Jazz Legends

Bill Evans, born August 16, 1929, was one of his generation’s most influential jazz pianists. His lyrical melodic lines, use of impressionistic harmony and deft touch at the keyboard combined to make him an influence on every pianist that came after him. After working with Miles Davis and recording the seminal recording "Kind of Blue", he spent the rest of his career performing with his own trios,...

Charlie Parker, nicknamed “Yardbird” or “Bird” for short was easily one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century. Born in Kansas City, Kansas on August 29, 1920, he came up in the vital jazz scene of Kansas City, Missouri. Initially heavily influenced by the playing of saxophonist Lester Young, he developed a prodigious saxophone technique and his own unique harmonic and melodic...

Virtuoso trumpeter Lee Morgan (born July 10, 1938) first rose to fame as a teenage member of Dizzy Gillespie’s band. He played as a sideman with John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Art Blakey in addition to producing a series of recordings as a leader, one of which “The Sidewinder” became a surprise commercial hit in 1964. He died tragically in 1972, shot at a club in NYC dur...

Composer and lyricist Frank Loesser (born June 29, 1910) worked for years as a lyricist for a series of different songwriters, always telling them he could actually write both words and music himself, and he proved it in 1950 with the Broadway Premiere of Guys and Dolls. Over the course of his career he won a Pulitzer Prize for his show, How to Succeed in Business, Tony awards for Guys and Dolls a...

Tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley (born July 7, 1930) was described as the “Middleweight champion of the tenor saxophone” by critic Leonard Feather, but most musicians think he punched well above that weight class. His career included stints with Art Blakey, Horace Silver, Max Roach and Miles Davis as well as over thirty recordings as a bandleader in his own right. Many of his compositions have become...

Throughout songwriter Richard Rodgers' (born June 28, 1902) long career, with 43 Broadway shows and over 900 songs to his credit, he wrote primarily with only two lyricists, Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein. Much of his output with both men have become standards, but jazz musicians are particularly enamored with his earlier work, with Lorenz Hart. Some theorize that even though he was often at od...

Pianist, bandleader, composer Chick Corea (born June 12, 1941) is one of the most influential jazz musicians of his generation. After serving his apprenticeship with Miles Davis, Corea started a group called Return to Forever, that featured singer Flora Purim, reedman Joe Farrell and drummer/ percussionist Airto Moreira. Many of the compositions Corea penned for this band have become jazz standard...

Trumpeter/composer Tom Harrell, born June 16, 1946, is one of most creative players of his instrument, and a prolific and fresh compositional voice as well. His achievements are all the more remarkable when you consider he suffers from symptoms of schizophrenia, and has only one lung! Early in his career he toured with the big bands of Stan Kenton and Woody Herman, followed by sideman stints with...

Composer/lyricist Cole Porter, born June 9, 1891, was a rarity among composers of American popular songs. Besides being among only a handful of songwriters who penned their own lyrics, he was unique in that he was born into a wealthy Indiana family. He produced a staggering number of songs that have been embraced by jazz musicians over the years, in a remarkable career that spanned four decades.

Brazilian songwriter Antônio Carlos Jobim (also called Tom Jobim), born January 25, 1927, is the best known and most prolific of the composers who originated the bossa nova. His compositions have captured the imaginations of jazz musicians from the outset. His lyricism and harmonic imagination have made his tunes popular worldwide, and he is so revered in Brazil, that the Rio de Janero airport is...

Miles Davis (May 26, 1926 - Sept 28, 1991) unabashedly said that he revolutionized jazz music several times over his career. While an argument could be made for that statement, it is undeniable that the many musicians who passed through his bands over the years have definitely revolutionized the music.   The list is long, virtually every musician who passed through Miles’ many bands has had a last...

Jackie McLean (May 17, 1931 - March 31, 2006) was one of the many jazz musicians to be deeply influenced in the generation coming up under the influence of Charlie Parker. He always had his own unique sound and approach though, recording with Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Charles Mingus and other leaders before leading his own groups, notably on Blue Note Records, for whom he recorded twenty-three side...

Irving Berlin (May 11, 1888 - September 22, 1989) was one of the most prolific and successful songwriters of all time. His accomplishments as a  composer and lyricist are even more remarkable when you consider that English wasn’t his native language (he grew up speaking Yiddish) and his piano skills were limited to playing in only one key (he famously had a custom built piano with a “gear shift” t...

Miles Davis once said all musicians should set aside a day each year to honor Duke Ellington. This year, the Jazz Evensong Quintet has set aside two. It’s not hyperbole to state that this man contributed as much to jazz and American music as anyone living or dead, his legacy as a composer, performer, and band leader is undeniable. His band featured many of our greatest musicians as well, a great m...

Saxophonist/composer Joe Henderson (born April 24, 1937) was an eclectic performer, recording over thirty albums on Blue Note records, raging from straight ahead sessions with Horace Silver to more avant-guard outings with Andrew Hill, always sounding like himself in every setting. He recorded with Herbie Hancock and even spent a period of time with Blood, Sweat and Tears. The bulk of the material...

Henry Mancini (born April 16, 1924) was one of the most prolific and successful songwriters of all time. His film scores won four Academy Awards, a Golden Globe, and twenty Grammy Awards, plus a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. He had a lifelong affinity for jazz and jazz musicians, hiring many of Hollywood’s greatest jazz players for his recordings and film scores, and his tu...

Bassist/composer Charles Mingus (born April 22, 1922) was one of the most prolific composers the music has produced. Over his decades long career, he collaborated with many of our music’s greats, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Max Roach and Eric Dolphy to name a few. He was one of the first artists to attempt to control the recording and distribution of his own recordings, founding Debut Records...

Trumpeter, composer/arranger Thad Jones born March 28, 1923, was the middle son in a family that also produced younger brother Elvin Jones, perhaps best known as John Coltrane’s longtime drummer, and pianist Hank Jones, who performed and recorded with almost everyone in his long career, as one of the first black musicians to have a long and fruitful career in the New York studios. Thad first made...

In addition to being one of the denizens of the NYC 52nd St scene, pianist/composer Lennie Tristano was an influential and pioneering teacher of jazz improvisation. He had prodigious technical abilities as a player, and his pedagogical approach to teaching improvisation eschewed learning “licks” in favor of creating fresh original improvised music. His many compositions exhibit this somewhat strea...

Ornette Coleman set the jazz world ablaze with the release of his first recording “Something Else” in 1958. Ironically, so many of the innovations he introduced to the music have become so ingrained over the passing years, it’s difficult to believe his music was so controversial at the time. His conception of free jazz influenced mainstream jazz musicians like Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane and Jack...

Alec Wilder and Harold Arlen are both composers in the great American Songbook tradition. Chances are good you've never heard of Alec Wilder, even if you’re familiar with some of his popular songs, like "I’ll Be Around" or "While We’re Young." He was also a prolific composer of chamber music, many of the best known virtuosos of the day were personal friends of his, and he wrote most of his chamber...

Tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon was one of the most quintessential performers on that instrument for over 40 years. Born in Los Angeles on February 27, 1923, he was initially heavily influenced by Lester Young, but soon developed his own bebop vocabulary and a room filling sound befitting his 6’6” frame, his playing heavily influenced Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. He was one of a number of Amer...

This week, the band talks composer, arranger, and pianist Tadd Dameron as they prepare a setlist in his honor for Sunday night.

This week, we feature the music not of a person but of a place: New Orleans.

The band talks Duke Ellington as they prep for their instrumental adaptation of Duke's Concert of Sacred Music.