Home Roots Music Safari Jazz Archive by category "Piano" (Page 2)

Category: Piano

Cyrus Chestnut’s – Midnight Melodies – Jazz piano at it’s best!

So if you were the pianist for your Baltimore church the ripe old age of nine, grew up in a house where Gospel music was heard Cyrus Chestnutside by side with Thelonious Monk and Jimmy Smith, there’s a good chance that when you grow up, the music you compose may just be tinged with Gospel! Such is the case with Cyrus Chestnut. Cyrus is the child of McDonald (a retired post office employee and church organist) and Flossie (a city social services worker and church choir director.) McDonald was the son of a church minister, and the official organist for the local church in Baltimore, Maryland, where Chestnut grew up. He started to teach Cyrus to play the piano at three years old and Cyrus hasn’t looked back. At nine he also enrolled in the prep program at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore and then it as on to Berklee College of Music in Boston. At Berklee Cyrus earned a degree in jazz composition and arranging. Cyrus says this about his musical compositions…. Read More

Exploring the Music of Joe Zawinul on His Birthday – July 7th

Joe Zawinul (July 7, 1932 – September 11, 2007) – Keyboards – Composer

Last week, when I wrote about the jazz fusion sub-genre, the name Joe Zawinul came up as a major force in the sub-genre. Today I have a reason to write about and listen to Joe’s music,  because on this date in 1932, Joe was born. Joe was born, raised, and classically trained on the piano in Austria. Around 1959 he knew that to grow in the jazz genre, he needed to come to the US, so he applied for a scholarship to Berklee School of Music through Down Beat Magazine. He won a $200 scholarship , came to America.And like they say the rest is history and that’s what his career was historic. You can read the full story here. Read More

Exploring the Music of Ahmad Jamal on his birthday (July 2nd) Happy 84th Birthday, Ahmad!

Ahmad JAmalOn this date July 2nd in 1930  jazz, composer, pianist and educator Ahmad Jamal was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Now, while I have seen his name on the JazzWeek charts over the last several months when his latest release Saturday Morning (No 29 on the 2013 Jazz Week Year End Chart)  was on the charts. His name sounded sort of familiar, but I admit I didn’t know much about the man and his music. So when I read at Wikipedia today, that American music critic Stanley Crouch places him second in importance in the development of jazz after 1945 I was surprised. As I read on, I read…. Read More

From the Archives – A Morning of Jazz – Wes Montgomery and Wynton Kelly – Smokin’ at the Blue Note!

Smokin' at the Half Note

Last night when I was sifting through my vinyl collection I came across the Wes Montgomery album Willow Weep For Me, Finding that album reminded me of this post I had written a while ago. I read the liner notes for the album which has always been a favorite and discovered that in the summer of 1968 Verve Records discovered previously unreleased tracks and the seven that are included on Willow Weep for Me were recorded at the same booking at The Half Note in Greenwich Village! In the notes Richard Lamb writes: Read More

This Day in Music – May 20, 1975 – Tunisian Jazz Pianist Wajdi Cherif was born. Happy Belated Birthday, Wajdi!

Wajdi cherifSo May 20th was a holiday in several nations including, Cambodia, East Timor and Cameroon. It was also the birthday of a Tunisian jazz piano player, Wajdi Cherif!! Knowing nothing about his music, other than that he played piano, I went to Spotify and listened to his 2009 release Fuzzy Colours and I didn’t have to listen long to become intrigued by and enjoy his music. Returning to All About Jazz, I discovered that at five years of age Wajdi was learning to play tunes he heard on the radio in his homeland of Tunisia on his little piano. Wajdi never lost his love for music and along his life’s journey, he earned his BA in English Literature, but more importantly he discovered jazz!! At the American cultural center in Tunis, he watched live performance videos of pianists Chick Corea, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans. He soon decided to make jazz music his career, and set out exploring it on his own. He made his professional debut in 1998. In 2003, he released his first album Phrygian Istikhbar in Paris. Accompanying Wajdi on the album were Diego Imbert on acoustic bass, Jeff Boudreau on drums and Habib Samandi on Arabic percussion. The album went on to become a finalist in the Indie Acoustic Awards in the USA in 2004!! From All About Jazz: Read More

No Herbie Hancock – What was I thinking?? Happy Belated Birthday – Herbie!!

Herbie HancockSo last Saturday April 12th Herbie Hancock celebrated his 74th birthday, when I read that it was his birthday I started to think about his status in the jazz community and I asked myself – why haven’t you listened to more of his music through the years?? I think I’ve asked that question a dozen time, don’t you think?? And as usual my first response was – “Beats Me” But as I thought about it the only explanation that I can come up with is that when the roots of my music listening were being planted (1970 – 1975) Herbie was making some pretty avant-garde music in those years and since I really wasn’t that into that type of music, I never listened to Herbie – hum – but you did listen to Bitches Brew?? I think that the most likely scenario was that I heard something of his, didn’t really like it that much and from there figured I didn’t like his music, and so I never sought it out!  Now as I read this jazz icons biography and realize that he is not only a great jazz musician but also just a flat-out great person – I think I have missed out on a lot over the years! Read More

The Safari Discovers the Jazz Piano of Helen Sung – Anthem for a New Day – and is happy!

Helen sung 2Some people are born to play jazz and then others find jazz – at a Harry Connick, Jr concert?? Well at least one did! The one that did would be classically trained pianist Helen Sung!! Helen began her classical piano training in her hometown of Houston Texas at the age of five under the watchful eye of a teacher who did it her way and encouraged Helen to only listen to classical music. Helen walked the straight and narrow until that fateful day a friend took her to that Harry Connick, Jr. concert. It was there that Harry played a Tommy Flannagan solo and Helen’s world turned upside-down! She says this about the experience….. Read More

2014 Jazz – Moment to Moment from Pianist Cava Menzies and Trumpeter Nick Phillips

So this morning at Me, Myself , Music and Mysteries I posted three songs that put me in a good mood, and tonight I am listening to an album that puts me in a mellow mood. I want to get home turn the lights out and drift to this wonderful album. Yes, drift to the fine piano of Cava Menzies and the “Chet Baker-esque trumpet of Nick Phillips on their album Moment to Moment. As a matter of fact, I was going to write to you readers if you want an album to settle back with put your feet up and just drift grab this one!! Read More