For many jazz fans and historians, there are two categories of jazz singers: Billie Holiday and everyone else. Thomas Cunniffe has a similar rating system for Billie Holiday tribute albums: there’s Carmen McRae’s and everyone else’s. However, two new Holiday tributes by José James and Cassandra Wilson stand up well to comparisons with McRae’s classic LP. The similarities and differences are discussed in this month’s Sidetracks.
MoreStandup comedians like Mort Sahl, Lenny Bruce, Woody Allen and Bill Cosby have readily acknowledged the influence of jazz in their work but few comedians talked about the music in their acts. There were a few exceptions, and Thomas Cunniffe shares them in this month’s Sidetracks.
MoreAs if January wasn’t depressing enough, jazz fans were told once again that their music represents only 2.3% of the US music market. To make things worse, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival announced this year’s lineup–with a preponderance of rock and pop acts. Thomas Cunniffe considers the implications of these events in this month’s Sidetracks.
MoreOne of the most revered vocalists of the 1950s, Jeri Southern created a series of acclaimed LPs and then abruptly stopped performing and recording. Thomas Cunniffe explores her minimalist style and her recorded legacy in this month’s edition of Sidetracks.
MoreAs 2018 comes to a close, Jazz History Online recognizes the best new and reissued CDs, DVDs and books that have appeared in our pages over the past 12 months. We also pay tribute to the great musicians and historians who left us in 2018.
MoreFew singers could discover the inner meaning of a lyric like Susannah McCorkle. A self-described hopeless romantic, she thoroughly researched the songs she performed, and sometimes added long-forgotten lyrics to her arrangements. McCorkle committed suicide in 2001, but her memory lives on through a newly-released live recording from Berlin. Thomas Cunniffe, who once interviewed McCorkle, discusses her life and artistry in this Sidetracks article.
MoreOf all Dave Brubeck’s compositions, none have been as completely transformed as Koto Song. Thomas Cunniffe examines 11 Brubeck recordings of the piece and notes the gradual evolution of this delicate masterwork. All of the pieces can be heard through an embedded audio playlist and a video.
MoreDespite a wealth of historical material on the internet, there are many otherwise well-educated people who are unaware of great musicians like Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington. In this Sidetracks commentary, Thomas Cunniffe urges jazz fans to introduce newcomers to the music before our legacy vanishes.
MoreWinter Morning Walks is the first album in five years from composer Maria Schneider. It is not a jazz album, but a pair of orchestral song cycles featuring soprano Dawn Upshaw. As it represents a change of pace for both us and the artist, it seems appropriate to present Thomas Cunniffe’s review of the album as this month’s edition of Sidetracks.
MorePhiladelphia vocalist Michelle Lordi loves to tell stories in song. She has a deep abiding interest in the Great American Songbook, but has also found viable material from alternative country singer Ryan Adams and the 1980s pop group, The Cars. In this month’s Sidetracks feature, Thomas Cunniffe introduces us to Lordi through her recordings and a recent live performance in Denver.
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