Jazz

Stan Getz recorded two masterpieces in 1961. The orchestral work, Focus, is the better known of the two, and was the saxophonist’s personal favorite from his vast discography. The second, Stan...

Stan Getz died twenty-six years ago on June 6, 1991. Jazz à la Mode was a ninety-minute show back then, and I spent several nights paying memorial tribute the great saxophonist. In the midst of it, a musician...

Credit Doug Ramsey at Rifftides for a posting last week of Stan Getz playing “Desafinado,” “Chega de Saudade,” and “Old Devil Moon” at a Paris fashion show in 1969.  This resplendent,...

If you’re like most of the people I’ve met in the jazz world, you’ve probably got mixed feelings about Stan Kenton.  There are exceptions, of course.  Kenton has his fans, the most ardent of...

Steve Davis interview June 19, 2015 I spoke with Steve Davis on June 17. I’ve known Steve for about 20 years and first heard him at the 880 Club in Hartford closer to 30 years ago. Since then,...

Steve Davis Today is Steve Davis‘s 50th birthday, which means he was born in the middle of the first month of the Impossible Dream season of the Boston Red Sox. Stevie-D is one of the most...

Steve Kuhn I spoke with Steve Kuhn in 2004. The pianist had just released the album, Promises Kept, which fulfilled his goal of recording a program of original compositions with a string ensemble....

with Steve Swallow and Joey Baron in Montreal Since first hearing the Steve Kuhn Quartet in Boston in the mid-‘70’s, I’ve made a point of seeing the pianist as often as possible, and this week had the...

I used to look forward to seeing Steve Lacy on his annual visits to the Iron Horse in Northampton.  Few experiences made NoHo feel quite as cosmopolitan as an appearance by Lacy’s Paris-based sextet,...

Steve Lacy It’s been over twenty years since the late Steve Lacy last came to town, but the memory remains vivid of his annual visits to the Iron Horse in Northampton.  Few experiences...