News & Updates — jazz

Bop drummer Roy Porter was a heavy cat on the West Coast scene of the late '40s, famously recording with Charlie Parker and leading an forward-pointing big band that featured young musicians such as Eric Dolphy, Charles Mingus, Art Farmer and others. Drugs destroyed his career but his '70s mini-comeback material remains sought after by funk collectors. A Colorado native, he went to college with Kenny Dorham in Texas. He was touring with Milt Larkin in '43 and landed in Los Angeles. His first recordings were with Howard McGhee in '45. In '46 he recorded with Bird for Dial (among...

July 29, 2016 would've been the 100th birthday of the innovative guitarist Charlie Christian. (A year ago...but I wrote this a year ago). He was one of the earliest guitar soloists in jazz (first in a long line of guitarists who wanted their instrument to sound like a sax) and an early pioneer of the electric guitar, a major contributor to the bebop revolution as well as a huge influence on Chuck Berry. He grew up in a musical family in Oklahoma City, and was a baseball star as a youth. He started out busking in the street before playing...

Happy birthday to the great swing-jazz alto saxophonist John Cornelius Hodges!! A crucial member of Duke Ellington's band from 1928 until his death in 1970 (save for a few off-and-on years), Johnny Hodges was a Boston native. He also played with Sidney Bechet, Chick Webb, Billy Taylor and others, as well as a few records under his own leadership. Nicknamed "the Rabbit" and "Jeep", he played both soprano and alto and served as a mentor for many younger players coming through the orchestra. He supplied some seriously sultry sax that was just a perfect fit in the Ellington band. His...

Happy birthday to the world's greatest soprano saxophone artist, Steven Lackritz aka Steve Lacy. Polish-American and born in NYC, Lacy played in dixieland bands before helping launch the out-jazz revolution. He played early on with Pee Wee Russell, Jimmy Rushing, Gil Evans and others before joining Cecil Taylor's group, with their first album appearing in 1956. Lacy's 1958 album Reflections was the first all-Thelonious Monk program on an album. One of the planet's deepest diggers into the catalogue of Monk, the great composer of whom Lacy used to work with in the early '60s, he went on to produce several...

Here's a birthday shout-out to the underrated free-jazz saxophonist Charles Tyler. Best known for his work with Albert Ayler and his own ESP-Disk albums, he also recorded several highly-regarded records for Nessa, Silkheart, Bleu Regard, Adelphi, Storyville and a few on his own Ak-Ba label. His fiery style on the baritone is quite recognizable, and he also played alto, clarinet and piano. From Indianapolis, he worked often with Ayler's groups in both Cleveland and NYC in the early to mid '60s, and an encounter with Ornette Coleman was also a highlight for the young artist. He cut a couple of...