Today I am reposting a post from December 12th of last year Brian Lynch Unsung Heroes Vol.1 and Vol.2. It was written shortly after I discovered the great jazz trumpet of Brian Lynch. I am reposting it today, because over the last week or so I have listened to Brian’s new release, Question Answered,and maybe this post will force me to write about Brian’s great new release featuring the piano of Emmett Cohen!! Here’s last year’s post….
To create the latest release from Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio, you start with drummer Gerry Gibbs, son of vibraphonist Terry Gibbs. Then you add some bass from legendary bassist Ron Carter, and finally you let pianist Kenny Barron loose to weave his way in and around the deep grooves laid down by his mates. You then mix in some fantastic covers of some big hits from the 60s and 70s, and when it all comes together you call it We’re Back, the latest release form Gerry Gibbs Thrasher Dream Trio! Their first album was self-titled and released about a year ago and spent a number of weeks atop the JazzWeek Charts, their lastet release We’re Back, hit the shelves in September and has been number 1 on the JazzWeek Chart for the last six weeks!!
One 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.
The 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!!
So 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)…..
Rodney Whitaker’s new release When We Find Ourselves Alone his been in my music rotation for a while now and I am enjoying it more and more
with each listen. After listening to the album several times, I went to his web page to find out a little more amount the Mack Avenue bass player. What I discovered aside from the fact that he has released seven albums as a leader or co-leader, but he has recorded and recorded with a plethora of artist that include:
Today is the birthday of another of the great musicians of the last 20 years, who I discovered last year when I listened to his album Earfood– what’s new!! It’s what happens when you’re paying more attention to the past and not the present. Anyway, today is the 45th birthday of trumpeter Roy Hargrove. From All About Jazz….
Origianally Posted at FreeWheelin Jazz Safari – Sept 14, 2014
Among the Jazz birthdays on September 9th was post-bop drummer Elvin Jones. Jones was born in 1927 and was best known for
his time with the John Coltrane Quartet. Jones was born in Pontiac, Michigan and was one of seven children of Henry and Olivia Jones. His family was very musical and his two older brothers Hank and Thad both became respected jazz musicians. Hank was a pianist and Thad played trumpet and coronet.
English: Victor Wooten playing his bass guitar at the Belly Up, 2006-03-04. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Originally posted at Me, Myself, Music and Mysteries…..
So this morning as I was looking at the people born on this date, I thought how badly you must feel every year now as you celebrate your birthday on this tragic date. I think I’d celebrate either the day before or the day after, or maybe you just say, hey it was my day before you ruined it!
