CiTR -- The Jazz Show

Tonight's Jazz Feature is a tribute to the 98th Birthday Anniversary of one of the most important and influential musicians in Jazz: Miles Dewey Davis who was born in Alton, Illinois on May 26, 1926. He left us on September 28, 1991 at age 65. Tonight's Jazz Feature presents in concert in Belgium the "Second Great Quintet" at it's peak. The personnel was Davis on trumpet and leader with Wayne Shor...

Tonight's Jazz Feature is an indirect tribute to my late Mother, whose Birthday Anniversary is today: May 20. This album was one of her favorites. It is a classic by the great vibist and Modern Jazz pioneer, Milt Jackson. Jackson and his co-star here is flutist and tenor saxophonist Frank Wess. Wess of course is one of the great practitioners of Jazz flute. The rhythm section is superb and led by...

George Russell was one of the foremost composer/arrangers in Modern Jazz and always a forward thinker. He recorded under his own name in the mid-50's but didn't form an actual working band until 1960 when he put together his Sextet. He recorded for Decca and the independent label, Riverside Records and until he left the US for Europe in the mid-60's. it was a golden and productive period for Russe...

Tonight's Jazz Feature is a belated tribute to the Birthday of bassist/pianist/composer/iconoclast/ Charles Mingus. Mingus was born on Earth Day, April 22, 1922 in Nogales, Arizona and died in Cuernavaca, Mexico on January 5, 1979 from ALS. This album on tonight's Jazz Feature is his first for Columbia Records and it literally brought Mingus out of the Jazz underground and into the forefront. It w...

Tonight's Jazz Feature honors the Birthday Anniversary of one of America's most important artists. Edward Kennedy Ellington was born on April 29, 1899 in Washington D.C.and he passed away in New York on May 24, 1974 at age 75 from cancer. Tonight The Jazz Show presents one of Ellington's latter day masterpieces, "The Far East Suite". It commemorates a US State Department tour the band took in late...

Tomorrow is vibraphonist Walt Dickerson's Birthday Anniversary on April 16. Dickerson was born in Philadelphia on April 16. 1928 and passed away ay age 80 on May 15, 2008. He made his first album in March of 1961 and it is one of the finest debut recordings ever. He did 4 albums for Prestige/New Jazz that are all classics. He was recommended to the label by his friend Eric Dolphy. His debut album...

Tonight's Jazz Feature is a latter day classic and one of the finest outings by pianist/composer Chick Corea. It consists of three extended compositions hence the title "Three Quartets" The late Mr. Corea needs no introduction to the Jazz listening public of course but the band he has chosen for this date done in early 1981 is exceptional. On tenor saxophone is the late, great Michael Brecker and...

This classic album is tonight's Jazz Feature recorded 64 years ago on April 1, 1960 at Rudy Van Gelder's Studio for Prestige/New Jazz Records. It was Eric's first album under his name and leadership. Dolphy, who was from Los Angeles had moved to New York and after working in L.A. for many years came to New York as a member of drummer Chico Hamilton's Quintet. After leaving Hamilton and settling in...

The Jazz feature tonight is an album that this writer deems an essential Jazz album. "Out of the Afternoon" presents drum master Roy Haynes leading a very special quartet. Mr. Haynes just celebrated his 99th Birthday recently. Roy presents a young up and coming phenomena called Roland Kirk on tenor saxophone, manzello (an elongated alto saxophone) and the stritch (a soprano saxophone variant) and...

Alto saxophonist Frank Strozier remains one of the great underrated masters of his horn. He was born in Memphis and came up with his friends, George Coleman, Harold Mabern, and the great Booker Little. After Memphis he moved to Chicago and attained several university degrees and began building his reputation as a prime voice on the alto. He later moved to New York and played with many important pe...

Tonight's Jazz Feature focuses on the obscure but fine trumpeter and flugelhornist named Wilbur Harden. Little is known about Harden other than he was born in Birmingham, Alabama on Dec. 31,1924 and after working in some major R&B bands moved to Detroit in 1957 and began working with Yusef Lateef.. He became part of the talented Detroit Jazz scene then ventured to New York to record as he sign...

Tonight's Jazz Feature is one of the most intense and incendiary recordings by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. It was done in February 1964. The fire and intensity was perhaps driven by the fact that several of the members of this long standing edition of the Messengers were hinting at leaving to move on to other bands or forming their own groups. The personnel of this band had been together since t...

Tonight is a special Jazz Feature as we present and interview by the author of the newest and indeed one one the finest documents on the Vancouver Jazz scene. The book is a series of 30 biographies that cover the spectrum of the Jazz scene from the mid 1950's up to the present. It's called "Journeys To The Bandstand" by Chris Wong. Mr. Wong is my guest then we return with a Jazz Show debut recordi...

In Vancouver B.C. where we broadcast today is a statutory holiday called Family Day. In honor of Family Day we will present tonight a wide variety of famous Jazz families, We'll hear selections by The Montgomery Brothers, The Adderley Brothers, The Heath Brothers, The Mangione Brothers, The Turrentine Brothers, The Shorter Brothers, The Ayler Brothers, The Newborn Brothers (Phineas and Calvin), Th...

Tonight's Jazz Feature will be heard a bit later than usual as a guest was expected. The Jazz Feature will be pianist Andrew Hill's Blue Note debut album "Black Fire". Andrew Hill was somewhat unfairly lumped into the "free form Jazz" category as his music was different from the norm and innovative and Hill did emerge in the 1960;s, a time of change for Jazz. However Hill's music while different a...

Along with the Fundrive promos an exciting variety of music from various eras of Jazz tonight. The Jazz Feature will return next week.

Tonight The Jazz Show celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the birth of one of the important pioneers of Modern Jazz and the definitive voice of the trombone: Mr. J.J.Johnson. Johnson was born on January 22,1924 and passed away on February 4,2001 at age 77. He recorded a lot in his long career with small bands and large ensembles and of course was an accomplished composer, arranger. The album on ha...

Tonight's Jazz Feature is a recording done at San Francisco's Jazz Workshop on October 27,1962 by the Max Roach Quartet with drum master Max Roach at the helm with Clifford Jordan on tenor saxophone, Mal Waldron on piano and Eddie Khan on bass. Two extended works are featured. The first is the title track "Speak Brother Speak" depicts speakers on a soapbox expounding on the state of the nation. Th...

Tonight's Jazz Feature honors the late, great Les McCann who passed away December 29,2023 at age 88. This fine album featuring pianist McCann's working trio with bassist Herbie Lewis and drummer Ron Jefferson was called "Les McCann LTD". McCann had been appearing at New York's Village Gate with the LTD and recording for his label Pacific Jazz but this was a one-night only get together with very li...

Tonight's Jazz Feature has been an important part of tonight's Christmas Jazz Show for many years and tradition will continue with the famous and lasting Christmas Eve (1954) recording session with the Miles Davis All-Stars. It's sometimes known as the "Bags' Groove Session" as that tune written by Milt Jackson is the opener. The All-Stars are of course, Miles Davis on trumpet, Milt Jackson on vib...

Tonight's Jazz Feature is an obscure by excellent album by a group of fine players based in Los Angeles. The leader is the great Harold Land on tenor saxophone along with a fine lesser known trumpeter named Martin Banks. Amos trice is on piano, Clarence Jones on bass and Leon Pettis on drums. Save for Land, none of these players are well known but their music is world class. The album was recorded...

Tonight's Jazz Feature is a one time meeting of two great Jazz stars. They knew one another but never played together and were brought together by the producing genius of Norman Granz. Granz was one of the great entrepreneurs of Jazz. Tenor saxophonist Stan Getz was one of the major voices of that instrument and vibraphonist Lionel Hampton was one of the pioneers of that instrument and had been pr...

Tonight's Jazz Feature is a suite in 6 movements written by the late Gary McFarland and it's titled "America The Beautiful: An Account of It's Disappearance". McFarland wrote this music in 1968 over deep concerns about his beloved America which was in that year in turmoil...race riots, assassinations, the Vietnam War plus the wanton destruction of the environment manifested by endless shopping mal...

Tonoght's Jazz Show celebrates the Birthday Anniversary of a trumpet player who gave a whole generation of younger players the basis for their style and approach to the trumpet/ Even though Clifford Brown died in a car crash at age 25 on June 26, 1956, his trumpet work is still the standard for most young players to strive to attain. Tonight's Jazz Feature spotlights the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Q...

Carla Bley passed away on Oct 17, 2023 at age 87 but her music and her compositions occupy an important segment of modern music and Jazz. Her great legacy of compositions and her orchestra represented her broad and eclectic talent over many years and tonight's Jazz Feature is very fine representation of her music and orchestra. The album was recorded with her band full of incredible musicians from...