Posts tagged bandleaders

Guitarist John Pizzarelli from the 2012 Jazz Cruise

Mar14
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Peter Blasevick

This week I will be linking to some great video interviews from the JazzTimes YouTube page. There is so much more there than I’ll be posting this week, so be sure to check it out!

Today’s interviews are with singer/guitarist/bandleader John Pizzarelli and were conducted aboard the MS Westerdam during the Jazz Cruise 2012. In the three clips, Pizzarelli discusses his early years, including his first instrument, the first jazz album he loved, the first jazz concerts and his very first paying gig; part two covers his favorites from the Great American Songbook and beyond, his bucket list of artists with whom he’d like to play, and the genesis of the radio show he does with his wife, singer Jessica Molaskey; and finally he discusses the talks about performing on the Jazz Cruise. Interviews by Irene Lee.

—Peter Blasevick

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Dave Weckl: Rhythm Talk

Mar01
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Peter Blasevick

Today wraps up our week of interviews for the great website AllAboutJazz.com!

When any jazz enthusiasts start talking about drummers, one of the first names that comes to mind is sure to be Dave Weckl. This major innovator of modern jazz drumming has grooved with more players since he started playing in the New York club scene in the early ’80s. His most notable stint started in 1985 when he was asked to be a part of the then-forming Chick Corea’s Elektric Band, which he revived in 2004 after a break of over ten years.

In this 2006 with Stefanee Freedman at a show in Los Angeles, CA with guitarist Mike Stern and bassist Victor Wooten, Weckl discusses his groups, his technique, his recordings, his drums, and plenty else. An interesting bit from the interview:

AAJ: Do you find having more knowledge of the piano helps you with arrangements and writing?

DW: Well, it is necessary or you may sound pretty silly. You have to have some sort of harmonic knowledge to piece all the instruments together. Like anything else, the more influence you have from different things, the more knowledge you have to work with. With drums, it helps to know different cultures of rhythm, so I try to use my background or knowledge of different rhythms to input little things here and there in the music. If you have a better harmonic knowledge from all types of music like classical to rock to blues or whatever, the music will be deeper and fuller.

Click here to read Dave Weckl: Rhythm Talk  

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Jimmy Cobb – Keeping Time

Feb19
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Peter Blasevick

This week I will be posting some podcast interviews from JazzCorner.com, a portal for the official websites of hundreds of jazz musicians and organizations. There is a ton of great info you can get to from there, so check them out.

Drummer Jimmy Cobb turned 84 last month but still keeps up a regular schedule of performing and teaching master classes. Perhaps most famous when he was part of Miles Davis band (1957-63), NEA Jazz Master Cobb has a distinguished career as both sideman and group leader. Producer Reese Erlich interviewed Cobb for this special JazzCorner.com Jazz Perspective prior to his appearance at the 2011 Tanglewood Jazz Festival. In this 30 minute interview, Cobb discusses his career, his time with Miles, and a host of other topics.

Click here to listen to Jimmy Cobb – Keeping Time

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Louis Armstrong in exclusive interview from CBC’s Hot Air archive

Jan29
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Peter Blasevick

I’ll be posting interviews from the CBC-Radio Canada archives this week. The Bob Smith Hot Air archive is a treasure trove of approximately 50 interviews Smith recorded with some of the greatest stars of the day, from the world of jazz and beyond. Captured between 1950 and 1982, these interviews include conversations with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Harry James, Oscar Peterson and Lena Horne, as well as Sammy Davis Jr., Bill Cosby, Harry Belafonte, Liza Minnelli and many others.

This Hot Air interview with the legendary Louis Armstrong took place on Jan. 17, 1968, just three years before his death. In their relatively short conversation, Hot Air host Bob Smith engages Armstrong on a wide range of topics, including his earliest memories living and playing in a New Orleans orphanage, joining the band of his hero Joe “King” Oliver in Chicago in 1922 and explaining the origin of his many nicknames.

At one point, Armstrong is asked if the rumors of his retirement are true, to which he replies, “Musician don’t retire no how. They just stop when they ain’t got no more gigs.”

Click here to listen to Louis Armstrong in exclusive interview from CBC’s Hot Air archive

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Duke Ellington in exclusive interview from CBC’s Hot Air archive

Dec13
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Peter Blasevick

More great jazz interviews this week from CBC-Radio Canada! The Bob Smith Hot Air archive is a treasure trove of approximately 50 interviews Smith recorded with some of the greatest stars of the day, from the world of jazz and beyond. Captured between 1950 and 1982, these interviews include conversations with Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Harry James, Oscar Peterson and Lena Horne, as well as Sammy Davis Jr., Bill Cosby, Harry Belafonte, Liza Minnelli and many others.

Here is a 1962 CBC-Radio Canada interview with the legendary Duke Ellington. Bob Smith had a lifelong fascination with Ellington and interviewed him no fewer than three times for the CBC. This featured conversation, perhaps Smith’s magnum opus as an interviewer, captures Ellington in a chatty and casual mood, with a surprise visit from the legend’s close collaborator, Billy Strayhorn.

Click here to listen to Duke Ellington in exclusive interview from CBC’s Hot Air archive.

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Max Roach: A Shot of Life

Nov30
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Peter Blasevick

I’m posting some fantastic interviews with great Jazz drummers this week. Here is a great five-part video interview with the man who pretty much invented be-bop drumming, Max Roach. In the interviews, conducted in Chicago by Jomo Cheatham in May of 1993, Roach talks about the Chicago Jazz scene, public schools, Rap music, Jazz and European Classical music, and his autobiography which was just released at the time of this interview. Fascinating stuff, and Roach is as cool an gracious as ever.

Note: it appears there should be six parts to this series (number 5 is missing). Any info, let me know and I will add it.

— Peter Blasevick

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Art Blakey on Powerhouse Radio 1977

Nov26
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Peter Blasevick

Drummer week at TNYDP! Today, a cool radio interview with the great drummer and bandleader Art Blakey from the Atlantic City radio station WUSS (yup). From the page:

A true legend, and an unwavering evangelist for the traditional elements of jazz, Art Blakey talks from his soul about his magnificent career. King from Powerhouse Radio was lucky enough to chat with Art Blakey while Art was still performing. Art passed away in 1990 at the age of 71.

Click here to listen to Art Blakey on Powerhouse Radio 1977

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Benny Carter in 2002: Life Is Carter’s Main Instrument Now

Nov05
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Peter Blasevick

I’m going to post a few interviews this week that are hosted on Mel Martin’s great site. Here is a cool 2002 interview with Benny Carter by Don Heckman for the Los Angeles Times on the eve of Carter’s 95th birthday. From the interview:

Carter, sitting quietly, smilingly insists that he is “really not a good interview.” But that’s true only if one is seeking the sort of sensationalism that has often surrounded the jazz world rather than the soft-spoken insights that he has to offer. Why, for example, did Ken Burns, despite having interviewed him extensively, find so little of Carter’s accumulated knowledge worthy of inclusion in his massive jazz documentary?

“There’s a lot that’s valuable in what he did,” Carter says in typically courteous fashion. “But I don’t understand why there’s such a need to emphasize all the darker aspects of jazz. It was the same with that Clint Eastwood film, ‘Bird.’ I didn’t know Charlie Parker well, but I spent some time with him, and he was articulate and well spoken with a lot of curiosity about music and the world. But the only way he seems to be depicted is as a junkie. And that’s not the full picture.”

Click here to read Benny Carter in 2002: Life Is Carter’s Main Instrument Now

— Peter Blasevick

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Charles Mingus: A Thinking Musician

Oct17
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Peter Blasevick

This week I’ll be linking to some classic Downbeat interviews. Here is a very interesting 1951 talk with outspoken bassist and bandleader Charles Mingus. Even this early he had so much to say! From the interview, his take Jazz as art:

“True jazz is an art, and as with all the arts, is the individuals means of expressing his deepest and innermost feelings and emotions. What will live on past the arrested development of boogie-woogie, Dixieland, and bop remains to be seen. It may take 500 years for the average American audience to advance sufficiently out of the mental turmoil and anxiety of the atomic age to be able to concentrate more on the art of music and to understand and appreciate a musicians individual interpretation of a melody rather than only the composers.

At that point in the growth of jazz, it will no longer be necessary for a musician to jump up and down on a drum or to dance on the bandstand to receive recognition of his talent.”

Click here to read Charles Mingus: A Thinking Musician

— Peter Blasevick

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Buddy Rich: March 4, 1975

Oct08
2012 Leave a Comment Written by Peter Blasevick

This week I’ll be linking to a series of interviews from the Canadian Jazz Archive Online, a project of JAZZ FM.91, Canada’s premier jazz radio station. Here are audio three clips from a 1975 interview with drumming legend Buddy Rich in which he discusses his ability to be outspoken, recording live records, and his non-working life. From one of the clips:

“I don’t think I’ve ever been sued because I say what I feel, and most times, with the things I say, I say a lot of things that a lot of people would like to say, but they don’t want to lose their image as being nice guys. And I don’t care about an image. I only care about what I think to be truthful.”

Click here to listen to Buddy Rich: March 4, 1975

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