Author name: Thomas Cunniffe

Jelly Roll, Bix and Hoagy (by Rick Kennedy)

Book Reviews /

In the early 1920s, future jazz giants like Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton and Bix Beiderbecke endured long train rides to record for a tiny company in rural Indiana. Rick Kennedy’s newly expanded and revised book Jelly Roll, Bix and Hoagy offers the history of Gennett Records with discussions of their jazz, country and blues recordings. Thomas Cunniffe provides his impressions in this month’s book review.

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Genre Blenders

CD Reviews /

The mixing of jazz with other genres is nothing new. Louis Armstrong’s majestic solo finales have been linked to Italian opera, Django Reinhardt freely borrowed from gypsy music, and the entire movements of Third Stream and fusion were based on the combination of styles. This month, Thomas Cunniffe reviews the latest recordings of three vocalists who create new composites of existing genres.

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Gentlemen Songsters

CD Reviews /

Male jazz vocalists are a rare commodity these days, but performers like Kurt Elling, Allan Harris and John Proulx enhance jazz with their unique approaches to the music. Thomas Cunniffe reviews the latest albums from these fine gentlemen of song.

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Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto: “Getz/Gilberto” (50th Anniversary) (Verve 20749)

Retro Reviews /

As the quintessential summit meeting between American and Brazilian artists, Getz/Gilberto was both an artistic and commercial success. For the 50th anniversary of its release, Verve has issued an new CD edition. Thomas Cunniffe writes that the original stereo album sounds better than ever, but finds the supplemental section lacking in imagination.

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Gil Evans: “Into The Hot” (orig. LP: Impulse 9; CD: Impulse 39104)

Retro Reviews /

Following his 1961 big band masterpiece, Out of the Cool, Gil Evans defied expectations with his next album, Into the Hot. Evans acted only as producer, allowing John Carisi and Cecil Taylor to showcase their music. Amy Duncan reviews this classic album which contrasts Carisi’s progressive big band charts with Taylor’s avant-garde ensemble.

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How to Listen to Jazz (by Ted Gioia)

Book Reviews /

The title of Ted Gioia’s new book might strike many long-time jazz fans as too elementary for their needs. However, JHO book reviewer Thomas Cunniffe asserts that How to Listen to Jazz should be required reading for all jazz fans, because Gioia proves that the best way to revitalize our own passions for jazz is to share the music with others. Gioia recalls his early experiences with the music, and then applies his thirty years of experience as a critic and historian to clarify and amplify these events.

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Love Songs: The Hidden History (by Ted Gioia)

Book Reviews /

Ted Gioia is one of today’s finest music historians. Since he usually focuses on American music, it’s a little surprising that his latest book Love Songs is not limited to modern love songs, but is a comprehensive history of the subgenre going back to the 23rd century BC. Thomas Cunniffe’s review states the book contains many fascinating and controversial theories, but that the section on American music should have been expanded.

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The Girls in the Band (Artist Tribe/One Step)

DVD Reviews /

With her new film, The Girls in the Band, director Judy Chaikin achieves the near-impossible: a comprehensive history of women jazz instrumentalists in under 90 minutes. Thomas Cunniffe reports that the film contains more information about the multi-racial International Sweethearts of Rhythm than many earlier sources, and it offers an admirable survey of current female instrumentalists.

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Robert Glasper & Esperanza Spalding: “The Elements of Style”

CD Reviews /

Released three weeks apart, the new albums by Robert Glasper and Esperanza Spalding make a concerted effort to blend elements of pop music and jazz. Thomas Cunniffe reviews both albums, noting that each artist has a unique way of mixing the styles.

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Global Singing

CD Reviews /

This month’s vocal CDs cover music from far and wide. L’Estranges in the Night are a married duet from England whose album features music of French composer Michel Legrand; Austrian singer Elisabeth Lohninger treats Czech audiences to a wide-ranging repertoire on her live album, and Hispanic jazz vocalist Jackie Ryan covers a multitude of genres on her latest recording. Thomas Cunniffe provides his reactions.

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Gonzalo Rubalcaba: “Fe” (“Faith”) (5Pasion 5)

CD Reviews /

Gonzalo Rubalcaba explores his own faith in a self-released solo piano recording. The album evokes the Santiera religion of Cuba as well as the pianist’s main American influences, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans and John Coltrane. Our Latin jazz specialist, Janine Santana reviews the album.

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UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival (April 20-22, 2017)

Concert Reviews /

JHO principal writer Thomas Cunniffe grew up in Greeley, Colorado and went to music school at that city’s University of Northern Colorado. Thus, he has a unique perspective on the annual UNC/Greeley Jazz Fesitival. Over the past four decades, he has seen it grow from a stream of performances by college big bands and combos held in a converted movie theater to a fully professional presentation featuring world-class artists. In his Concert Review, Cunniffe states that the 2017 edition may be one of the best he’s witnessed, not only for the stellar performances by Sheila Jordan, Aubrey Logan, Greg Gisbert, Dave Liebman, Jimmy Heath, and the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni Band, but also for a remarkable suite based on Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.

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UNC/Greeley Jazz Festival (April 21-23, 2016)

Concert Reviews /

The 46th annual Greeley Jazz Festival featured a remarkable array of guest artists including New York Voices, Ellis Marsalis, the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Houston Person, Tamir Hendelman and Joey DeFrancesco. However, it was also a reunion of alumni from Greeley’s University of Northern Colorado Jazz Studies department. Thomas Cunniffe, who is one of those alumni, offers an extended review of the festival.

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Greg Garrison’s Improvised Roots at Dazzle Jazz, Denver (January 13, 2012)

Concert Reviews /

With the help of Dave Douglas, John Gunther, Aoife O’Donovan and Matt Flinner, Greg Garrison’s Improvised Roots shattered the traditional genres of American music with intriguing music that challenged both the musicians and the audience. Thomas Cunniffe reviews their performance at Denver’s Dazzle jazz club.

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