Kevin Whitehead

Sarah Vaughan: A New Box Set Revels In Glorious Imperfections

Kevin Whitehead — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:17:00 +0000

Singer Sarah Vaughan came up in the 1940s alongside bebop lions Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, starting out in Earl Hines' big band. Hines had hired her as his singer and deputy pianist, while Gillespie praised her fine ear for chords as she grasped the arcane refinements of bebop harmony.

100 Years Of Woody Herman: The Early Bloomer Who Kept Blooming

Kevin Whitehead — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:48:00 +0000

Woody Herman, who would have turned 100 on Thursday, bloomed early and late — and then later still. He turned pro by age 9, singing and dancing in movie theaters on summer vacation. He'd perform one song deemed too risqué for radio when he recorded it decades later: "My Gee Gee From the Fiji Isles."

Herman was 17 when he went on the road playing saxophone in traveling bands. Eventually, he joined songwriter Isham Jones' orchestra. When Jones broke it up in 1936, his jazzier guys reformed as a co-op with Herman out front.

Bing Crosby: From The Vaults, Surprising Breadth

Kevin Whitehead — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:59:00 +0000

Bing Crosby was the biggest thing in pop singing in the 1930s, a star on radio and in the movies. He remained a top star in the '40s, when Frank Sinatra began giving him competition.

Crosby often sounded funnier, and more at ease, on radio than on records. It's not hard to hear why, with some of the settings record producers put him in — like a '70s funk version of "Georgia on My Mind," heard on the Crosby CD A Southern Memoir.

Earl Hines: Big Bands And Beyond On A New Box Set

Kevin Whitehead — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:33:00 +0000

By 1928, Earl Hines was jazz's most revolutionary pianist, for two good reasons. His right hand played lines in bright, clear octaves that could cut through a band. His left hand had a mind of its own. Hines could play fast stride and boogie bass patterns, but then his southpaw would go rogue — it'd seem to step out of the picture altogether, only to slide back just in time.

Hines might have focused on a career as dazzling pianist, like Art Tatum. But after working in various orchestras, he itched to lead one of his own.

Barry Altschul: The Jazz Drummer Makes A Comeback

Kevin Whitehead — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 16:01:00 +0000

The release last year of a 2007 reunion by the late Sam Rivers' trio confirmed what a creative drummer Altschul is. He has been one for decades. Altschul was a key player on the 1970s jazz scene, when the avant-garde got its groove on. Now, as then, he's great at mixing opposites: funky drive with a spray of dainty coloristic percussion, abstract melodic concepts with parade beats, open improvising and percolating swing.

Ben Goldberg's Variations: Two New Albums From A San Francisco Jazz Staple

Kevin Whitehead — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:41:00 +0000

Ben Goldberg has been a staple of San Francisco's improvisational-music scene ever since he helped put together the New Klezmer Trio two decades ago. More recently, as a member of the quartet Tin Hat, he's set e.e. cummings poems to music.

Rudresh Mahanthappa: Bicultural Jazz, Ever Shifting

Kevin Whitehead — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 17:14:00 +0000

Saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa's quartet can sound like it's cross-pollinating Indian classical music and vintage Captain Beefheart. That befits a bicultural saxophonist who grew up in Boulder, where his Hindu family had a Christmas tree. For a long time, Mahanthappa resisted combining jazz and Indian music — it was almost too obvious a trajectory. But then he got serious about it.

South Asian influences had been planted in jazz decades ago, just waiting for further development.

A 'Special Edition' Box Set Of Jack DeJohnette And Band

Kevin Whitehead — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:19:00 +0000

On a new box set collecting the first four albums of Jack DeJohnette and his band Special Edition, two discs are gems and the other two have their moments. DeJohnette's quartet-slash-quintet was fronted by smoking saxophonists on the way up, set loose on catchy riffs and melodies. The springy rhythm section could tweak the tempos like no one this side of '60s goddess Laura Nyro.

Grant Green: The 'Holy Barbarian' Of St. Louis Jazz

Kevin Whitehead — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:19:00 +0000

Grant Green, The Holy Barbarian, St. Louis, 1959 could be the name of a fine stage play, perhaps based on the actual circumstances of the recording. One musician on the way up, another past his moment in the limelight and one more who had his chance but never quite made it all convene on Christmas night, part of their week-long stand at the Holy Barbarian, a beatnik hangout replete with chess players and a local artist painting portraits.

Remembering Von Freeman, Lol Coxhill And Sean Bergin

Kevin Whitehead — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 17:14:00 +0000

Jazz lost many great saxophonists in 2012, including David S. Ware, John Tchicai, Byard Lancaster, Faruq Z. Bey, Hal McKusick and Red Holloway.

Bass Note: Mingus And The Jazz Workshop Concerts

Kevin Whitehead — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 17:47:00 +0000
On a new box set from mail-order house Mosaic Records, Charles Mingus, The Jazz Workshop Concerts 1964-65, the jazz legend's bands usually number between five and eight players. The bassist often made those bands sound bigger. He'd been using midsize ensembles since the '50s, but his new ones were more flexible than ever, light on their feet but able to fill in backgrounds like a large group.
The concert tapes Mingus released or licensed in the mid-'60s suggest how little control he had over the recording process.

Forgotten Gems From The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Kevin Whitehead — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 18:28:00 +0000
This review was originally broadcast on March 12, 2012. Brubeck died Wednesday at age 91.

Jason Kao Hwang: From The Blues To China And Back

Kevin Whitehead — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 17:32:00 +0000
Jazz reflects who we are as a people — democracy in action and all that. But a jazz tune or solo is also a portrait of the musician who makes it; the music reflects the particular background and training that influences how composers compose and improvisers improvise. Jason Kao Hwang makes that autobiographical component explicit throughout his extended composition for eight pieces, Burning Bridge.

The Mythic Power Of Bessie Smith

Kevin Whitehead — Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:26:00 +0000
Vocalist Bessie Smith's musical career, spanning 1923-33, has been collected in a new 10-CD box set, Bessie Smith: The Complete Columbia Recordings.
Recorded shortly before the 1927 floods that devastated the Mississippi River valley, Bessie Smith had written "Back Water Blues" in sympathy with flood victims she'd encountered near Cincinnati months earlier, who, the story goes, asked her to bear witness to their pain.

After 26 Years, The Sam Rivers Trio Resurfaces

Kevin Whitehead — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 20:43:00 +0000
This review was originally broadcast on Sept. 26, 2012.
Jazz multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers, who died at 88 in December 2011, recorded with many trios in the 1970s. But his most celebrated trio was barely recorded at all.

George Cables: A Heartfelt Tribute To His 'Muse'

Kevin Whitehead — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 18:43:00 +0000
In the 1970s and '80s, George Cables was the pianist of choice for saxophonists Dexter Gordon and Art Pepper; Pepper called him his favorite pianist.

Ron Miles Finds Wide-Open Spaces On 'Quiver'

Kevin Whitehead — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 17:04:00 +0000
Teaching jazz history got trumpeter Ron Miles deep into the pleasures of early jazz, with its clarity of form and emphasis on melodic improvising that doesn't wander far from the tune.

After 26 Years, The Sam Rivers Trio Resurfaces

Kevin Whitehead — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 16:59:00 +0000
Jazz multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers, who died at 88 in December 2011, recorded with many trios in the 1970s. But his most celebrated trio was barely recorded at all. In 2007, it played a reunion concert — its first in 26 years.
In the '70s, Rivers often recorded with bassist Dave Holland and drummer Barry Altschul.

Vince Guaraldi Didn't Just Play For 'Peanuts'

Kevin Whitehead — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 13:48:00 +0000
There must have been times in 1963, when Vince Guaraldi was riding high on his surprise hit "Cast Your Fate to the Wind," when he thought, "This is what I'll be remembered for." Not that he minded. He said taking requests for the tune was like signing the back of a check. The song's got a great hook tied to a poppy, uplifting chord sequence.

Brad Mehldau: (Unlikely) Songs By Other People

Kevin Whitehead — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 17:00:00 +0000
At this point, there's nothing special about jazz musicians playing post-Beatles pop: It's just the new normal. But one of the trendsetters on that score was pianist Brad Mehldau and his versions of Radiohead and Nick Drake tunes.

Miguel Zenon And Laurent Coq Play 'Hopscotch'

Kevin Whitehead — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 16:03:00 +0000
The new quartet album by alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón and pianist Laurent Coq is called Rayuela, which means "hopscotch." It's named for Julio Cortázar's novel, the fragmented tale of a wandering bohemian and his social circles in Parisian exile, as well as back home in Buenos Aires.

How Jan Garbarek Came To Epitomize Nordic Jazz

Kevin Whitehead — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 19:23:00 +0000
Saxophonist Jan Garbarek was a teenage protege of American composer George Russell in Norway in the 1960s and later played in Keith Jarrett's Scandinavian quartet. More recently, he has collaborated with the vocal quartet the Hilliard Ensemble, improvising as they sing medieval music.

Digging Up The 'Newly Discovered Works Of Gil Evans'

Kevin Whitehead — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 20:18:00 +0000
Gil Evans, born a century ago this year, was a leading jazz arranger and composer starting in the 1940s, when he wrote for big bands. He helped organize Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool sessions, then arranged Davis' celebrated orchestra albums like Sketches of Spain.

Jesse Davis: Rapid-Fire Grace At 'Smalls'

Kevin Whitehead — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 15:55:00 +0000
Many jazz musicians, the kind who wear jackets and ties on stage, are often carelessly referred to as playing bebop. In reality most of them are post-boppers, who build on that dynamic style that burst forth after World War II, without bringing it back in pure form. It's the rare modernist who gets an authentic bebop sound on alto saxophone, who catches some of the raw explosiveness and rapid-fire grace of jazz god Charlie Parker.

Ravi Coltrane: A Noble Sound, Witness To Its Heritage

Kevin Whitehead — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 16:49:00 +0000
The jazz musician Ravi Coltrane, 47, didn't make his burden any lighter by choosing to play tenor and soprano saxophones — the same instruments his father, John Coltrane, indelibly stamped with his influence.
Ravi knew early he needed his own voice. On tenor, he has his own ways of bending and inflecting a note, applying flexible vibrato. Even when his noble sound bears witness to his heritage, Ravi Coltrane can draw on his father's language and make it his own.
On tenor or liquid-mercury soprano sax, Ravi Coltrane is no nostalgist.

Linda Oh: Connecting Points On A Musical Map

Kevin Whitehead — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 16:50:00 +0000
In a good jazz rhythm section, the players function independently and as one. Their parts and accents crisscross and reinforce each other, interlocking like West African drummers. Beyond that, the bass is a band's ground floor. When it changes up, the earth shifts under all the players' feet.

Ray Anderson: A Pocket-Size Suite Makes A Huge Racket

Kevin Whitehead — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 15:01:00 +0000
Ray Anderson's Pocket Brass Band is about watch-pocket size: With three horns and drums, it couldn't get much smaller. On its new Sweet Chicago Suite, Anderson makes what the group does sound easy. Just write some catchy, bluesy tunes and then have the band blast them out.
Brass bands are usually at least twice as big as this quartet. It's tricky making a little band sound this big, Ray Anderson knows his tricks. The loose harmonizing and rough tone suggest a blurry high-school half-time outfit; so do Anderson's multi-part tunes, which are ready-made for marching.

Edmar Castaneda's 'Double Portion' Of Harp

Kevin Whitehead — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 17:00:00 +0000
The Colombian harpist Edmar Castañeda was born in Bogotá, and began playing at 13. A few years later, in the mid-1990s, he moved to New York, where he studied jazz trumpet. Then he returned to the harp with a new perspective and set of skills.
A few groundbreaking harpists have popped up in jazz and improvised music, from Dorothy Ashby to Zeena Parkins.

Tracing The Evolution Of Lost Chicago Jazz

Kevin Whitehead — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 16:40:00 +0000
Drummer Mike Reed put together his quartet People, Places and Things to play music by their 1950s forebears. But it makes sense that, after a few years together, they'd also play later pieces, tracking the evolution of Chicago jazz on a new album titled Clean on the Corner. One dividend of their repertory work is that it inspires Reed to write his own tunes in the same spirit, like "The Lady Has a Bomb."
In the last few years, the quartet has played dozens of gigs in Chicago, on tour in the U.S. and in Europe.

Anti-Virtuoso Piano, Delicate And Despoiled

Kevin Whitehead — Tue, 29 May 2012 16:52:00 +0000
The death of a great musician ripples through the jazz community. It's a special loss to those improvisers we might call immediate survivors: working partners who'll miss that special interaction with a singular musician.
In his late phase, Paul Motian had reduced drumming to essences, or a mere suggestion — to a concentrated, rarefied level where an isolated rustle might bear all the weight, like a single brushstroke on a white canvas. In the end, Motian personified the idea of the right minimal gesture.