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JUST A LITTLE PINCH OF SODA: SAMMY DAVIS JR. ENCOUNTERS THE MARTY PAICH DEK-TETTE
Sammy Davis Jr was a consummate entertainer, but his superb collaborations with the Marty Paich Dek-tette are frequently overlooked in Davis memorials. Thomas Cunniffe examines and discusses these pivotal recordings in this special Historical Essay.
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MISATTRIBUTION, OR HOW THELONIOUS MONK TRANSFORMED “RIFFTIDE” INTO “HACKENSACK”
The jazz original originally titled “Rifftide” and now known as “Hackensack” has a long and confusing history. At least three prominent jazz icons have claimed composition credit, and recordings of the song have issued under several different titles. We may never know the exact answers, but through a combination of physical evidence and educated guesses,…
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“THE SPIRITS WITHIN”: THE COLLABORATIONS OF RED RODNEY AND IRA SULLIVAN (Part 2)
The Red Rodney/Ira Sullivan Quintet was one of the most exciting bands of the early 1980s. Trumpeter Rodney and multi-instrumentalist Sullivan co-lead the house band at Chicago’s Bee Hive in the mid-1950s. They reunited 25 years later and fronted a quintet with a young rhythm section that explored contemporary jazz from a bebop foundation. In…
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“THE SPIRITS WITHIN”: THE COLLABORATIONS OF RED RODNEY AND IRA SULLIVAN (Part 1)
The Red Rodney/Ira Sullivan Quintet was one of the most exciting bands of the early 1980s. Trumpeter Rodney and multi-instrumentalist Sullivan co-lead the house band at Chicago’s Bee Hive in the mid-1950s. They reunited 25 years later and fronted a quintet with a young rhythm section that explored contemporary jazz from a bebop foundation. In…
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DJANGO REINHARDT : DEVELOPING A UNIQUE SOLO STYLE
Django Reinhardt is widely acclaimed as the first non-American jazz musician to develop a unique solo style. Yet, his earliest recordings with the Quintette of the Hot Club of France show that the guitarist was still learning jazz licks and grasping the concept of solo construction. Within five years, Reinhardt was indeed a master soloist,…
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The 1968 Bill Evans Trio with Eddie Gomez & Jack DeJohnette
For about 6 months in the middle of 1968, pianist Bill Evans led a remarkable trio featuring bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Jack DeJohnette. Up until now, the only recordings that existed of this group were the Grammy-winning LP Bill Evans at the Montreux Jazz Festival and a handful of bootleg recordings. In this Historical…
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Paul Desmond and the Canadians
In the last decade of his life, Paul Desmond only performed occasionally. But when he hired three exceptional Canadian musicians, (Ed Bickert, Don Thompson and Jerry Fuller) to back him for a club date, the music inspired Desmond to some of his finest performances. After years of legal entanglements, Mosaic Records has issued a 7-CD…
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Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s “Such Sweet Thunder”
Newly revised to include the premiere performance in Stratford! In 1956, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn spent a week at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival. Inspired by the performances of the Bard’s plays, Ellington promised that he and Strayhorn would write a new Shakespeare-inspired suite for the next year’s festival. The result was Such Sweet Thunder,…
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The Sound of Jazz: An Interactive Essay
Long considered the greatest presentation of jazz on television, Robert Herridge’s “The Sound of Jazz” succeeded by just letting the musicians be themselves, and allowing them to develop their music on their own terms. This newly revised interactive essay includes the complete show and a running commentary by Thomas Cunniffe.
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Jazz Adaptations of “Porgy and Bess”
George Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess” lives in two disparate worlds: opera and popular music. With an award-winning, but controversial production running on Broadway, the show has never been more popular. In this Historical Essay, Thomas Cunniffe discusses several jazz adaptations of this American masterwork.