• Hank Jones (1918-2010)

    Hank Jones (1918-2010)

    Hank Jones died two days ago.  An article I wrote for the Times is here,  his obit is here.
  • SFC Students Learn About Jazz with the Ben Waltzer Quartet The Ben Waltzer quartet featuring Ben Waltzer (piano), Chris Lightcap...
  • Ben Waltzer Quintet, 4/30

    Ben Waltzer Quintet, 4/30

    A blurb from Jim Macnie on next Friday’s gig in the Village Voice. photo by juan n. only

12 by Max

Drummer Nasheet Waits picks 12 pieces by Max Roach, his mentor, and discusses their significance. Pretty interesting. He discusses one of my favorites, “Garvey’s Ghost,” from “Percussion Bitter Suite”(1961):

This is one of my favorite cuts of music of all time. It’s another example of how the title really speaks to what’s happening in the music. This references Marcus Garvey, the great Pan-Africanist in the States during the late ’10s and 20s, who died in England in 1940, mistreated, and his organization decentralized by the same tactics used against the Black Panthers some years later. The piece references that history, talking about self-determination, but then it also has a haunting, ghostly quality; the melody is so powerful, as is the fact that Abbey doesn’t sing any words.

…He always plays something and then leaves some space, and then plays something else and leaves some space. He calls, he answers, he answers, and then he leaves some space. He always used to say that there’s always room. Get to your shit quick, make a statement, and in making that statement, the things that you don’t play are just as important as the things you do. That always seemed to be a theme for him, and he utilized it in every component of his career. Always some space for others.

A great day in Detroit

A short video about the photo shoot that took place at the Detroit International Jazz Festival a few years back. It was an honor to have been included.

Duke and Strays

Duke Ellington interviews Billy Strayhorn.  via A Blog Supreme

Bill Dixon (1925-2010)

Bill DIxon, trumpeter, composer and head of the Black Music Division at Bennington College died last week.  His obit is here.

Breakbot (feat. Irfane)

Ed Banger Records is happy to announce the release of BREAKBOT feat Irfane “Baby I’m Yours” video!
It was (directed) handmade by IRINA DAKEVA @ WIZZ. It is composed of approx 2000 images watercolor painted one after another (we say Aquarelle in french, way more sexy).

Et qu’est-ce une bonne chanson:

Breakbot – Baby I’m Yours (feat. Irfane) – HD from Ed Banger Records on Vimeo.

via Andrew Sullivan

Undead Festival

I’ll be appearing undead with Gerald Cleaver’s Violet Hour at (gulp!) 1am Sunday night the 13th (technically the 14th) at Sullivan Hall, NYC, as part of Brice Rosenbloom and Adam Schatz’s Undead Festival.  Gerald’s group is composed of Chris Lightcap, JD Allen, Jeremy Pelt, and Andrew Bishop.  More info here.

Jim Macnie from the Voice:

It’s best not to starve yourself before a rich repast—nibbling a bit helps the body gear up for the onslaught. With the Vision Fest and Carefusion bashes on the jazz horizon, the Undead Festival is the wise way to prime your palette. It’s basically a twin of the celebrated Winter Jazzfest: three Village venues become a carousel of action, delivering 35-plus bands to Bleeckerville while engendering a trillion Tweets from hopped-up j’heads thriving on such overstimulation. It’s also a nexus of now-prov leaders that arrives with a sub-agenda of youth, stretching from cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum to guitarist Mary Halvorson to saxophonist Ben Wendel. It’s not about killing your idols, though. Roswell Rudd’s elastic trombone, Steve Coleman’s itchy alto, and Tim Berne’s restless mind all bring crucial career lessons to the party.

Come on down, jammies allowed.

The Black Roots of Salsa

EtnoCuba has a post on a Swiss director Christian Liebich’s documentary on the black roots of salsa:

Jasmine

Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden on NPR talking about their new record. A separate video here.

Stravinsky Mugshot

“On April 15, 1940, Stravinsky’s unconventional major seventh chord in his arrangement of the Star-Spangled Banner led to his arrest by the Boston police for violating a federal law that prohibited the reharmonization of the National Anthem.
(Thanks to Raycurt Johnson for the photo and info)”

via Washington Musica Viva

NYT City Room Upsets Hank Jones Fans

I think folks’ concerns here are a little overblown. Judge for yourself though. Loren Schoenberg, Ethan Iverson, Charlie Haden, Jeanne-Pierre Leduc and myself weigh in.

Manny Ramirez Photo by Corey Kilgannon

Corey Kilgannon and Andy Newman’s piece:

Hank Jones, the legendary jazz pianist, led an oddly bifurcated existence toward the end of his 91 years on earth.

He stayed active till the very end, collecting a Grammy last year and touring the world. But when he wasn’t on the road, he lived in near isolation in a 12-by-12-foot room at 108th Street and Broadway, ordering in three meals a day from the diner downstairs and practicing incessantly on an electric keyboard plugged into headphones.

“He was worried he would bother the neighbors,” said Mr. Jones’s roommate and landlord, Manny Ramirez. “The neighbors would ask, ‘Why don’t we hear Hank anymore?’ I said, ‘He locks himself in his room all the time.’”

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