News & Updates — classic albums

One of the (gentle) giants of American music, the career Brother Yusef Lateef stretches way back to the '40s and he has played with many greats and inspired many others. The man played tenor sax, flute, oboe, basson, shenai, koto and many other obscure or Eastern instruments, as well as electronics. He was an early fusionist of "world music" and jazz. His base was very bluesy, and his music also touched on funk, new age, film music, gospel, avant-garde, bop, electro-acoustic, European classical and various Eastern and African forms. He was born in Chattanooga but grew up as William Evans in...

One of Chilé's national heroes, Víctor Jara was a martyred nueva-canción folk singer and songwriter who was victim of the bloody US-funded Pinochet coup and horrific ensuing violence. He was murdered and his body thrown into the street. This post honoring Jara on his birthday could also be considered a "fuck you" to the United States' continued program of destabilizing countries around the globe for the benefit of fat cats at the top of the stinking, rotting capitalist pile of garbage. Growing up very poor, his violent father left the family but his mother encouraged education before she died in...

Feliz anniversário para Tim Maia, the fun & lovable Brazilian soul singer and MPB star who's direct honesty appealed to his fans. Born Sebastião Rodrigues Maia from a favela of Rio, the 18th of 19 children, he started as a drummer at 14 but soon became an excellent guitarist. He was a childhood friend of Roberto Carlos, Erasmo Carlos and Jorge Ben. He was in the doo-wop group The Sputniks with Roberto Carlos before adopting the name Tim Maia and going solo. He spent the early '60s in the US and recorded there with the doo-wop group The Ideals (the...

One of my favorite multi-reed improvisors, Sam Rivers was born on this day in 1923. He came from Oklahoma, his father and grandfather were gospel singers and helped give little Sammy the music bug. After some time as a youth in Chicago & Little Rock, he started his professional career on the West Coast in the '40s, playing in Jimmy Witherspoon's band, as well as with Quincy Jones. In Boston he started working with teenage drummer Tony Williams, who in turn brought him into the Miles Davis Quintet in '64, if only for a brief spell (captured on the Miles In...

Happy birthday to the bop trumpeter Fats Navarro, good friend of Charles Mingus and a huge influence on Clifford Brown before Navarro's short life ended at just 26. Our Afro-Cuban-Chinese hero was from Key West and played in Florida and Cincinnati to begin his pro career. To Kansas City in '44, he started playing in the swing band of Andy Kirk before settling in NYC in '46. He joined Billy Eckstine's great band as well as participating in the bebop revolution with Charlie Parker, Bud Powell, Tadd Dameron, Kenny Clarke and others. As a bi-lingual Latino, he also spent time jamming...