Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid Gribetz

Ben Webster was nicknamed “The Brute” due both to his sometimes tempestuous temperament and also for his vigorous power on the tenor saxophone.  But he was “The Beautiful” as well, with a personal sensitivity within his soul, and an elegant, romantic approach on the softer numbers, projecting  a breathy tone with “air to spare”.

Webster (1909-1973), coming out of Kansas City,  was already recognized as one of the original  saxophone giants by the late 1930s.  But when he joined Duke Ellington’s famous orchestra in 1940 his career reached a higher plateau, immortalized as the soloist on many Ellington/Strayhorn masterpieces such as “Cottontail” and “Raincheck”.

Webster left Ellington in 1943 and pursed a career as a “single”, fronting many small groups in various styles.  In that regard Ben made many notable and powerful recordings, albeit not as famously remembered.  In 1948 he briefly rejoined Ellington, although the orchestra did not make any studio records during that period. In 1949 Ben returned to Kansas City and participated in some fine bluesy activity.

Accordingly, this five hour program features a varied presentation of tasty music touching on these aspects of his career.

originally broadcast December 21, 2025

Celebrating the Centennial of Dexter Gordon on February 27, 2023, WKCR presented a marathon broadcast.

From my segment, here’s a detailed survey of Dexter’s early work in the 1940s.  About 115 minutes, bookended for casual listening by a potpourri of some 1970s recordings upon his magical return to the US.

Miles Davis is one of the “superstars” of jazz, a dynamic trumpet master renowned throughout the world for many varied achievements during his decades long career.

For this radio program, I isolated a lesser remembered period, to put a sharp focus on his activity during the years 1953 and 1954.

Miles Davis was born in Alton, Illinois May 26, 1926.  A teenage wunderkind, he arrived in New York in 1945 to play with Charlie Parker and join in forging the nascent bebop movement of modern jazz.  By the late 1940's he was working on further innovations such as his creative arrangements for nonet orchestras, later named “The Birth Of The Cool”.  In 1949, he was famous enough to be one of the headliners of the International Jazz Festival in Paris, a significant event returning American jazz to Europe in the postwar renewal of the continent.

In the legend and lore of Miles’s career, he had a triumphant “comeback” at the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival.  This was to be followed soon by major landmarks we all know –  the quintet including Red Garland and John Coltrane, Gil Evans orchestras, Kind Of Blue, the 1960's groups with Wayne Shorter, and all the further milestones until his death in 1991.

So then, what happened after 1949 that Miles needed a comeback?  First, he succumbed to the demons hovering around the jazz world of the time and suffered the scourge of heroin addiction.  However, the ravages of his drug use were not so great that it prevented him from performing, and he continued to tour the country and make records with different groups.  During this time Miles was in a period not just of personal self-doubt and struggle, but also of re-assessment of his musical conceptions and trumpet tones.  By some time in 1953 he had finally beaten the drug addiction, and with recuperation came renewed strength and consolidation of skills.

Jazz itself was also going through a period of re-assessment in the early 1950's, on the one hand searching for avenues to take the be-bop breakthroughs to whatever next levels would come, but on the other hand popular musical tastes were changing and rhythm and blues also on the rise.

So this is where we find Miles Davis in the early 1950's.  He had signed with the young independent jazz label Prestige and starting in 1951 made dozens of records in the 15 or 20 dates he had with them.  At first not an exclusive deal, he also had three sessions for Blue Note.  Most of these recordings were not by regular working “groups” but amalgamations of those with whom he played regularly – saxophonists such as Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean and Jimmy Heath, trombonist JJ Johnson, pianists Horace Silver and John Lewis, and drummers Art Blakey and Kenny Clarke, to name a few.

These records might also not be as well known in his oeuvre, but they do include some that should be considered classics.  Perhaps another reason for their lack of lasting fame is that this was a period when record companies were in the transition to the long playing era, and these discs were originally issued as 78s, 45 EPs, 10" LPs, and other soon to be esoteric formats, and only later reissued in ersatz album groupings.  Accordingly, they could not be so coherently known with common monikers so as to fit in a Davis “canon”.

With these factors in mind, this program features the years 1953 and 1954, with records such as Kelo and Tempus Fugit, When Lights Are Low and Tune Up, his definitive cool version of Old Devil Moon, the extended performance on Walkin’, and concluding with the legendary tempestuous date with Thelonious Monk, Milt Jackson and the Modern Jazz Giants on Christmas Eve 1954.

These 1953-4 records are glorious on their own merit and just as impressive as other Miles Davis offerings.  As some have said upon reflection, one might think that the critics who had called 1955 a “comeback” were the ones who had been away, and not Miles.  

And these recordings are key to study as a preface to the next level that Miles and other jazz artists took the music in the late 1950's.  As Dick Katz perceptively wrote about the musicians on Walkin’: “To me they represent a sort of summing up of what had happened musically during the preceding ten years.  It’s as if they all agreed to get together to discuss on their instruments what they had learned and unlearned, what elements of bop they had retained or discarded”.

originally broadcast December 22, 2019

We celebrate the centennial of Gigi Gryce (Basheer Qusim).

Gryce became a leading figure in his brief career in the 1950s. as a saxophonist, composer, arranger, music publisher, and teacher and mentor to many musicians.

Gryce was born November 28, 1925 in Pensacola, Florida.  His parents owned a clothes cleaning business, but his father died when he was seven.  In the midst of the Great Depression, the family lost the business, and his mother raised a large brood of children as a single mother. But there was always music in the home with his various siblings, and Gigi also had a strong high school music education.

Drafted into the Navy during World War II, thankfully someone noticed his musical talent.  He was eventually assigned to military bands, notably at the Great Lakes Training Station.  Discharged from the service after the war, Gryce moved to New England and had serious classical music conservatory training in Hartford and Boston.

But upon graduating the conservatory, he moved to New York City and began an intensive career in our jazz fellowship.  Gryce had a personal sound on the alto sax, and an organizational ability that had him successfully leading his own bands and consulting with many others in leading theirs.

He made some remarkable recordings in his own bands, a group with Art Farmer, and the “Jazz Lab” that he co-led with Donald Byrd.  He appeared as a musician and arranger, sometimes both roles at once, in significant projects of the greats such as Clifford Brown, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Pettiford, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, Teddy Charles, Thad Jones, and Benny Golson, to name a few.

Gryce composed more than 60 songs, most of which have remained components of our modern jazz repertory to this very day –  examples are Minority, Hymn To The Orient, Nica’s Tempo, Reminiscing, Reunion, Social Call, Wildwood, and there are many more.

Distressed by the harsh economic realities of the music business and personal issues in the breakup of his family life, Gryce left jazz in the early 1960s.  He began a second career as a schoolteacher in New York City Public Schools.  He studied for a doctorate in Education at Fordham University, and eventually settled in as a leading educator at PS 53 in the South Bronx.  Living under his Muslim name and otherwise drawing no attention to his prior musical life, Qusim became a beloved youth leader in the community.  He died in 1983.  Upon his passing the school was named for him, and still stands on East 168th Street.

originally broadcast November 23, 2025

WKCR presents an annual marathon broadcast celebrating the Coleman Hawkins birthday on November 21.

From the 2025 edition here are segments from my contribution -- 60 minutes of a potpourri of Hawkins favorites, followed by a 105 minute survey of his recordings from the period 1945-1949.

Five hours of Harold Arlen.   This program is one in my occasional series examining the impact of the legendary composers on the jazz repertory, as some of the best in jazz derives from its interpretations of the great American popular songbook, .   Harold Arlen was born in 1905 in Buffalo, New York, the son of an orthodox cantor.  He began his musical career singing Jewish melodies with his father in the synagogue.  Smitten with popular music as a rebellious teenager in the Roaring Twenties, Arlen dropped out of school and began a career as a touring pianist and vocalist in Jazz Age combos.  After arriving in New York City, by the early 1930’s he secured work as the arranger for the house band and dancers at the Cotton Club, and he also played blues and jazz piano in small Harlem saloons.   Only at this point did Arlen turn his attention to a career composing popular songs for the Broadway stage and Hollywood film musicals.  Synthesizing the influences of this varied background, Arlen’s songs are informed by a yearning, spiritual quality, and his musical modes are especially suited for jazz interpretation.   Often overshadowed in history by Kern, Gershwin, Rodgers, and the like, nonetheless Arlen is on a par with these giants and his legacy should bear a similar stature.  Just a brief sample listing of his songs includes perennials such as Stormy Weather, I’ve Got The World On A String, It’s Only A Paper Moon, That Old Black Magic, One For My Baby, Blues In The Night, and Come Rain Or Come Shine.  Not to mention the score for The Wizard Of Oz.   This program presents jazz versions of Arlen’s songs featuring many instrumental improvisations by the greats Louis Armstrong, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and John Coltrane, among others, and less famous recordings as well. With a nod to his lyricists Ted Koehler, Yip Harburg and Johnny Mercer, we sprinkle in some vocal versions by Tony Bennett, Dinah Washington, and more.

originally broadcast June 17, 2018

When McCoy Tyner passed away in March 2020, WKCR responded, as we often do, by pre-empting regular programming to present a memorial tribute, celebrating the legacy with a marathon broadcast of the artist’s music. Here’s segments of my contribution, first about 60 minutes of piano trio recordings, and then a presentation of more than an hour sampling his collaborations in groups with John Coltrane.

Here’s five hours on blues and jazz singer and pianist Charles Brown. 

Charles Brown was born September 13, probably 1920 (usually listed 1922), on the gulf coast of Texas and raised by his educated and religious grandparents.  He played piano and sang in church, and excelled as a science student.  His high school chemistry teacher, who also moonlighted as a musician, took Charles under his wing, and had Charles play piano with his dance band. 

Brown had academic aspirations and attended Prairie View College. After graduation, Brown worked as a research chemist, eventually in government service for the war.  When it was time to actually go in to the armed forces Charles was 4-F for a childhood illness.  Instead, he left the science field, and the segregated South  Brown decided to try his hand as an entertainer and moved to southern California.

The army’s loss was our gain, as Charles blossomed in his musical career.  But, in effect, he still contributed to the war effort.  During World War II there was a great migration of African-Americans to California, both in the workforce of industrial factories, and servicemen stationed while awaiting shipment to the Pacific.  A burgeoning black entertainment scene developed in California to entertain this swelling community.

Brown’s first major engagement was at Ivie Anderson’s Chicken Shack in Los Angeles.  Soon he teamed up with guitarist Johnny Moore, and they formed a trio emulating Nat King Cole’s group. (Johnny Moore’s brother Oscar was the guitarist with Cole.)     Their “Three Blazers” took the elegant sound of the Nat King Cole trio and infused it with a grittier aspect.  At the same time, Brown’s mellow vocal style, influenced by idols like Pha Terrell, offered a refined side of blues singing that struck a responsive chord with popular listeners.

Charles Brown and Moore’s Three Blazers had monster hits such as “Driftin’ Blues” and “Merry Christmas Baby” in the postwar period.  Eventually leaving the group, Brown had continued success as a single for a number of years but drifted in to obscurity.  He left a string of now forgotten hit records, but a direct influence acknowledged by singers from Ray Charles onward.

In the 1980's Brown was “re-discovered”, becoming a popular attraction at the famous New York nightclub Tramps, featured on an acclaimed PBS documentary, releasing a breakthrough 1986 jazz album “One More For The Road”, and taken on tour by artists like Bonnie Raitt to be exposed to a younger generation.  With a base in northern California, and guitarist Danny Caron as musical director with a sympathetic style, Brown had great success once again touring the world and making many fine jazz records for the Muse and Verve labels, until his death in 1999.

We will explore Brown’s tasty, often overlooked, jazz piano playing, and his great blues and ballad singing, sampling the recordings from across his career during this five hour radio broadcast.

originally broadcast March 1, 2015

Five hours on piano legend Dodo Marmarosa!

Michael Marmarosa was born on December 12, 1925 to a working class Italian immigrant family in Pittsburgh.  Dodo was a childhood nickname, and he began taking serious classical music lessons as a young child. He also befriended slightly older Steel City jazz pianists such as Billy Strayhorn, and especially Erroll Garner.  With Garner and other young musicians, he explored their developing mutual jazz interests.    As a teenager during the World War II years, Marmarosa had opportunities to begin a professional career performing in popular swing era big bands, eventually gaining recognition with Gene Krupa, Charlie Barnet, and Tommy Dorsey.  He had a significant stay with Artie Shaw.  When Shaw disbanded in California in 1945, Marmarosa remained in Los Angeles.  Establishing himself there, he was “present at the creation” to became THE pianist in the formative years of bebop on the West Coast.    Dodo not only “played with” all the greats, but he appears on classic, major, historic recordings of Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Artie Shaw’s Gramercy Five, Lucky Thompson, and Norman Granz “The Jazz Scene”.  Marmarosa also delighted in the playground of Slim Gaillard, joining in the fun but also providing luscious piano counterpoint to the jive on many of his records.    Marmarosa returned to his native Pittsburgh by 1950, settled down domestically, and played the piano in local clubs and restaurants, away from the national limelight.  He never made any more records, other than three isolated, stunning sessions for Argo in Chicago in 1961 & 1962 (only one of which was released at the time).  He had retired from professional music by the mid-1970's, but lived quietly until 2002, when he died at the age of 76.   Dodo’s piano style is lively and tasty, informed from his swing era beginnings, while his harmonic sense also demonstrates the Romantic classical music roots, as well as the jazz modernism of his time. He is a neglected and overlooked figure in the scope of jazz history, but his piano recordings are daring and fresh, and will surprise and enthrall you.

originally broadcast October 12, 2025

WKCR presents annual marathon broadcasts to celebrate the October 10 birthday anniversary of Thelonious Monk.  Here's my segment form the 2025 edition. This program includes a 2 ½ hour survey focusing on Monk’s association with Riverside Records.  It’s bracketed by a couple of potpourri tracks at the start, and some Gigi Gryce collaborations at the finish.

Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis (1922-1986) was one of the dynamic “tough” tenor saxes on our jazz scene.

His full bodied approach was brashly swinging yet could be sensitive and romantic, too.

Jaws had a wide ranging career, inspired by the big bands but also coming up at Minton’s and in the be-bop era as well, with an R&B tinge, and later a master of the organ-tenor groove.  Always blowin’.

This close to five hour program samples highlights of his prolific output, including recordings from the 1940's, organ dates especially with Shirley Scott, Lock’s frequent associations with Count Basie, and his duo tandems with Johnny Griffin, among other goodies.

originally broadcast June 25, 2006

Johnny Hartman was the great romantic singer in our jazz universe.

More than just a baritone crooner, Hartman could swing hard, and he imparted a wonderful jazz feel to his songs.  He sang with precise articulation but also invested the lyrics with deep inner meaning and emotional insight.

The suave and debonair Mr. Harman (1923-1983) came up on the Chicago scene.  Despite peaks and valleys of popular recognition, and his early death from cancer at age 60, Hartman left behind a wide ranging, timeless body of work that is surveyed in this five hour program.

We look at his early days with Earl Hines and Dizzy Gillespie.  Next, he was also marketed as a pop balladeer.  In the later 1950's he did some wonderful jazz recordings for Bethlehem and then came back in the mid 1960s with more swinging jazz offerings.  He spent time in Japan and elsewhere abroad, and had some fallow periods, but in the last few years before his 1983 passing enjoyed renewed appeal.

And relax, I haven’t omitted Hartman’s most significant repute - his LP with John Coltrane in 1963.

originally broadcast December 11, 2005

The "Bird-Prez Birthday Broadcast", a 72 hour (and some years longer) marathon celebrating Lester Young and Charlie Parker around their birthday anniversaries, August 27 and August 29, is a long standing tradition at WKCR, and it is among our listeners' favorites.

From the 2025 edition, here’s a segment where I presented a survey of Charlie Parker’s collaborations with Dizzy Gillespie.   Approximately 2 ½ hours.  It’s sandwiched additionally by a few other tracks for general listening.

Wardell Gray is a “forgotten tenor”, one of the lost masters of modern jazz.  Many critics aptly classify his style with a label of “Easy Swing”. This distinctive feature is a felicitous facility that imparts a rhythmic grace while maintaining an intensive communicative attack that conveys a soulful message.   Gray was born in Oklahoma on February 13, 1921 just a few months before the Tulsa massacre, and he lived in the “Deep Deuce” African-American neighborhood of Oklahoma City.  His family moved to Detroit when he was nine years old.  Gray was raised and came of age in the Motor City.  He learned great lessons in his formative years at the legendary Cass Tech High School and as a player in Detroit’s then-vital jazz scene.  Gray attracted the attention of Earl Hines, who hired him to be the featured soloist in his big band from 1943-1946.   Wardell left Hines to settle in Los Angeles, where he became a pivotal figure in the excitement of post war California jazz, in the raucous jam session development of west coast bebop when Bird was in the air.  Gray was often featured in musical battles with his friend Dexter Gordon.  Gray’s records with Dexter, “The Chase” and later “The Hunt”, and others, were big sellers and epitomized this excitement, fueling the drives of Jack Kerouac On The Road.   By the end of the decade, Gray’s reputation led to his engagement in the bands of Benny Goodman and Count Basie, but perhaps the timing was off – he was with Goodman when Benny attempted to make his band bop-influenced, and Gray’s major accomplishments with Basie were in the brief period when the Count down-sized his big band to an octet.  In the late 1940's, Gray also appeared on key sides with Charlie Parker, Fats Navarro, and Tadd Dameron.   Later, Wardell made a few small group recordings for Prestige Records, most notably his composition “Twisted” and Art Farmer’s “Farmer’s Market”.  With Annie Ross’s hip lyrics, these songs remain a big part of our repertory to this day.   In the 1950's Wardell drifted away from major popular attention, but he remained active and was poised for a comeback when Benny Carter hired him to participate in a new band which would integrate the Las Vegas casino entertainment.  However, on opening night in July 1955,  Gray was killed at the age of 34, and his body found in the Nevada desert, under mysterious circumstances subject to various innuendos and yet to be solved.   originally broadcast October 8, 2017; re-broadcast February 14, 2021

Before Nat King Cole became “Nat King Cole”, he was a swinging and influential jazz pianist.  Additionally, he popularized the innovative format of the piano-guitar-bass trio which heralded an elegant “chamber jazz” style.  This program focuses on these jazz sides of his career, as well as recordings made with Lester Young, Harry Sweets Edison, Illinois Jacquet and other jazz greats. But fear not, I’ve kept a batch of shifafa on the side and also include some popular vocals for a fun and easily enjoyable five hour presentation.

originally broadcast March 17, 2019

The "Bird-Prez Birthday Broadcast", a 72 hour (and some years longer) marathon celebrating Lester Young and Charlie Parker around their birthday anniversaries, August 27 and August 29, is a long standing tradition at WKCR, and it is among our listeners' favorites.

On the middle, swing, date, August 28, we play mixtures of Bird and Prez. 

Here is my segment from the 2025 edition. It starts with an hour of casual listening of 1950's Mercury/Verve recordings of the two saxophonists. Then I discuss the impact of episodes of breakdowns suffered by Charlie Parker and Lester Young, Bird’s commitment to Camarillo Hospital in 1946 and Lester’s treatment at Bellevue in November 1955, and their music upon refreshing recoveries; and finally a 58 minute treasure contrasting recordings of American Popular Songbook items by each, “Oh, Lady Be Good” and many more.

Herman “Junior” Cook was born on July 22, 1934 in Pensacola, Florida.  The tenor saxophonist came of age with the soulful aspects of modern jazz in the late 1950's.

Cook’s first major engagement was with the classic Horace Silver Quintet, from 1958-1964.  Teaming with trumpeter Blue Mitchell as the front line, Cook contributed to the lasting legacy of the “Horace Silver sound” and the enduring LPs such as “Silver’s Serenade”, “Blowing The Blues Away”, Finger Poppin’”, “Horace-Scope”, “The Tokyo Blues”, and more.

After leaving Silver, Cook also appeared together with Mitchell on various records on the Blue Note label.  In the 1970's and 1980's, Junior Cook kept the hard-bop flame alive, often in groups co-led with Bill Hardman which performed frequently in New York, and elsewhere.  They also made many records on the Muse and Steeplechase labels.

Cook was a key figure on the New York scene during this time, and he served as a mentor to many younger musicians.  He died of cancer in 1992 at the age of 57.

Cook’s tenor saxophone combined a wistful tender lyricism and harmonic grace with the hard driving soulful attack attendant to his genres.  His individual sound should have lasting appeal.

originally broadcast January 13, 2019; rebroadcast September 12, 2021

WKCR has a long standing tradition of celebrating Roy Eldridge, “Little Jazz”, with a marathon 24-hour broadcast tribute every year on the trumpet giant's birthday anniversary, January 30.

To close the 2019 edition, I presented a rousing set of highlights of Roy’s career from 1941-1970 for casual listening.  It ranges from Gene Krupa and Artie Shaw to the Newport Rebels and The Nifty Cat, with plenty in between.  75 minutes.

Charles Earland is one of the primary “Hammond Heroes” of the original generation of soulful jazz organists on the B-3. Earland swings brightly with his easy-going, syncopated, dance able rhythms on great pop tunes, but that sets things up for his hard-driving intensity on searing, adventuresome numbers.  His dynamic power earned his nickname “The Mighty Burner”. Born in Philadelphia on May 24,1941, Earland originally played the saxophone in Philly and then with Jimmy McGriff’s band for several years. Earland taught himself to play the organ by watching McGriff, and then left that band to start his own career as an organist. He got his major start with Lou Donaldson on Lou’s hot Blue Note recordings in 1968-9.  Earland then emerged with his own big hit record of “More Today Than Yesterday” on Prestige in 1970.  He had continued great success for many years with compadres ranging from Grover Washington to Houston Person, in jazz, soul, and funk.  Earland eventually settled in Chicago. He studied for the ministry, adding spiritual themes to his music while still keeping the torch for great swinging jazz. Earland went on to record many more records for Milestone, Muse and HighNote, and nurtured a touring band with young greats such as Eric Alexander and Jim Rotondi. Earland died from heart failure at the early age of 58 in 1999.

 

originally broadcast July 27, 2025

Sonny Clark was a pianist with a bluesy sound combined with crisp and swinging technique.  His style also embodied an element of “cool” suited to the modern jazz of his period.  As a composer, his songs were angular and sophisticated, but melodic enough to be accessible.  Many of his tunes, such as “Sonny’s Crib” and “News For Lulu”, endure in the standard jazz repertory.

Conrad Yeatis “Sonny”Clark was born in western Pennsylvania in 1931 and raised in the Pittsburgh area, a hotbed of jazz.  After high school, Clark moved to California to begin his career as a professional musician and became active on the West Coast scene.  He made his first record with Teddy Charles and Wardell Gray in 1953, and Clark next joined clarinetist Buddy DeFranco’s regular working combo from 1954-56.

Clark moved to New York City in 1957, and there he established himself in just a couple of years as a leading pianist, composer, and accompanist in the heyday of the “hard bop” groove.  He appeared on numerous records on the Blue Note label, with his relaxed touch inspiring classic sides by the likes of John Coltrane, Hank Mobley and Curtis Fuller, plus his own albums such as “Cool Strutting” which are still best sellers in Japan.

Sadly, beset more than others with the ravages of drug addiction, and suffering other health problems, Clark was inactive for a time, but returned to the Blue Note fold in the early 1960's  for superb sessions with Grant Green, Dexter Gordon, and others.

He eventually succumbed to his ailments and died on January 13, 1963 at the age of 31.

originally broadcast June 7, 2015

 

 

 

 

From the 2025 Fourth of July Louis Armstrong traditional WKCR special, here’s a segment starting with 85 minutes or so of a casual listening potpourri of the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival, a Fleischmann’s Yeast radio show, and other diverse goodies, followed by a curated survey of Armstrong’s 1929-1932 OKeh recordings of popular songs, also about 85 minutes’ worth.  Oh memory!

Here’s a five hour treat of Charlie Rouse.

Best known for his long association with Thelonious Monk in the 1960's, tenor saxophonist Rouse also had an extensive and varied career in modern jazz.  He expressed a tone of warmth and lyrical sensitivity on his horn, which lent a suave element to the rhythmic and harmonic creativity of his performance.    Rouse was born in 1924 and raised in Washington, DC.  He came of age as bebop began to flower, and made important early records with Tadd Dameron, Fats Navarro and others.  Mentored and influenced by Ben Webster, Rouse also played in Dizzy Gillespie’s big band, was a member of Duke Ellington’s organization in the late 1940's, and Count Basie’s Octet.    In the 1950's, after engaging in gigs ranging from Clifford Brown to rhythm and blues bands to trombonist Bennie Green, Rouse partnered with the French horn player Julius Watkins to form an adventurous chamber jazz group “Les Jazz Modes”.   Rouse joined Monk in 1959 and was in the regular working combo until 1970.  Rouse’s style complemented Monk’s ingenuity, and they forged an intuitive collaboration that incisively presented the Thelonious sound.    After some time away, Rouse became a significant player on the jazz scene, especially with the cooperative quartet “Sphere” with Kenny Barron, Buster Williams, and Ben Riley in the 1980's.  However, stricken with cancer, Rouse died in 1988 at the age of 64.   originally broadcast October 16, 2016  

This program presents the vocal magic of  Lambert Hendricks and Ross. Lambert Hendricks and Ross brought the art of ensemble group vocals to a higher level.  Bebop singers Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross each individually were pioneers of vocalese, the style of writing lyrics to recorded instrumental solos to create new songs.  The synergy of the group was even more remarkably creative. Dave Lambert already had What’s This?, Annie Ross had Twisted, and Jon Hendricks had his start with King Pleasure, among other early impacts on the scene.  Then Dave and Jon were working on a project of a vocal chorus Basie album when they chose to combine forces with Annie Ross to replace the choir idea with just a trio.  Their 1957 LP “Sing A Song Of Basie” was an immediate hit.  It was followed by so much further popular success that when signed by Columbia Records it was no exaggeration to be billed “The Hottest New Group in Jazz”, and Hendricks was dubbed “The Poet Laureate Of Jazz”. They swung emphatically, wrote literate and witty lyrics, fluidly blended their ensemble singing, and had distinct, great, individual voices. Their vocalese lyrics to so many other songs of Ellington, Horace Silver, and more, have become classics of the genre.  

  The group stayed together until Annie Ross departed in 1962.  LHR left a magnificent legacy that is explored in this five hour presentation.   originally broadcast June 22, 2025

Arnett Cobb was a full-bodied, hard swinging musician with a warm, soulful sound that exemplified the tough, Texas, tenor tradition.  During his career, Cobb overcame deep personal setbacks, experiences that lent an emotional insight and intensity to his artistic expression.

 He was born in Houston, Texas on August 10, 1918 and began playing all sorts of music as a child.  Cobb was proficient enough to play professionally in touring bands during summer vacations in high school, in the heart of the Great Depression.  Upon graduating high school, Cobb began his career in earnest, notably with the Milt Larkin orchestra, a Texas-based band that was a breeding ground for many great swing and blues musicians.  Cobb’s fame grew, but he turned down many job offers from nationally famous bands, preferring to stay with Larkin.

 By 1942, however, Cobb was impressed to join Lionel Hampton’s organization, taking over Illinois Jacquet’s tenor sax chair.  Cobb made his own dynamic impact with Hamp, and bravely recorded his own hit record version dubbed “Flying Home No.2".  With the infectious excitement that he conveyed, Cobb became known at times as “The Wild Man Of The Tenor Sax” .

 After the war, Cobb left Hampton and embarked on his solo career, leading a small combo booked as a national attraction.  In that context, he recorded notable records in the jazz and early R&B vein for Apollo, Columbia, and Atlantic Records.  He recorded his signature composition “Smooth Sailing” (made even more famous by Ella Fitzgerald’s cover record) and also backed singers such as Eddie Cleanhead Vinson and Ruth Brown.  During this period, though, Cobb encountered his first setback, as a childhood spinal injury flared up, necessitating multiple operations and leaving him bedridden for over 15 months.

 Beginning a new comeback, Cobb was again waylaid when, in 1956, he was severely injured in an automobile accident, that crushed both of his legs.  Confined thereafter to braces and crutches that restricted his mobility for the rest of his life, Cobb returned to his native Houston where he ran a nightclub, consulted and did musical arrangements for many young acts, and still played his tenor sax.  In 1959 and 1960 he made a series of solid mainstream jazz records for Prestige, but thereafter mostly stayed local.

 With the traditional jazz revival that began in the early 1970's, Cobb started touring again, managing to make frequent trips to New York and the European continent to perform and record with many old compatriots, a regimen that continued until his death at the age of 70 in 1989.

Originally broadcast November 15, 2015; rebroadcast August 1, 2021

My segment from the 2025 edition of WKCR's annual Billie Holiday birthday special:  The first hour is a potpourri of recordings for casual listening pleasure.  It’s followed by a two hour presentation of a detailed survey of Billie’s sessions for the Commodore and Decca labels in the 1940s.

Five hours of the soulful jazz pianist Harold Mabern.

Mabern was born March 20, 1936 in Memphis and raised in that Southern town, surrounded by many great young jazz players.  Mabern’s own mentor and friend, only a couple of years older, was Phineas Newborn.  His schoolmates and lifelong associates included Frank Strozier, George Coleman, and Booker Little.

Shaped by the indigenous rhythm and blues and southern soul, this cadre of Memphis musicians brought these influences as another hard driving layer to the vocabulary of modern jazz of the 1950's and 1960's.

Mabern moved to Chicago after high school for formal musical training, and with Strozier helped form the group the MJT + 3.  Next, Mabern came to New York, making his mark on our jazz scene in the 1960's.  He quickly gained national renown, as well.  Mabern was an important contributor to groups led by Lee Morgan, Wes Montgomery, The Jazztet, and (briefly, with Coleman) Miles Davis.  By the end of the decade “Mabes” was signed to Prestige to lead his own recordings.  In addition he served as a sideman on many influential records by Roland Kirk, Hank Mobley, and Freddie Hubbard, to name a few.

Moving along in his career, Harold settled in the Brooklyn jazz community.  Mabern never sought much fame, but for decades he was an important presence in New York nightclubs and piano rooms, and a leading figure to younger Memphis-ites such as James Williams and Mulgrew Miller.  He furthered his influence by teaching at the respected William Paterson College Jazz Program, and Harold also gave less formal lessons through the years, to even younger generations of jazz musicians such as Joe Farnsworth and Eric Alexander.

Harold had a highly percussive and driving, swinging attack at the piano, combined with a romantic, sensitive side, that lent great effect to many groups.  He also had an encyclopedic knowledge of both the American popular songbook and classic soul music tunes, as well, which he brought to bear on the lyrical and energetic aspects of his performance style.

Mabern passed away in 2019 at the age of 83.

originally broadcast May 18, 2025

WKCR presents a marathon broadcast celebrating Duke Ellington annually, on his birthday anniversary, April 29.  From my segment in the 2025 edition, here’s 40 minutes of Ben Webster features with Duke, followed by a two hour set of selections from Ellington in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Although less well known today, tenor saxophonist Leon “Chu” Berry was one of the most vital and vibrant improvising musicians of the Swing Era.

He was an innovator and progenitor of modern saxophone styles, cited as an influence by many insiders.  Berry was a leading figure in big bands such as Fletcher Henderson’s, and the featured soloist in Cab Calloway’s famous orchestra.  Chu also recorded legendary small group sides, accompanied vocalists such as Billie Holiday and Mildred Bailey on some of their classic recordings, and made some key dates with Roy Eldridge, Teddy Wilson and Lionel Hampton.  Unfortunately, he died young, from injuries suffered in an automobile accident, at the age of 33, on October 30, 1941.

 Originally broadcast January 6, 2013; rebroadcast February 21, 2021

Freddie Redd is perhaps best known for his association with Jack Gelber’s groundbreaking 1959 off-Broadway play “The Connection”.  Redd is perhaps least known as an active jazz musician for the following 60 years of his long life.  For, he never sought publicity, traveled frequently, and, not favoring the constrictions of the recording studio, did not leave a long discography of commercial recordings. In life, Freddie Redd was a free spirit, and as a musician he possessed an individual sound.   His artistry conveyed a story-telling facility, whether in his unique body of compositions or his expressive performance style at the piano.   As he came of age is the bebop era, Redd’s sensibility was informed by the youthful excitement he felt with those innovations.  Like Monk, Herbie Nichols, Gigi Gryce, or Bud Powell, to name a few, his music at times takes an angular or dissonant turn, only to be grounded, in his essence, with a softer personal lyricism and sensitivity that is all his own. Redd served in the armed forces in the post World War II years and played in musical groups in the service while in Korea.  Back home in 1949, he immersed himself in the New York bebop scene.  As the 1950's ensued, like many jazz musicians he also played in rhythm and blues bands, with Red Prysock and Cootie Williams among others.  By the mid-1950's he was making a jazz name for himself and played on various records (his composition for Joe Roland, “Stairway To The Steinway”, was anthologized).    Redd was hired with other American greats by Rolf Ericson for a legendary lengthy tour of Sweden in 1956.  Back in the States, he spent time with Charles Mingus and also in the cross cultural Greenwich Village scene with painters and theater folk. The Connection emerged from this scene.  Gelber’s verite play observes addicts waiting for the connection to arrive to their loft, and some of whom are jazz musicians who rehearse while waiting.  The play was an underground hit, and Redd’s score created the perfect atmosphere for the production, while the music struck a responsive chord with a wider audience.  Blue Note Records signed Redd to produce an album of tunes from the show, and followed up with a second recording, Shades Of Redd, even more accomplished, in my view.  Redd recorded a third album with Blue Note, but due to differences he had with producer Alfred Lion, it was not released for almost 30 years. As time went on, Redd himself released little music, and his individual spirit led him on many travels, throughout Europe, and also California, staying places for a few years and then moving on. In recent years he was back in the United States, and performed at times at Small’s night club in New York City.  In the early 2010's Redd moved to the Baltimore/Washington DC area, where young musicians such as Brad Linde took him under their wing, and vice-versa.  Redd then came back to New York, where Chris Byars worked with Redd, writing new arrangements of his tunes, and setting up gigs and recording sessions for him with Steeplechase.   Freddie Redd passed away at the age of 92 in 2021.   originally broadcast April 27, 2025   For those interested in more details about Redd’s recordings, a couple of years ago I published his Discography, which you can access here:    https://jazzdiscography.com/freddie-redd-discography/              

WKCR presents a marathon broadcast celebrating Charles Mingus annually, on his birthday anniversary, April 22.   For my segment on the 2025 edition, I prepared a program first featuring 70 minutes or so of a casual sampling of his classic 1959 recordings, and then followed by a two hour survey of Mingus collaborations with Teddy Charles.

Jimmy Rushing, “Mr. Five by Five”, was a robust and hearty singer, making full use of his husky frame to deliver lusty presentations whether shouting the blues or imparting his vivacious yet heartfelt style to popular songs.

Rushing was born in Oklahoma City to a middle class, musically inclined family, and his development ranged from proper musical lessons to the sounds of the sporting house.

He came of age in the 1920's during the flowering of the swinging Southwestern jazz style.  Notable bands of the period included Walter Page’s Blue Devils and the Bennie Moten group. These coalesced into the original Count Basie orchestra, with whom Rushing was the featured vocalist from 1936 until the big band’s demise in 1950. Rushing then worked regularly at the Savoy Ballroom until briefly retiring in the mid 1950's.  He came back as a freelance attraction, often teaming with fellow Basie-ites such as Buck Clayton and Buddy Tate.

Rushing had new life as a regular at the Half Note jazz club in the 1960's, in association with Zoot Sims, Al Cohn and Dave Frishberg.  He worked steadily even as failing health curtailed his activities, succumbing to leukemia, dying in June 1972..

originally broadcast November 12, 2017; rebroadcast July 18, 2021

Gene Ammons (1925-1974) was a master of the full-bodied deep sound on the tenor saxophone.  He was vigorous and free-flowing swinging the blues and presented a luscious and sensuous presentation in his touch on the sensitive standards.

 We'll be "Hittin" The Jug" with great soul and heartfelt ballads as well, in tribute to the "Boss", hard hitting tenor saxophone who needs to be remembered.

This program surveys his career from the Billy Eckstine big band to the Chicago rhythm and blues years in the 40s and 50s, his teamwork with Sonny Stitt, and then his prolific catalog of classic jazz recordings on Prestige.

originally broadcast July 22, 2007; rebroadcast February 7, 2021

Blue Mitchell was perhaps the most melodic and lyrical of the coterie of “hard bop” soulful trumpeters, and best known for his work in the classic Horace Silver groups.

Richard Mitchell was born in Miami, Florida on March 13, 1930.  “Blue” was a childhood nickname that became prescient as he later picked up the horn and became a professional jazz musician.  After high school, Mitchell began a career in popular bands such as Paul Williams and Earl Bostic. 

Brought to the attention of Riverside Records by his old colleague and fellow Floridian Cannonball Adderley, Mitchell appeared on the 1958 album “Portrait of Cannonball”.  Riverside Records quickly signed hum to the label, and he recorded as a leader in groupings from small combos to orchestral settings, and as an in-house sideman on many now classic sessions.

Next Blue joined Horace Silver’s working band.  Together with tenor saxophonist Junior Cook, Mitchell’s trumpet formed the horn section for Silver’s great hits such as Sister Sadie, Cookin’ at the Continental, Blowing The Blues Away, and many more. 

After leaving Silver, Mitchell recorded many stunning albums as a leader for Blue Note Records in their style throughout the 1960's. 

With the downturn in jazz popularity in the late ‘60's, Mitchell joined the Ray Charles organization, and then later performed with the blues-rock fusion groups of British music star John Mayall. 

 Mitchell eventually settled in Los Angeles, later in the 1970s worked as the featured soloist in bands backing singers like Tony Bennett and Nancy Wilson, and in jazz combos with friends such as Harold Land.

 Mitchell died of cancer in 1979 at the age of 49.

This five hour program features music from his prolific output on the Riverside and Blue Note labels.

originally broadcast September 14, 2014

For the 2018 Billie Holiday WKCR Birthday Broadcast I had the closing shift.  So for a final salvo on a late Saturday night, I put together a group of recordings – Billie with Louis Armstrong, and then representative “hits" from the various stages of her career.  I played them with virtually no talk or interruption.  A sublime 77 minutes guiding the way towards a velvety, hushed, seductive midnight hour.

Here to savor at your own speed, to call on Lady Day for ethereal companionship on a special, or not so special, eve........

Burton Lane (nee Burton Levy, 1912-1997) was one of the legendary masters of American popular song.  Lane’s signature masterpiece was his score for the Broadway musical "Finian's Rainbow", and he also has lasting fame for the show "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever”.  Lane was a figure in tin pan alley and Hollywood musicals, as well as the Broadway stage.  He was the composer of enduring standards such as "I Hear Music", "Everything I Have Is Yours", "How About You", “Too Late Now”, “The Lady’s In Love With You” and many other great songs.   This program presents a discussion surveying Lane's career, and musically features jazz versions of his tunes.  It includes recordings from Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins, Stanley Turrentine, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington and many more.   The Lane program is one of a continuing occasional series focusing on the composers of American popular songbook, and their legacy in the modern jazz repertory.

originally broadcast July 26, 2009

 

Etta Jones was one of the greatest jazz vocalists in the truest meaning of the word.  She sang with a strong personal style, digging deep into the lyrics to reveal their inner meaning and invest them with keen emotion.  Etta also swung!  She possessed the great rhythmic and improvisational sensitivities of a jazz soloist, and she delivered the blues and the American popular songbook with unmitigatedly raw power.

Etta was born in South Carolina but raised in Harlem, New York.  She made her first mark as a 15 year old at the Amateur Contest at the Apollo Theater, where she attracted the attention of Buddy Johnson who needed a temporary replacement for his sister Ella.  Following that formative early experience, Etta Jones paid her dues in the music business for many years.  Etta made her breakthrough with Don’t Go To Strangers, her hit record for Prestige in 1960.  After several years of producing more fine records for Prestige, Etta teamed up with tenor saxophonist Houston Person.  For over 30 years they toured the country, and the world, and made many recordings, concerts, and nightclub appearances in their sympathetic, soulful manner.

originally broadcast March 21, 2010

You may also be interested in my published discography of Etta Jones

https://jazzdiscography.com/etta-jones-discography/

The big band era died out in the post World War II years as musical tastes in both jazz and popular music changed in our culture.  As another factor, the economics of the music industry were transformed, making it difficult to sustain the financial footing of a large touring ensemble. Yet Count Basie managed to stem this tide and not only survive, but thrive in this new milieu. First, in 1950 he trimmed his band to an octet for a couple of years, and soloists such as Clark Terry, Buddy DeFranco and Wardell Gray made him successful artistically and allowed him to stay alive financially. Next, Basie developed a different big band concept that was refined and elegant yet maintained the core values of “in the pocket” rhythm and an affinity for dancers  It included arrangements by cultivated masters such as Neal Hefti and Ernie Wilkins and a revitalized ensemble of fine musicians and composers.  This sound is exemplified by enduring pieces such as “April In Paris”, “Splanky” “Shiny Stockings” and “Corner Pocket”, to name a few.  The emerging aggregation was termed the “New Testament” band, to distinguish it from the divine raw power of the original.  Basie’s earlier “swinging-est band in the land” was now the “Old Testament”. With recordings for Norman Granz, lengthy engagements at the Birdland nightclub, and  national concert tours, Basie gained a new level of popular appeal.  The band continued to grow and evolve with the addition of musicians such as Joe Newman, Thad Jones, Al Grey, Frank Foster and Frank Wess.  There also were intermittent stays by the robust Eddie Lockjaw Davis. Eventually, Basie further enhanced his presentation with the added flavor of the suave blues vocals of Joe Williams. The band took a further step forward in 1957 as it propelled itself to a more explosive sound while staying within its still graceful outlook and sophisticated arrangements.  This was animated by its switch to Roulette Records and their first album there, starkly featuring the mushroom cloud cover photo and title E=MC2.  Thus was ushered in what would be called Basie’s “Atomic Period”, lasting through the end of the decade and even into the early 1960s.. Our program surveys these themes and plays representative samples of Basie’s famous, and also less-famous, recordings of the period.

originally broadcast March 16, 2025

This five hour show features the vigorous tenor saxophone of Jimmy Forrest.

Forrest was born in 1920 and raised in St. Louis, coming of age in the tail end of the big band era.  For a time, he was a major figure both in rhythm and blues and also mainstream jazz.

His first key jobs, in the 1940's, were in the orchestras of Jay McShann, Andy Kirk, and, notably, Duke Ellington towards the end of the decade.

Forrest made a significant contribution to  popular music culture as the composer of the classic rhythm & blues song “NIGHT TRAIN”.   His original early 1950's recordings on United of Night Train, along with other R&B songs like “Hey Mrs. Jones” and “Bolo Blues”, became popular hit records.

In the late 1950's, Forrest turned his attention back to mainstream jazz, and with his powerful yet sweet tenor sax, he worked regularly in a combo with Harry Sweets Edison, made swinging records as a leader on Prestige, and also in the organ-tenor vein with Brother Jack McDuff.

A shy, soft-spoken man, Forrest married late in life and settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan, but from that perch remained active in the musical  world.  He performed regularly in some of Count Basie’s bands of the 1970's, and also in a small group partnership with trombonist Al Grey.

Forrest was among those featured in  Bruce Ricker’s iconic, valedictory film, “The Last Of The Blue Devils”.  Forrest passed away at the age of 60 in 1980.

originally broadcast May 20, 2012

WKCR presented a marathon broadcast celebrating the centennial of drummer Philly Joe Jones on July 15, 2023.

From my shift, here are segments including a survey of his collaborations with Tadd Dameron, 35 minutes or so sampling of Jones recordings with Elmo Hope, and an obligatory finish with “Blues For Dracula”.  For Philly Joe was a child of the night, who made such beautiful music.

Bill Hardman was a crisp trumpeter with the brashness and elan of the bebop and hard bop ethos, colored also by a lyrical and even romantic aspect in his tone.  While perhaps not achieving tremendous fame, he was a valued figure in our jazz scene of his time.

Bill Hardman was born in 1932 (or 33 depending on the source) and raised in Cleveland, where he came up with musicians such as Tadd Dameron.

After early professional experience, Hardman moved to New York and fit right in with Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop.  He also was in a band with his Mingus-mate Jackie McLean.  In late 1956, Hardman [and McLean] joined Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and their edition of the Messengers, sometimes overshadowed in our lore, made numerous recordings through 1957 enshrining the developing hard bop sound.

Hardman plied his trade in the 1960's, with notable associations as a member of Lou Donaldson’s groups, and on various occasions he rejoined later incarnations of the Jazz Messengers.

In the late 1970's and 1980's Bill was a key figure in the hard bop New York scene, often in a regular working group teamed with tenor saxophonist Junior Cook.

In the late 1980's Hardman moved to France and was settling in with his family, but tragically he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died in December 1990.

originally broadcast February 16, 2025

Tenor saxophonist Paul Quinichette was born in Denver in 1921 (some say earlier) and as a youth met his mentor Lester Young.  Paul adopted Young’s style, and played the sax with the same creamy, free-flowing, lithe tone, although he also had his own very personal invention and attack.

While Paul was college trained, he also was a product of the vernacular western swing tradition.  His first major work was with Jay McShann’s big band.  Quinichette’s breakthrough came with the Count Basie orchestra, joining in 1951 at the inception of Basie’s “New Testament” band.  There he filled the role of principal tenor sax soloist much as Pres, Lester Young, once did, and by then Quinichette fully garnered the loving moniker the “Vice-Pres”.

Just as Mercury/Clef was recording Basie’s new ensemble, they also signed up Quinichette to back Dinah Washington on her discs.  With Basie’s urging and support, Quinichette was provided several record dates as a leader of small combos, which propelled him to a solo career.  Throughout the 1950's, he performed in various settings and made many records as a leader.  Quinichette also appeared on albums in blowing sessions with the likes of John Coltrane and Gene Ammons, and he accompanied Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughan on some of their famous vocal recordings.

Beset by health problems, and also the victim of the decline of jazz’s popularity during the rock and roll invasion, Quinichette retired from music in the 1960's and worked as an electrical engineer and television technician.  He came back in the 1970's as part of the classic jazz revival scene, performing with Brooks Kerr at Churchill’s, at the West End Café, and with Jay McShann once again, one of the “Last of the Blue Devils”.  Quinichette died in 1983.

originally broadcast February 16, 2014; re-broadcast July 11. 2021

Stuff Smith was an innovator of jazz violin and a leading figure of small group combos and jumpin’ entertainment in the 1930's.

Stuff Smith derived a deep, driving, sound on his fiddle, with unique voicings, heartfelt tones, and a fluid, driving sense of rhythm and swing that enraptured the soul.

He was a dynamic showman, a humorous vocalist with hit novelty songs such as “I’se A Muggin’”, “You’re A Viper”, and “Knock Knock Who’s There”. As his biographer Anthony Barnett has perceptively noted, Smith could fulfill the role of comic jive at the same time as being a serious, investigative musician, just as his hero Louis Armstrong, his pal Fats Waller, and his protégé Dizzy Gillespie, were able to achieve.

Hezekiah Leroy Smith was born in Portsmouth, Ohio in 1909 to a middle class black family, his father a barber, mother a teacher, and both musically inclined. “Stuff” was a childhood nickname. His older sister played classical music, but Smith followed his father, who had a band that played for popular local dances. In his early teens he moved to study at Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina, but with his footloose bent, discarded formal training and left school to go on the road as a professional musician.

Stuff’s first major experience was the Alphonso Trent orchestra, a traveling “Territory Band”, in the late 1920's. Settling in Buffalo, New York in 1930, Smith became a leading figure in the local African-American musical and business community, directing bands and nightclubs along with Jimmie Lunceford and Lil Hardin Armstrong.

Smith moved to New York City in 1936.  Fronting a small combo including Jonah Jones he became an immediate sensation at the Onyx Club on fabled 52nd Street and made hit records.

Among other highlights, in the late 1950's Smith joined up with the impresario Norman Granz, who presented Stuff on records with Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Stephane Grappelli and the like, and on concert tours with the Jazz At The Philharmonic.  Later, Smith took up residence with Joe Bushkin in a storied and sophisticated engagement at the Embers.

He then went to Europe, moving to Copenhagen in 1965, with many other American jazz expatriates, and Stuff Smith developed a great following there. However, suffering from various health problems that had lingered, he died shortly after his 58th birthday, on September 25, 1967.

originally broadcast December 17, 2017

WKCR presented a special marathon broadcast celebrating the 93rd Birthday of Sonny Rollins on September 7, 2023.  I produced this three hour shift.  It begins with a close look at Sonny's recordings as a member of the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet, and then some casual sets featuring Rollins on RCA Victor in the 1960's, and Rollins with Thelonious Monk.

Grant Green was one of the all time greats of jazz guitar.  His flame burned brightly for a time, but he is to a certain degree a “forgotten” star.

Green’s approach to the guitar was like that of a horn player.   He played single note lines that were melodic and improvisational.  His playing was free flowing and swung with a soulful spirit and deep grooves.  He presented a crisp, uncluttered sound with impeccable phrasing.  To top it off, there was a searing intensity to his art.

Grant Green was born in St. Louis in 1931 (although many sources say 1935) and came of age playing in jazz and R & B groups, with local players such as Sam Lazar, and Jimmy Forrest, with whom he made his first record, in 1959.  He came to the attention of Lou Donaldson, and when Green was encouraged to move to New York, Lou introduced him to Blue Note Records.

Grant recorded prolifically for Blue Note.  From 1960-1965, Green made over twenty sessions as a leader, but many were not issued during his lifetime.  Recordings that are now considered masterpieces were “left in the can” and only posthumously released.

These albums included swinging sides with pianists such as Sonny Clark and McCoy Tyner, organ groups with progressive Larry Young and other B-3 players, and classic records such as “Idle Moments” with Joe Henderson, and “Grantstand” with Yusef Lateef.  Green also made numerous memorable appearances as a “house guitarist sideman” on discs of all the Blue Note greats.

After an absence from the scene in the late 1960's to recuperate from health issues, Green moved to Detroit and from that base re-emerged in 1969 in the funk rock soul-jazz genre, mastering that groove, and for several years he was a sensation in that zeitgeist.  However, later in the 1970's he had medical ailments and hospitalizations, and died young in 1979.

originally broadcast January 5, 2025

WKCR presents a marathon broadcast celebrating Max Roach annually, on his birthday anniversary, January 10.

For my segment on the 2025 edition, I prepared a set focusing on Max Roach’s contributions to great piano trio recordings.  It includes sessions with Bud Powell, George Wallington, Thelonious Monk, Herbie Nichols, John Dennis, Sonny Clark, Duke Ellington, and the legendary Hasaan.

This episode begins with an appetizer of tracks from Brown-Roach and Max’s Quartet with Hank Mobley, then serves the main course of 2 ½ hours of the piano trio sides, and concludes with a dessert cordial of Allan Eager.

When Billie Holiday left the original Count Basie orchestra in 1938, how could she be replaced, and who could replace her?  The musical answer is the incomparable Helen Humes, a major figure in her day but long overlooked.    Helen was born in Louisville, Kentucky June 23, 1909 (a date sometimes made younger in press releases and reference books) to a middle class black family, her father a lawyer, just a generation removed from slavery.

As a teenager, she already made her name singing in the classic 1920's blues style and waxed popular records for OKeh.  After working in banks and law offices, Helen spread her wings and sang with Al Sears in Buffalo, and on the road, where she came to the attention of Basie.  For several years in the late 1930's and early 1940's, Helen was the featured female vocalist in the Basie band, sharing the microphone with blues shouter Jimmy Rushing.    Helen sang with a fresh and girlish timbre that was playful and endearing, yet she also conveyed the wizened and worldly wise emotions of the blues and popular song book, that enabled her to fill Billie’s shoes.    After leaving Basie, Helen established herself in the post war years in Los Angeles as a popular attraction, recording with old jazz friends such as Buck Clayton, Lester Young and Benny Carter. More notably, she became a dynamic star in the burgeoning rhythm and blues field with hits such as “E-Baba-Leba”, “Million Dollar Secret” and “They Raided The Joint”.    In the late 1950's, Helen toured Australia with Red Norvo.  Upon returning stateside Humes made some stunning recordings of classic standards with the Contemporary label that gave her some acclaim.  However, she then retired for many years to care for her elderly parents back in Louisville.

Humes made a startling comeback when Stanley Dance presented her at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1973.  Concert appearances in Europe, new record contracts, and engagements at Barney Josephson’s The Cookery in Greenwich Village gave that rarest accomplishment, a second act in American arts.  Helen died in 1981.

originally broadcast July 24, 2016; re-broadcast 2022

WKCR has a long standing tradition of celebrating Roy Eldridge, “Little Jazz”, with a marathon 24-hour broadcast tribute every year on the trumpet giant's birthday anniversary, January 30.

Here’s my shift from the 2024 edition.  Three and a half hours, comprised of individual segments highlighting Roy’s associations with Oscar Peterson, Mildred Bailey, Tiny Grimes, Billie Holiday, Artie Shaw, Gene Krupa, and the Newport Rebels.

JR Monterose possessed a very strong and personal emotional tone on the tenor sax, and he is one of the underrated masters of the modern jazz era.

Frank Monterose, Jr. was born in 1927 and raised in Utica, NY.  The moniker JR comes not from initials but from being a Jr. but he usually spelled it without punctuation. Monterose started his professional career briefly in the big bands of Buddy Rich and Claude Thornhill.  As a young man, he also performed widely in upstate New York in various settings under his own name.

Monterose moved to New York City in 1954 where he quickly established himself in the modern jazz scene.  He performed with various notable groups and appeared on some seminal recordings of the period.  Among his credits are classic albums from stays with Teddy Charles and Charles Mingus, participation in Kenny Dorham’s regular working band “The Jazz Prophets”, and collaborations with Hod O’Brien and Wilbur Ware, among others.

 In the 1960's, the vagabond Monterose moved on, with stops as a local legend in places like Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on the West Coast, and then many years in European outposts.  Monterose returned to the United States in the late 1970's and became a fixture in Albany and elsewhere in upstate New York in venues like the Lark Tavern.   He died of cancer in 1993 at the age of 66.

This program features major recordings, such as Mingus’s “Pithecanthropus Erectus” Charles’s “Relaxo Abstracto”, and Dorham’s Café Bohemia dates, as well as Monterose’s sides as a leader, ranging from Blue Note in the 1950's, to rarer later discs.

 

originally broadcast March 17, 2024

Milt Jackson was one of the all-time jazz greats on the vibraphone.  First, he was an innovator bringing this esoteric instrument to the bebop revolution of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker.  Additionally, he possessed superb musicality that added to the popularity of the instrument.  Beyond utilizing the percussion role of the vibes, Jackson played with fleet, free flowing lines suitable to modern jazz.  He was a master of a soulful, piercing, driving sound.  While at slower tempos, with notes elaborated and sustained for romantic effect, he would play ballads or the blues that communicated with the listener to the core.

Milt Jackson was born in Detroit on January 1, 1923.  His father was an auto worker but also a musician who played several instruments.  The family was raised in the gospel church where they all  played music.  Young Milt exhibited proficient musical talent at an early age, and he played several instruments, including piano, guitar and drums, and also sang.  He attended Miller High School which had an excellent music department [in a de facto segregated African American school in Depression era America], and he played these, and other instruments, in their bands.  When he was still a teenager, his father bought him a set of vibes. Jackson served in the Armed Forces during World War II, then upon discharge to civilian life in 1944 he began a career as a professional musician in earnest, focusing on the vibes.

Jackson drew the attention of Dizzy Gillespie and moved to New York in the fall of 1945 to join the trumpeter’s band.  Significantly he joined Dizzy and Charlie Parker on their seminal tour of the West Coast in December 1945.

Nicknamed “Bags”, Jackson was ubiquitous during the founding years of bebop, playing not only with Diz, frequently, and Bird, but also most of the other young turks.  Bags also had a notable and sympathetic association with Thelonious Monk and appears on many of his early recordings.

By the early 1950's Jackson was a star.   He served in many small combos, performed frequently, and recorded numerous memorable and swinging recordings as a leader.  Additionally, in small groups he teamed up with pianist John Lewis and bassist Percy Heath and drummers first Kenny Clarke, and then Connie Kay, to produce a refined chamber jazz sound in a quartet setting.  This eventually became a formal group, the “Modern Jazz Quartet” (MJQ), which transcended musical barriers.  With their touch of elegance, the MJQ became an international attraction which toured and performed regularly into the 1970's.

Thereafter, Bags renewed pursuit of an individual career, made notable records for CTI and Pablo Records, led his own touring groups often backed by the band of Mike LeDonne, Bob Cranshaw, and Mickey Roker, and reunion appearances with the MJQ.

Jackson died of cancer in October 1999 at the age of 76.

 

originally broadcast January 15, 2023

WKCR presented a marathon special broadcast saluting Donald Byrd, in December 2024.

For my contribution, I prepared a set surveying Donald Byrd’s intersections with John Coltrane.

In the period 1956-1958, only shortly before each in their own way were to burst forth separately to a next level of stardom, Byrd and Coltrane appeared together (though not "in tandem") on several recording sessions.  They made dates with Elmo Hope, Paul Chambers, Sonny Clark (the classic LP “Sonny’s Crib”), Art Blakey, and Prestige blowing encounters with Red Garland.  All nice listening with wonderful extended solos and prime collaboration.

originally broadcast on December 10, 2024