Today in Music – Happy 80th Birthday, Wayne Shorter (Aug 25, 1933)

Wayne ShorterSo 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. Read More

A Jazzy Night with Music from Blue, Wynton and Hank and friends!!

Soul StationSo tonight I turned the sound down on the Phillies game and turned up the stereo and spent a jazzy Saturday night listening to albums from  Blue Mitchell, Wynton Kelly, and Hank Mobley. Of the three Hank Mobley is the musician I know the least about, but his album Soul Station was my favorite of the evening. The link between the three albums is the piano artistry of Wynton Kelly. Read More

Lunchtime Jazz – John Coltrane (1926-1967)

I mentioned this morning that today is the day that John Coltrane passed away in 1967 from Wikipedia:

John William Coltrane (also known as “Trane”; September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967[1]) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz. He organized at least fifty recording sessions as a leader during his recording career, and appeared as a sideman on many other albums, notably with trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk. Read More

New Jazz – Hailey Niswanger – Confeddie

Ok so the other night I discovered the world of Pandora. Yeah, I knew what it was but had never really tried it on my first go around I started a blues channel and put in the names of some of my favorite blues musician. Several tracks by artist’s whose names I knew came on followed by one I didn’t Jimmy D. Lane the track was “It’s Time” from the 2007 release of the same name. The track sounded pretty good so I checked out the full album and out it on the iPod, bottom line the album and the artist is great, I love both the guitar work and has vocals. I’ve listened a couple of times and will write about the album after a couple of more listens! Read More