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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmj-g4OQYG0 Just watch.

For decades jazz cognoscenti have talked reverently of “the Savory Collection.” Recorded from radio broadcasts in the late 1930s by an audio engineer named William Savory... only a handful of people had ever heard even the smallest fraction of that music, adding to its mystique. After 70 years that wait has now ended. This year the National Jazz Museum in Harlem acquired the entire set of nearly 1,000 discs, made at the height of the swing era, and has begun digitizing recordings of inspired performances by Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday, Count Basie, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Bunny Berigan,...

Though as a schoolboy and then a university student in the 1950s my first love was for the rawness and energy of rock & roll I found that sometimes it felt important to lay back with music that was a little more reflective and experimental yet which still possessed a rhythmic beat – and that was when I got into cool jazz….

Gene Ludwig of Monroeville, PA, billed as "relentless" in the energy he brought to his music, died Wednesday at West Penn Hospital Forbes Regional Campus. He was 72. The native of Twin Rocks, Cambria County, was a well-known jazz performer in this area, but was known nationally as a frequent guest at clubs in New York City and San Francisco and at international events, such as the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Marty Ashby, executive producer of MCG Jazz at the Manchester Craftsmen's Guild in the North Side, called Mr. Ludwig "one of a kind" in his dedication to the...

Hank Jones, whose self-effacing nature belied his stature as one of the most respected jazz pianists of the postwar era, died on Sunday in the Bronx. He was 91. His death, at Calvary Hospital Hospice, was announced by his longtime manager, Jean-Pierre Leduc. Mr. Jones lived on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and also had a home in Hartwick, N.Y. Mr. Jones spent much of his career in the background. For three and a half decades he was primarily a sideman, most notably with Ella Fitzgerald; for much of that time he also worked as a studio musician on...

'Price was twelve, bruh.' 'Say bruh. Them twelve hundred was for eight pieces.' A deal's going down, yeah. But not the sort we're used to witnessing between black men on a television show set in an American city. Certainly not a David Simon drama on HBO. Yet before even a word of dialogue is uttered come clues. A saxophonist licks, then adjusts his reed. Valve oil gets applied to a trombone. Soldiers and cops stand guard. Two little kids dance to a faint parade rhythm, which is soon supplanted by the bass booming from an SUV. An unseen trumpet sounds...

Charlie Parker lived hard, played hard, died young. Now an uncanny sculpture of him in his last months has resurfaced. Richard Williams on a story of jazz, art and devotionThe last time Julie Macdonald saw Charlie Parker, he was catching a flight home from Los Angeles to New York for the funeral of his three-year-old daughter, Pree, who had died in hospital in the early hours of 6 March, 1954 after a long illness. Two nights earlier, Parker had been fired, for the second time in a week, by the owner of the Tiffany Club in Hollywood after behaving erratically...

San Gabriel Valley Tribune McIntyre's back on the air at KABC By Richard Wagoner, Radio Columnist Posted: 02/11/2010 09:34:47 PM PST Ever since Doug McIntyre was shown the door at KABC (790 AM) last year, I have received letters and e-mails almost daily asking where he is or when he will be back. McIntyre had been with KABC for years, first as the overnight host on a program called "Red Eye Radio," and most recently as the station's morning man. When he was dropped from the roster, he mentioned the possibility of resurrecting "Red Eye Radio" as a syndicated...

Schizo Fun Addict is the bank that Leo Donofrio plays in. Some of you may or may not know that Leo is also a Musician of some considerable talent! Enjoy the song, its really very cool, LOVE that Horn!

In 1965, the Pulitzer Prize's three-member music jury voted unanimously to award Duke Ellington a special citation for his prodigious contributions to American music, an award unceremoniously rejected by the Pulitzer's 14-member advisory board. The 66-year-old Ellington handled the snub and resulting controversy with customary aplomb. "Fate is being kind to me," the Maestro said. "Fate doesn't want me to be famous too young." In truth, Ellington had his eye on loftier concerns. On Sept. 16 of that year, the Duke Ellington Orchestra premiered "A Concert of Sacred Music" at San Francisco's Grace Cathedral, the first of three Sacred Music...

Hat tip to Radley Balko for this one.Just when you thought you'd seen it all...no. To the ever-growing list of insults to human dignity we can now apparently add the musical categorization police. Jazzman Larry Ochs has seen many things during 40 years playing his saxophone around the world but, until this week, nobody had ever called the police on him.That changed on Monday night however, when's Spain's pistol-carrying Civil Guard police force descended on the Sigüenza Jazz festival to investigate allegations that Ochs's music was not, well, jazz. Let's put aside, for the moment, that what we call "jazz"...

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...