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the greatest combo of voices ever imo.

Jimmy Cobb could hardly imagine he would be making history when he arrived at Columbia Records' 30th Street Studio 50 years ago for the first of two recording sessions with Miles Davis. "I was always enthusiastic about making records with Miles," said Cobb, who got to the studio before the other musicians to set up his drum kit. "I wasn't told anything about what the music was going to be." Cobb ended up being part of the all-star sextet, plus one, that recorded "Kind of Blue," an album Quincy Jones (and many others) consider to be "one of the greatest...

As The Beatles take center stage in the music world this week with the much-anticipated reissue of their albums, it’s easy to forget that the Fab Four were not exactly adored by large swathes of the musical community back in the day. Jazz artists, especially, looked down on the noisy pop stars (or were more likely envious of their fame and fortune). “It used to be a crime for a jazz musician to even mention the word ‘Beatles,’” jazz guitarist George Benson recalled on Thursday, during a promotion for his new album at the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles....

TOMS RIVER, N.J. (AP) -- Chris Connor, a smoky-voiced jazz vocalist who had numerous hits during a career that spanned more than 50 years, has died. She was 81.

Hilarious (if you are a musician)

For the lyricists of the Great American Songbook, it was difficult enough to say "I love you" in 32 bars, ­expressing all that passion and profundity in one brief chorus. Yet when the legendary tenor saxophonist Lester Young played those same songs, he crammed even more artistry into that same small space. When Young (1909-1959) plays a chorus of a ballad—or a blues or a riff number—you hear more than "I love you." You hear babies gurgling, flowers blooming, couples making love, dogs barking, mothers crying to their kids, worlds colliding. Young, whose centennial ­arrives on Aug. 27, created a...

First lady tunes up White House with jazz fest Mrs. Obama launches workshop to let students learn from musical legends First lady Michelle Obama, right, and daughters Malia and Sasha attend a concert during a jazz music workshop at the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on June 15, 2009. View related photos Alex Wong / Getty Images The White House sounded more like the music wing of a high school than a seat of government Monday — and that's just the way first lady Michelle Obama likes it. Mrs. Obama launched a White House music festival...

Guitar legend Huey Long, the last surviving member of the original Ink Spots, died June 10 in Houston at the age of 105. Long was born in Sealy, Texas. He worked various jobs in the Houston area until he got his big break playing banjo in the Frank Davis Louisiana Jazz Band. In 1936, Bill Kenny, the leader of the Ink Spots, talked Long into leaving the jazz trio joining the Ink Spots. ...He moved back to Houston in the 90s, having written and arranged more than 80 songs. Long is survived by his daughter, Houston resident Anita Long, and...

The pianist and vibraphonist was one of the Montgomery Brothers. His siblings included well-known guitarist Wes and electric bassist Monk.Charles "Buddy" Montgomery, the pianist and vibraphonist who was one of the jazz-playing Montgomery brothers that included the legendary guitarist Wes Montgomery, has died. He was 79. Montgomery died May 14 of heart failure at his home in Palmdale, according to his family. Buddy was the youngest of the three brothers who made their names in music. In addition to Wes and Buddy, Monk Montgomery was one of the first significant electric bassists in jazz. Buddy, Wes and Monk played together...

The Ali Joda band performs for a crowd of approximately 200 Iraqi citizens and Coalition forces at the Ziggurat of Ur in southern Iraq, April 1. This concert was open to the Iraqi public and allowed them an opportunity to see the Ziggurat up close. Photo by Spc. Creighton Holub, 1st Cavalry Division. COB ADDER — The smooth sounds of keyboard, drums and saxophone echoed off the walls of the 5,000-year-old Ziggurat of Ur during a concert here, April 1. "This concert is because of all of you," said Dr. Anne Prouse, the Dhi Qar Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) leader,...

"Don't spend my grandson's paycheck. He's only two years old. With Obama in the White House, His future's bought and sold. Stop this immoral spending spree. Stop assaulting our liberty. Let me help you comprehend: It ain't your money to spend."

I was going through some Tea Party treads on Twitter and found this. http://kathleensings.com/ It is the Song at the top, "It Ain't Your Money To Spend".

Larry H. Miller, Husband, Father, Grandfather Entrepreneur and Philanthropist, Dies at 64 Miller's career legacy includes more than 80 companies — the Utah Jazz, Salt Lake Bees, EnergySolutions Arena, and 39 automobile dealerships; he is survived by wife Gail, five children, 21 grandchildren and one great grandchild Salt Lake City, Utah (February 20, 2009) - Larry H. Miller, husband, father, grandfather, a well-known entrepreneur, community advocate and humanitarian, died from complications due to type 2 diabetes today, at home, surrounded by his family. He was 64. Larry H. Miller Larry H. Miller April 26, 1944 - February 20, 2009 Miller,...

"I SAW Cab Calloway perform when I was in seventh grade," remembers Big Bad Voodoo Daddy bandleader Scotty Morris. "I was completely blown away." Right now anyone who knows a little about Cab Calloway may be wondering if indeed he means the Cab Calloway, as in the one from the Cotton Club, who hired, fired and got stabbed in the leg by Dizzy Gillespie, the one who recorded his most popular song in 1931, decades before Morris was born. But it's true, Calloway performed right up until his death in 1994, at age 86. That was the same year Big...

I've borrowed Woody Guthrie's 1942 song to report that this is my last column for the Voice. I'm not retiring; I've never forgotten my exchange on that decision with Duke Ellington. In those years, he and the band played over 200 one-nighters a year, with jumps from, say, Toronto to Dallas. On one of his rare nights off, Duke looked very beat, and I presumptuously said: "You don't have to keep going through this. With the standards you've written, you could retire on your ASCAP income." Duke looked at me as if I'd lost all my marbles. "Retire!" he crescendoed....

Freddie Hubbard, the Grammy-winning jazz musician whose blazing virtuosity influenced a generation of trumpet players and who collaborated with such greats as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, died Monday, a month after suffering a heart attack. He was 70. Hubbard died at Sherman Oaks Hospital, said his manager, fellow trumpeter David Weiss of the New Jazz Composers Octet. He had been hospitalized since suffering the heart attack a day before Thanksgiving. A towering figure in jazz circles, Hubbard played on hundreds of recordings in a career dating to 1958, the year he arrived in New York from his...

Over at McNamara's Blog, Patrick McNamara has found another surprising bit of Catholic trivia, about one of the great popular jazz artists of the 20th century: According to his own, cherished tradition, Louis Armstrong was an all-American jazz baby, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on the Fourth of July 1900. He believed this to the end of his days, and so did everyone else, until a baptismal certificate confirming his actual birth date as August 4, 1901, surfaced and in the name of scholarship silenced one of the happiest legends in American popular music. Exactly three weeks after his birth,...

Since then, I have had numerous people ask me about what they should buy if they wanted to sample some jazz but do not know where to begin. As I am not a critic but just an aficionado of that American treasure. I recommend the following albums. Feel free to offer your own recommendations as I am no expert by any means. As there is still much jazz I have not listened to, I apologize for any omissions of albums that belong on such a list....

LOS ANGELES - Teo Macero, a producer of jazz albums in the 1960s and 1970s who helped to define the recorded sound of artists such as Miles Davis, died Feb. 19 at a hospital in Riverhead, N.Y. He was 82. more stories like thisMr. Macero - who lived in Quogue, N.Y. - had been ill for some time, said his stepdaughter, Suzie Lightbourn of Morristown, N.J. The cause of death was not given. The thousands of recordings produced by Mr. Macero include the original cast album of "Chorus Line," Simon and Garfunkel's album "The Graduate," and numerous gold records. Beginning...

Jeff Healey is dead. There is no more stark way to say it. Sadly, discussing the end of this man's life in less bleak terminology will not change the outcome. Jeff Healey is dead at the age of 41. I first learned about Jeff Healey in the 1990s, thanks to my teenage daughters. Then he was an up-and-coming Canadian rocker who received great notoriety for his incredible guitar skills. Though blind by age one due to a rare form of cancer known as retinoblastoma, Healey learned the intricacies of the guitar, starting to play in his own unorthodox manner before...

His death was confirmed by Hazel McCallion, mayor of Mississauga, Ontario, the Toronto suburb where Peterson lived. McCallion told The Associated Press that he died of kidney failure. The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. said he died Sunday. "He's been going downhill in the last few months, slowing up," McCallion said, calling Peterson a "very close friend." During an illustrious career spanning seven decades, Peterson played with some of the biggest names in jazz, including Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. He is also remembered for touring in a trio with Ray Brown on bass and Herb Ellis on guitar in...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Former President Clinton has donated the saxophone he played at his inauguration to the American Jazz Museum. The attraction is part of the historic 18th and Vine district, where musicians often play into the early morning at an old union hall called the Mutual Musicians Foundation. "Though he may have been unable to hang in a jam session at the Mutual Musicians Foundation, he is the only leader of the free world to be a jazz musician, and I know he would have loved the chance to sit in on a set," Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo.,...

MONTEREY, California (Reuters) - Nearly 40 years after helping pioneer jazz fusion with Miles Davis, guitar maestro John McLaughlin still faces harsh critics who dismiss such technically demanding, electronically charged music as "steroidal" or even a "pestilence." British-born McLaughlin, 65, accompanied trumpeter Davis on the seminal 1969 "Bitches Brew" and "Silent Way" albums, which shocked jazz purists and delighted others by bringing together elements of jazz and rock. He has continued to fuse different musical styles such as Indian classical music with improvisations over complex chords and time signatures. Despite the sceptics, he has won praise as one of the...

VIENNA, Austria (AP) — Jazz legend Joe Zawinul, who soared to fame as one of the creators of jazz fusion and performed and recorded with Miles Davis, died early Tuesday, a hospital official said. He was 75.

The very great Joe Zawinul has passed at 75 Accordionist, proud Austrian, composer of Mercy, Mercy, In a Silent Way, and Birdland, associate of Miles, McLaughlin, Cannonball, Hancock, and Shorter, arguably the father of world music, Zawinul has left the building.

NEW YORK - Max Roach, a master percussionist whose rhythmic innovations and improvisations provided the dislocated beats that defined bebop jazz, has died after a long illness. He was 83. The self-taught musical prodigy died Wednesday night at an undisclosed hospital in Manhattan, said Cem Kurosman, spokesman for Blue Note Records, one of Roach's labels. No additional details were available, he said. Roach received his first musical break at age 16, filling in for three nights in 1940 when Duke Ellington's drummer fell ill. Roach's performance led him to the legendary Minton's Playhouse in Harlem, where he joined luminaries Charlie...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The Utah Jazz agreed to release guard Derek Fisher from his contract Monday so he can concentrate on finding the best care for his 11-month-old daughter, who has cancer in her left eye. Fisher said he wants to live in one of the six or seven cities being considered for Tatum's care. He didn't rule out playing for another NBA team but emphasized that his daughter's health is his No. 1 priority. "Life for me outweighs the game of basketball," Fisher told reporters after flying from New York to meet with Jazz owner Larry H....

OAKLAND Managers of Yoshi's, one of the Bay Area's best-known jazz venues, said they will pull the club's first-ever CD off the market after community leaders complained the recording featured no black musicians. Club managers apologized Friday for what they called "a huge mistake" and "a major oversight." They said they plan to create a new recording that better reflects the musicians who play the 340-seat venue at Oakland's Jack London Square. "We really messed up on the CD," said Yoshi's owner Kaz Kajimura. "We apologize to anyone who feels slighted by this omission, as that was never our intention."...

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Alice Coltrane, a jazz performer and composer and wife of the late saxophone legend John Coltrane, has died. She was 69. Coltrane died Friday of respiratory failure at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center, said her sister, Marilyn McLeod. For nearly 40 years, Coltrane managed the archive and estate of her husband, a pivotal figure in the history of jazz. He died of liver disease in 1967 at age 40. A pianist and organist, Alice Coltrane was noted for her astral compositions and for bringing the harp onto the jazz bandstand. Born Alice McLeod in Detroit...

Rome, Jan 2: The Catholic church is placing heavy metal, punk and jazz in hell and classical music in heaven in a musical on Dante's "Divine Comedy" composed by a Vatican conductor. Father Marco Frisina, who directs the Rome diocesan choir and has composed a number of pieces for Italian television and popes, plans to premier the show in autumn here before taking it on a tour of European capitals. According to a report in Tuesday's La Repubblica, Frisina will be using "rebellious" rock, punk and jazz tunes to represent hell while heaven will be described using classical and symphonic...

Anita O'Day, whose sassy renditions of "Honeysuckle Rose," "Sweet Georgia Brown" and other song standards that made her one of the most respected jazz vocalists of the 1940s and '50s, has died. She was 87. O'Day died in her sleep early Thursday morning at a convalescent hospital in Los Angeles where she was recovering from a bout with pneumonia, said her manager Robbie Cavolina. "On Tuesday night, she said to me, get me out of here," Cavolina said. "But it didn't happen." Once known as the "Jezebel of Jazz" for her reckless, drug-induced lifestyle, O'Day lived to sing and...

Exclusive: To celebrate the return of football to the Superdome and aid in the city's rebuilding, U2 and Green Day will debut their special new benefit single on Monday Night Football

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The pilot of a Canadian airliner who went to the washroom during a flight found himself locked out of the cockpit, forcing the crew to remove the door from its hinges to let him back in, the airline said Wednesday.

Jazz trumpeter and big-band leader Walter "Maynard" Ferguson, famed for his screaming solos and ability to hit blisteringly high notes, has died at age 78, associates said on Thursday. The Montreal-born Ferguson died on Wednesday at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, California, of kidney and liver failure brought on by an abdominal infection. His four daughters and other family members were at his side when he died. Ferguson started his career at 13 when he performed as a featured soloist with the Canadian Broadcasting Co. Orchestra. He played with several of the great big-band leaders of the 1940s and '50s,...

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (July 12, 2006) -- Life on base is often monotonous when it isn't dangerous for the service members stationed here. The occasional mortar and rocket landing in the base's perimeter can break up daily routines. Daily convoys leave the relative safety of the base braving improvised explosive devices to deliver supplies and transport troops to hotspots like Ramadi and Fallujah. Dust storms and 110 degree-plus temperatures are the norm for the nearly 6,000 service members serving in a variety of capacities at Taqaddum. Professionals such as administrative clerks keeping personnel records in order to explosive ordnance technicians...

I was born on Mardi Gras Day in New Orleans so you can't get more New Orleanian than me. The failures of government during and after Hurricane Katrina were at every single level. Last year, Gov. Kathleen Blanco and the mayors of New Orleans and surrounding parishes had a trial run with Hurricane Ivan. It was a disaster even though the storm did turn eastward. Gov. Blanco especially blew it then and she blew it this time when the city of my birth was demolished. Mayor Nagin sent thousands of people to the Superdome and the Convention Center knowing that...

2/4/2006 Romano Mussolini, who died yesterday aged 78, made a career for himself as a jazz pianist after the lynching of his father Benito Mussolini in 1945. A luxurious upbringing touched by the inherent violence of Fascism could have clouded the lives of many dictators' children. But the youngest of Mussolini's sons, who was 17 when his father was killed, survived with dignity to become an equable, kindly, laid-back and admired musician who earned the respect of leading Italian and American performers. Refusing to criticise his father, Romano lovingly recalled how Il Duce would place his fists on his hips,...

What does anyone here know about the "Rhythm of Life Tabernacle"? I think it's one of those California things. From what I heard, it began as a jazz group in San Francisco and became a religion. Anyone know anything about it?

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Brazilian singer Daniela Mercury, who was banned from performing in a Vatican Christmas concert, said on Monday she was outraged at a Vatican claim that she had threatened to promote condom use during the show."I am surprised and outraged with the declarations made by the Vatican's representative," Mercury, one of Brazil's biggest musical stars, said in a statement."I never stated that I would advocate the use of condoms at the Vatican's Christmas concert."The dispute has shot back and forth across the Atlantic since Mercury first said her offer to take part in the show had been withdrawn. She said last...

Louisiana's death toll from Katrina now stands at 1,062. Nearly 350 victims have not been identified, and morgue officials are certain some may never be named. But Saturday, people celebrated the lives lost to the storm the only way they knew how. With trumpets and trombones instead of tears, people filled the French Quarter Streets for a jazz funeral to honor Katrina's victims. Crescent City Funeral Directors sponsored the event, which also included an All Saints Day Mass Saturday afternoon. "It's a beautiful thing," said Analisa Cisneros. "I'm so glad it's happening. It just gives me a feeling that even...

Since I pretty much gave up listening to new pop music about a dozen years ago (got sick of the barrage of lefties), I have had a chance since then to explore the wonderful world of American music called Jazz. I'd always been a passive Jazz fan, but in the last 10 years my collection has swelled as I discovered what truly amazing music our parents and grandparents were exposed to. For those interested in discovering real talent in American music history, here are my recommendations, in no particular order. Top 10 Jazz Icons of the 20th Century 10. Glenn...

Jazz musicians warn against the Disney-fication of post-Katrina New Orleans. Hurricane Katrina has brought new attention to New Orleans jazz greats like Wynton Marsalis. But these artists now fear the city that helped foster their art will be forever changed -- for the worse. It took a Category 5 hurricane to do it, but Katrina managed to blow jazz back onto the American radar screen. Those TV montages of physical devastation and desperate souls were accompanied by strains of New Orleans jazz, those benefit concerts filled with saxes and trumpets; the reporters arriving to cover it all flew into Louis...

'Gatemouth' Brown, legendary singer and guitarist, dies Musician fled to Orange before Hurricane Katrina wiped out his Slidell, La., home BATON ROUGE, LA. - Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown , the singer and guitarist who built a 50-year career playing blues, country, jazz and Cajun music, died Saturday in his hometown of Orange, where he had gone to escape Hurricane Katrina. He was 81. Brown had been battling lung cancer and heart disease, said Rick Cady , his booking agent. Cady said the musician was with his family at his brother's house when he died. Brown's home in Slidell, La., a bedroom...

I saw this show last night. I can't remember when I've seen someone play so hard for so long. And take no shortcuts. He had two drummers, a second guitar, bass, keyboard, and percussion/backup vocal. He didn't have to pay for two drummers, but he did. With his name, he could tour as a trio. Point being, again, no corners cut. Some tight originals indicate he's definitely not living in the past.I had a friend who played next to him in St. Pete at a benefit a few years ago, so I was paying close attention to the interaction between...

XM Satellite Radio to Open New Studios at World-Renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City Thursday May 19, 10:46 am ET XM is the Exclusive Satellite Radio Partner of Jazz at Lincoln Center NEW YORK and WASHINGTON, May 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XM Satellite Radio, the nation's leading provider of satellite radio with more than four million subscribers, and Jazz at Lincoln Center, the world's largest producer of jazz performance and education events, today announced a multi-year agreement for XM to broadcast live daily from new, state-of-the-art XM studios at Jazz at Lincoln Center's new home, Frederick P. Rose...

We are signing this petition as an appeal to place the image of Ray Charles on the U.S. Treasury's ten dollar bill. Upon Mr. Charles' recent passing, we are reminded of the impact this great American had on the development of American culture and music. Known as "The Genius" since the early 1950s, Ray Charles is a founding father of modern rhythm and blues, jazz, rock and gopsel music. In the course of his remarkable life and career, Mr. Charles overcame personal adversity in the forms of blindness, extreme poverty, racial oppression and drug-addiction to become one of the most...

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) - Jimmy Smith, an award-winning jazz organist who was considered a pioneer with the instrument, died of natural causes Tuesday at his home here. He was 79. "Jimmy Smith transformed the organ into a jazz instrument. Jazz has lost a pioneering talent, not to mention a one of a kind personality," National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia said Wednesday.

On New Year's Day, Tom Roberts sat in a movie theater watching Martin Scorsese's biopic "The Aviator." But unlike others in the theater, Roberts wasn't focused on the action unfolding on the big screen, with Leonardo DiCaprio bringing the adventures of the eccentric Howard Hughes to life. His ears were tuned, instead, to the cinema's speakers, listening for the sounds of the music he either played or arranged for the film.