String Along with Lowe

by | Jan 30, 2026 | Solo/Duo

Mundell Lowe is, arguably, the most successful jazz guitarist of his era. He routinely performed with such luminaries as Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Sarah Vaughn, and many others. For more than seven decades, he was a major name on the jazz circuit, not only as a much in demand side man, but with his own group as well … in addition to composing scores and soundtracks for a myriad of films and television shows!

Mundy was a quietly elegant guitarist, easy to listen to, with a cool but surging swing. That quality is particularly evident on Nancy with the Laughing Face, a tune popularized by the great Frank Sinatra, where he is joined by his good friend Irish guitarist Louis Stewart.

Monk … Notes Not There

by | Sep 20, 2025 | Quartet/Quintet, Solo/Duo

One of Miles Davis’ notable quotes is, “Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.” Thelonious Sphere Monk has seemingly mastered the art of doing exactly that … playing the notes that are not there! His compositions and improvisations feature dissonances and angular melodic twists, often using flat ninths, flat fifths, unexpected chromatic notes together, low bass notes and stride, and fast whole tone runs, combining a highly percussive attack with abrupt, dramatic use of switched key releases, silences, and hesitations. Whatever else that means, it all boils down to Thelonious Monk is an acquired taste.

Take a sip from this 1963 Brussels performance of his composition Rhythm-A-Ning (above), as he is joined by Charlie Rouse on sax, John Ore playing bass, and Frankie Dunlop on drums. (Below left) is Lulu’s Back in Town, a popular song and jazz standard written in 1935 by Warren and Dubin … performed in 1966 in Poland by Monk at the piano, Charlie Rouse on tenor, Lawrence Gales playing bass, and Ben Riley on drums. At the Berliner Jazztage in 1969, Monk shared his recipe for greatness with a classic solo rendition of Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady (below right).

Basic Basie

by | Jul 12, 2025 | Quartet/Quintet, Septet/Octet, Solo/Duo

In 1950, due to economic pressures, Count Basie disbanded his 16 piece orchestra in favor of a septet, and other smaller combos such as a quintet, quartet, and even a trio. He missed the big band sound and in 1952, as things improved, he reformed the orchestra we are more accustomed to hearing. Mark of Jazz featured the quartet on August 30, 2024 … this post is a kind of sequel to Basie’s ‘between the big bands’ era.

The septet consisted of Count Basie at the piano, Clark Terry playing trumpet, Buddy DeFranco on clarinet, Wardell Gray on tenor, Freddie Green playing guitar, Jimmy Lewis on bass, and Gus Johnson at the drums. (Topmost) these future stellar artists join together on Basie’s own One O’Clock Jump. (Just below that) the dazzling Cleveland Eaton is featured on double bass, in a quintet setting, on Booty’s Blues. Finally, (below) is The Count Basie Trio at the 1977 Montreux Jazz Festival, with Ray Brown on bass and Jimmy Smith on Drums.

The Real McCoy

by | Jun 22, 2025 | Quartet/Quintet, Solo/Duo, Trio

Alfred McCoy Tyner was an American jazz pianist and composer known, primarily, for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet from 1960 to 1965. His long solo career spanned six decades, and netted five Grammy Awards. McCoy’s powerful, propulsive style of piano playing was an integral part of the Coltrane Quartet in the early 1960s, and influences countless young jazz musicians to this day.

The (topmost) video is a 2002 performance of Moment’s Notice, and features the instantly recognizable piano of Tyner, along with Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, Charnett Moffett on bass, and Eric Harland playing drums.

To the (left) is a solo performance of Coltrane’s Giant Steps from 1996. It is a classic example of McCoy Tyner’s signature emphatic left-hand attack, particularly on the low keys.

To the (right), A Song for Love was recorded in 1997 with his trio, including Avery Sharpe on bass and Aaron Scott on drums. It shows the softer side of Tyner, and brought down the house at the jazz festival in Berlin!

Clark Terry Plus 3

by | Feb 20, 2025 | Quartet/Quintet, Solo/Duo

Clark Terry was one of the most influential swing and bebop trumpeters of our time, not to mention a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz.  He was also a composer, educator, and mentor whose career in jazz spanned more than 70 years, during which he became one of the most prolific of all jazz musicians, appearing on over 900 recordings! Born and raised in St. Louis, he blended the St. Louis sound upon which he ‘cut his teeth’ (as a youth he made a makeshift trumpet by attaching a funnel to a garden hose and using a lead pipe as a mouthpiece) with more contemporary music styles. Terry played with some of the greatest of the big bands, but his years with Basie and Ellington (who secretly recruited Clark away from Basie) in the late 1940s and 1950s established his lasting prominence.

The uppermost video is Mack The Knife, an earlier version of Terry recorded with the Oscar Peterson Trio in Finland during 1965. It features Clark on flugelhorn, Ed Thigpen on drums, Ray Brown at the bass, and of course Peterson playing piano.

To the left is a rare duo between Clark Terry on both flugelhorn and trumpet (watch carefully) and Red Mitchell on bass, with a most unusual rendition of Take The A Train. At the bottom the Ellington/Strayhorn mood continues with Satin Doll, recorded in Copenhagen during 1985 by the Clark Terry Quartet … comprised of Terry on trumpet, Duke Jordan playing piano, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Svend Norregaard drums.

Mary Lou Williams

by | Apr 29, 2024 | Solo/Duo, Trio

One of the greatest jazz pianists, composers, and arrangers of all time, Mary Lou Williams was a swing and bebop icon with few equals. A musical prodigy, at the age of two she was able to pick out simple tunes, and by the age of three she was given piano lessons by her mother.  Mary Lou Williams played piano out of necessity at a very young age … when only six, she supported her ten half-brothers and sisters by playing at neighborhood parties. She began performing publicly at the age of seven, when she became known admiringly in Pittsburgh as “The Little Piano Girl” of East Liberty. She became a professional musician at the age of 15, and recorded more that one-hundred records (78s,45s, and 33-1/3 LPs) throughout her lifetime. She was a friend, mentor, and teacher to many of the greats, including the likes of Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Bud Powell, and Dizzy Gillespie.

Above is a performance of an original Williams composition, Medition II, recorded for a popular 1974 television program.  It features Sy Oliver on trumpet, Milton Suggs on bass, and Walter Perkins playing drums. Below left, she partners with Stan Getz in 1978 with the familiar My Blue Heaven … and below right Mary Lou ‘noodles’ Some Blues.  The video quality is poor but her brief solo was so classically blues, I had to include it!

Below is a track from her landmark 1975 album, “Live at the Cookery.”  It’s Mary Lou Williams rendition of the Miles Davis tune, All Blues, with bassist Brian Torff.  The album is a series of duets, essentially taking listeners on a trip through the history of jazz … from hymns and blues to stride, swing, and bop (including “All Blues”).

All Blues

by Mary Lou Williams | Live at the Cookery

Big Boss Tenor – Houston Person

by | Apr 19, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet, Solo/Duo, Trio

In Texas they have a town they call “Houston.”  New York has a street named “Houston” but they pronounce it “Howstin.”  In jazz, there’s a particularly noteworthy Person, and no matter how you say Houston, he’s been playing his big boss tenor both hot and cool for more than half-a-century!  Houston Person’s musical role seems to be as a show stopper and spotlight stealer, no matter who he plays with … he can touch you and growl at you, equally well, during the same electrifying passage.  I have described his style as silk and cement, and you’ll find examples of both––and everything inbetween––in the three videos below.

Topmost is a 1998 performance of Blues Up and Down with David “Fathead” Newman and the Rein deGraaff Trio.  Below that is a tune who’s name is not listed, and which I can’t seem to identify, but Houston’s duo with John Clayton is comfortably energetic nonetheless.  Finally, At Last is a tune with Emmet Cohen (p), Kyle Poole (d), and Russell Hall (b) that has just enough silk and just enough cement to prove my point.

Recorded live in June of 2023 at the Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs, NY.  Person and Clayton … a unique duo with a combined swinging sound will find a place in the heart of any jazz fan.

Recorded in 2021 at Emmet’s Place, in Harlem, NYC. The weekly performances are by invitation only … and they entertain only around 8 guests per show.

‘A’ Midnight Special – Michel Petrucciani

by | Feb 4, 2024 | Sextet, Solo/Duo

(Above) The classic Take the ‘A’ Train is given a highly kinetic treatment by Petrucciani at the 1998 Nice Jazz Festival. He is joined by Anthony Jackson (b), Steve Gadd (d), Stefano DiBattista (ts), Flavio Boltro (tr), & Denis Leloup (tb)

(Left) In 1993, Michel took the stage at the Stuttgart Jazz Festival and captured the audience with a powerful solo performance of Monk’s ‘Round Midnight.  He had everyone checking their watches … waiting for ‘last call!’

Dancin’, Drummin’, & Swingin’

by | Jan 19, 2024 | Solo/Duo, Stuff, Vocal

Combine four of the top drummers in jazz: Louis Bellson, Philly Jo Jones, Shelly Manne, and Irv Cottler –– with the flying feet of the multi-talented Caterina Valente –– and you have the formula for a truly unique performance on 1964’s popular Hollywood Palace television show (top).  Then (bottom), Caterina and Ella Fitzgerald are joined by (believe it or not) Perry Como, in a spirited scat version of Al Jolson’s 1920’s swinging hit Avalon.  Vintage television!

The Shearing Sound – Pt. 2

by | Sep 1, 2023 | Quartet/Quintet, Solo/Duo, Vocal

From 1949 to 1978, The George Shearing Quintet was a household name and a staple in anyone’s record collection.  Between George’s “Locked Hands” style of playing and the addition of vibes to the group, their sound was unique.  The original group was comprised of Margie Hyams (vibes), Chuck Wayne (guitar), later replaced by Toots Thielemans, John Levy (bass), Denzil Best (drums), and of course Shearing himself (piano).  The quintet underwent several changes through the years, until finally it was disbanded, in favor of trio, duo, and solo performances … until toward the end of his career Shearing made several recordings with major vocalists such as Mel Torme, Nat Cole (Pick Yourself Up – bottom), Nancy Wilson, Peggy Lee and others.

Move (above) was one of the earlier quintets after Joe Roland had replaced Margie Hyams on vibes; the tune is one of the less mellow arrangements for which the group became known.  The Duke (below) is a tune written by Dave Brubeck as a nod to the great Duke Ellington.  It’s a live performance with Neil Swainson accompanying Sir George Shearing on bass.

Pick Yourself Up

by George Shearing-Nat Cole | Nat Cole Sings, George Shearing Plays