Saxophone Archives - Renaissance Granddad

Archive by category "Saxophone"

Cannonball Adderley – Things Are Getting Better

Things Are Getting Better is the 11th album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, and his second release on the Riverside label. The album was released in 1959, when I was 8, so that explains how I missed it on the first go around… Anyway, I had Things Are Getting Better on in the background this morning as I was working on this blog, so I haven’t really listen that closely to the album. But from what I heard and am listening to now, this one’s a keeper. I first chose Things Are Getting Better because of Milt Jackson‘s presence on the album, but then I saw the other players, i.e Wynton Kelly and Art Blakey and then I knew this was the first album to listen to from Cannonball…… From AllMusic: This title provides ample evidence why alto Cannonball Adderley is considered one of the masters of his craft. Here he joins forces with Modern Jazz Quartet co-founder Milt Jackson on vibes to create a variety of sonic atmospheres. They are backed by the all-star ensemble of Wynton Kelly on piano, Percy Heath on bass, and the one and only Art Blakey on drums. The moody “Blues Oriental” opens the set with Jackson immediately diving in with his trademark fluid runs and shimmering intonation. Adderley counters with a light and lively line that weaves between the rhythm section. The optimistic “Things Are Getting Better” is a good-natured romp as the co-leads trade and cajole each other into some downright rollicking exchanges….

Jazz Artists of the Day – Lee Konitz and Pharoah Sanders on their shared birthday – October 13th!!

Two iconic jazz saxophone players share October 13th as their birthdays. one, alto sax player Lee Konitz, is considered one of the main figures in the cool jazz movement, although Konitz has also performed successfully in bebop and avant-garde settings throughout his career. The other, tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders is an important figure in the development of free jazz. Konitz recorded with Miles Davis in 1949 and 1950 tracks that became the Birth of the Cool album. From Wikipedia.. The presence of Konitz and other white musicians in the group angered some black jazz players, many of whom were unemployed at the time, but Davis rebuffed their criticisms.[5] Konitz has stated that he considered the group to belong to Gerry Mulligan, and credits Lennie Tristano as the true forebearer of “the cool” Konitz over his career recorded more than 100 albums as a leader and dozens more as a sideman with the likes of: Lennie Tristano, Stan Kenton,Charles Mingus, Bill Evans, Gerry Mulligan and others. I listened to a little of Konitz’s album Trouble in Mind released in June 2014 on Jump. I have never listened to much of Konitz’ music, but from what I heard tonight, he certainly seems to have a distinctive sound. Speaking of distinctive sounds. From Wikipedia about Pharoah Sanders… Saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him (Sanders) as “probably the best tenor player in the world.”[1] Eme rging from John Coltrane‘s groups of the mid-1960s Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as…

Dexter Gordon aka “Sophisticated Giant” born Feb.27,1923!!

Dexter Gordon – Saxophone (February 27, 1923 – April 25, 1990) Dexter Gordon was born on this day February 27 in 1923.Aside from the facts that he was jazz tenor saxophonist and starred in Round Midnight I don’t know much about Dexter’s music, so I figured his birthday is a good day to go exploring.. At Wikipedia I read….. He was among the earliest tenor players to adapt the bebop musical language of people such as Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and Bud Powell to the instrument. His studio and live performance career spanned over 40 years. Gordon’s height was 6 feet 6 inches (198 cm), so he was also known as “Long Tall Dexter” and “Sophisticated Giant” Now I can write all about Dexter, or you could just go read his biography at Wikipedia – Dexter Gordon I listen to two of Dexter’s albums today. First up was Our Man in Paris released in 1963. The album was recorded in Paris just after he settled there, He arrived in Europe in 1962 and stayed for 15 years. Here’s what Tom Jurek at AllMusic says about the album: Along with Gordon, pianist Bud Powell and Kenny “Klook” Clarke were living in the City of Lights and were joined by the brilliant French bassman Pierre Michelot. This is a freewheeling bop date with the band working out on such categoric standards as “Scrapple from the Apple,” and “A Night in Tunisia.” In addition, American vernacular tunes such as “Willow Weep for Me” and “Stairway to the Stars” are included. Gordon is at the very top of his game…

A Morning with Hammond Heroes leads the Safari to “Bag of Jewels” from Lou Donaldson!

So this morning started with a cold walk to my office. I left the car at the office yesterday and walked home during the snowstorm! While that may have been a good idea yesterday, it didn’t seem that good this morning, when I faced a ten minute walk to work with single digit wind chill temperatures. But like I always say when I struggle through a run “At least the music was good!” The music came from an album released back in November titled Hammond Heroes. The album somehow got accidentally downloaded on to the iPhone a while ago and I didn’t delete it because of the title! Well am I glad I didn’t, because it’s got some great tracks on it. It’s has tracks on it from guys like Jimmy and Dr Lonnie Smith, Larry Young, and Jimmy McGriff where they are the top dog and then it has tracks where the organist is a member of the band or trio, pairing with folks like Pat Metheny. John Scofield, Lou Donaldson and Pat Martino. I was constantly looking at the tracks as great ones kept coming on, to see who was playing this time. Well, one of the tracks I liked right away was “Bag of Jewels” from Lou Donaldson. Donaldson is one of those oh, too many jazz artists whose name I know but not their music. the other track that caught my attention was “Oleo” from Pat Martino. Pat was another artist like Lou, and after listening…

The Safari finds Breather by Shlomi Cohen – a breathe of fresh world fusion!!

Yesterday, as I was reviewing the Jazz birthdays, I noticed one of the showcased albums on the sidebar. The album was Breather and the artist was Shlomi Cohen.Since the name sounded, and the album looked, interesting I thought I’d give it a listen. What I found was a very, very talented new musician. Who has been nominated for a Grammy as part of the nominated album “Frutero Moderno” by Gonzalo Grau & La Clave Secreta. He is also collaborates with Colombian Harpist Edmar Castaneda, bringing his incredible and unique form of music to the world. Shlomi is also a member of the horn section of the Bernie Worrell Orchestra (founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic). Now, where he finds time to record Breather, his debut solo album, I don’t know, but somehow these ultra-talented people always find a way don’t they! The music on Breather is fresh and original and is steeped in the sounds of the Middle East, and well it should be, because while Shomi now calls New York home, he was raised in Tel Aviv, with parents from Morocco and Yemen! From a review at Bop N Jazz: The great comedian Martin Mull once stated that writing about music is like dancing about architecture. Shlomi Cohen is the epitome of why I rarely write the more traditional dry as dust technical analysis of a work. Music is from soul. The creative process and artistic integrity can not be accurately graded on a purely technical scale. Shlomi Cohen is as technically gifted…

A Night of Jazz starts with Walter Smith III and ends with Larry Goldings and I have a lot to listen to!!!

So last night I visit MOG and jumped around checking out jazz musicians, it started with Walter Smith III Live in Paris which led to bassist Hans Glawischnig led to Antonio Sanchez, who actually appears in my library as he is part of Gary Burton’s Quartet and appears on his album Quartet Live. Antonio in turn led to Ari Hoenig.…Reading Hoenig’s biography at Wikipedia I saw that….. Since 2005 Ari has appeared with many of jazz’s finest up & coming guitarists such as Jonathan Kreisberg who’s a member of Ari’s Punk Bop Band and Israeli transplant Gilad Hekselman A trip to Gilad Hekselman revealed that . “While Hekselman sees this group (which features bassist Joe Martin and drummer Ari Hoenig) as a co-op, he is the first among equals and shows that he clearly has a potentially significant future” So I gave the album Splitlife a listen and enjoyed it and then moved on to Jonathan Kreisberg and his album Night Songs which features Gary Versace, Matt Penman and Mark Ferber. When I read this I went Gary Versace’s page where I read in the AllMusic Guide review that….. Gary Versace is one organist who plays music far beyond soul-jazz, moving into a realm of progressive sounds that approach the visionary Larry Young and rival peer Larry Goldings. With saxophonist Donny McCaslin and electric guitarist Adam Rogers, Versace is able to buoy their melodies with a visceral yet vibrant underpinning. He is fond of rhythms removed from 4/4, and the complex moods displayed during “Dangerous Land”…

Night Owl Music – Into the Morning with Coltrane and Burton and “Afro Blue”

This afternoon my daughter, Elizabeth called and was having car problems. The check engine light came on, the battery was dead and the steering locked up. We decided to have the car towed back here to be looked at, at my local gas station, In doing so, she was left without a car, so tonight I drove the other car down to her. She drove me back to my son Andrew’s house, half way between here and the University of Delaware, then he drove me home! I was all set for the trip down there, I had two genres on the iPhone jazz from vibist Arthur Lipner and guitarist Garrison Fewell and progressive rock from Six Minute Century. What! I forgot was to make sure the iPhone was charged or that there was a charger in the car – not good – no charger + no charge = no music!! So I tuned into WRTI and listened to some jazz! When I came back, I started to look for some videos from Arthur Lipner, but my ADD kicked in and soon I started watching Gary Burton and Chick Correa playing “Eleanor Rigby”, Oh, wait on the sidebar, there;s Gary Buton & Makoto Ozone performing “Afro Blue” I love “Afro Blue”!! Soon I was watching and listening to that song! Then I thought let’s go to Wikipedia and read about Afro Blue…… Mongo Santamaria first recorded his composition “Afro Blue” in 1959. “Afro Blue” was the first jazz standard built upon a typical…

Today in Music – 1930 – “Saxophone Colossus” Sonny Rollins is born!!

So while today is a sad day for the rock world, losing Keith Moon, it is a happy day for the jazz world, because on this day in 1930 Sonny Rollins, the “Saxophone Colossus” was born! From his biography page at his website: Theodore Walter Rollins was born on September 7, 1930 in New York City. He grew up in Harlem not far from the Savoy Ballroom, the Apollo Theatre, and the doorstep of his idol, Coleman Hawkins. After early discovery of Fats Waller and Louis Armstrong, he started out on alto saxophone, inspired by Louis Jordan. At the age of sixteen, he switched to tenor, trying to emulate Hawkins. He also fell under the spell of the musical revolution that surrounded him, Bebop. He began to follow Charlie Parker, and soon came under the wing of Thelonious Monk, who became his musical mentor and guru. Living in Sugar Hill, his neighborhood musical peers included Jackie McLean, Kenny Drew and Art Taylor, but it was young Sonny who was first out of the pack, working and recording with Babs Gonzales, J.J. Johnson, Bud Powell and Miles Davis before he turned twenty. “Of course, these people are there to be called on because I think I represent them in a way,” Rollins said recently of his peers and mentors. “They’re not here now so I feel like I’m sort of representing all of them, all of the guys. Remember, I’m one of the last guys left, as I’m…

Today in Music – Happy Birthday, Wayne Shorter (Aug 25, 1933)

Wayne Shorter left us on March 2, 2023 at the age of 89 years old. The jazz world lost a giant. Here is a post I wrote around his 80th birthday…..I still need to listen to more of his music! So you can probably count on you fingers how many musicians are still performing beyond the age of 80. Two that I can think of off the top of my head are B.B. King and Tony Bennett, and when Wayne Shorter, plays the Hollywood Bowl on Wednesday of this week, he will have join that group! Wayne was born in Newark, New Jersey on August 25,1933. For some unknown reason, I know Wayne’s name, but have not really listened to any of his best albums. I know I have heard his sax before, I have some Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, along with Miles Davis in my collection and I know I’ve listened to Weather Report! Can you say, once again, too much music, too little time! So this post is not only for you readers, but for me, too! From Wikiipedia: Jazz critic Ben Ratliff of the New York Times has described Shorter as “probably jazz’s greatest living small-group composer and a contender for greatest living improviser.“[1] Many of Shorter’s compositions have become jazz standards. His output has earned worldwide recognition, critical praise and various commendations, including multiple Grammy Awards.[2] He has also received acclaim for his mastery of the soprano saxophone (after switching his focus from the tenor in…