Tag: Benny Golson

We are going fulll speed ahead today to someone who is vey much a growing XXIst Century icon.

A bit of pop and a lot of jazz are the influences for Jamie Cullum (born 20 August 1979).

Jamie is an English jazz-pop singer-songwriter. Though he is primarily a vocalist/pianist he also accompanies himself on other instruments including guitar and drums. Since April 2010, he has been presenting a weekly jazz show on BBC Radio 2, broadcast on Tuesdays from 19:00.

Here he is live at Jave Jazz Festival 2014. Enjoy!

Until next time.

Ignacio

©2016 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera

Jazz great Charles Mingus was born on April 22, 1922, in Nogales, Arizona, and grew up in Los Angeles. The renowned bassist performed with such legends as Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker, and earned acclaim for his work as a bandleader and recording artist. After struggling with depression, Mingus made a successful comeback in the 1970s. He died in Cuernavaca, Mexico, on January 5, 1979. (From Biography.com)

Until next time.

Ignacio

©2016 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera

This is a late concert. Late because, being on tour, it is not always easy to get through all the work. So this is a special type of concert.

There is music involved, and very good music (at least when they allow the great musicians to play) and there are loughs, and slapstick, and made up jokes along the way, and a live camera with a live audience that was not ready or prepared to see what actually happened. It is also short (almost 8 minutes or so) because it is late on a Sunday and you probably don´t want to spend 2 hours listening or watching right now.

But it is still cool, it is a snippet of a Golden era of television, it is a bit of great music, and it is a lot of fun.

So here they are. Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis during the Colgate Comedy hour in November 1950 doing their very own, very live, and very ad-lib version of a true  classic: “Singing in the Rain”.

Enjoy.

Until next time.

Ignacio

©2016 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera

This is a series of short posts presenting the artworks in “IGNACIO ALPERIN: A VISUAL JAZZ AFFAIR”, exhibition at the Watson Gallery, Naples and sponsored by the Naples Art Association together with Art Naples World Festival 2016 (Stay in May 2016). From April 28th until June 3rd, 2016.

Until next time.

Ignacio

©2016 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera

This concert does not involve Brubeck playing since it is from 2014, but that does not detract from its brillance. This is Jazz at the Lincoln Center, with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the great Wynton Marsalis at the helm.

They explore Brubeck’s extraordinary legacy with fresh arrangements that illuminate the breadth and scope of his work. Brubeck is credited with bringing jazz to the mainstream in the 1950s and 60s and releasing the first jazz album to sell over a million copies (from the commentary to the recording).

I just invite you to enjoy “THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF DAVE BRUBECK”

Until next time.

Ignacio

©2016 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera

This is not the first time this album is mentioned in this blog. Furthermore, Joy Spring is my dedication to this album (Joy Spring being the fourth track on the original recording).

This influential album was recorded in 1954 and remains as the best known, and to many the very best, in the short life (two and a half years) of the Clifford Brown and Max Roach Quintet. Described by The New York Times as “perhaps the definitive bop group until Mr. Brown’s fatal automobile accident in 1956”, the band managed in its short life span to leave a mark in modern jazz.

The album (first released on vinyl in December 1954) was very well received by critics and the listening public. The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and it is also included in “Jazz: A Critic’s Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings” at #34.

Why I love it so much? It is just so good. But also it is warm, sincere, very advanced for its time, and it is also a gorgeous example of exquisitely rhythmic hard bop.

Whether you are a jazz fan, you are beginning to get the taste for it, or you are simply curious, I am sure you will love this album.

So, there is really nothing further to say other than, just enjoy. And have a great Sunday!

Until next time.

Ignacio

©2016 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera

William “Red” Garland was born in Dallas, Texas, in 1923. He began his musical studies on the clarinet and alto saxophone but in 1940 switched to the piano.

After WWII Garland, already recognized as a very promising young musician, began to perform around Boston, NYC and Philadelphia with the likes of Billy Eckstine, Roy Eldridge, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker and Lester Young.

But he was finally thrown into the spotlight when, in 1954, he joined the Miles Davis Quintet that included John Coltrane, Philly Joe Jones and Paul Chambers. Together the group recorded their famous The New Miles Davis Quintet (1954), Workin, Steamin’, Cookin’, and Relaxin’.

Garland also played on the first of Davis’s many Columbia recordings, ‘Round About Midnight (1957). Though he would continue playing with Miles, their relationship was beginning to deteriorate. In 1958 he was fired by Miles but he nevertheless returned to play in another classic record: Milestones. He continued recording until his death from a heart attack in April 1984 at the age of 60.

In 1958, after his separation from Davis´ band, Garland formed his own trio. From the period just prior to his break up with Miles, we have something really nice for you this Sunday.

It is none other than “Groovy”, recorded in 1957.

A wonderful recording with Garland, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor.

I hope you enjoy it.

Until next time (and have a great Sunday!)

Ignacio

©2016 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera

There isn´t much that can be said that has not already been said about Bill Evans.

In what was described by long time friend Gene Lees as the “longest suicide in history”, Evans tragic life marked by great loses and drug abuse ended in 1980. Yet his mark was left for everyone to see and admire, and he is perceived as the main reformer of the harmonic language of jazz piano. He has influenced generations of brilliant pianists, including one of the best and most gifted of the current bunch, the great Brad Mehldau.

He was honored with 31 Grammy nominations and seven awards, and was inducted in the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame.

It is time now to get to what is important, and to enjoy Bill Evans in his recordings for the Riverside Label.

Until next time.

Ignacio

©2016 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera