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 music in this special edition of “Concert Journal”.
CONCERT JOURNAL: FIVE DAYS IN NEW YORK, JULY 2024 Read More »
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), Thomas Cunniffe discusses the legendary stories and remarkable music from that memorable night.
“HOT HOUSE: THE COMPLETE MASSEY HALL RECORDINGS” (Craft 684) Read More »
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.
LIVE JAZZ FROM THE 1950s AND 1960s Read More »
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 the history of the classic song through intricate studies of each variant. Thomas Cunniffe reviews the book, noting that the copyright arguments will become moot in 2 years, when the song will revert to the public domain.
“I WENT DOWN TO ST. JAMES INFIRMARY” (by Robert W. Harwood) Read More »
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 Disc’s demise continued its slow
2023: THE SUMMATION Read More »
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 Silver re-examines the score from “Oklahoma”; and Luciana Souza teams with Trio Corrente for an inspired sampling of the Brazilian songbook.b Thomas Cunniffe offers his reactions.
CLASSIC SONGS BY GREAT INTERPRETERS Read More »
The latest word on Jazz History Online’s new articles, and current developments, all from Thomas Cunniffe, JHO’s editor and principal writer.
NOTES FROM THE EDITOR 01-24 Read More »
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 orchestrations were just released–and within 6 weeks of each other! Thomas Cunniffe presents a side-by-side, and track-by-track comparison of the new versions by the Umlaut Chamber Orchestra, and Aaron Diehl with The Knights, using Williams’ Town Hall recording as the standard.
TWO NEW VERSIONS OF MARY LOU WILLIAMS’ “ZODIAC SUITE” Read More »
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 work to create new suites. Thomas Cunniffe reviews new CDs of “Flowers of Evil” (Booth’s Baudelaire song-cycle) and “Schoenberg on the Beach” (Lederer’s settings of Schoenberg and Webern’s early vocal works).
MINGLED MUSIC, TURBULENT AND RICH: TWO NEW JAZZ SUITES Read More »
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 earned her such well-deserved praise. The article includes eight embedded YouTube videos of classic Moreno performances.
JOYCE MORENO: AN APPRECIATION Read More »
Vocalist Carol Sloane never received sufficient recognition in her lifetime, but a wonderful new documentary “Sloane: A Jazz Singer” may rectify the situation even though Sloane is no longer here to receive it. The film is just beginning to appear in festivals, and Thomas Cunniffe, offers his appraisal.
SLOANE: A JAZZ SINGER Read More »