The Enduring Freddie Hubbard

by | Oct 22, 2021 | Quartet/Quintet

God Bless The Child has been interpreted a thousand ways … but I’ll bet you never heard it quite like this (Above)!  In 1991, at Internationale Jazzwoche Burghausen in Germany,  Freddie Hubbard and his quintet dazzled the audience with an arrangement that was both reverent and softly-swinging.  Freddie was joined by Don Braden on tenor, Benny Green at the piano, Jeff Chambers on base and Louis Hayes playing drums.  Earlier, in 1967 (Below), Hubbard teamed up with Kenny Drew (piano), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (bass), and Alex Riel (drums) to perform an original tune named Birdlike at the Molde Jazz Festival in Norway.  You can bet the ‘Bird’ referenced here had a horn but no feathers!

John Pizzarelli Live!

by | Oct 7, 2021 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet

Like so many great musicians, John Pizzarelli is a New Jersey Guy.  The son of swing guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, John was born in Paterson, began playing guitar at the age of six and has been performing ever since.  The topmost video, If I Had You, was recorded in 1992 during the Montreal Jazz Festival at the Club Soda Concert Hall and Music Venue in Canada, as was the lower-right video All Of Me.  Pizzarelli’s consistent excellence through the years is obvious as you listen to the lower-left video of Baby All The Time recorded in 2007 at the Festival Internacional de Jazz San Javier in Spain.  On Baby, he is joined by Larry Fuller at the piano, Martin Pizzarelli on bass, Tony Tedesco playing drums and Harry Allen on tenor sax.

Jitterbug Waltz / Old Folks – Bobby Hutcherson

by | Jul 3, 2021 | Quartet/Quintet

In 2007 at Jazz Baltica, Bobby Hutcherson and his quartet introduced their exciting arrangement of Fats Waller’s Jitterbug Waltz to the audience in Salzau, Germany.  The players were Bobby on vibes, Joe Gilman playing piano, Dwayne Burno on bass and Eddie Marshall at the drums.  The complete 1 hour 25 minute concert is available on YouTube.

On Old Folks, Hutcherson added Joe Locke, also on vibes … rounding out a quintet with Don Friedman on piano, Martin Wind on bass, and Andi Haberl playing drums.

More Flute By Laws

by | Jun 18, 2021 | Quartet/Quintet

Dat Dere is from the 2016 Zipper Hall Concert.  Hubert Laws plays piccolo on this one with David Budway (p), Rob Mullins (kb), John Leftwich (b) and Clayton Cameron (d).

At Jazzwoche Burghausen in 2010, Laws gently combines Duke’s Sophisticated Lady with Corcovado, to create a wonderfully comfortable, laid back feeling.  Russell Malone is featured on guitar with Lan Doky on piano.

Hubert Laws – The Rite Of Spring

by | Jun 13, 2021 | Quartet/Quintet

Igor Stravinsky’s controversial ballet “The Rite Of Spring” caused a near riot with its introduction in 1913. More recently, Hubert Laws’ jazz interpretation of the score has become synonymous with Laws himself and his willingness to innovate with classical music as well as more traditional jazz and even pop..  This performance was recorded at Zipper Hall in Los Angeles during November of 2016.  The players were Hubert Laws on flute, David Budway at the piano, Rob Mullins on keyboards, John Leftwich on bass and Clayton Cameron playing drums.  Next week we’ll feature a pair of more traditional tunes that also demonstrate Hubert’s ability to move around comfortably within the jazz idiom.

Workin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet

by | May 16, 2021 | Quartet/Quintet, Sextet

Green Dolphin Street is from the landmark album Kind of Blue, which has been regarded by many critics as Davis’s masterpiece and one of the greatest jazz albums of all time.  It is a studio recording cut in 1959 featuring saxophonists John Coltrane and Julian “Cannonball” Adderley, pianist Bill Evans, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb.

The Dave Brubeck composition In Your Own Sweet Way is part of the album Workin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet.  Although recorded in 1956, it wasn’t released until January 1960.  Miles, of course, played trumpet, John Coltrane was on tenor sax, Paul Chambers on base, and Philly Joe Jones played drums.  To my ear, these were Miles Davis’ finest years.

On Green Dolphin Street

by Mies Davis | Kind Of Blue

In Your Own Sweet Way

by Miles Davis | Workin' With The Miles Davis Quintet

Blue And Bluesy – Joe Temperley

by | May 7, 2021 | Quartet/Quintet

Although Joe Temperley’s name recognition is not as great as Gerry Mulligan or Pepper Adams, he is generally regarded to be one of the top ten greatest baritone sax players of all time.  Joe performed with everyone from Duke Ellington to Wynton Marsalis, and was an original member of “Jazz At Lincoln Center”.  For 25 years, the baritone saxophone chair of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra was held by this ‘son of Scotland’, until his passing in 2016.  Temperley posted tons of credits to his Curriculum Vitae, especially with big bands: Thad Jones, Mel Lewis, Woody Herman, Buddy Rich, Clark Terry and — most notably — the Duke Ellington Orchestra.  Blue And Bluesy places him in a more intimate small group setting … in front of a large group audience!

2021 Jazz Masters Virtual Concert

by | Apr 25, 2021 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet, Vocal

On April 22, 2021, the National Endowment for the Arts, in collaboration with SFJAZZ, presented a virtual tribute concert celebrating the 2021 NEA Jazz Masters. Topsy, originally written for the Country Basie Orchestra is performed in the top video. It featured Wynton Marsalis on trumpet, Dan Nimmer playing piano, Vince Giordano on both guitar and bass, and Jason Marsalis playing drums.  For more background and the complete concert, click the link above.

Below is the Irving Berlin standard Cheek To Cheek, swung by Dee Dee Bridgewater, backed by the SFJAZZ High School All Stars Big Band. Yes, High School!

Straight, No Chaser / We’ll Be Together Again – Chick Corea – Pt. 2

by | Apr 12, 2021 | Quartet/Quintet

Chick Corea and his Freedom Band played a 2010 concert in Marciac, France.  Two weeks ago I posted Part 1 from that landmark concert with a performance so compelling that I had to offer two more attention getting tunes.  Add trumpeter Roy Hargrove and Straight, No Chaser is a Thelonious Monk composition that really allows The Freedom Band to stretch out … while the old standard We’ll Be Together Again takes on new meaning with a potent sax solo by the great Kenny Garrett.

Two Of A Kind / Dat Dere – Art Blakey

by | Mar 6, 2021 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet

Drummer Art Blakey and the 1989 version of his Jazz Messengers (with trumpeter Brian Lynch, tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson, trombonist Frank Lacy, pianist Geoff Keezer and bassist Buster Williams) celebrated the leader’s 70th birthday by welcoming back several notable alumni: trumpeters Freddie Hubbard and Terence Blanchard, altoists Jackie McLeanand Donald Harrison, tenors Wayne Shorter and Benny Golson, pianist Walter Davis Jr. and trombonist Curtis Fuller.  The opening song of that all star  performance was Two Of A Kind … and that set the tone for the next couple of hours.

The lower video features the original Jazz Messengers in 1961 with the slightly comedic Bobby Timmons tune Dat Dere … featuring Blakey on drums, the great Lee Morgan playing trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, Bobby Timmons playing piano and Jymie Meritt on bass.