Estate (Summer) is an Italian song written in 1960 by Bruno Martino (music) and Bruno Brighetti (lyrics). It was a minor hit in Italy when released, but it eventually became a worldwide jazz standard, recorded by dozens of singers and jazz instrumentalists. I first heard the song on the João Gilberto album Amoroso. Amoroso, released in 1976, is an … Continue reading Bruno Martino’s “Estate” : Summer
Tag: jazz
Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano
“To hear composers take my work and take it seriously... it’s a thrill.” – Stephen Sondheim Liaisons is a landmark commissioning and concert project, conceived by acclaimed concert pianist Anthony de Mare, based on the songs of legendary musical theater composer Stephen Sondheim. Both an homage and a celebration, Liaisons makes the case for Sondheim … Continue reading Liaisons: Re-Imagining Sondheim from the Piano
Myriam Alter : encompassing jazz, classical music, and various European influences
Myriam Alter is one of those musicians about whom the Internet seems to know very little. What Google manages to dig up more or less tells the same story: Alter hails from a Belgian family of Sephardic Jews. She started piano lessons at age 8 but abandoned the instrument at 15 for other preoccupations. After … Continue reading Myriam Alter : encompassing jazz, classical music, and various European influences
Bill Dixon : Tapestries for Small Orchestra
Bill Dixon (October 5, 1925 – June 16, 2010) was an American musician, composer, visual artist, and educator. Dixon was one of the seminal figures in the free jazz movement. He played the trumpet, flugelhorn, and piano, often using electronic delay and reverberation as part of his trumpet playing. In the early 1960s, when rock … Continue reading Bill Dixon : Tapestries for Small Orchestra
Leon Bismarck “Bix” Beiderbecke : jazz cornetist
Leon Bismarck "Bix" Beiderbecke, jazz cornetist, died at 28 on August 6th. With Louis Armstrong and Muggsy Spanier, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s. His turns on "Singin' the Blues" and "I'm Coming, Virginia" (both 1927), in particular, demonstrated an unusual purity of tone and a gift for improvisation. … Continue reading Leon Bismarck “Bix” Beiderbecke : jazz cornetist
Louis Armstrong : jazz prophet
There is hardly any jazz musician who lived after Louis Armstrong's comet blazed across the jazz landscape who was not influenced to a crucial degree. It is easy to take for granted Armstrong's contributions to the idea of jazz soloing they have become so fundamental to how we define jazz. Just his way of phrasing, what … Continue reading Louis Armstrong : jazz prophet
Charlie Christian : father of the modern jazz guitar style
Born today, 1916, in Dallas, Texas, Charlie Christian was for a short time the most influential jazz musician, ever, and only exceeded in that regard by another great jazz Charlie, "Bird" Parker. It can be said without exaggeration that virtually every jazz guitarist that emerged during 1940-65 sounded like a relative of Charlie Christian. The … Continue reading Charlie Christian : father of the modern jazz guitar style
Jazz “A.C.” : After Coltrane
The recordings John Coltrane made in the 1960s with his "classic quartet" (Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner and Jimmy Garrison) were a major landmark in the history of jazz. Jazz was not the same before or after and all jazz players felt an obligation to respond to Coltrane's music. Some chose to pay homage and created … Continue reading Jazz “A.C.” : After Coltrane
Musica Kaleidoskopea 