News
Entertainment
Science & Technology
Life
Culture & Art
Hobbies
News
Entertainment
Science & Technology
Culture & Art
Hobbies
A FEW MINUTES, NEVER ENOUGH, WITH JIM DAPOGNY (Jazz at Chautauqua, September 30, 2007) | JAZZ LIVES
Here but not here. I can delight in the music and energy of Jim Dapogny (James or Prof, take your pick) but I can no longer send him an email or sit down to a meal with him. Everything and everyone is finite, but I don't expect to stop feeling his absence while I am…
THE GOLDEN AGE IS NOW (Part One): THE DANNY TOBIAS SEPTET with JON-ERIK KELLSO, DAN BLOCK, STEVE ASH, FELIX LEMERLE, PAT O’LEARY, and KEVIN DORN (Winnie’s Jazz Bar, 66 West 38th Street, New York, July 25, 2025) | JAZZ LIVES
My title isn't hyperbole. I know, among jazz fans of a certain orientation, that the Past is the hallowed place. "X is great, but have you heard Y on this song?" I admire Y without limit, but Y is dead and no longer gigging. X and Company can be seen in person in the rapidly-receding…
“COME AND GET IT!”: THE 2025 REDWOOD COAST MUSIC FESTIVAL IS ON THE WAY, WITH A CAST OF THOUSANDS (Valerie Kirchhoff, Ethan Leinwand, Jonathan Doyle, T.J. Muller, Andy Schumm; Carl Sonny Leyland, Dan Barrett, Nate Ketner, Sam Rocha, Josh Collazo, Hal Smith, Dave Kosmyna, Dave Bennett, Kris Tokarski, Katie Cavera, Steve Pikal, Alice Spencer, Marc Caparone, Jacob Zimmerman,Brian Holland, Danny Coots, Ray Skjelbred, Riley Baker, Jessica King, Ryan Calloway, Clint Baker, Jon-Erik Kellso, Andy Schumm, Matt Weiner.) | JAZZ LIVES
October is not that far away. For some, it is the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. For me, it's time for the Redwood Coast Music Festival. I don't know a place more full of fruitfulness -- the musical and personal kind -- than the Redwood Coast Music Festival in Eureka, California. You can look…
THE BEST IDEAS (August 1992) | JAZZ LIVES
Relaxing on the porch of the Athenaeum Hotel during a "Jazz at Chautauqua" weekend, Bob Barnard, cornet (left) and John Sheridan, piano (right). Two lyrical melodists who loved to create lyricism together. Both have moved to other neighborhoods, but their reassuring sounds remain. Here they are, passionately playing I GET IDEAS (or ADIOS MUCHACHOS) during…
WELCOME, SHARONE CARMONA! “RHYMES WITH TROMBONE.” | JAZZ LIVES
I don't pretend to be an authority on the field of what's called "writing about jazz," even though I began reading it at my local library when I was buying records at department stores for three or four dollars. Yes, Xerxes I was Pharoah then. I'm no authority because my interests are narrow. By choice,…
MAKE TIME FOR BEAUTY | JAZZ LIVES
We might not know that we are starved for beauty, but when we encounter it, the force of recognition tells us everything. Here is a very casual and very moving performance: an interlude from the world of 2025. Bud Freeman, tenor saxophone, then 82, and Bucky PIzzarelli, guitar, playing Rodgers and Hart's BEWITCHED. I offer…
SUCH MAGICAL SOUNDS: DAN BARRETT, JOE WILDER, CHUCK WILSON, LARRY EANET, BOB REITMEIER, FRANK TATE, JOHN VON OHLEN (Jazz at Chautauqua, September 17, 2005) | JAZZ LIVES
I attended Joe Boughton's Jazz at Chautauqua from 2004-2010, and then followed it as it morphed into the Allegheny Jazz Party and the Cleveland Classic Jazz Party, thanks to Nancy Hancock Griffith and Kathy Hancock, until it expired of natural economic causes in 2017. Thanks to the immeasurable kindness of Sarah Boughton Holt and Bill…
TWO GOOD REASONS TO BE IN NEW YORK IN AUGUST, BOTH NAMED “KEN PEPLOWSKI” | JAZZ LIVES
Traditionally, New Yorkers who can, flee the city at the end of summer, looking for less humid escapes. But I would urge those who feel the music deeply to stay off of Expedia for a few moments more to read this, since a jazz hero -- a fellow who goes by the alias "Ken Peplowski"…
WHAT WE LOVE LIVES ON | JAZZ LIVES
I never met Dr. David A. Wasserman, of Fort Lee, New Jersey, who died earlier this year. But in a way more spiritual than logical, I feel as if I heard him on Sunday night, June 1, 2025. Exhibit A, as they say in courtroom dramas, is an identification tag affixed to a clarinet case.…
THREE SHADES OF ELLINGTONIA: JON-ERIK KELLSO, MARK SHANE, KEVIN DORN (Cafe Ornithology, June 25, 2025) | JAZZ LIVES
The bright lights of Ellingtonia will never be dimmed. Here are three adventures in luminescence, created for us by Jon-Erik Kellso, Puje trumpet; Mark Shane, piano; Kevin Dorn, drums, at Cafe Ornithology, 1037 Broadway (at Suydam Street), Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, on a lovely June night. First, Mark Shane, beautifully ruminative, on IN A SENTIMENTAL…
A ROMANTIC CATASTROPHE IN TWO ACTS, SOUNDTRACK BY COLE PORTER and WALTER DONALDSON. | JAZZ LIVES
A whole-hearted attempt that did not land well. Asking a philosophical question, shaking one's head at what happens. Performed on Sunday, September 19, 2004. Song titles and musicians announced within the performance. Original recording made possible and captured by Joe Boughton; this offering is thanks to Sarah Boughton Holt and Bill Boughton. Note: the catastrophe…
IMPASSIONED COOL: THE DAN BLOCK QUARTET (DANNY TOBIAS, SEAN SMITH, BEN ZWEIG) at BIRDLAND, July 27, 2025. | JAZZ LIVES
Some marvelous music was created yesterday, late afternoon into evening, at Birdland in New York City by the Dan Block Quartet. That's Dan, tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, compositions; Danny Tobias, trumpet; Eb alto horn, Sean Smith, double bass; Ben Zweig, drums. I've written about this group before, here, and perhaps some of the people who…
BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!! MIDTOWN MAINSTREAM MAGIC WITH THE DANNY TOBIAS SEPTET: SCOTT ROBINSON, DAN BLOCK, STEVE ASH, FELIX LEMERLE, JEN HODGE, ALEX RADERMAN (Winnie’s Jazz Bar, 66 West 38th Street, June 13, 2025) | JAZZ LIVES
Photograph by Lynn Redmile Here's Part One: https://jazzlives.wordpress.com/2025/07/09/midtown-mainstream-magic-with-the-danny-tobias-septet-scott-robinson-dan-block-steve-ash-felix-lemerle-jen-hodge-alex-raderman-winnies-jazz-bar-66-west-38th-street-june-13-2025/?preview_id=75881&preview_nonce=29887069a0&preview=true&_thumbnail_id=75058 THE JEEP IS JUMPIN': https://youtu.be/FPiVLRMbJkw BLACK VELVET (by Jimmy Mundy, made famous by Illinois Jacquet): https://youtu.be/_DBub9Ktoqc?si=vzKiu1ZSvIOVc9jL THE SHEIK OF ARABY: https://youtu.be/6W10qP99i34?si=CL16umeiBAOHiGI9 IT'S THE TALK OF THE TOWN: https://youtu.be/v26iW1PVsaU?si=Yr_myGIOstcB_eWn Berlin's social commentary, PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ: https://youtu.be/4o55cu-vxdE?si=XxWIkjrCSCeXQN1o And the swinging perennial that never ages, JUST YOU, JUST ME:…
PROFESSOR MARTIN OLIVER GROSZ PRESENTS A POST-DOCTORAL SEMINAR IN CHICAGO HEAT (Jazz at Chautauqua, September 16, 2000) | JAZZ LIVES
Marty Grosz is a remarkable musician and entertainer, and "remarkable" is a pallid understatement. A scholar of the chordal acoustic guitar -- solo, rhythm, and accompaniment; a singer combining early Crosby, Red McKenzie, and Fats Waller, and (something often ignored, perhaps because of Marty's sometimes acidic world-view) a peerless romantic balladeer. His friend Frank Chace,…
“SITTIN’ IN” at the HOT CLUB OF NEW YORK with EVAN ARNTZEN, JOEL WENHARDT, JAY RATTMAN, SAM CHESS, ANDREW MILLAR (Room 307, 20 West 20th Street, Sunday, July 13, 2025) | JAZZ LIVES
The Hot Club of New York inaugurated its series of live performances on Sunday, July 13. "Memorable" would be an understatement. If you were there, you know. But if you didn't make this one, I did, and can share the magic. Evan Arntzen, clarinet and tenor, and Joel Wenhardt, piano, began the casual session (with…
GOOD AND HOT: DUKE HEITGER, BOB HAVENS, SCOTT ROBINSON, BOB REITMEIER, JAMES DAPOGNY, MARTY GROSZ, VINCE GIORDANO, EDDIE METZ (Jazz at Chautauqua, Saturday, September 18, 2004) | JAZZ LIVES
"Michael, tell us a story." All right, I will. When my wife and I are at some gathering and she introduces me to (let us say) relatives or old friends of hers I have not yet met, she might say, "Michael is a retired English professor, but his real passion is jazz." Sometimes I can…
TWO GREAT PIANOS: HANK JONES and JOHN LEWIS with GEORGE MRAZ and LEWIS NASH (Bern, 1999) | JAZZ LIVES
The title of this concert falls midway between Understatement and Truth in Advertising, because it presents Hank Jones and John Lewis, piano; George Mraz, double bass; Lewis Nash, drums. Subtle glories from four masters of the art. John Lewis Hank Jones at Monterey Jazz Festival 9/22/85 © Brian McMillen Quartet: PERDIDO / STOMPIN' AT THE…
HE’S THE HOTTEST MAN IN TOWN! THE CHICAGO CELLAR BOYS at the SCOTT JOPLIN INTERNATIONAL RAGTIME FESTIVAL: ANDY SCHUMM, JOHN OTTO, NATALIE SCHARF, PAUL ASARO, JIMMY BARRETT, DAN ANDERSON (May 31, 2024) | JAZZ LIVES
On July 12, 2025, Andy Schumm turns forty. (He said so himself, on that most trustworthy of oracles, Facebook.) We celebrate him as an artist of deep musical integrity, a scholar who performs brilliantly what he knows so well, a wonderful cornetist, arranger, reedman, pianist, plectrist, percussionist, composer, bandleader, and possibly more that I have…
MIDTOWN MAINSTREAM MAGIC WITH THE DANNY TOBIAS SEPTET: SCOTT ROBINSON, DAN BLOCK, STEVE ASH, FELIX LEMERLE, JEN HODGE, ALEX RADERMAN (Winnie’s Jazz Bar, 66 West 38th Street, June 13, 2025) | JAZZ LIVES
One of the most rewarding musical events of this or any other year is the series of performances that Danny Tobias and friends have been creating -- quartet or septet -- at Winnie's Jazz Bar, beginning in mid-March and continuing. The Quartet has been Jay Rattman, reeds; Jen Hodge, double bass; Felix Lemerle; the Septet…
DICK HYMAN AT THE PIANO (Conneaut Lake Jazz Festival, August 24, 1984) | JAZZ LIVES
As someone entranced by the possibilities of jazz piano, I consider myself fortunate to live in the era of Dick Hyman. I've seen him live here and in California; he allowed me to video-record him, and spoke a few sentences to me. But more than those close encounters, I treasure his gentle audacities: his limitless…
EAST + WEST = BLISS: JON-ERIK KELLSO, MATT MUNISTERI, DAN BARRETT, RAY SKJELBRED, JONATHAN DOYLE, MATT WEINER (Redwood Coast Music Festival, October 4, 2024) | JAZZ LIVES
The EarRegulars, heroic denizens of 326 Spring Street for eighteen years of Sunday nights (that's nine hundred effusions of joy and musical wisdom, more or less) have been known to travel elsewhere in the US and Europe. New Yorkers Jon-Erik Kellso, Puje trumpet; Matt Munisteri, guitar, and [for a later set] Dennis Lichtman, clarinet, mandolin,…
LOUIS ARMSTRONG, SOCIALIST | JAZZ LIVES
Tomorrow, Friday, July 4, I celebrate the birthday of my musical hero and my ethical one as well: the boy from New Orleans whose mother called him her "firecracker baby." He grew up in extreme poverty, among people termed by some "economically disadvantaged," a euphemism for not having enough to eat or a safe place…
MASTERS OF THE ART: SCOTT HAMILTON, JOE WILDER, DAN BARRETT, MARTY GROSZ, BRIAN NALEPKA, KEVIN DORN (Jazz at Chautauqua, September 18, 1999) | JAZZ LIVES
Eighteen minutes of purest swing bliss awaits, better than any multi-tasking you might foresee. Scott Hamilton, 1980, by Espace Cardin. When I saw this constellation of artists, I knew, even before hearing a note, that I'd be delighted. And the eighteen minutes that follow only bolster that feeling. No gimmicks, no ego-blasts, just musical and…
MISS AMANDA CAN’T DECIDE: DICK HYMAN, DAN BARRETT, BOBBY GORDON, BOB HAVENS, MARTY GROSZ, VINCE GIORDANO, JEFF HAMILTON (Jazz at Chautauqua, Friday, September 19, 2003) | JAZZ LIVES
Here's some venerable hot music played in this century with style and grace -- the 1924 marital request made famous by Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Clarence Williams, Muggsy Spanier, and dozens others, here made fresh and new by Marty Grosz, guitar, leader; Dick Hyman, piano; Dan Barrett, cornet; Bob Havens, trombone; Bobby Gordon, clarinet; Vince…
SWING NOIR: JON-ERIK KELLSO, MARK SHANE, KEVIN DORN (Cafe Ornithology, Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York, June 27, 2025) | JAZZ LIVES
Swing noir. The brooding soundtrack provided by Detective Jon-Erik Kellso, Puje trumpet; Private Investigator Mark Shane, piano; Undercover Operative Kevin Dorn, drums. The scene, Cafe Ornithology, 1037 Broadway, Bushwick, Brooklyn. A misty evening, June 27, 2025. The mood, Earle Hagen's haunting HARLEM NOCTURNE. https://youtu.be/nuH6cWarbUY As the song ended, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Dick Powell, Humphrey…
IT’S SO GOOD: MARTY GROSZ, JON-ERIK KELLSO, BOB HAVENS, BOBBY GORDON, TOM BAKER, SCOTT ROBINSON, KEITH INGHAM, BOB HAGGART, HAL SMITH (Jazz at Chautauqua, September 13, 1997) | JAZZ LIVES
I don't expect everyone to share my musical tastes, although when it happens I find it delightful. And I shy away from hyperbole as much as I can. But what follows is over-the-moon joyous to me: rollicking and free but expert and wise at the same time. A triumph. Photograph by Lynn Redmile. In his…
OLD WINE, NEW BOTTLES: DAN BLOCK QUARTET, COMING SOON to BIRDLAND (Sunday, July 27, 2025. 5:30. 315 West 44th Street, New York City) | JAZZ LIVES
An exciting gig for a new band is coming, and I don't want anyone to miss it. Here is the link to purchase tickets. I've already got mine. (A Sunday-late-afternoon gig is kind to those who have a Monday-morning alarm clock, and summer parking in New York City is a dream.) The new band is…
AT PLAY: JOHNNY FRIGO, LARRY EANET, HOWARD ALDEN, NICKI PARROTT (Jazz at Chautauqua, September 17, 2004) | JAZZ LIVES
Johnny Frigo -- violinist, composer, bassist, poet-singer-entertainer -- lived to be 90 and had a splendidly variegated career. On records, he appears with Chico Marx, Bucky Pizzarelli, Howard Alden, Don Steinberg, Anita O'Day, Art Hodes, Jimmy Dorsey, Kai Winding, Skitch Henderson, Kurt Elling, Terry Gibbs, Herb Ellis, Charlie Byrd, Michael Moore, Meredith D'Ambrosio, Monty Alexander,…
HERE’S WHO THEY ARE. | JAZZ LIVES
Slightly more than two weeks ago, I created a post called WHO ARE THEY?, where I presented a recording of clarinet-piano duets, done in a recording studio in the US in 1936, without identifying the players. Here's the music, to refresh your memory, as they say in courtroom drama: https://youtu.be/yPAapFntLfI When the first "answers" came…
A DREAMLIKE EVENING IN PARIS: LOUIS MAZETIER, PHILIPPE BAUDOIN, ISABELLE MARQUIS, PHILIPPE SOUPLET, JENS LINDGREN (April 6, 2025) | JAZZ LIVES
Thanks to the OAO, I am now fascinated with Paris. New York will always have first place in my affections, but Paris is a serious contender. We had a short visit there this April, and I want to share some joy with readers. I know the city has a thriving jazz scene, so when we…
TRIO SONATAS, No. 2024, Opus 1-10. RAY SKJELBRED, JACOB ZIMMERMAN, MATT WEINER (Redwood Coast Music Festival, October 5, 2024) | JAZZ LIVES
Ordinarily I wouldn't post ten songs or performances at once. But the Ray Skjelbred Trio (Ray, piano, leader, vocal; Jacob Zimmerman, clarinet, alto saxophone; Matt Weiner, double bass) creates such a quietly dramatic arc of sound and emotion that it seemed rude to break their performance in two because of the conventions of online presentation.…
SO AGGRAVATIN’: VALERIE KIRCHHOFF, ETHAN LEINWAND, ANDY SCHUMM, JONATHAN DOYLE, CLINT BAKER, T.J. MULLER (Redwood Coast Music Festival, October 3, 2024) | JAZZ LIVES
Last I looked, I was male. But I find my gender has the potential to be intensely annoying. So hearing Valerie Kirchhoff and a splendid band -- Ethan Leinwand, piano; Andy Schumm, clarinet; Jonathan Doyle, tenor saxophone; T.J. Muller, banjo; Clint Baker, double bass -- perform AGGRAVATIN' PAPA at the 2024 Redwood Coast Music Festival…
HEUREUX A PARIS: MICHEL PASTRE, LUCAS MONTAGNIER, SEBASTIEN GIRARDOT (Chez Cocotte et Tire Bouchon, 184 rue Marcadet, 75018, Paris: May 14, 2025. Videos by Guy Desdames) | JAZZ LIVES
Gifts from Paris! Thanks to Lucas Montagnier, guitar; Michel Pastre, tenor saxophone; Sébastien Girardot, double bass; Guy Desdames, video. And thanks to Cocotte & Tire-Bouchon, where delicious small-group jazz is the special offering on the menu every Wednesday. CRAZY RHYTHM: https://youtu.be/iBEzhsJHtPU LINGER AWHILE: https://youtu.be/seIaHbJbY1Q CHEEK TO CHEEK: https://youtu.be/_XLFJpCUEBU TOO MARVELOUS FOR WORDS: https://youtu.be/xbMJVJdGjOY Too marvelous…
“TALENT DOESN’T CARE WHERE IT RESIDES”: MARC CAPARONE, DAN BARRETT, JEFF HAMILTON (Breda, Holland, railway station, May 30, 2025: video by Paul Dunleavy) | JAZZ LIVES
The aphorism that is my title was uttered by Harold Ross, founder of The New Yorker. I do not recall the specific context, but that is all to the good. Who would have expected soaring subtle improvisations to be performed at the Breda, Holland, railway station? Not me, but the three heroes who are the…
HEAVENLY: RAY SKJELBRED and DAN BARRETT (Redwood Coast Music Festival, October 4, 2024) | JAZZ LIVES
The inspiration: https://youtu.be/VDFyLEnj9aE?si=MtdA_qVowngNdLBH The inspired creators. Ray Skjelbred, piano: Dan Barrett, trombone: The result, performed on October 4, 2024, at the Redwood Coast Music Festival. "With Bing Crosby in mind," Jack Teagarden, Louis, Joe Sullivan, and Jess Stacy in the background, this matchless performance reminds us that PENNIES FROM HEAVEN was a lovely ballad before…
THE PAST, RESTORED TO US: JON-ERIK KELLSO, JAMES DAPOGNY, SCOTT ROBINSON, MARTY GROSZ, VINCE GIORDANO, EDDIE METZ; DAN BLOCK; BOB HAVENS, BOBBY GORDON (Jazz at Chautauqua, Sunday brunch, September 19, 2004). | JAZZ LIVES
In decades of listening to recorded performances and observing live ones, I have had many memorable experiences, ranging from an eight-bar Bobby Hackett solo at Carnegie Hall fifty years ago to something I sat close to this June. But Jazz at Chautauqua remains my Arabian Nights, a magical outpouring of music amidst heroes and heroines,…
CHRIS HOPKINS MEETS THE YOUNG LIONS (Volume One and Two) | JAZZ LIVES
I have a real admiration for Chris Hopkins, brilliantly at ease on piano or alto saxophone. I think I first encountered him on an Arbors Records release from 2000, DAYBREAK. Here's the title, poignant and pensive: https://youtu.be/R9jr01zQCO8?si=SodQpWO2Ap6XzH_9 I had the great good fortune to encounter him in person after that: once at Joe Boughton's Jazz…
HAVE YOUR FIRE EXTINGUISHER HANDY: MARTY GROSZ, JON-ERIK KELLSO, DAN BARRETT, BOB HAVENS, BOBBY GORDON, JOHN SHERIDAN, BOB HAGGART, WAYNE JONES (Conneaut Lake Jazz Festival, August 26, 1994) | JAZZ LIVES
Go ahead and get it. I'll wait. You'll need it. Exhibit A: Exhibit B: and the thing in itself: a performance of DIPPER MOUTH BLUES from Joe Boughton's fabled Conneaut Lake Jazz Festival, with Marty Grosz, guitar, leader; Jon-Erik Kellso, trumpet; Dan Barrett, cornet; Bob Havens, trombone; Bobby Gordon, clarinet; John Sheridan, piano; Bob Haggart,…
IS JAZZ YOUR FRIEND? | JAZZ LIVES
Any friendship needs care. Like a plant, friendship dies when neglected. My readers love this music. We have felt its warm embrace. But many are quietly neglecting the art that has been a true friend. I refer specifically to jazz in performance, face to face. If your finances are limited or your health is fragile;…
MAGIC IN MIDTOWN: THE DANNY TOBIAS SEPTET (Part Two) at WINNIE’S JAZZ BAR: DANNY TOBIAS, JON-ERIK KELLSO, HARRY ALLEN, STEVE ASH, FELIX LEMERLE, TAL RONEN, KEVIN DORN (Friday, May 23, 2025). | JAZZ LIVES
Photograph by Craig Mahoney. Here's Part One of that magical night. And the third, quite marvelous set: Danny loves Rodgers and Hart, so he had us DANCING ON THE CEILING: https://youtu.be/TEQ7gJFfNNs DID YOU CALL HER TODAY? is Ben Webster's variation on IN A MELLOTONE, which is a variation on ROSE ROOM. Legend has it that…