Archive for June 2019

Seven Steps to HeavenThis song is from a 1963 Miles Davis album, and features pianist Herbie Hancock and drummer Tony Williams who was a star in Miles Davis’ Band at age seventeen. For some ten years that quintet stayed together and was considered one of Miles’ best bands, with Williams being singled out as “the Read More »

DaydreamThis 1957 recording of a Duke Ellington song showcases Steve Lacy playing soprano sax in the style of one of jazz’s great innovators, Sidney Bechet. When you hear the clarity and precision of his playing in “Daydream,” you’ll understand how he single-handedly revived the soprano sax (which was generally ignored during the bop era) in Read More »

Suite SiouxThe trumpet equivalent to a fast break. Freddie Hubbard’s hard bop notes enter through your gut, then pinball of each organ until your whole body is involuntarily bopping along. Freddie’s album, Red Clay, featured my favorite musicians who were also friends of mine: Joe Henderson, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Lenny White. During the Read More »

One Finger SnapThis great Herbie Hancock composition has been one of my favorites since college. It’s played at such a breathless sprinter’s speed it would make a perfect soundtrack for a chase scene. By the end of the song, your adrenaline is pumping and you may need to take a brief rest. The song features Read More »

Strivers Row This 1957 Sonny Rollins homage to an upscale Harlem neighborhood first appeared on the album, A Night at the Village Vanguard. One reason I like this song so much is because I saw Sonny perform at the Village Vanguard many times and I can still remember how cool he looked up there in Read More »

Dance of the Infidels “Bud” Powell’s troubled life is well known from the film ‘Round Midnight‘. But whatever his personal demons were, there is no denying his genius as a pianist. Thelonious Monk was an early friend and mentor who introduced Bud to the other Bebop musicians that hung out at Minton’s Playhouse, the same Read More »

Our Thing Joe Henderson became a favorite of mine while I was in college and I got to see him perform at the Slugs Saloon in the East Village. He recorded Our Thing in 1963 with Kenny Dorham who had played in a band with my dad. This music is an example of the new Read More »

Afro Blue, Mr. Day In these songs it’s easy to see why John Coltrane is often credited by other musicians as being a major influence on their work. These musicians include Jimi Hendrix, Carlos Santana, Jerry Garcia, the Doors, and Outkast, among others. These two songs were recorded after Trane left Monk’s band and started Read More »

Back to the Apple Did any musician have more fun playing jazz than Count Basie? Listen to this song and you’ll know why his orchestra bridges big band swing with modern jazz. The Count plays effortlessly yet energetically, as if he had just arrived at a dull party, plopped down at the piano, and said, Read More »