CONCERT JOURNAL: FIVE DAYS IN NEW YORK, JULY 2024
To celebrate his birthday, JHO's Thomas Cunniffe traveled to New York City to attend a series of seven concerts. Among the artists were Dena DeRose, Alyssa Allgood, Bill Charlap, Catherine Russell, Kenny Barron, Jon-Erik Kellso, Houston Person, Ed Neumeister, Evan Christopher, Helen Sung, and Marilyn Maye. Read about the spectacular...
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“HOT HOUSE: THE COMPLETE MASSEY HALL RECORDINGS” (Craft 684)
Previously reissued as "The Greatest Jazz Concert Ever", the 1953 concert at Toronto's Massey Hall by Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Bud Powell and Max Roach actually lives up to most of the hype. With a new Craft reissue of the complete concert tapes (including the bass parts Mingus overdubbed later),...
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LIVE JAZZ FROM THE 1950s AND 1960s
The unissued live recordings discussed in this special Retro Review were released during the 2023 holiday season. Thomas Cunniffe offers his reactions to newly released concerts from Dave Brubeck, Wes Montgomery, Les McCann and Ahmad Jamal.
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“I WENT DOWN TO ST. JAMES INFIRMARY” (by Robert W. Harwood)
Jack Teagarden said that "St. James Infirmary" was the oldest blues he ever heard. No one knows who composed the original song, but from 1925-1931, several pretenders claimed copyright and publishing rights. In the third edition of his book "I Went Down to St. James Infirmary", Robert W. Harwood examines...
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2023: THE SUMMATION
It's a little late this year, but here is Jazz History Online's Summation of 2023. Not too many changes in my little corner of the jazz world this year, except for one issue that I will discuss presently. Excuse me, as I step up on my soap box... The Compact...
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CLASSIC SONGS BY GREAT INTERPRETERS
The songs of the United States, France, Belgium, Mexico, and Brazil are featured in the discs covered in this issue's CD Reviews. Stacey Kent's latest disc focus on songs she has performed live, but had not yet recorded; Vanessa Perea mixes rare and familiar standards on her newest disc; Audrey...
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NOTES FROM THE EDITOR 01-24
The latest word on Jazz History Online's new articles, and current developments, all from Thomas Cunniffe, JHO's editor and principal writer.
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TWO NEW VERSIONS OF MARY LOU WILLIAMS’ “ZODIAC SUITE”
Mary Lou Williams' "Zodiac Suite" was originally written for piano trio in 1945. Later that year, a version for trio, jazz soloists and chamber orchestra was premiered at New York's Town Hall. While the trio version of "Zodiac" has been recorded on serveral occasions, two new CDs featuring the original...
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MINGLED MUSIC, TURBULENT AND RICH: TWO NEW JAZZ SUITES
Jazz did not exist during the lifetime of French poet Charles Baudelaire, and it is doubtful that Arnold Schoenberg or Anton Webern had heard any form of jazz before writing their early vocal works. Yet the contemporary jazz composers Annie Booth and Jeff Lederer have drawn from the earlier artist's...
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JOYCE MORENO: AN APPRECIATION
Joyce Moreno has been praised by many musicians and critics as one of the finest Brazilian musicians working today; however, very little has been said about the elements that make her a great artist. In this special article, Thomas Cunniffe examines some of the facets of Moreno's music that have...
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