Posted in Jazz Notes on Oct 6th, 2007
Following up on recent posts about the rise and fall of the Indiana Avenue jazz scene in Indianapolis, I’ve started a new category on the links page for websites devoted to significant jazz cities or regions and their histories…
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Posted in Jazz Notes on Oct 2nd, 2007
(This is a continuation of a previous post, Along the Avenue: the Legacy of Indianapolis Jazz.)
To understand the enormity of what transpired, one would have to have been there, somewhere in the beginning, during that time when hope boogalooed, time-stepped and literally “ran wild” down the Avenue and throughout the flurry of neighborhoods that comprised the city’s black community.–Mari Evans, “Ethos and Creativity”
Indianapolis in those days was sharing in the euphoric glow of the post-World War II economy. Lockefield Gardens, the expansive and beautiful housing complex built during the Depression to provide…
Posted in Jazz Notes on Sep 18th, 2007
Organist Melvin Rhyne, who first made his reputation playing with Wes Montgomery during the halcyon days of Indianapolis’ Indiana Avenue, performed in Bloomington this past Sunday at Tutto Bene as part of a benefit for local collective Jazz From Bloomington. His tenor saxophonist was a longtime favorite of mine, David Young, who played in the legendary George Russell-David Baker sextet. Indiana Avenue archivist David Williams also brought along a wealth of memorabilia, celebrating the era when Rhyne, Montgomery, Freddie Hubbard, Larry Ridley, and many other future jazz stars could be seen and heard jamming regularly along Indianapolis’ main stem…
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…
Posted in Jazz Notes, Videos on Jul 1st, 2007
The very cool Jazz Icons DVD series has announced the release of seven more titles, including concerts by Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, Dave Brubeck, and Charles Mingus.
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