Visitors to New York should keep in mind that lots of great sites are outside of Manhattan. One of those is the Louis Armstrong House, which is in Corona...
Tag - jazz
Like so many folks who had stellar careers and have been around forever, Tony Bennett’s early story is filled with familiar names: The young singer was...
The great trumpeter was born on this day in 1922. He passed away in 1999. The clip of Java is from The Ed Sullivan Show in 1963.
Yesterday was the first full day of autumn. Great photos behind Billie Holiday.
Many folks reading this post know more about Miles Davis than I do. So it makes little sense for me to write anything about the second most important trumpet...
People who know put Buddy Rich at or near the top of the list of jazz drummers. Two things are evident in this interesting interview from 1956: Both Rich and...
Clifford “Brownie” Brown was only 25 years old when he died. The above clip, which is introduced by a very young looking Soupy Sales, was the only...
Earl “Fatha” Hines (December 28, 1903 to April 22, 1983) is not as well remembered as Louis Armstrong or Duke Ellington. But jazz critics put him...
The Girl from Ipanema, most famously performed by Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, is almost certainly the best known bossa nova song. It was written by Antonio...
Reading Music
The stories of the great bands and musicians are fascinating. Musicians as a group are brilliant, but often troubled. The combination of creativity and drama makes for great reading.
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Here are some books to check out.
Duke Ellington brought class, sophistication and style to jazz which, until that point, was proudly unpolished and raucous. His story is profound. The author, Terry Teachout, also wrote "Pops," the acclaimed bio of Louis Armstrong. Click here or on the image.
What else is there to say? Here is the story behind every song written by The Beatles. Click here or on the image.
The Grateful Dead don't get enough credit for the profound nature of its lyrics. Many of the band's songs are driven by a deep and literate Americana ("I'm Uncle Sam/That's who I am/Been hidin' out/In a rock and roll band" and "Majordomo Billy Bojangles/Sit down and have a drink with me/What's this about Alabama/Keeps comin' back to me?").
David Dodd's exhaustive study tells the story, song by song. Click here or on the image.