Jazz

Gene Krupa described Jo Jones as “the sound of Count Basie.”  Jones was the drummer of the Count Basie Orchestra from its inception around 1933 until 1948, the anchor of the band’s...

Jo Jones, who anchored Count Basie’s All-American Rhythm Section in the 1930’s and ‘40’s, embodied a hard-earned musical mastery borne of humility and perseverance. Born in Chicago in 1911 but raised in...

You can tell by the company she keeps and the way she juxtaposes tunes that Joan Stiles has a keen sense of humor.  Her latest release, Three Musicians, features two of the most playful cats...

[Ed. note: This post was originally published on September 14, 2015] {This post relates to the 1980 documentary, Joe Albany: A Jazz Life. On September 28, 2015 the Jazz a la Mode Film Series presented...

Joe Albany wasn’t the first seeker to find his true voice in jazz, but he was among the more forthright about what the music meant to him.  In the 1980 documentary, Joe Albany: A Jazz Life,...

Joe Henderson Tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi hears in Joe Henderson a powerful mix of the astrological elements Earth and Air. “He can be playing some far out stuff [Air] and all of a sudden...

Joe Henderson raised the standard of tribute albums from homage to art with the sessions he devoted to Billy Strayhorn and Miles Davis in the early nineties.  They also marked a veritable rebirth of Henderson...

If the expression “auspicious beginning” hadn’t already been coined by 1963, Joe Henderson’s Page One would have inspired it. The tenor saxophonist made his masterful debut as a leader on June...

Making the Impossible Look Easy Joe Pass; photo by Ed Perlstein Today is the 87th birthday anniversary of Joe Pass. The virtuoso guitarist was born Joseph Anthony Jacobi Passalaqua in New Brunswick,...

Joe Temperley died on May 11. He was 86. Joe was a charter member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, and it wasn’t solely by seniority, experience, and chosen instrument that he brought a special...