R.I.P.: Kaye Stevens

Singer, Actress Kaye Stevens Dies in Florida
Associated Press

Singer and actress Kaye Stevens, who performed with the Rat Pack and was a frequent guest on Johnny Carson's "The Tonight Show," has died at a central Florida hospital. She was 79.

Close friend Gerry Schweitzer confirmed that Stevens died Wednesday at the Villages Hospital north of Orlando following a battle with breast cancer and blood clots.

Stevens, a longtime South Florida resident, performed with Rat Pack members including Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Joey Bishop. She also sang solo at venues like Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and the Plaza Hotel's Persian Room in New York City.

During the Vietnam War era, Stevens performed for American soldiers in the war zone with Bob Hope's USO tour.

According to a handout from friend Rhonda Glenn, Stevens was born Catherine Louise Stephens in Pittsburgh. Her family eventually moved to Cleveland, where a teenage Stevens got her start as a drummer and singer. She later married now deceased bandleader and trumpet player Tommy Amato, and the couple performed throughout the eastern U.S.

During a gig in New Jersey, Stevens was discovered by Ed McMahon, Carson's longtime sidekick, which led to new bookings. Her big break came when she was playing a lounge at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas. Debbie Reynolds became ill and was unable to perform in the main room. Stevens filled in and was an instant hit.

Besides singing, Stevens also acted in film and television. She appeared in six movies, earning a Golden Globe nomination in 1964 for "The New Interns." She was a regular celebrity player on game shows and appeared as a regular on "Days of Our Lives" from 1974-79.

During the past two decades, Stevens started her own ministry and began performing only Christian and patriotic music. She staged benefits to help build St. Vincent Catholic Church in her longtime home of Margate, Fla., where city officials named a park in her honor.

R.I.P.: Sam Rivers

(Sam Rivers in 2007 - pic by Richard Termine)

Sam Rivers, Jazz Artist of Loft Scene, Dies at 88
By NATE CHINEN - The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/28/arts/music/sam-rivers-jazz-musician-dies-at-88.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha28

Sam Rivers, an inexhaustibly creative saxophonist, flutist, bandleader and composer who cut his own decisive path through the jazz world, spearheading the 1970s loft scene in New York and later establishing a rugged outpost in Florida, died on Monday in Orlando, Fla. He was 88.
The cause was pneumonia, his daughter Monique Rivers Williams said.

With an approach to improvisation that was garrulous and uninhibited but firmly grounded in intellect and technique, Mr. Rivers was among the leading figures in the postwar jazz avant-garde. His sound on the tenor saxophone, his primary instrument, was distinctive: taut and throaty, slightly burred, dark-hued. He also had a recognizable voice on the soprano saxophone, flute and piano, and as a composer and arranger.

Music ran deep in his family. His grandfather Marshall W. Taylor published one of the first hymnals for black congregations after emancipation, “A Collection of Revival Hymns and Plantation Melodies,” in 1882. His mother, the former Lillian Taylor, was a pianist and choir director, and his father, Samuel Rivers, was a gospel singer. They were on tour with the Silvertone Quintet in El Reno, Okla., when Samuel Carthorne Rivers was born, on Sept. 25, 1923.

Growing up in Chicago and on the road, Mr. Rivers studied violin, piano and trombone. After his father had a debilitating accident in 1937, he moved with his mother to Little Rock, Ark., where he zeroed in on the tenor saxophone. Joining the Navy in the mid-’40s, he served for three years.

Mr. Rivers enrolled in the Boston Conservatory of Music in 1947 and later transferred to Boston University, where he majored in composition and briefly took up the viola and fell into the busy Boston jazz scene.

He made an important acquaintance in 1959: Tony Williams, a 13-year-old drummer who already sounded like an innovator. Together they delved into free improvisation, occasionally performing in museums alongside modernist and abstract paintings.

By 1964 Mr. Williams was working with the trumpeter Miles Davis and persuaded him to hire Mr. Rivers, who was with the bluesman T-Bone Walker at the time, for a summer tour. Mr. Rivers’s blustery playing with the Miles Davis Quintet, captured on the album “Miles in Tokyo,” suggested a provocative but imperfect fit. Wayne Shorter replaced him in the fall.

On a series of Blue Note recordings in the middle to late ’60s, beginning with Mr. Williams’s first album as a leader, “Life Time,” Mr. Rivers expressed his ideas more freely. He made four albums of his own for the label, the first of which — “Fuchsia Swing Song,” with Mr. Williams, the pianist Jaki Byard and the bassist Ron Carter, another Miles Davis sideman — is a landmark of experimental post-bop, with a free-flowing yet structurally sound style. “Beatrice,” a ballad from that album Mr. Rivers named after his wife, would become a jazz standard.

Beatrice Rivers died in 2005. In addition to his daughter Monique, Mr. Rivers is survived by two other daughters, Cindy Johnson and Traci Tozzi; a son, Dr. Samuel Rivers III; five grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

Mr. Rivers pushed further toward abstraction in the late ’60s, moving to New York and working as a sideman with the uncompromising pianists Andrew Hill and Cecil Taylor. In 1970 he and his wife opened Studio Rivbea, a noncommercial performance space, in their loft on Bond Street in the East Village. It served as an avant-garde hub through the end of the decade, anchoring what would be known as the loft scene.

The albums Mr. Rivers made for Impulse Records in the ’70s would further burnish his reputation in the avant-garde. After Studio Rivbea closed in 1979, Mr. Rivers continued to lead several groups, including a big band called the Rivbea Orchestra, a woodwind ensemble called Winds of Change and a virtuosic trio with the bassist Dave Holland and the drummer Barry Altschul. With the trio, Mr. Rivers often demonstrated his gift as a multi-instrumentalist, extemporizing fluidly on saxophone, piano and flute.

Mr. Rivers tacked toward more mainstream sensibilities from 1987 to 1991, when he worked extensively with an early influence, the trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. While touring through Orlando with Gillespie in 1991, Mr. Rivers met some of the skilled musicians employed by the area’s theme parks, who persuaded him to move there and revive the Rivbea Orchestra. He lived most recently in nearby Apopka, Fla.

The music made by his band in the 1990s and beyond was as spirited and harmonically dense as anything in Mr. Rivers’s musical history. And the trio at its core — Mr. Rivers, the bassist Doug Mathews and the drummer Anthony Cole — also performed on its own, honing a dynamic versatility distinct from that of any other group in jazz.

Mr. Rivers’s late-career renaissance was confirmed by the critical response to “Inspiration” and “Culmination,” two albums he recorded for RCA in 1998 with a New York big band assembled by the alto saxophonist Steve Coleman. In 2000, Mr. Rivers led the Orlando iteration of the Rivbea Orchestra in a concert presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center. The next year he served as the fiery eminence on “Black Stars,” an acclaimed album by the 26-year-old pianist Jason Moran.

This year saw the release of “Sam Rivers and the Rivbea Orchestra — Trilogy” (Mosaic), a three-CD set featuring recordings from 2008 and 2009. His last performance was in October in DeLand, Fla.

In 2006. the Vision Festival, a nonprofit New York event aesthetically indebted to the loft scene, honored Mr. Rivers with a Sam Rivers Day program featuring both his bands. The names of two of the bustling pieces performed were, appropriately, “Flair” and “Spunk.”

A version of this article appeared in print on December 28, 2011, on page A16 of the New York edition with the headline: Sam Rivers, Jazz Artist of Loft Scene, Dies at 88.

Merry Christmas!

Jazz Station wants to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, a Happy Holiday season, and a healthy and prosperous 2012 filled with great music!!!The model, like in the previous years, is our dear friend Kasey Unroe.

R.I.P.: John Bishop

John Bishop, Guitarist Who Performed with Ray Charles
by Joan Giangrasse Kates - Chicago Tribune
December 23, 2011

John Bishop, a guitarist who played with Ray Charles and in top rooms around the country including the London House and Mister Kelly's in Chicago, formed with his wife one of the top bands for local events, the Georgia Frances Orchestra.

Mr. Bishop, 65, died apparently of a heart attack Saturday, Dec. 17, in his Oak Park home.

"John's musicianship was second nature to him," said close friend Pat Martino, a well-known Philadelphia-based jazz guitarist. "He was a very gifted guitarist, whose music transcended all boundaries."

Born Gregory Ceurvorst in Davenport, Iowa, Mr. Bishop was one of 13 children, and, according to siblings, always had a restless streak. He was 8 years old when he picked up an ukulele and began strumming it. That led to the guitar, which led to the electric guitar, which led to him teaching his friends how to play.

At age 15, he ran away from home to Kansas City, Mo., where he persuaded the owner of a bar to hire him to perform a few nights a week. It was around this time that he changed his name to John Bishop.

"He called my parents and woke them up in the middle of the night to tell them he had a job playing his guitar," said his brother Steve.

Word spread fast about the young guitarist who couldn't read a single note of music, but could play anything by ear, and the gigs started rolling in.

"He'd listen to a piece of music just once and then be able to play it," his brother said.

After a few years of playing jazz and blues clubs in Kansas City, Mr. Bishop moved to San Francisco, and later Chicago, where he began to make a name for himself. In 1969, he cut his first solo jazz album, "Bishop's Whirl," with Tangerine Records.

By the early 1970s, Mr. Bishop had signed on as a guitarist with Ray Charles. He played all the hot spots on Rush Street and started touring coast-to-coast, performing at prestigious clubs such as the Copacabana in New York.

"John was a warm and generous man," said Martino. "He was there for me whenever I came to Chicago to perform. He'd pick me up at the airport and take me to my engagement. We'd have wonderful conversations on our way there."

While performing at the Copacabana in New York, Mr. Bishop became a favorite of NFL Hall of Famer Joe Namath, who frequented the club. Mr. Bishop went on to help Namath open his Bachelors III nightclubs in Boston and Florida.

"From the time I was a kid, I remember thinking he was one of the coolest guys on the planet," his brother said. "It'd take me a week of stories to describe the kind of life he lived."

Mr. Bishop first came to Chicago as an opening act for Ray Charles at the Regal Theatre, and subsequently headlined The London House and Mister Kelly's before touring the country. When in town, he also served as a lead guitarist with singer-songwriter Donny Hathaway and jazz pianist Ramsey Lewis.

In 1980, Mr. Bishop married Georgia Frances, a violinist, who performed with the Empire Room Orchestra in Chicago. Soon after, the couple founded The Georgia Frances Orchestra, long considered one of the top event bands in the city.

"I always loved it at a gig when he would get in that mood of his, and go off on these wild solos that just stopped the show in the best possible way," said musician Stephen Rider. "The rest of the band just sort of faded back, and you couldn't help but want to hear more."

His neighbor Lyn Jerit said she had been talking to Mr. Bishop about a gig of his just recently.

"I remember him saying how his band was really flying that night. How they never sounded so good," Jerit said. "But that's how John was -- so mesmerized by music."

Mr. Bishop is also survived by a son, Gregory; a daughter, Nicole Marie; four other brothers, Gerard, Michael, Anthony and Martin; and seven sisters, Donna James, Kathleen Faoro, Mary Christine Dunivant, Rita Bawden, Patrice Baustian, Marla Konzel and Dolores Schamberger.

Services have been held.

R.I.P.: Carl Mottola

Carl Mottola, Drummer and Teacher
by Sally A. Downey - Philadelphia Inquirer
December 23, 2011

Carl A. Mottola, 70, of Ocean View, N.J., a drummer who played with a cavalcade of stars in a career spanning more than 50 years, died of multiple myeloma Thursday, Dec. 15, at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Mottola played with Vic Damone, Sergio Franchi, Smokey Robinson, Peggy Lee, Anthony Newley, James Darren, Tony Bennett, and many others at Palumbo's nightclub, Atlantic City casinos, and freelance gigs all over the East Coast.

For several years in the 1960s, he was the drummer for Bobby Rydell and accompanied him on tours around the United States and to Japan, England, South America, and continental Europe.

As part of the act, Mr. Mottola and Rydell, who both grew up in South Philadelphia, performed a torrid drum duet.

"It's no gag. Bobby can really play -- and good, too," Mr. Mottola told the Southwest Philadelphia Gazette in 1965.

He told the Gazette that besides Rydell, he had worked with Mel Torme, Don Cornell, and Johnny Desmond, and that, as a 19-year-old in 1960, "I was with Neil Sedaka in his first nightclub appearance at the Smart Spot in Jersey."

Mr. Mottola regularly played recording sessions at Cameo-Parkway Records in Philadelphia, whose artists included Rydell, the Dovells, the Orlons, and Chubby Checker.

In 1977, he performed for 20,000 fans at an Elvis Presley concert at the Spectrum. Mr. Mottola was subbing for Presley's regular drummer, who was ill.

By then, he had a regular gig as drummer for the Carmen Dee Orchestra at Palumbo's, in South Philadelphia.

The guitarist Allan Slutsky met Mr. Mottola in the early 1970s, when Slutsky was working with the Sacca Twins Review. The band had gotten its first break and was playing at Palumbo's. The orchestra members were used to playing for stars, and most were not thrilled with the young musicians, Slutsky said. "But not Carl. He was incredibly supportive, made a lot of great suggestions, and really tried to accommodate our needs," Slutsky said. "Over the years, a friendship developed."

"Carl was fiercely loyal to his friends," Slutsky said. "That ferocity carried over to the way he played drums, attacking them like a world-champion prizefighter one moment, and then caressing them with his brushes until his next assault."

Mr. Mottola was the drummer for the underscore music on the Grammy-winning documentary Slutsky produced, "Standing in the Shadows of Motown." The film is based on Slutsky's book about the bass guitarist James Jamerson, one of the Motown Records session musicians known as the Funk Brothers.

Since the mid-1980s, Mr. Mottola had been a house drummer at Caesars Atlantic City and played at other casinos as well. He also drummed with the Ocean City Pops Orchestra.

He taught drums at Temple University and was a music teacher in the Philadelphia School District for 18 years. Recently he taught at Galloway Community Charter School in New Jersey.

"The essence of Carl to me was in the showrooms of Atlantic City," Slutsky said. "First of all, he was dapper." Mr. Mottola was over 6-foot-3 and handsome. In later years, he looked like Anthony Quinn, Slutsky said. "Carl's shirts were the whitest, and his tux had the sharpest lines. He looked like a headliner."

Between sets, Slutsky said, "everyone always wanted to sit at Carl's table, because there was always going to be a wealth of musical info and good conversation."

Mr. Mottola loved playing for comedians, particularly Don Rickles. "Carl would howl like a banshee when Rickles would do his thing," Slutsky said.

He was a total professional, Slutsky said. He was sick from chemotherapy in September, when he was scheduled to perform with the Ocean City Pops. The program was a tribute to 1960s music, and the drummer was essential, Slutsky said, adding, "Carl couldn't play for the rehearsal, but he played the performance that night."

Mr. Mottola graduated from John Bartram High School in 1958 and later earned a bachelor's degree from Combs College of Music.

He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Joan Landi Mottola; a niece; and two nephews. A daughter, Gina Richard, died earlier.

A funeral mass was said Monday, Dec. 19, at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Roman Catholic Church in South Philadelphia.

Malene Mortensen @ Duc des Lombards

Don't miss the stunning Malene Mortensen leading her band in Paris @ Duc des Lombards, tonight and tomorrow, December 22 & 23.
With Paul Hinz (bass), Carl Mörner Ringström (guitar), Oscar Johansson (piano) & Daniel Johansson (drums).
For more details, please check: www.ducdeslombards.com

NYT - Ralph MacDonald obituary

Ralph MacDonald, Pop Percussionist, Dies at 67
By PAUL VITELLO
Published: December 20, 2011

A version of this article appeared in print on December 21, 2011, on page B11 of the New York edition with the headline: Ralph MacDonald, 67, Pop Percussionist.

Afro-Caribbean rhythms were known as “the ghost” behind the hit records of a multitude of 1970s and ’80s pop stars and who was a co-writer on the hit songs “Where Is the Love?” and “Just the Two of Us,” died on Sunday in Stamford, Conn. He was 67.
(photo by Fred R. Conrad/The NYT; Ralph MacDonald at home in Mount Vernon, N.Y., in 1977)

The cause was lung cancer, his family said.

Mr. MacDonald’s touch on the conga drums and dozens of other percussion instruments was ubiquitous for many years in pop music. It supplied the intimate undertow of Bette Midler’s “Do You Want to Dance?” (1972), the drive behind David Bowie’s “Young Americans” (1975) and the Caribbean lilt in Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville” (1977).

With a reputation in the industry as “the ghost behind the million-selling albums,” as The New York Times recounted in 1977, he made similarly defining contributions to records by Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin, Phoebe Snow, Rod Stewart, George Benson, James Taylor, Billy Joel, Luther Vandross and Amy Winehouse. “My approach is to work with melody by simply enhancing it,” he told The Times. Mr. Simon, with whom he made six albums, “sings such pretty songs,” he said, that “it’s a challenge to enhance that without overdoing it.”

Mr. MacDonald began learning his craft at an early age. His father and five uncles, immigrants from Trinidad, all played professionally in calypso bands. It was one of his uncles, Urias Fritz, who taught him to play with his fingers, not his whole hand, and showed him where to hit the drum. “He didn’t just hit the top of the drum,” Mr. MacDonald said in an interview. “He’d hit it all over, for all types of sounds.”

Mr. MacDonald was 17 when Harry Belafonte hired him for his touring orchestra. He worked with Mr. Belafonte for 10 years, and at some point informed him that despite his many gold records and despite being celebrated as the King of Calypso, Mr. Belafonte really didn’t know what calypso was.

Mr. Belafonte apparently took the criticism with magnanimity. According to Mr. MacDonald’s Web site, Mr. Belafonte invited the young man to write him a song. Mr. MacDonald wrote many, most of which ended up on Mr. Belafonte’s 1966 album “Calypso Carnival.”

After leaving Mr. Belafonte in the early ’70s, Mr. MacDonald and two partners, William Salter and William Eaton, began composing full time. One of their first songs, “Where Is the Love?,” was recorded in 1972 by Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway and went on to sell several million copies and win two Grammy Awards. He and his partners wrote many more successful songs, including “Just the Two of Us,” a huge hit for Bill Withers and Grover Washington Jr. in 1981.

Ralph Anthony MacDonald was born in Harlem on March 15, 1944, the eighth of Patrick and Evelyn MacDonald’s eight children. His father was a calypso star known professionally as Macbeth the Great. In interviews, Mr. MacDonald said he had grown up almost literally with a set of drums in his hands and had been extremely lucky in his teachers: his father, his uncle and Mr. Belafonte.

He is survived by his wife, Grace; their children Nefra-Ann and Atiba; two children, Anthony and Jovonni, from a previous marriage; a sister, Sylvia Pristell; and three grandchildren.

Mr. MacDonald’s versatility made him a sought-after session player on records by jazz and jazz-soul fusion artists like Bobbi Humphrey, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Herbie Mann, David Sanborn, Ron Carter, Tom Scott, Maynard Ferguson and Mr. Washington, for whom he and his partners wrote the 1975 hit “Mr. Magic.”

He and his partners also wrote “Calypso Breakdown” for the soundtrack of “Saturday Night Fever,” which earned Mr. MacDonald two Grammys of his own in 1978 as a performer and a producer.

In the interview with The Times, Mr. MacDonald said he never regretted being a relative unknown, despite his renown among his peers. “I don’t want to be a superstar,” he said. “Above all, I’m a musician first.”
**************
This article has been revised to reflect the following correctionon December 22, 2011:

Because of an editing error, an obituary on Wednesday about the percussionist and songwriter Ralph MacDonald referred incorrectly to two of his survivors. Atiba is his son and Jovonni is his daughter — not the reverse. The obituary also misstated part of the title of a song performed and co-written by Mr. MacDonald that was on the soundtrack of the movie “Saturday Night Fever.” It is “Calypso Breakdown,” not “Calypso Fever.”

R.I.P.: Edson Frederico

(born Edson Frederico Barbosa Cavalcante on May 7, 1948 in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;
died on December 22, 2011 in Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil)

Edson Frederico started his career in 1965, playing piano on live performances by Elis Regina and Vinicius de Moraes. Later he became the keyboardist on Erlon Chaves' Banda Veneno, backed guitarist Rosinha de Valença, songstress Marilia Medalha and the pop-samba duo Antonio Carlos & Jocafi, besides working as house-pianist in many Rio nightclubs throughout the 70s. As an arranger, he scored Djavan's debut album, "A Voz, O Violão, A Música de Djavan" (produced by Aloysio de Oliveira for the Som Livre label in 1976, including the big hit "Flor de Lis"), as well as projects by Jorge Ben ("A Banda do Zé Pretinho"), Lucio Alves, Bibi Ferreira, Sonia Santos, Maria Creuza and many others. As a conductor, Frederico worked with Oscar Peterson and Sylvie Vartan.

In November 1977, Aloysio de Oliveira (who had worked as artistic director for the Odeon label in the early years of bossa nova and later founded the Elenco label) invited Edson Frederico to write the orchestral arrangements for Sarah Vaughan's "I Love Brazil!" album (Pablo), originally issued in Brazil by RCA under the title "O Som Brasileiro de Sarah Vaughan" and awarded with a 5-star rating in DownBeat magazine. The sessions featured such Brazilian legends as Dorival Caymmi, Antonio Carlos Jobim and Milton Nascimento, with a dream-team cast of sidemen, including José Roberto Bertrami (who wrote most of the rhythm arrangements), Sergio Barroso, Novelli, Nelson Angelo, Claudio Bertrami, Wilson das Neves, Ariovaldo and Danilo Caymmi. Frederico's lush orchestrations were the ice of the cake.

But the most important thing was that Sassy herself loved the results, and requested Edson as pianist and arranger when she returned to Rio two years later, in October 1979, to record her second project exclusively dedicated to Brazilian songs, "Copacabana," once again produced by Aloysio de Oliveira, and released in the USA on Norman Granz' Pablo label, and in Brazil on Phillips. However, "Copacabana," which featured guitarist Helio Delmiro, was a less ambitious production (without the many guests of "I Love Brazil!") and turned to be less successful than her previous Brazilian adventure.

As a leader, Frederico recorded only two albums under his own name. The first one, "Edson Frederico e A Transa" (see the post below), issued on the RCA Camden label in 1975, later became a cult hit in Europe during the acid-jazz heyday in the 90s, being reissued on CD in Japan in 2002. The second and last one, "Edson Frederico Plays Maranezi" was cut in 1995 as a songbook of the Brasilia-based composer Erineu Maranesi.

Three other projects shall be mentioned: Frederico's work as arranger in a 2-year engagement (that started in 1977) at the Canecão music hall reuniting Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes, Miucha & Toquinho, taped for an album release by the Som Livre label; the big-band dancefloor project Banda Metalúrgica Dragão de Ipanema, documented on the album "Musica Pra-Pular Brasileira" (Polydor, 1980); and the work as pianist, arranger and conductor in the first remake of Antonio Carlos Jobim-Billy Blanco's "Sinfonia do Rio de Janeiro," an open-air concert presented at the Ipanema Beach in 1994, featuring such soloists as Doris Monteiro, Ithamara Koorax, Paulo Marquez & Hilton Prado, and broadcasted by Manchete TV network.

For a detailed bio (in Portuguese), please check:
http://www.dicionariompb.com.br/edson-frederico
(Edson Frederico & Sarah Vaughan during the "Copacabana" sessions)

(Edson Frederico & Sarah Vaughan during the "I Love Brazil!" sessions)

(Edson Frederico conducting for Oscar Peterson during a rehearsal)

(Antonio Carlos Jobim, Aloysio de Oliveira, Toquinho, Edson Frederico, Miucha & Vinicius de Moraes)

CD of the Day - "Edson Frederico e a Transa"

CD of the Day
"Edson Frederico e a Transa" (RCA/BMG Japan) 1975/2002

Arranged by Laercio de Freitas, Durval Ferreira & Luiz Eça ("Ligia" only)
Musical Director (unofficail Producer): Helcio Milito
Artistic Director: Carlos Guarany

Featuring: Edson Frederico (acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes, synths), Bebeto Castilho (electric bass & vocals), Wilson das Neves (drums), Helcio Milito, Chico Batera & Luna (percussion), Lucinha Lins, Raymundo Bittencourt & Orlandivo (vocals), Heloisa Millet (vocal effects)
Recorded by Nestor Vitiritti & Stelio Carlini @ RCA Studios, Rio de Janeiro
Mixed by Nestor Vitiritti
Photos: Ivan Klingen
Artwork: Ney Tavora

Highlights:
"Tema de Heloisa," "Multidão," "Bobeira," "Ligia," "Sacode Carola" and "O Gás"

Three Manfredo Fest CDs reissued today

Today, November 21st, really seems to be a blessed today for jazz and Brazilian music fans. The Japanese label P-Vine is reissuing three cult albums by the late Brazilian pianist-arranger-composer Manfredo Fest (1936-1999). All came out on indepent labels during the 70s, never received widespread distribution and became collectors' items during the dancefloor jazz heyday. Some months ago, Manfredo's son, guitarist Phil Fest, signed a deal with P-Vine to have them released on CD for the very first time. The only "problem" is that they were transferred to digital from vinyl LP sources, since the master tapes weren't found.

"After Hours - Introducing Manfredo Fest and His Piano Portraits," Fest's debut as a leader in the USA (he had previously recorded in Brazil for RGE, and in the USA as a member of Bossa Rio) was originally recorded on February 23 & 24, 1972 @ Sound 80 Studios, in Minneapolis, for Bobby Weiss' Daybreak label. Produced by Sonny Burke, the same guy who took care of the production of the first Sinatra-Jobim album in 1967 for Reprise ("Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim"), it showcases Fest mainly on acoustic piano, leading a 10-piece combo in an easy-listening mood. The program ranges from a jazz standard ("Midnight Sun," co-written by Burke, Lionel Hampton and Johnny Mercer) to a Beatles hit (George Harrison's "Something") to Jobim's "Bonita" and Manfredo's own "Bossa Rock Blues #1." There's also such mellow tunes as "Sleepy Shores" and "Love Story," the latter in a strange up-tempo arrangement.
"Brazilian Dorian Dream," cut in 1976 for T&M Productions, also at that same Sound 80 Studios in Minneapolis, remains Manfredo Fest's masterpiece. He leads a quartet with bassist Thomas Kini (from New Zealand), drummer-percussionist Alejo Poveda (from Costa Rica) and the fantastic American singer Roberta Davis, who does wordless vocals in unison with the intrincate keyboard lines. Fest is heard on the Fender Rhodes electric piano and several synthesizers programmed by Roger Dumas. All seven tracks are Fest's originals, except Richard Rodgers' "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue," an old favorite of him, and a tune he would later record twice for Tabu and DMP. The title track is an acid-jazz hymn.
The third album, "Manifestations," was born in 1978 @ The Total Experience Studios in Hollywood and @ Kendun Recorders in Burbank. Produced for the Tabu label by Jerry Peters, who also arranged the date with Bill Holman, it reflects the disco-music heyday and was Fest's high-budget project ever, with large horn and string sections. The all-star team includes three other Brazilian musicians (drummer Claudio Slon, acoustic guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves and percussionist Laudir de Oliveira), bassists Abe Laboriel and Jim Hughart, electric guitarists Lee Ritenour, Tim May and Jay Graydon, Buddy Collette on reeds, Jerry Hey and Oscar Brashear on trumpets, Maurice Spears on trombone, and the legendary harpist Dorothy Ashby. Clark Spangler, who used to work with Lalo Schifrin, did the synthesizers programming. A new take on "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue" opens the disc, followed by some Fest's originals ("Jungle Kitten," "Arigo" and "Who Needs It"), Peters' "Koko and Leeroe" and a disco version of Bach's "Prelude & Fugue #2." Dated but exciting.

Caldera's "Sky Islands" also reappears today on the "Jazz 999 Forecast" series

Besides Raul de Souza's two CDs, the Jazz 999 Forecast series released today by EMI Music Japan also includes titles by Eddie Henderson, Jean-Luc Ponty, Earl Klugh, George Duke, Gary Bartz, Eloise Laws and The Fouth Way, among other acts.

But the rarest item is Caldera's "Sky Islands," arguably the masterpiece recorded by the cult LA-based group led by the Argentinian keyboardist-arranger-composer Eduardo del Barrio (aka Eddie Del Barrio), better known for the songs he wrote for Earth Wind & Fire, including their mega-hit "Fantasy." "Sky Islands" was the second of four albums that Caldera recorded for Capitol between 1975 and 1979. Originally released in 1977, features the then-newcomer vocalist Dianne Reeves on two tracks, with the group line-up consisting of Eduardo del Barrio (acoustic piano, Fender Rhodes, Moog, Roland & Oberheim Polyphonic synths), Jorge Strunz (acoustic guitar, electric guitar, percussion), Steve Tavaglione (flutes & saxophones), the late Carlos Vega (drums), Dean Cortez (electric bass), Hector Andrade (timbales, congas, percussion), and the Brazilian musician Mike "Baiano" Azevedo (congas, percussion), who wrote the last track, "Pescador."

The list of special guests includes keyboardist Larry Dunn, drummers Chester Thompson and Ralph Humphrey, flugelhorn master Ralph Rickert, percussionist Ray Armando (where are you now, Ray?) and a string section arranged & conducted by Eduardo's brother George Del Barrio.

Raul de Souza: "Sweet Lucy" and "Don't Ask My Neighbors" reissued on CD today

Two cult albums recorded in California in the late '70s, for Capitol Records, by Brazil's top trombonist ever, Raul de Souza, are coming out today on CD. In Japan, of course. Both were produced by George Duke and engineered by Kerry McNabb at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, having reached the Billboard jazz charts.

"Sweet Lucy" (1977) was Raul's groundbreaking debut fusion album for Capitol, after the overlooked jazz masterpiece "Colors" (produced by Airto Moreira in 1974 with such guests as Cannonball Adderley, J.J. Johnson, Jack DeJohnette & Richard Davis, and released in 1975 on the Milestone label), which was produced by Arnaldo DeSouteiro for CD reissue in 1999 as part of Fantasy's Original Jazz Classics series; btw, DeSouteiro also produced, in 2001, for BMG, the first CD reissue ever of Raul's debut album as a leader in Brazil, "À Vontade Mesmo" (RCA, 1965). He also was the man behind the first digital release of "Sweet Lucy" that came out in Germany, on the EMI Electrola label back in the early 90s, but soon was sold-out and, oddly, was never re-printed, becoming one of the most expensive out-of-print CDs in jazz history.

Its title track, released as a 45rpm single in the USA and as 12"EP in Europe, became a dancefloor hit during the disco years. The album also includes a funky version of João Donato's "Banana Tree" ("Bananeira" aka "Vila Grazia"), Lonnie Liston Smith's "A Song of Love," and three strong originals by Raul: the gorgeous ballad "Wild and Shy" (featuring Freddie Hubbard on flugelhorn), "At Will" (an electrified remake of "À Vontade Mesmo") and the epic "Bottom Heat." Patrice Rushen, Byron Miller, Leon "Ndugu" Chancler, Ian Underwood, Airto and Earth Wind & Fire's guitarist Al Mckay are among the sidemen. Due to contractual reasons, George Duke performs on three tracks using the nickname Dawilli Gonga, while Weather Report's bassist Alphonso Johnson is credited as Embamba. "Don't Ask My Neighbors," which is being reissued on CD for the very first time, originally came out in 1978 and also sold very well, peaking at #26 in the Billboard Jazz Charts. Its main single, George Duke's penned "Daisy Mae," was the only track (from that album) included in some CD compilations released in Europe during the 90s, after having reached the status of a dancefloor classic during the acid-jazz heyday. The program includes Skip Scarborough's delightful title track (a hit for The Emotions) on which Raul showcases his creative phrasing skills on the tenor-bass trombone, Harvey Mason's "La La Song" (the first time ever he used the Souzabone on a recording!), a wildly brilliant arrangement - by Raul himself - of Wayne Shorter's "Beauty and the Beast" (originally heard on the "Native Dancer" LP), nice covers of Michel Colombier's "Overture" and Michael Henderson's "At The Concert," plus two compositions by our trombone hero: "Jump Street" and "Fortune," the latter co-written with Marilyn Castles, his American wife at that time.

Once again, Raul performs with an all-star cast: Harvey Mason, Ndugu, Azar Lawrence, Manolo Badrena, Airto, Byron Miller, Robert "Pops" Popwell, and two great guitarists from the '70s jazz scene that later disappeared: Roland Bautista (who performed at the Rio/Monterey Jazz Festival in Rio de Janeiro, back in 1980, in an all-star group with Raul de Souza, George Duke, Stanley Clarke, Ndugu and Airto) and Charles "Icarus" Johnson (who played with Duke's superband, alongside Sheila Escovedo, at the first São Paulo/Montreux Jazz Fest in São Paulo in 1978, and also recorded on Airto's "I'm Fine. How Are You" album for Warner.) Raul's third and final album for Capitol, "'Til Tomorrow Comes," a controversial disco session, remains unreleased on CD format, but shall be reissued in 2012.

Anna Mjöll's "Christmas Jazzmaz" @ Vibrato

Christmas Jazzmaz with Anna Mjöll @ Vibrato! The LA-based Icelandic jazz diva Anna Mjöll plays another near-guaranteed sellout at Herb Alpert's Vibrato in Bel-Air Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 at 8PM.

Mjöll has been voted one of the top 5 Jazz singers in the current jazz scene by Arnaldo DeSouteiro's Jazz Station.

ANNA MJÖLL and THE PAT SENATORE TRIO
ANNA MJÖLL / vocals
PAT SENATORE / bass
ED CZACH / piano
BOB LEATHERBARROW / drums

Vibrato
2930 Beverly Glen Circle
Bel Air, CA 90077
NO COVER but reservations are a must.
Call 310.474.9400 for res.

“The sweetest voice in the current Jazz scene. Period." —Arnaldo DeSouteiro

“Lightly twisted, jazzy..." —Los Angeles Times

“Do yourself a favor and catch her now, at an intimate small club, before she breaks out into larger venues." —Charles Andrews, Music Forums Moderator, HomeTheaterSpot.com
Anna Mjöll: "Christmas Jazzmaz" (Tónaljón) 2010

Music performance: *****
Sound quality: *****
Featuring: Vinnie Colaiuta (drums), Ólafur Gaukur (acoustic & electric guitars), Dave Carpenter (bass), Don Grusin (piano & keyboards), Luis Conte (percussion) and Charlie Bisharat (violin).

In a few words? OK. The most charming and enchanting songstress in the current jazz scene has released the best "Christmas album" of this century.

Really? Yes, absolutely!!! Throughout the years, dozens of jazz artists have issued Christmas projects. Most recently, back in 2005, Diana Krall released the excellent "Christmas Songs" CD, with a big budget production directed by Tommy LiPuma and the impeccable backing of the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. No surprises to be found, though. The typical Christmas tunes with nice vocals and predictable arrangements.

Five years later we get Anna Mjöll's "Christmas Jazzmaz." What a difference! Surprises abound on each track. Backed by a small group, with smart scores by producer Ólafur Gaukur (who happens to be Anna's father, and is a guitarist whose touch and phrasing on the acoustic instrument reminds me of Luiz Bonfa's approach on the 12-string guitar), the LA-based Icelandic Jazz Princess delivers fresh and creative performances of such songs as "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Winter Wonderland," "Sleigh Ride," "The Christmas Song" and "White Christmas."

Even the opener "Jingle Bells" sounds intriguing and -- I know it will be hard to believe -- "new". Actually, I had to hold my breath during the first five songs, since "Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let is snow" is a pure delight and I can't find words to express my feelings for her "Santa Baby." Do yourself a favor and listen. Never a vocal Christmas jazz albums sounded so charming and ...seductive! Anna's phrasing and the highly personal tone of her silky "innocent" voice (the missing link between Bjork and Blossom Dearie) are pure delight. And again: so far, the best Christmas CD of this century. Happy Holidays!

To order a CD copy or a digital download:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/annamjoll2

R.I.P.: Ralph MacDonald

(born on March 15, 1944, in Harlem, NY, USA;
died on May 18, 2011, in Stamford, Connecticut, USA)

My favorite non-Brazilian and non-latin percussionist, Ralph MacDonald, also a great pop and r&b composer & producer, passed away yesterday, of lung cancer. I grew up listening to his many studio sessions as a top-choice sideman on albums by artists of all styles. From Bill Evans (on his monumental collaboration with Claus Ogerman, "Symbiosis") to Carole King. From Harry Belafonte to Paul Simon, from Chet Baker to Frank Sinatra, Quincy Jones, and Roberta Flack.

Roberta, btw, was an essential figure in Ralph's career as a songwriter, having recorded his first big hit, "Where Is The Love?" in 1972. The following year, he contributed with two other great songs -- "No Tears in The End" and "When You Smile" -- to Flack's million-selling and #1 Billboard Pop album "Killing Me Softly," on which he also played percussion alongside such other great musicians as Idris Muhammad, Grady Tate and Ron Carter, all uncredited on the LP cover. Then came "Feel Like Makin' Love," which included two more gems co-written by MacDonald & Bill Salter: "I Wanted It Too" and "Mr. Magic," the latter becoming a big hit when also covered by Tony Bennett, Esther Phillips and especially Grover Washington, Jr.

The MacDonald-Washington, Jr. association was also extremely productive; from Grover's second album as a leader "All The King's Horses" (1972) to "Mister Magic" (1974) till the platinum turning point "Winelight" (1980), produced by Ralph MacDonald and including the huge hit single "Just the Two of Us" that he co-penned with Bill Withers and Bill Salter.

Around the time he started his collaboration with Grover, Ralph became a much in-demmand percussionist in the busy NYC studio scene of the early 70s, often hired by producers like Creed Taylor, Joel Dorn and Arif Mardin. Although he never recorded as a leader for Creed (something I never understood), he was featured in several albums released by the CTI and Kudu labels. Working as an unofficial in-house percussionist for the CTI family of labels between 1972 and 1976, Ralph appeared on sessions led by Paul Desmond, Gabor Szabo, Milt Jackson (the "Sunflower" masterpiece), Patti Austin, Eric Gale (I love his performance on "Cleopatra" from "Forecast"), Ron Carter (Ralph's playing on the track "R2, M1" from "Blues Farm" is outstanding too), Hubert Laws, Johnny Hammond, Esther Phillips, Hank Crawford, Idris Muhammad, Phil Upchurch, Don Sebesky ("Giant Box," the maestro's magnum-opus), Lalo Schifrin, Bob James (all the four solo albums that the celebrated arranger recorded for CTI) and Grover Washington, Jr. of course.

It's very interesting to note how Ralph MacDonald was able to adapt his conga style according to the drummer he was paired with, although always maintaining the same level of excellence. And, despite his great playing when Billy Cobham, Bernard Purdie, Idris Muhammad and Harvey Mason were on board, my favorite combination was the one of Ralph MacDonald with Steve Gadd. Their live performances always included a conga-drums solo, as can be watched on such DVDs as Grover Washington, Jr's "In Concert" (originally released as a LaserDisc in 1982, including the incredible MacDonald-Gadd duet on "Mister Magic") and "An Evening with Kimiko Itoh" (1994).

Between these 2 dates, I had the honor to attend many of Ralph's recording sessions as well as a Richard Tee concert at the Bottom Line, in NYC, back in 1990, featuring an all-star line-up consisting of MacDonald, Gadd, Will Lee, John Tropea, Tom Scott and Ronnie Cuber, filmed for broadcast on the NHK Japanese TV. I feel honored to have produced many CD reissues (from Ron Carter's "Anything Goes" to Esther Phillips' "For All We Know") and compilations ("CTI Acid Jazz Grooves," "Summer in the City: The Soul Jazz Grooves of Quincy Jones") that feature MacDonald's talents as a percussionist and/or composer.(Ralph MacDonald & Arnaldo DeSouteiro in New York, 1990)

As a producer, besides his organic collaboration with Grover and his albums as a leader, MacDonald directed sessions by Joe Farrell, Harold Vick and even Gilberto Gil in an album recorded for WEA's Elektra label in 1981 that was supposed to launch Gil as a pop star in the USA, after the disappointing sales of the Sergio Mendes-produced "Nightingale." Despite the big investment in this big-budget project that took six months to be completed in NYC, with an all-star cast, the album was never released and its existence remains a mistery even for great connoisseurs of Gilberto Gil's career.

But if I had the chose only a single moment from Ralph's entire career to take with me to Mars, my choice would be the title cut from Frank Sinatra's "LA Is My Lady" album with Quincy Jones. That intro, played by MacDonald alone, deserves to be sampled and repeated/looped over and over again. I could listen to it forever. Rest in Peace, Mr. Magic.Services In Memory of Ralph
Viewing: Wednesday December 21st, 2011, From 3-8pm at Granby's Funeral Home, Bronx, NY.
Service: Thursday December 22nd, 2011, 10:00 am at Abyssinian Baptist Church, New York, NY.
***************
From Ralph's official website www.ralphmacdonald.com

It is with sadness that we announce the passing of Ralph MacDonald on the morning of December 18, 2011. He will be greatly missed.

Grammy-award winning percussionist, songwriter and producer Ralph MacDonald was born in Harlem, NY in 1944. As the son of Trinidad-immigrant and Calypso performer "Macbeth The Great," Ralph grew up amidst the rise of Calypsonian revolution in New York City. The young boy was often placed playfully on his father's drums for a moment or two and, when he got older, MacDonald dreamed of someday achieving the regional success of his father.

At 17, Ralph helped a friend carry his steel drums into an audition for legendary performer Harry Belafonte. The friend got the gig, and MacDonald became a regular at rehearsals. When one of the players in Belafonte's Steel Band was late for a rehearsal, Ralph brashly declared his ability to play, and wound up getting the job.

Thus began a 10 year stint with Belafonte that schooled MacDonald in the music business. It also introduced him to songwriter Bill Salter, and the two began writing together to fill time on the road.

At one point, young MacDonald had the nerve to tell Harry Belafonte that despite all the gold records on the wall, Belafonte didn't really know what Calypso was. Belafonte said "Fine kid - if you know so much because your father was a Calypso singer, then you write me a song."

MacDonald delivered an album of songs: 1966's critically-acclaimed 'Calypso Carnival.'

At 27, MacDonald, William "Bill" Salter and William Eaton started their own publishing company, Antisia Music. Everyone told him he was crazy, but Ralph was determined to do it on his own. The partners opened a modest office in New York City and kept the door locked. When asked why, MacDonald explained that it was a publishing company, and that songs were meant to go out the door, not in. He gave himself two years to get the company going.

One year and eleven months later and wondering if Antisia Music would survive, Ralph happened to begin working with Roberta Flack. He and Salter had written a song called "Where Is The Love," and in a studio session, he pitched it to Roberta. She recorded it, and it went on to sell 10 million copies, earning Roberta and Donnie Hathaway Grammys and firmly establishing Antisia Music.

From there the success kept on coming. Ralph began recording with legends like James Taylor, Billy Joel, Bette Midler, Diana Ross and Paul Simon. He and his partners wrote the Grover Washington Jr. hit "Mr. Magic" and Antisia Music placed a song called "Calypso Breakdown" on the BeeGees 'Saturday Night Fever' soundtrack. That album went on to sell 47 million copies and earned MacDonald two Grammys of his own, as a performer and a producer. Riding high on the disco craze, Ralph released two albums of his own, gaining commercial success and international recognition.

In 1980, Ralph wrote and produced Grover Washington Jr.'s classic album "Winelight." Among the MacDonald compositions were hits like "In The Name Of Love," and a song destined to become an American standard: "Just The Two Of Us." That song alone has been recorded by hundreds of artists worldwide, including Will Smith's 1999 adaptation of the song.

MacDonald still spends his time writing and recording for Antisia Publishing when he's not out on the road touring with Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band. He also continues to release new albums of smooth, percussive jazz and pop. Now firmly established as a successful songwriter, a legendary percussion player, and an international star, it would seem that the kid from Harlem who dreamed of nothing more than achieving what his father had has succeeded in a big way.

Selected discography as a leader:
Mixty Motions (2008)
Home Grown (2003)
Trippin' (2000)
Port Pleasure (1998)
Just The Two Of Us (1996)
Reunion (1995)
Counterpoint (1978)
The Path (1977)
Sound Of A Drum (1976)

Selected discography as a sideman:
Peter Allen Tenterfield Saddler (1972)
Peter Allen Continental American (1974)
Luther Allison Night Life (1975)
Luther Allison Motown Years 1972-1976 (1996)
Duane Allman Anthology, Vol. 2 (1974)
Ashford & Simpson So So Satisfied (1977)
Ashford & Simpson Send It (1977)
Ashford & Simpson Is It Still Good to Ya (1978)
Ashford & Simpson Solid (1984)
Ashford & Simpson Gospel According to Ashford &... (1996)
Ashford & Simpson Very Best of Ashford & Simpson (2002)
Patti Austin Havana Candy (1977)
Patti Austin Every Home Should Have One (1981)
Patti Austin Gettin' Away with Murder (1985)
Patti Austin Best of Patti Austin [Columbia] (1994)
Patti Austin Very Best of Patti Austin (2001)
The Average White Band AWB (1974)
Burt Bacharach Futures (1977)
Chet Baker You Can't Go Home Again (1977)
The Bar-Kays Money Talks (1978)
Gato Barbieri Caliente! (1976)
Gato Barbieri Fire and Passion (1988)
Gato Barbieri Gato Barbieri's Finest Hour (2000)
The Bee Gees Living Eyes (1981)
Harry Belafonte Evening with Belafonte/Mouskouri (1966)
Maggie Bell Queen of the Night (1974)
George Benson Breezin' (1976)
George Benson In Flight (1976)
George Benson George Benson Collection (1976)
George Benson Best of George Benson (1976)
George Benson Weekend in L A (1977)
George Benson Livin' Inside Your Love (1977)
George Benson In Your Eyes (1978)
George Benson 20/20 (1984)
George Benson Big Boss Band (1990)
George Benson That's Right (1996)
George Benson George Benson Anthology (2000)
Black Heat Declassfied Grooves (2001)
Angela Bofill Angie (1978)
Angela Bofill Angel of the Night (1979)
Luiz Bonfa Manhattan Strut (1974)
David Bowie Young Americans (1975)
David Bowie Changesbowie (1990)
David Bowie Changes [Rykodisc] (1990)
David Bowie Young Americans (1991)
David Bowie Changes [EMI] (1999)
Brecker Bros. Brecker Bros. (1975)
Brecker Bros. Brecker Bros. Collection, Vol. 1 (1975)
The Brecker Brothers Band Back to Back (1975)
Brecker Bros. Brecker Bros. Collection, Vol. 2 (1975)
Brecker Bros. Don't Stop the Music (1977)
The Brecker Brothers Detente (1980)
Brethren Moment of Truth (1971)
Brigati Lost in the Wilderness
Martin Briley Dangerous Moments (1985)
The Brothers Johnson Look Out for #1 (1976)
The Brothers Johnson Right on Time (1977)
James Brown Hell (1974)
Oscar Brown Movin' On (1972)
Jimmy Buffett Floridays (1986)
Jimmy Buffett Hot Water (1988)
Jimmy Buffett Off to See the Lizard (1989)
Jimmy Buffett Feeding Frenzy (1990)
Jimmy Buffett Boats, Beaches, Bars & Ballads (1992)
Jimmy Buffett Barometer Soup (1995)
Jimmy Buffett Banana Wind (1996)
Jimmy Buffett Christmas Island (1996)
Jimmy Buffett Don't Stop the Carnival (1998)
Jimmy Buffett Beach House on the Moon (1999)
Jimmy Buffett Buffett Live: Tuesdays, Thursdays, (1999)
Jimmy Buffett Far Side of the World (2002)
Kenny Burrell & Grover Washington,Jr. Togethering (1984)
Jonathan Butler Jonathan Butler (1987)
Jonathan Cain Band Windy City Breakdown (1977)
The Carpenters Lovelines (1985)
Ron Carter Blues Farm (1973)
Ron Carter Spanish Blue (1974)
Ron Carter Anything Goes (1975)
Ron Carter A Song for You (1978)
Ron Carter & Friends Standard Bearers (1978)
Ron Carter New York Slick (1979)
Ron Carter Pick 'Em/Super Strings (2001)
Club Trini Margaritaville Cafe: Late Night... (2000)
Judy Collins Judith (1975)
Lou Courtney I'm in Need of Love (1974)
Hank Crawford Heart and Soul (1958)
Hank Crawford Wildflower (1973)
Hank Crawford Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing (1975)
Hank Crawford I Hear a Symphony (1975)
Randy Crawford Everything Must Change (1980)
The Crusaders Way Back Home (1961)
The Crusaders Free as the Wind (1976)
The Crusaders Priceless Jazz (1998)
The Crusaders Crusaders' Finest Hour (2000)
Jackie DeShannon Best Of 1958-1980 (2000)
Paul Desmond Skylark (1973)
Dr. John In the Right Place (1973)
Dr. John Ultimate Dr. John (1987)
Dr. John Mos' Scocious: Anthology (1993)
Cornell Dupree Teasin' (1973)
East Bounce East Bounce (1995)
William Eaton Struggle Buggy
Yvonne Elliman I Dont Know How to Love Him (1972)
Yvonne Elliman Yvonne Elliman (1972)
Yvonne Elliman Best of Yvonne Elliman (1997)
Kevin Eubanks Face to Face (1986)
Bill Evans & Claus Ogerman Symbiosis (1974)
Georgie Fame Cool Cat Blues (1991)
Far Cry More Things Change
Joe Farrell La Cathedral Y El Toro (1978)
Maynard Ferguson Primal Scream (1976)
Maynard Ferguson Conquistador (1977)
Maynard Ferguson Carnival (1978)
Maynard Ferguson This Is Jazz, Vol. 16 (1996)
Maynard Ferguson New Vintage
Roberta Flack Quiet Fire (1971)
Roberta Flack Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway (1972)
Roberta Flack Killing Me Softly (1973)
Roberta Flack Feel Like Makin' Love (1975)
Roberta Flack I'm the One (1982)
Roberta Flack Softly With These Songs (1993)
David Forman David Forman (1976)
Aretha Franklin Let Me in Your Life (1974)
Aretha Franklin With Everything I Feel in Me (1974)
Aretha Franklin Queen of Soul (1992)
Michael Franks Burchfield Nines (1978)
Michael Franks The Camera Never Lies (1987)
Michael Franks Best of Michael Franks (1998)
Michael Franks Indispensable (1998)
Glenn Frey Soul Searchin' (1988)
Glenn Frey Solo Collection (1995)
Glenn Frey 20th Century Masters - The... (2000)
GQ Disco Nights (1979)
Eric Gale Forecast (1973)
Eric Gale Ginseng Woman (1976)
Eric Gale Ginseng Woman/Multiplication (1976)
Eric Gale Multiplication (1978)
Eric Gale Part of You (1979)
Eric Gale Best of Eric Gale (1980)
Art Garfunkel Watermark (1977)
Gene & Francesca Gene & Francesca
Glassharp Synergy (1972)
Barry Goldberg Barry Goldberg (1972)
Grant Green Best of Grant Green, Vol. 2 (1971)
Grant Green Blue Breakbeats (1998)
Dave Grusin One of a Kind (1977)
Dave Grusin Priceless Jazz (1998)
Dave Grusin Very Best of Dave Grusin (2002)
Hall & Oates Abandoned Luncheonette (1973)
Hall & Oates Atlantic Collection (1996)
Tim Hardin Bird on a Wire (1971)
Tim Hardin Suite for Susan Moore & Damion... (2000)
Donny Hathaway Extension of a Man (1973)
Donny Hathaway Best of Donny Hathaway (1978)
Joe Henderson Milestone Years (1967)
Joe Henderson In Pursuit of Blackness (1970)
Joe Henderson Black Is the Color (1972)
Hidden Strength Hidden Strength (1976)
Lena Horne Nature's Baby (1971)
Lena Horne & Michel Legrand Lena and Michel (2002)
Larry Hosford A.K.A. Lorenzo (1975)
Bobbi Humphrey Best of Bobbi Humphrey (1977)
Bobbi Humphrey Good Life (1979)
Bobbi Humphrey Passion Flute (1994)
Bobbi Humphrey No Way
Arthur Hurley & Gottlieb Arthur Hurley & Gottlieb (1973)
Bobby Hutcherson Montara (1975)
Kimiko Itoh Sophisticated Lady (1997)
Kimiko Itoh Standards My Way (1997)
Milt Jackson Sunflower (1972)
Jaroslav Jakubovic Checkin' In (1978)
Bob James One (1974)
Bob James Two (1975)
Bob James Three (1976)
Bob James Heads (1977)
Bob James Four (1977)
Bob James Best of Bob James (1978)
Bob James Lucky Seven (1979)
Bob James H (1979)
Bob James Touchdown (1979)
Bob James & Earl Klugh One on One (1979)
Bob James Flashback Follow Bob James (1981)
Bob James Genie (1983)
Bob James Foxie (1983)
Bob James Restoration: The Best of Bob James (2001)
Bob James Essential Collection (2002)
Bob James Sign of the Times [Japanese Bonus Tracks] (2002)
Al Jarreau Glow (1976)
Scott Jarrett Without Rhyme or Reason (1980)
Garland Jeffreys Garland Jeffreys (1973)
Garland Jeffreys Matador & More... (1992)
Billy Joel Stranger (1977)
Billy Joel 52nd Street (1978)
Billy Joel Innocent Man (1983)
Billy Joel Greatest Hits, Vols. 1 & 2 (1985)
Billy Joel Complete Hits Collection 1974-1997 (1997)
Billy Joel Piano Man/52nd Street(2002)
General Johnson General Johnson (1979)
Quincy Jones I Heard That! (1969)
Quincy Jones Mellow Madness (1975)
Quincy Jones Sounds...And Stuff Like That!! (1978)
Quincy Jones Q: The Musical Biography of Quincy (2001)
Quincy Jones Ultimate Collection (2002)
Quincy Jones Summer in the City (2007)
The Joneses Keepin' up with the Jones (1974)
Margie Joseph Margie Joseph (1973)
Margie Joseph Margie (1975)
Robin Kenyatta Gypsy Man (1972)
Robin Kenyatta Terra Nova (1973)
Steve Khan Tightrope (1977)
Steve Khan Blue Man (1978)
Carole King Thoroughbred (1976)
Carole King Her Greatest Hits (1978)
Carole King Natural Woman: The Ode Collection (1994)
Rahsaan Roland Kirk Does Your House Have Lions (1961)
Rahsaan Roland Kirk Aces Back to Back (1968)
Rahsaan Roland Kirk Case of the 3-Sided Dream in Audio (1975)
Rahsaan Roland Kirk Vibration Continues
Earl Klugh Ballads (1976)
Earl Klugh Love Songs (1976)
Earl Klugh Living Inside Your Love (1977)
Earl Klugh Finger Painting (1977)
Earl Klugh Heart String (1979)
Earl Klugh Best of Earl Klugh, Vol. 1 (1991)
Earl Klugh Best of Earl Klugh, Vol. 2 (1992)
Gladys Knight & the Pips Best of Gladys Knight & the Pips... (2001)
Jerry Lacroix Second Coming (1974)
Neil Larsen Jungle Fever (1978)
Yusef Lateef Every Village Has a Song
Hubert Laws Best of Hubert Laws (1990)
Hubert Laws Morning Star (1972)
Hubert Laws Romeo & Juliet (1976)
Donal Leace Donal Leace (1972)
Julian Lennon Valotte (1984)
Kenny Loggins Celebrate Me Home (1977)
Mike Longo Like a Thief in the Night (1997)
Looking Glass Subway Serenade (1973)
Jon Lucien Mind's Eye (1974)
Jon Lucien Sweet Control (1999)
Taj Mahal Taj (1987)
Miriam Makeba & Harry Belafnte Evening with Belafonte & Makeba... (2002)
Junior Mance That Lovin' Feelin' (1973)
David Mancuso Presents Loft (1999)
Chuck Mangione Chuck Mangione's Finest Hour (2000)
Manhattan Transfer Coming Out (1976)
Manhattan Transfer Anthology: Down in Birdland (1992)
Herbie Mann Evolution of Mann: The Herbie Mann (1960)
Herbie Mann Herbie Mann Anthology (1960)
Herbie Mann Push Push (1971)
Herbie Mann Discotheque (1974)
Herbie Mann Waterbed (1975)
Herbie Mann Surprises (1976)
Herbie Mann Brazil: Once Again (1978)
Herbie Mann Waterbed/Surprises (2001)
Herbie Mann Turtle Bay/Discotheque (2001)
Herbie Mann Brazil: Once Again/Sunbelt (2001)
Herbie Mann Best of the Atlantic Years (2002)
Mark-Almond Other Peoples Rooms (1978)
Harvey Mason Funk in a Mason Jar (1977)
Harvey Mason Groovin' You (1979)
Harvey Mason Sho Nuff Groove (1999)
Les McCann Les McCann Anthology (1960)
Les McCann Invitation to Openness (1971)
Les McCann Layers (1972)
Don McLean Don McLean (1972)
Don McLean Playin' Favourites (1974)
Don McLean Homeless Brother (1974)
Bette Midler Divine Miss M (1972)
Bette Midler Bette Midler (1973)
Bette Midler Divine Collection (1993)
Bette Midler Experience the Divine [1993] (1993)
Bette Midler Experience the Divine [2000] (1997)
Marcus Miller Best of Marcus Miller (2000)
Jerry Moore Ballad of Birmingham (1967)
Melba Moore Peach Melba (1975)
Idris Muhammad Power of Soul (1974)
Idris Muhammad My Turn (1993)
The Neville Brothers Fiyo on the Bayou (1981)
The Neville Brothers Uptown Rulin': The Best Of (1999)
David "Fathead" Newman House of David (1952)
David "Fathead" Newman Lonely Avenue (1971)
David "Fathead" Newman Weapon/At Home and Abroad (1999)
Laura Nyro Christmas and the Beads of Sweat (1970)
Teddy Pendergrass TP (1980)
Esther Phillips Alone Again, Naturally (1972)
Esther Phillips Performance (1974)
Esther Phillips & Joe Beck What a Diff'rence a Day Makes (1975)
Esther Phillips Capricorn Princess (1976)
Esther Phillips & Joe Beck For All We Know (1976)
Flip Phillips Sound Investment (1987)
Pieces of a Dream Best of (1982)
Pieces of a Dream Pieces of a Dream (1990)
Pieces of a Dream We Are One
Noel Pointer Phantazia (1977)
Noel Pointer Hold On (1999)
John Prine Sweet Revenge (1973)
Bernard "Pretty" Purdie Soul Is...Pretty Purdie (1972)
Rainbow Crystal Green (1977)
Bonnie Raitt Streetlights (1974)
Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Raitt Collection (1990)
Elliott Randall Randalls New York (1977)
The Rascals Peaceful World (1971)
The Rascals Island of Real (1972)
The Rascals Anthology (1965-1972) (1992)
Lou Rawls It's Supposed to Be Fun (1990)
Lou Rawls Legendary Lou Rawls (1992)
Leon Redbone On the Track (1976)
Martha Reeves Martha Reeves (1974)
Max Roach Lift Every Voice and Sing (1971)
David Rudder Gilded Collection: 1986-1989 (1993)
David Sanborn Taking Off (1975)
David Sanborn Best of David Sanborn (1975)
David Sanborn Love Songs (1976)
David Sanborn Heart to Heart (1978)
David Sanborn Hideaway (1979)
David Sanborn Voyeur (1980)
David Sanborn Backstreet (1982)
David Sanborn Straight to the Heart (1984)
Steve Satten Whatcha Gonna Do for Me? (1975)
Lalo Schifrin Towering Toccata (1977)
Shirley Scott Something (1970)
Tom Scott New York Connection (1975)
Tom Scott Blow It Out (1976)
Tom Scott Intimate Strangers (1978)
Tom Scott Street Beat (1979)
Tom Scott Best of Tom Scott (1980)
Tom Scott Apple Juice (1981)
Tom Scott & the L.A. Express Smokin' Section (1999)
Seawind Seawind (1976)
Don Sebesky Giant Box (1973)
Doc Severinsen Brand New Thing (1977)
Janis Siegel Experiment in White (1982)
Carly Simon Hotcakes (1974)
Carly Simon Best of Carly Simon (1975)
Paul Simon Still Crazy After All These Years (1975)
Paul Simon Greatest Hits, Etc. (1977)
Paul Simon One Trick Pony (1980)
Paul Simon Graceland (1986)
Paul Simon Negotiations and Love Songs (1988)
Paul Simon 1964-1993 (1993)
Ray Simpson Tiger Love (1978)
Valerie Simpson Valerie Simpson (1972)
Frank Sinatra L.A. Is My Lady (1984)
Johnny Hammond Higher Ground (1974)
Phoebe Snow Phoebe Snow (1974)
Phoebe Snow Second Childhood (1976)
Phoebe Snow Never Letting Go (1977)
Phoebe Snow Against the Grain (1978)
Splinter Harder to Live (1975)
Starland Vocal Band Starland Vocal Band (1976)
Steely Dan Greatest Hits (1979)
Steely Dan Gaucho (1980)
Gabor Szabo Mizrab (1972)
Gabor Szabo Macho (1975)
Grady Tate Master Grady Tate (1977)
James Taylor Walking Man (1974)
James Taylor Greatest Hits (1976)
James Taylor Best of James Taylor (1990)
Kate Taylor Kate Taylor (1978)
Richard Tee Strokin' (1979)
Richard Tee Natural Ingredients (1980)
Richard Tee Real Time (1995)
The Domenic Troiano Band Burnin' at the Stake (1977)
John Tropea Short Trip to Space (1977)
John Tropea Simple Way to Say I Love You (1999)
Tufano & Giammarese Other Side (1977)
Michael Utley Club Trini (1996)
Thijs Van Leer Nice to Have Met You (1978)
Luther Vandross Forever, For Always, For Love (1982)
Grover Washington, Jr. All the King's Horses (1972)
Grover Washington, Jr. Soul Box (1973)
Grover Washington, Jr. Mister Magic (1974)
Grover Washington, Jr. Feels So Good (1975)
Grover Washington, Jr. Secret Place (1976)
Grover Washington, Jr. Skylarkin' (1979)
Grover Washington, Jr. Come Morning (1980)
Grover Washington, Jr. Winelight (1980)
Grover Washington, Jr. Anthology (1981)
Grover Washington, Jr. Best Is Yet to Come (1982)
Grover Washington, Jr. Inside Moves (1984)
Grover Washington, Jr. Best of Grover Washington, Jr. (1996)
Grover Washington, Jr. Ultimate Collection (1999)
Grover Washington, Jr. Incontournables (2000)
Grover Washington Jr. Love Songs (2001)
Sadao Watanabe How's Everything (1980)
Sadao Watanabe Rendezvous (1983)
Sadao Watanabe Fill Up the Night (1983)
Sadao Watanabe Selected (1989)
Patrick Williams 10th Avenue (1986)
Tony Williams Joy of Flying (1978)
Cris Williamson Cris Williamson (1971)
Bill Withers Menagerie (1977)
Bill Withers 'Bout Love (1979)
Bill Withers Greatest Hits (1981)
Bill Withers Watching You Watching Me (1985)
Bill Withers Lean on Me (1994)
Phil Woods The New Phil Woods Album (1975)
Young-Holt Unlimited Oh Girl (1972)
Original Soundrack Wiz (1978)
Original Soundtrack Saturday Night Fever (1977)
Original Soundtrack Body Rock
Various Artists Atlantic Jazz: 12 Volume Box Set (1947)
Various Artists Atlantic Jazz: Fusion (1969)
Various Artists CTI: Acid Jazz Grooves (1997)
Various Artists Montreux Summit, Vol. 1 (1977)
Various Artists Montreux Summit, Vol. 2 (1978)
Various Artists Let There Be Drums, Vol. 3 (197 )
Various Artists Guitar Fire!: GRP Gold Encore... (1983)
Various Artists Every Man Has a Woman (1984)
Various Artists Atlantic Blues: Guitar (1986)
Various Artists Atlantic Blues [Box] (1986)
Various Artists Atlantic Rhythm & Blues 1947-1974... (1991)
Various Artists Rock of the 70's, Vol. 4 (1992)
Various Artists GRP 10th Anniversary Collection (1992)
Various Artists Margaritaville Cafe Late Night... (1993)
Various Artists Disco Party: The Best of the TK... (1993)
Various Artists Atlantic Jazz: Best of the '70s (1994)
Various Artists Move to Groove: The Best of 1970s... (1995)
Various Artists Sax for Lovers [Sony] (1996)
Various Artists New Groove: The Blue Note Remix... (1996)
Various Artists For Our Children Too (1996)
Various Artists Singing Singles (1996)
Various Artists Groovy, Vol. 1: A Collection of... (1996)
Various Artists It Takes Two [Columbia] (1996)
Various Artists Instrumental History of Jazz (1997)
Various Artists Groovy, Vol. 2: A Collection of... (1997)
Various Artists Jazz Fusion, Vol. 2 [Rhino] (1997)
Various Artists CTI Records: The Birth of Groove (1997)
Various Artists Art of Saxophone (1997)
Various Artists Art of Jazz Saxophone: Impressions (1997)
Various Artists Best of Smooth Jazz (1997)
Various Artists Best of Smooth Jazz, Vol. 2 (1998)
Various Artists Best of Smooth Jazz, Vol. 4 (1998)
Various Artists Pulp Fusion, Vol. 2: Return to the (1998)
Various Artists Birth of Cool Funk Vintage Jams... (1998)
Various Artists Blue Note Salutes Motown (1998)
Various Artists Pop Music: The Modern Era 1976... (1999)
Various Artists Heavy Flute: Funky Flute Grooves... (2000)
Various Artists Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of... (2000)
Various Artists Head Jazz (2001)
Various Artists Long Road to Freedom: An Anthology (2001)
Various Artists Songs From The Chillout Lounge (2002)
Various Artists Like, Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture (2002)

CD of the Day - "Ralph MacDonald: The Path"

CD of the Day
Ralph MacDonald: "The Path" (Marlin/Antisia) 1978

Tracklist:
1. The Path (Part One, Part Two, Part Three)
2. Smoke Rings and Wine
3. I Cross My Heart
4. It Feels So Good
5. If I'm Still Around Tomorrow

Produced by Ralph MacDonald, William Salter & William Eaton.
Arranged and conducted by William Eaton (except 'It Feels So Good' by Arthur Jenkins, Jr.)
Engineered by Richard Alderson.

Musicians:
Ralph MacDonald - Conga, Percussion and Syndrum
Rick Marotta - Drums (1, 3)
Steve Gadd - Drums (1, 2)
Charles Collins - Drums (5)
Chuck Rainey - Bass
William Salter - Bass (4)
Will Lee - Bass (5)
Eric Gale - Guitar
Hugh McCracken - Guitar (5)
Richard Tee - Piano
Arthur Jenkins, Jr - Piano (4), Clavinet
Idris Muhammad - Log Drums (1)
Jimi Solanke - Spoken Voice (1)
Bob James - Synthesizer Solo (1)
Mick Brecker - Tenor Saxophone (1)
Randy Brecker - Trumpet (1)
Barry Rogers - Trombone (1)
David Sanborn - Alto Saxophone (1)
Jean "Toots" Thielemans - Harmonica (2)
Grover Washington, Jr - Tenor Saxophone, Lead & Solo (3)
Jerry Peters - Oberheim (3)
Dave Friedman - Vibraphone, Lead & Solo (4)
Nicky Marrero - Timbales (4)
Gwen Guthrie - Lead Vocal (5)

Bamboo Steel Band: (1)
Mike Sorzano - Cello
Roger Sarinha - Tenor
Alston Jack - Double Second
Clinton "Came To Play" Thobourne - Clarinet Solo

Chorus: (1)
Miriam Makeba, Jugh Massakela, Busie Diamini, Samuel Hiatshwayo, Alfred Lerefolo, Thembi Mtshali, Simon Nkosi, Linda Tshabalala, Junior Tshabalala

Backing Vocals: (2)
Patti Austin, Valerie Simpson, Leslie Miller, Hilda Harris, Jerry Keller, Kenny Karen, Tony Wells

Backing Vocals: (5)
Lani Groves, Brenda White, Yollanda McCullough

Book of the Day - "Ralph MacDonald"

Book of the Day
"Ralph MacDonald" (Betascript Publishing) 2011

34th Annual Kennedy Center Honors Gala to be broadcast on CBS, December 27

Sonny Rollins and his fellow 2011 Kennedy Center Honorees -- Barbara Cook, Neil Diamond, Yo-Yo Ma, and Meryl Streep -- were celebrated for their dazzling professional accomplishments and artistry on Sunday, Dec. 4 at the annual Honors Gala in Washington, DC. Seated with the President of the United States and Mrs. Obama, the Honorees were saluted in turn by an array of world-class and deeply personal performances. (Photo: John Filo)

The Honors Gala will be broadcast on CBS on Tuesday, Dec. 27, at 9:00-11:00 pm (ET/PT). Rollins's segment was introduced by Bill Cosby. Musical director Christian McBride assembled an all-star band consisting of Rollins colleagues (and friends) Jim Hall, Benny Golson, Joe Lovano, Herbie Hancock, Jimmy Heath, Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane, Billy Drummond, and Roy Hargrove, who performed in different configurations before coming together for the finale of "St. Thomas."

"It's about jazz music," Rollins said of the award's significance for him. "There are many people much greater than I am that were never honored in their lifetime, before honors like this were given out. I accept the award, but I accept it for the music, not so much for my own accomplishment."

The Kennedy Center Honors medallions were presented on Saturday, Dec. 3, the night before the Gala, at a State Department dinner hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Each Honoree was toasted by a dignitary; Rollins's toast was delivered by former President Bill Clinton, who'd sat at Rollins's right during dinner that night. President Clinton's remarks appear below.Bill Clinton & Sonny Rollins (photo: Terri Hinte)

Bill Clinton Toast to Sonny Rollins
State Department Dinner, Kennedy Center Honors
December 3, 2011

"There are many people in this room who could do this better than me: Jimmy Heath, Joe Lovano, Ravi Coltrane, Jim Hall. But it's appropriate because I'm just a fan. I discovered Sonny Rollins when I was about 15, 16 -- about 50 years ago. I loved jazz, and I fancied that someday I might be good enough to do it. And I bought my first Sonny Rollins LP. I listened and listened, I listened the grooves off of it. I subscribed to Down Beat magazine and I kept thinking: if I read every edition, sooner or later I will find one article that will explain to me what in the hell I just heard.

It was unbelievable, and it still is. Decade after decade after decade, this man explores the far reaches of the possibilities of what has lovingly been called the devil's horn. His music can bend your mind, it can break your heart, and it can make you laugh out loud. Still today after all these years, if I wake up in kind of a bad humor, or I'm worried about something, if I put on Sonny Rollins's version of "Brown Skin Girl," I will laugh out loud.

I have thought so much about his unique gifts. He has done things with improvisation that really no one has ever done. In complexity and creativity, he rivals Coltrane.

On one of the three CDs I listened to to prepare my mind for this, the Road Shows 2 album [that] has a lot of the tracks from his 80th birthday concert at the Beacon Theatre in New York -- I was just aghast at how good he still is. There's a duet which is more of a duel with Ornette Coleman, who probably has the most extreme capacity to go beyond normal chord structures and tonal assumptions of any saxophone player. So Sonny just gets right out there with him.

Then when he plays beautiful music-- Another one of the CDs I listened to today was called Old Flames. I played that one because it's a bunch of love songs that Sonny recorded in my first year as President. One of them, Duke Ellington's beautiful "Prelude to a Kiss," Jimmy Heath arranged and conducted. . . . It's so beautiful.

And then I listened to The Freedom Suite, which he recorded almost 54 years ago, in February of 1958. A propos of what the former speaker said [referring to emcee Renee Fleming's earlier remark: "He'd take a song you'd known all your life and in soaring solos of improvisation strip away the familiar and reveal new universes of wonder"], there are also, at the end of The Freedom Suite, three different takes of "Till There Was You," and they're all different.

This man is a marvel. He was born with a strong body and a brilliant mind and a passion for jazz. He knew when he made jazz his mistress he would never be bored, but he would never conquer. And he decided he would spend his life trying again, every single day.

At 81, he told me tonight, he said "I still practice every day." Every day. I said, "I love that 80th birthday gig at the Beacon." He said, "I wasn't very good."

Some musicians that are really good grace us because they keep playing. Sonny Rollins's great gift to all of us, whether you know a lick about jazz or not, is that he keeps growing. And he still does.

A few weeks ago, physicists in Switzerland at the superconductor supercollider, the Hadron Supercollider, fired some subatomic particles called neutrinos through the mountains to a magnet in the Italian Alps, and it appeared that they arrived before they left. That is, it's the first known experiment in physics since Einstein propagated his theory of relativity where anything with matter and mass appeared to travel faster than the speed of light.

People who know a lot more about this than I do are still trying to absorb what this means and whether the experiment is accurate. But if it is, it may mean not just that we don't know where we are and what time it is -- something I often feel when I'm in Washington -- it may mean that there is after all a whole fourth dimension to reality.

Long before the scientists fired the neutrinos, Sonny Rollins believed there was another dimension to reality. In jazz music, his Mark VI Selmer tenor with his old Berg-Larsen mouthpiece is our superconducting supercollider. He has given us a gift, and reminded us that whatever hand we're given to play, we're supposed to play it to the very end and keep growing. Thank you, my friend."

R.I.P.: Bob Brookmeyer

(born on December 19, 1929, in Kansas City, Missouri, USA;
died on December 16 in Grantham, New Hampshire, USA)

From his official site (www.bobbrookmeyer.com):
It’s with great sadness that we share the news that Bob Brookmeyer passed away last night, just three days shy of his 82nd birthday. Bob was an integral force in music, making some of the greatest groups in jazz history what we know and admire today. Whether as a composer, arranger or trombonist, his voice is immediately discernible from the very first note, always bringing a smile and one word: "Brookmeyer."

For many of us, Bob has always been a tremendous inspiration and an overflowing wealth of knowledge. You'd be hard to find a large ensemble composer that doesn't have Bob's name on the top of their list of favorites. For those lucky enough to have the opportunity to study with him, we were given more than just an education in the art of being a great composer, we were given a level of both love and support that expanded far beyond the classroom. He had a wonderful ability to cultivate our inner strengths, yet pull us out of our comfort zones and stretch us farther than we could have ever imagined possible.

Bob's newest album, STANDARDS, which was officially released a few weeks ago, was a record Bob was incredibly proud of. It is a true masterpiece in every sense of the word, with each arrangement encompassing everything that is "Bob Brookmeyer."

Bob, you were an amazing force and a fearless leader to all jazz composers. Thank you for your years of inspiration, support, and for leaving a legacy of music to continually inspire us for years to come.
Bob Brookmeyer had an unusually varied and extensive background in all forms of improvised and composed music. He was born December 19, 1929, attended Kansas City Conservatory of Music where he won the Carl Busch Prize for Choral Composition. He arrived in New York playing piano with Mel Lewis and Tex Benecke, staying there to perform the music of Eddie Sauter with Ray McKinley, free lancing with musicians such as Coleman Hawkins, PeeWee Russell, Ben Webster, Charles Mingus and Teddy Charles. After a brief stay with Claude Thornhill, he joined Stan Getz and maintained that association for 15 years.

Leaving Stan Getz in 1954 he joined Gerry Mulligan, replacing Chet Baker, producing the ‘Paris Concerts’ and beginning a partnership that lasted until Mulligan’s death. Among his prime achievements was the creation of the Concert Jazz Band. In 1958, he spent a year with Jimmy Guiffre Three, including Jim Hall, which turned out to be the first group to employ regular free improvisation as a staple of the concert fare. Along the way, he made a cult two-piano album with Bill Evans ("The Ivory Hunters" with MJQ members Percy Heath & Connie Kay), played on George Russell’s ‘New York, New York,’ and became a regular in the studio musicians “A” group. The Quintet with Clark Terry began in 1961 to great success and continues to this day. The Thad Jones-Mel Lewis band once again found him as a key member and contributing composer/arranger.

One of Brookmeyer's best-selling albums, the Creed Taylor-produced "Samba Para Dos" (Verve, 1963) paired him with Argentinian genius Lalo Schifrin, featuring Brazilian percussionist José Paulo. Paulo and his then-wife Carmen Costa (yes, the famous Brazilian samba singer who was working a lot as a percussionist in NY at that time) had already recorded with Brookmeyer on another Creed Taylor production for Verve, "Trombone Jazz Samba," cut in August 1962, also featuring Gary McFarland, Jim Hall, Jimmy Raney, George Duvivier and Willie Bobo. Luiz Bonfa's classic "Samba de Orfeu" -- a track from that LP recorded just six months after the historic Stan Getz-Charlie Byrd's "Jazz Samba" -- was included in 2002 on the 2-CD set "Back To Bossa," the third volume in the compilation series "A Trip To Brazil" produced by Arnaldo DeSouteiro for Verve.

Btw, he and Jim Hall reunited in 1979, playing as a duo exclusively for one year, garnering critical acclaim. In 1981 he began to work extensively in Europe as a composer and conductor, creating many works for Cologne and Stockholm. He also was appointed Musical Director of the Mel Lewis Orchestra, while beginning a career in University teaching at the Manhattan School of Music. In 1988 he was appointed Director of the BMI Composers Workshop and in 1991 he moved to Holland to start a radical new school for improvised and composed music. Upon the demise of this venture he returned to the United States and settled in New Hampshire, assuming a position as Chair of the Jazz Composition Department at the New England Conservatory.

While in Europe he was invited to initiate a jazz project at the Famed Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, which in turn became the beginnings of his New Art Orchestra, an 18 piece group that remains his composition voice. They have recorded 3 CDs for the Challenge label – ‘New Works,’ which was CD of the Year in England, ‘Waltzing With Zoe’ and ‘Get Well Soon,’ which was nominated for a Grammy in 2005. He also recorded the "Impulsive!" CD with Brazilian pianist Eliane Elias Bob continued to write for and perform with his New Art Orchestra and mentors young writers and performers at the New England Conservatory, always expanding his horizons and continually seeking new challenges both in education and music.http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2011/12/16/143842320/bob-brookmeyer-trombonist-and-composer-arranger-has-died
Bob Brookmeyer, a valve trombonist, educator and influential composer/arranger, died last night in New Hampshire, days short of his 82nd birthday.

Brookmeyer arrived in New York as a both a trombonist and pianist. He was good enough, in fact, to record a two-piano album with Bill Evans in 1959. But it was his work on the valve trombone with the likes of Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz and Clark Terry — and his work as a composer, notably for big band — which sustained his career for over five decades. His proteges include acclaimed large ensemble composers Maria Schneider, John Hollenbeck and Darcy James Argue.

To wit, Brookmeyer recently released his latest album, Standards, with the New Art Orchestra, the Germany-based large ensemble he has worked with extensively.

In 2007, NPR's JazzSet captured this partial set from Brookmeyer and the New Art Orchestra, featuring soloist Joe Lovano:
http://www.npr.org/2008/05/15/90468343/north-sea-jazz-celebrates-bob-brookmeyer

And below, hear an archived episode of NPR's Jazz Profiles dedicated to Brookmeyer.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2011/12/16/143842320/bob-brookmeyer-trombonist-and-composer-arranger-has-died