The Coleman Hawkins Quartet : Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree [ purchase ] Swing. A simple enough word; evocative, though perhaps overused. Still, sometimes the obvious is the only appropriate destination and this track is a case in point. Hawk and his band wind up and let loose with glee, turning a twee old Andrews Sisters ditty into something somehow other . And while apple trees are as far removed from smoky New Jersey studios as one could possibly imagine, the fit is natural: the tenor sax locates [...]
Released on jazz label Prestige's "Swingville" imprint (allegedly even more composed of hastily-assembled blowing sessions, which were then scalped to junkie jazz musicians looking to make a quick buck, than were Prestige's other releases), Night Hawk is a blowing session between --duh-- the Hawk/ Bean and Lockjaw. But man-- it is fun. You know the great thing about music? I mean, I suppose, one of the great things? It doesn't wear out. Ever, pretty much. I'm sorry, I'm being vague: Think of your favorite shirt, or [...]
If you already have the material, this package might not appeal. But even a passing interest in any of these principal figures, or in the broad range of American music, make this an essential selection. In a little over forty days, from the middle of August to the end of September of 1962, Duke Ellington recorded three small group records that stand as his most forceful statements in the medium: Money Jungle, a trio session with Charles Mingus and Max Roach and the most bare-and-battered-bones music of Ellington's career; Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins, a late-career summit of two [...]
Classic session featuring stirring piano work from Monk and tenor solos by Coleman Hawkins.
Thelonious Monk's first unqualified masterpiece.
For a long time I've been pretty lukewarm about ebook readers. They were awkward single-use gizmos that not only cost a lot initially, but also kept gigging your credit card every time you bought a new book. Nice for the bookstore, but since it's been well established that I'm so tight I squeak there was no way I'd go for something like that. And if that wasn't enough, just about the time ebook readers began to get some traction the iPad came along. Everybody figured that would put the little gizmos on the endangered species list, but a [...]
Give the Drummer Some's Favorite Downloads from the MP3 Blogosphere How do you improve upon perfection? That's a question that's been rattling around inside my illuminated helmet ever since reading about a heretofore unknown May 1940 version of "Body and Soul" by Coleman Hawkins, which reportedly surpasses the utter magnificence of his celebrated recording of the tune committed to wax six months earlier. On the strength of his historic 1939 version of "Body and Soul"—which only hints at the melody before launching into an improvised narrative of riveting emotional complexity—Hawkins established the [...]
To illustrate how raw Abby Lincoln could get, listen to this track off of We Insist! Freedom Now Suite. Triptych (Prayer-Protest-Peace)- Max Roach featuring Abbey Lincoln, Coleman Hawkins, & Olatunji According to Nat Hentoff's liner notes, Prayer is "the cry of an oppressed people, Protest is a final uncontrollable unleashing of rage," and Peace is the "relaxed exhaustion after you've done everything you can to asset yourself." This triptych was originally conceived as a ballet, and while the majority of [...]
Filed under: News , R.I.P. Legendary jazz pianist Henry " Hank" Jones passed away Sunday at a hospice facility in New York at the age of 91. Throughout Jones's 60-plus-year career, he was known for what the Washington Post describes as a "light touch" around the piano, an in-depth understanding of bebop and the fast-paced phrasing that became a staple of modern jazz the '50s. Born in Vicksburg, Miss., music -- jazz in particular -- seemed to run through Jones' blood. His brother Elvin [...]
Let's get back to the misery, shall we? To continue with my theme following Forbes 20 most miserable cities in the US, we are up to #14. 14. Rockford, Illinois Finding a postcard of Rockford ain't easy. I used to pass through Rockford when driving from St. Louis, MO, to Madison, WI. I didn't even stop there to pee. Population of around 150,000, with a metro area of roughly 300,000. 16.9% Unemployment. Lots of closed and outdated [...]
"...there'd be a whole lot a dead copycats." -- Charles Mingus Charlie Parker (alto sax) Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax) Hank Jones (piano) Ray Brown (bass) Buddy Rich (drums) Super-rare video of one of the 20th century's greatest musicians, Charlie Parker . Coleman Hawkins was a giant of jazz, a legit bridge between swing and bop, and Bird devours him whole like a hawklicious M&M. Coleman Hawkins! Jones, Brown, and Rich are a fantastic, swinging rhythm section and Parker brings out their absolute [...]
Number 9, number 9, number 9... It´s Wild Weekend time again. Musical revolution. As an alternative to all them discjockey types polluting the airwaves out there, we´ve got the iPod on shuffle. Once more it spins an eclectic six pack of tunes for the music-hungry masses, so tune in. This just might be on your wavelength. Have been playing a lot of Kristofferson lately. So it´s only fitting that the ghost in the machine picked one of his classic songs to start off this edition. To Beat The Devil [...]
Well, Life Just Bounces mixtapes were pretty sporadic this year. It started strongly enough, with an early hiccup in March and, then, er, May, and by July everything had basically gone to the dogs. Oh well: in a spirited last-minute effort, here's a mix for December, themed for no good reason around the colour brown. Solid, reliable brown is the color of earth and is abundant in nature. Light brown implies genuineness while dark brown is similar to wood or leather. Brown can also be sad and wistful. Men are more apt to [...]
Sometimes movies - even classics - end up being less remembered than the music contained within. A good example is the 1944 film, Laura , which is considered one of the best cinematic mysteries ever made and still has many fans, but probably isn't remembered as much as its timeless theme song. When producer/director Otto Preminger began putting the pieces together for his film production of Vera Caspary's novelized play, he had some pretty firm ideas for how he wanted to do it. One of those concerned the theme song, which would be played whenever [...]
by Chris O' Leary . It's the first and only record I ever heard of that all the squares dig as well as the jazz people, and I don't understand how and why, because I was making notes all the way. I wasn't making a melody for the squares. -Coleman Hawkins "Body and Soul," jazz standard of standards, turns eighty years old in 2010. It is jazz's benchmark, warhorse, rite of passage, litmus test: I can't think of a single major jazz musician, post-1930, who hasn't taken it on, from Roy [...]
Coleman Hawkins and Charlie Parker, 1950. And one more piece of Coleman circa 1958, for good measure. I always found his sound to be the sound of loneliness. But he always made it sound so goddamn romantic!
Remember that one from Music Man (one of my favorite Broadway shows)? My wife is the theater director at the local high school; she's considering doing Music Man next fall so she can cast our 8-year old, Skyler, as Winthrip. (Eat his dust, Ronnie Howard.) They're doing Pippin in a few weeks in which Sky is playing Theo. He's gonna rock and I will be a proud papa. Did I mention that we had band practice out in the Buddha Barn again this past Monday? Have I mentioned that we still suck? [...]
Après m'être défouler sur la balai et avoir dépenser tant d'énergie pour faire briller l'apparetement une petite playlist relaxante s'impose. Sortez votre chaise longue au balcon et laissez vous transporter par ces magnifiques standards de jazz. Late Night Jazz Playlist [ mp3 ] Charles Mingus - Goodbye Pork Pie Hat [ mp3 ] Yusef Lateef - Don't Blame Me [ mp3 ] Miles Davis - Autumn Leaves [ mp3 ] Dave Brubeck - Take Five [ mp3 ] Sonny Rollins [...]
To start with, it seems like I am really confusing people with this weekly feature. The whole idea came from what I understand to be a "homonym". (And I may be wrong.) The Duke's definition: two or more words that are spelled the same but are pronounced differently and have different meanings. Ex. Live and Live; one means like, a living being and the other means like, a live show, by like, a band. I have taken this definition and used it in a musical setting. The Duke's take on a musical homonym: two or more songs with [...]
Like an Arab, Vegan, or Jew, SkinnySlim got some very strict dietary rules. Unlike an Arab, Vegan, or Jew, SkinnySlim's dietary rules aren't retarded. Rule numero uno: Eat at least one type of animal every day. It's important to constantly remind your belly of humans' dominance over all other species. Rule numero two-o: Do not eat the same core meal item twice in one day. If it's pasta for lunch, than it's steak or chicken for dinner, and fish for dessert. Chicken for lunch? Pasta or pizza or red meat for dinner, and fish for dessert. This rule has served [...]
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For The Sake Of The Song
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