Home Articles posted by ekkarn (Page 88)

Exploring the Jazz Trumpet of David Weiss – When Words Fail…

When Words FailOne of the albums that has been in my rotation this week is When Words Fail from jazz trumpeter David Weiss.

David Weiss (born October 21, 1964 in New York City) is a jazz trumpeter and the founder of The New Jazz Composers Octet, a group dedicated to innovation in jazz. He studied music at North Texas State University, graduating in 1986. Returning to New York, he performed with Jaki Byard, Frank Foster, and Jimmy Heath. He continued his studies with trumpeters Tommy Turrentine and Bill Hardman, as well as attending Barry Harris’s jazz classes. Eventually leading an “After Hours” session for Harris, he performed with such musicians as Stephen Scott, Winard Harper, Leon Parker, Sam Newsome, Justin Robinson, Rodney Kendrick, Roy Hargrove, Clifford Jordan, Mulgrew Miller, Jeff Watts, Terence Blanchard, Benny Green, and Billy Hart. Read More

World Series Memories – the tales of three game ending home runs 1960, 1964, 1993!!

Maz MontageSo as I sat thinking about tonight’s World Series Game 7, my thoughts went to famous World Series home runs. The first thing that popped into my mind was one of my favorite trivia questions of all-time! Who was playing left field for the New York Yankees when Bill Mazeroski hit his game winning home run to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 10-9 win over the New York Yankees. The win gave the Pirates a 4-3 Series victory and the 1960 World Championship! The answer is Yogi Berra!!  I had just turned 9 years old and even then I hated the Yankees and very much enjoyed that afternoon! It’s the first World Series that I can remember, though  really don’t remember many of the other games in the series! Read More

Oct. 29, 1923 Turkey becomes a Republic, plus a connection to the Cuban Missile Crisis!

Flag_of_TurkeyOn October 29 in 1923, Turkey officially became a republic, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. From Wikipedia:

Following WWI, the huge conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was divided into several new states.[20] The Turkish War of Independence (1919–1922), initiated by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his colleagues in Anatolia, resulted in the establishment of the modern Republic of Turkey in 1923…… Read More

Today in Music – Oct 28, 1937 – A Founder of the British Blues Movement – Graham Bond was born!!

Graham BondSo on this date in 1937 another one of those musicians whose name sounded familiar, but I was unsure why, Graham Bond was born. After reading the following at Wikipedia, I was even more unsure of why I didn’t recognize the name!! He certainly influenced the career paths of several musicians who I listened to and admired over the years, not the least of which, are Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. From Wikipedia: Read More

Exploring the Jazz Trumpet of Seattle’s Thomas Marriott – Urban Folklore

Urban FolkloreThe other day I posted about the new album Motif   from the Greg Abate Quartet, which is among the most added albums on the JazzWeek chart. Another album among those albums, actually with one more add then Greg is the new release from Thomas Marriott Urban Folklore. The Seattle-based trumpeter is not a stranger to the national radio airplay charts, as three of his eight albums as a leader have made it into the top-ten. His 2009 release East-West Trumpet  made it all the way to number one! His albums have been featured on NPR’s “Morning Edition” and his 2010 release Constraints and Liberations received  4 ½ stars in Downbeat Magazine. Yet I still have never heard his name….(note to self listen to more Jazz Radio, duh!) but now that I have heard both his name and his latest album, I won’t be forgetting either anytime soon!! Read More

Jazz Album of the Day – Motif from the Greg Abate Quartet

MotifA good point guard on the basketball court elevates the players around him and makes them better players. That’s just what jazz saxophonist, flutist,  and composer Greg Abate does on his latest release Motif and as a result the album is currently among the most added albums on the JazzWeek Chart and I look forward to tracking its upward movement on the chart, over the coming weeks! It doesn’t hurt though, that the other members of his quartet are, like Greg professors at the Berklee College Music, even so, on the album Greg’s compositions give each member of the quartet room to “do their thing” and boy do they know how to do it!! The first time I listened to the album I thought that the leader of the band could be the piano player Tim Ray, because he  stood out so much through the first couple of tracks.  But then Greg’s great sounding sax kicked in and a few tracks later his flute appeared and I knew who the leader was! Read More

Today in Music – Oct 26, 1940 – Jazz Trumpeter, Doctor and Teacher -Eddie Henderson is born!!

Eddie HendersonSo as many of us struggle to find ourselves, we try to do many things in trying to plot our course through life. Some of us succeed, others of us, while we muddle through life, we never find our true calling, and while we have lived a comfortable life, we know that something is missing that true passion. What sometimes makes you feel even worse is when you find someone who excels at several things! One such person celebrates his birthday today! Imagine Louis Armstrong gives you your first few trumpet lesson at the age of nine. At sixteen, Miles Davis is a guest at your home during a Black Hawk Jazz Club gig is impressed with your ability to perform his famous “Sketches of Spain” without a fluff but encourages you to seek his own originality. At around twenty-two you become the  first African-American to compete for the National figure skating Championship, and win the pacific and Midwestern titles!!.You then enroll at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating with a B.S. in Zoology, study medicine at Howard University in Washington D.C., graduate. Undertake  your residency in psychiatry,and practice general medicine[3] from 1975 to 1985 in San Francisco, part-time for about four hours a day working at a small clinic, all because what you really wanted to do was play music!! And when you do get a chance to play music, you excel in that too. and go on to become one of today’s top and most original jazz trumpet players. Boy am I green with envy of the life of Eddie Henderson!! After the skating championships and getting his medical degree here’s how Henderson’s music career started (according to Wikipedia)….. Read More

John Gorka, and thoughts about the first song I ever heard from an artist…..

Sometime in the early 90s I picked up the CD Legacy: A Collection of New Folk Music.  Through that album, I was introduced to two WH_Legacyfolksingers who became favorites from that album on, John Gorka and Bill Morrissey. I was thinking about the album and John Gorka,  because I was listening for the first time to Stu Larson and his album Vagabond, about which you will be reading soon. Anyway, my thoughts revolved around the first songs I ever heard by artists. Read More