes infamous) recording date that took place on Christmas Eve of 1954 has gone down in Jazz History as a milestone session which influenced generations of Jazz players. This date is a tradition on The Jazz Show and we hear it every year on the last show before Christmas. Somehow, although there is nothing obvious about Christmas in this music, nevertheless there IS a definite Ch...

This was Mal Waldron's second trio date for Prestige/New Jazz Records. it was done in March of 1959 after a tour of Europe with Billie Holiday. Mal was Billie's arranger and pianist from 1957 to 1959. He was also in the 50's, house pianist/arranger/composer for Prestige Records and recorded with John Coltrane, Gene Ammons, Jackie McLean and many others. Mal had gained a great experience working wi...

Gerry Mulligan was one of the most distinctive of all the exponents of the modern baritone saxophone but that wasn't all there was to Mulligan. He was an ace arranger, composer, band leader and a more than competent pianist. Among his many bands it's his pianoless quartet that stands out in people's minds. The first one was put together in Los Angeles with trumpeter Chet Baker and was in many ways...

Roland Kirk was a musical phenomena and someone that we may never see the like of again. Mr. Kirk who later adopted the name "Rahsaan" Roland Kirk discovered his talents in his dreams. He lost his sight at a very early age but fell in love with the sound of music. He taught himself to play three horns at once making him a one-man band and later added the clarinet, flute, and trumpet plus other sou...

Wynton Kelly was one of the finest piano players on the planet during his short life (he died at age 39). His highest prominence was when he was a member of Miles Davis' Quintet from 1959 to 1963. This fine album was recorded in 1960 when he was a member of the Davis band with Kelly's hand picked trio with Paul Chambers on bass and the always dynamic Philly Joe Jones on drums. Kelly was taken for...

Recorded at the end of 1976 at New York's Village Vanguard. Dexter Gordon, who had been absent for many years from the American Jazz scene returns at the height of his powers and teams up with the great young trumpeter Woody Shaw and his band. The band aside from Shaw and Gordon has Ronnie Matthews on piano, Stafford James on bass and Louis Hayes on drums,.Gordon who had been in Europe for many ye...

This date which took place in New York in September of 1953 was really a Jazz summit meeting. The quartet had never played together before and these four great musicians just came together like fish to water. Nominally led by the pioneer of the vibes, the great Lionel Hampton at his musical best, devoid of all his usual showbiz trappings and just displaying his musical genius. Hampton is joined by...

Grachan Moncur 111 is one of the lesser known but important figures on the New York Jazz scene in the mid-60's when new ideas and concepts were emerging and musicians were finding new ways to create and improvise. Moncur was an educated young man and experienced playing for four years with Ray Charles and a year with The Jazztet led by Art Farmer and Benny Golson and touring also with Sonny Rollin...

Tonight we celebrate what would have been the 96th Birthday of one of the great innovators of 20th Century music....John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie. This recording is one of Dizzy's finest and it features an all-star band. Gillespie is the catalyst here and he even pushes his own limitless boundries in an incredibly inspired performance. Sonny Stitt is heard on alto saxophone only and like Gillespie...

Organ master James Oscar Smith must be considered one of the pioneers of Jazz music as he almost single-handedly brought the Hammond organ into Jazz music. Jimmy Smith wasn't the first one to ever use the instrument in Jazz but he developed a concept on the organ that was copied by just about every practitioner who followed. Smith, after a period of learning the instrument, emerged and began to wo...

Even though he had been first and foremost as one of the world's finest Jazz drummers since 1934, Jo Jones didn't make his first recording under his own name until this date in August 1955. Tonight The Jazz Show celebrates what would have been Jo's 102nd Birthday. Jo or as he was known later in life as "Papa Jo" died at age 73 on September 3,1985. He was really the forerunner of Modern Jazz drummi...

We go from one of the most famous saxophonists featured last week....John Coltrane to one of the least known greats....his name Rudolph Johnson. Little is known about Mr. Johnson except that he is from Columbus, Ohio and first was heard touring with organist Jimmy McGriff. He headed west and was based in Los Angeles and spent a lot of time in San Francisco as well. A serious musician and a non-dri...