Ernest Dawkins’ New Horizons Ensemble (ED, alto saxophone; Steve Berry, trombone; Darius Savage, bass; Isaiah Spencer, drums), live, Chicago, 2005
passings
Fontella Bass, singer, July 3, 1940-December 26, 2012
“Rescue Me,” TV Show (Shindig), 1965
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“Theme De Yoyo,” with the Art Ensemble of Chicago, 1970
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“God Has Smiled On Me,” with mother Martha Bass, brother David Peaston, Amina Claudine Myers (piano), Malachi Favors (bass), Phillip Wilson (drums), 1980
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“All That You Give,” with The Cinematic Orchestra, 2002
tonight
These guys will be playing at the Hideout, a small club on Chicago’s near northwest side, which is where I’ll be too.
DKV Trio (Hamid Drake, drums; Kent Kessler, bass; Ken Vandermark, reeds), live, Italy (Sant’Anna Arresi Jazz Festival), 2008
what’s new
Bryan Ferry’s new album, The Jazz Age, which features songs from Roxy Music, as well as his solo career, refashioned as 1920s-style jazz instrumentals, is one of the stranger concept albums I’ve encountered in a long time—which I mean as a compliment.
Bryan Ferry, “Don’t Stop the Dance,” The Jazz Age
U.K. release, 11/26/12; U.S. release, 2/12/13
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lagniappe
Here’s the original (Boys and Girls, 1985).
passings
Dave Brubeck, pianist, composer, bandleader
December 6, 1920-December 5, 2012
Dave Brubeck Quartet (DB, piano; Paul Desmond, alto saxophone; Gene Wright, bass; Joe Morello, drums), TV show (Jazz Casual with Ralph J. Gleason*), 1961 (followed by other clips)
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lagniappe
found words
japanese punk band with sousaphone
—Web search that brought someone here
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*Gleason, who died in 1975, had a hand in a lot of different things, including the Monterey Jazz Festival (cofounder, 1958) and Rolling Stone (cofounder, 1967).
My favorite drummer?
There are days I’d say this is the guy.
Among the many things I love about his playing, which dances, always, is the balance of simplicity and complexity—it’s never more complex than it is simple, never simpler than it is complex.
Old and New Dreams (Don Cherry [1936-1995], pocket trumpet; Dewey Redman [1931-2006], tenor saxophone; Charlie Haden [1937-], bass; Ed Blackwell [1929-1992], drums), live
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lagniappe
reading table
Art is not in some far-off place.
—Lydia Davis, “Extracts from a Life” (The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis, 2009)
enchanted forest
Bobo Stenson Trio (BS, piano; Anders Jormin, bass; Jon Fält, drums), “Olivia,” Sweden, 2009
old stuff
Close your eyes and you’re there—one hand a martini, cigarette the other.
Fats Waller and his Rhythm, live radio broadcast
Yacht Club, 66 W. 52nd St., New York, 1938
Happy 100th Birthday, Teddy!
Teddy Wilson, pianist, November 24, 1912-July 31, 1986
“Rosetta,” 1934
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“Body and Soul,” with the Benny Goodman Trio (BG, clarinet; TW, piano; Gene Krupa, drums), 1935
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“Foolin’ Myself,” Teddy Wilson Orchestra (TW, piano; Billie Holiday, vocals; Lester Young, tenor saxophone; Freddie Green, guitar; Jo Jones, drums, et al.), 1937
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lagniappe
radio
WKCR-FM’s celebration of his centennial, which I mentioned the other day, runs through midnight Sunday.
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musical thoughts
John Cage (whose centennial we recently celebrated), Conlon Nancarrow (ditto), Teddy Wilson—they’d make a helluva band.
Happy (108th) Birthday, Hawk!
Coleman Hawkins, tenor saxophonist, November 21, 1904-May 16, 1969
“Prisoner of Love,” 1958 (Art Ford’s Jazz Party, music starts at 1:15)
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“Lover Man,” 1961
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“Body and Soul,” London, 1967
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lagniappe
radio
WKCR-FM, broadcasting from Columbia University, is playing his music—and nothing but—until midnight. (Thank God for college radio.)
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reading table
We’re all in this apart.
—David Ferry, “Found Single-Line Poems,” excerpt (Bewilderment: New Poems and Translations [2012])
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something to get you in the holiday mood
William Burroughs, “Thanksgiving Prayer” (Gus Van Sant, dir.)
music clip of the day 