Posted in Shows on May 5th, 2008
Carla Bley is renowned today for her big-band writing and its wide-ranging use of musical and emotional elements, but it was small-group recordings of her work in the 1960s by musicians such as Jimmy Giuffre, Gary Burton, George Russell, and her husband Paul Bley that introduced her to the jazz world. In her teens Bley abandoned home, religion, and school, eventually making her way to New York City, where she worked as a hatcheck and cigarette girl in jazz clubs such as Basin Street and Birdland. She…
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Posted in Jazz Notes on Dec 31st, 2007
Take with the usual grain/caveat of subjectivity–that said, here are some titles from a year-for-the-ear in review…
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Posted in Shows on Nov 26th, 2007
Trumpeter Don Ellis is best-known today for the big bands he led during the late 1960s and early 1970s that made use of odd time signatures, but he made his first impact on the jazz world at the beginning of the 1960s, leading several progressive small-group dates that drew both praise and criticism from the jazz media. Ellis made himself available for the fray, joining roundtable discussions and firing off a three-page riposte in response to a bad review from…
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Posted in Jazz Notes on Oct 19th, 2007
One of the great things about working at WFIU is having David Baker stop by occasionally for appearances on Joe Bourne’s weekday afternoon program “Just You and Me”. As busy as he is, he’s always been incredibly generous with his time, and I’m always grateful for any chance to speak with him. He’s full of stories, insights, and good will; a few minutes in his presence and you’ll understand why he’s been such a successful jazz educator.
David came in today to chat about the inauguration concert for Indiana University president Michael McRobbie that he’ll be conducting Sunday night…
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Posted in Books, Jazz Notes on Oct 9th, 2007
Word has come via Mosaic Records that pianist Jack Wilson has passed away. Wilson’s best-known albums were two 1960s Blue Note dates, Easterly Winds (featuring the hardbop dynamic duo of Jackie McLean and Lee Morgan and Something Personal. He’s also present and accounted for on several…
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Posted in Jazz Notes on Aug 28th, 2007
A few weeks ago I interviewed jazz composer, educator, and musician David Baker, who played in George Russell’s
early-1960s progressive-bop group (featured in the Night Lights program When Russell Met Baker). For the past 40 years David has run the jazz studies program at Indiana University while continuing to compose and perform, and he also leads the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. A new CD of his big band compositions performed by the Buselli-Wallarab Orchestra, Basically Baker, garnered four and a half stars in a recent Downbeat review. Here’s Part 1 of the interview, which originally…
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Posted in Shows on Oct 14th, 2006
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This edition of Night Lights features the Jazz Workshops, progressive 1950s jazz recorded by pianist/composer/theorist George Russell and saxophonist Hal McKusick. The RCA Victor Jazz Workshop series, begun by A & R man Jack Lewis, was in some respects…
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Posted in Shows on Aug 12th, 2006
In the summer of 1959 a 27-year-old David Baker and several bandmates from Indianapolis attended the Lenox School of Music…
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