Educator and author Mick Carlon has found a unique way to introduce young people to jazz. He writes novels which juxtapose adolescent fictional characters with realistic portrayals of past jazz masters. His first two books featured Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, and in his new novel, Girl Singer, he explores the worlds of the Count Basie Orchestra and Nazi concentration camps. Thomas Cunniffe reviews the book.
Girl Singer (by Mick Carlon) Read More »
One of the greatest challenges in keeping jazz alive is introducing its most famous artists to children. The music programs in public schools rarely delve into jazz history, and music appreciation classes are usually only available to high schoolers. English teacher Mick Carlon may have found a solution to this problem with his jazz-themed novels for young adults. Thomas Cunniffe reviews two of these volumes in this month’s Book Review.
Riding on Duke’s Train & Travels with Louis (by Mick Carlon) Read More »
Don Cheadle’s long-awaited Miles Davis film, Miles Ahead is far from a typical biopic. It requires its audience to come in with prior knowledge of Davis’ life. However, it is a remarkable film, especially for a first-time director like Cheadle. In this DVD review, Thomas Cunniffe marvels at the way Cheadle juxtaposes various time frames from Davis’ career into the same scenes.
Miles Ahead (Sony Classics DVD) Read More »
By 1960, John Coltrane had played with Miles Davis for nearly five years. With the release of Giant Steps, he was auditioning musicians for his own quartet. However, Davis needed Coltrane for an tour of Europe, and Coltrane reluctantly accepted. The brilliant concert recordings from that tour have been bootlegged for years, but a new Acrobat 4-CD set collects them in one place. In this Retro Review, Thomas Cunniffe recommends the set for its improved sound quality and its detailed liner notes by Simon Spillett.
Miles Davis/John Coltrane: “All of You: The Last Tour” (Acrobat 7076) Read More »
When Miles Davis first took the stage at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1955, Duke Ellington joked that Davis and his fellow musicians inhabited the world of Buck Rogers. Actually, the music Davis played that day was fairly accessible, and it wasn’t until 14 years later that his music began to alienate his long-time fans. While the new Legacy 4-CD set Miles Davis at Newport dutifully presents the music in chronological order, Thomas Cunniffe’s review offers a different perspective as he starts with the most recent (and less known) sets and works backward from there.
Miles Davis at Newport, 1955-1975 (Columbia/Legacy 81952) Read More »
Jazz History Online receives several promotional CDs every month, and due to our limited resources, we aren’t able to review every notable album in the month of its release. Thomas Cunniffe reviews three superb recordings by Tom Harrell, Geoff Keezer and Frank Potenza, all released in the last 6 months and just too good to leave on the shelf.
Some Nice Things We’ve Missed Read More »
Archie Shepp once said Ballads are the biggest challenge. You can hear every minute of every hour of every year a guy has put in on his horn with a ballad. Many musicians find one or two formulaic ways to handle ballads, but they must find several approaches when they plan an album with several love songs. In this CD review, Thomas Cunniffe examines how Michael Cunningham, Bill Kirchner, and Houston Person create variety within ballads-heavy programs
For the opening night concert of the Greeley (Colorado) Jazz Festival presented the Swingle Singers and the Northern Colorado Voices. In his concert review, Thomas Cunniffe reports that the student group represented the finest of current vocal jazz trends, while the Swingles pointed the way to the future with their jaw-dropping performance.
Northern Colorado Voices & Swingle Singers; Greeley, CO (April 24, 2014) Read More »
As Billy Joel’s song has it, New York City is as much a place as it is a state of mind. This month, Thomas Cunniffe reviews new albums by three outstanding (and considerably different) pianists from the Big Apple: Bill Charlap, Steve Kuhn and Leslie Pintchik.
New York City Piano Read More »
Our vocal CD reviews cover music by three generations of singers. Emilie Weibel’s Omoo is an intriguing collection of sonic tableaus, Jackie Allen performs an arresting collection of standards, original and pop tunes on My Favorite Color, and Barbara Morrison, Ernie Andrews and the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra play a rollicking concert on LA Treasures Project. All three discs are reviewed by Thomas Cunniffe.
The three instrumental CDs reviewed this month reveal a strong connection to jazz’s past while exploring the outer edges of the music. While trumpeters play a pivotal role on all three of these albums, reviewer Thomas Cunniffe notes that these recordings by Avishai Cohen, Hush Point (with John McNeil) and Ron Miles all have their moments of quiet reflection.
Combining the Old and New Read More »
Female jazz vocalists have always outnumbered male jazz singers by a considerable margin, and if anything, the situation has become worse over the past few years. So with all due respect to the ladies, here are Thomas Cunniffe’s reviews of albums by three outstanding male vocalists: Michael Dees, Kurt Elling and Ku-umba Frank Lacy.
Jazz compositions have been around almost as long as jazz improvisers. While improvisation is rightly considered as an essential component of jazz, soloing without some sort of pre-arranged structure would be little more than strings of meaningless notes. In this essay review, Thomas Cunniffe examines new recordings by Lynne Arriale, Leslie Pintchik, Renee Rosnes and Martin Wind, where each leader provides their stellar musicians with inspiring repertoire.
After Oscar Peterson’s death, his hand-picked Bösendorfer Imperial Grand piano remained untouched for over five years. A piano technician told his widow, Kelly, this piano should be played, and she invited 17 great jazz pianists to Peterson’s home studio to record on the Bösendorfer. The results have been issued on a 3-CD collection titled Oscar with Love, and in this expanded CD review, Thomas Cunniffe notes each performance and expresses hope that more recordings will follow.
Various Artists: “Oscar with Love” (Two Lions self-released) Read More »