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There's a young pianist in NYC named Esteban Castro, young, just out of Julliard. I will state this directly: Esteban is one of the greatest jazz pianists who ever lived, and I mean ever, and I say this unequivocally, after a lifetime of listening to everything from 1920 to the present. I am trying to think of how to describe his playing - it is historically comprehensive, but never in a self conscious way. He just sits at the piano with casual ease and turns out phrase after phrase of brilliant, compelling, artistically meaningful music. In term of musical attitude he has some resemblance to Jaki Byard, but that is primarily in the ingenious way in which he incorporates his incredibly varied, but always personal, ideas of playing. He is astounding. We recorded together not too long ago, and I basically knew what he can do, but he still surprised me - bits and pieces of Tristano, an amazing Fats-Waller-into-stride passage that just blew me away, and a deep understanding of Bud Powell. He can read, he can play inside/outside/upside down, harmonically speaking. He even did an uncanny summoning of Monk on one piece that was not Monkish in the usual sense, but instead a personalization of Monk's way of fusing melody and harmony. Another thing I love about his playing is that it is non-ideological: no systems, no repetitive patterns, no blues cliches. He is the real thing. I will post some more of his stuff eventually, but here's a clip from a few years back which gives a sense of his incredible reach and sense of line:

This is a great set indeed. If you have the Mosaic Decca All Stars box, that doesn't do it justice at all, even though all of the studio tracks are there. You need the 3-disc set with the original ordering and the narration.

Next up: Yep. Me too. 🙂

Now, I am listening Jaco Pastorius big band: Twins II...... Now, I am listening Jaco Pastorius big band: Twins II......

Visibly this site has changed. Sadly not for the better. We've had discussions here on this forum in Feb./March 2023 of that Worldradiohistory site and of the Down Beats accessible online there. I then started to download the PDF files of each mag one by one for the years of most interest to me. As did others, it seems. But one forumist provided a method and link of how to "bulk download" these files in batches of several years at a time in one go. So I then downloaded ALL the Down Beats up to the end of 1969 by this method in almost no time at all. There also was a note that Down Beat objected to these being accessible online, so maybe this is why they changed the site again.

Matcha Tea...

❤️❤️❤️

2024 Daou sauvignon blanc - tonight

Yes, worldradiostory.com is a free website that archives tons of TV, radio & music magazines, but the DownBeat issues aren't easy to find because there are no links in the DownBeat page (?) and the search lead to incorrect links, but they are there.

Cayetano, How did you find this article? Is there a website one can find these? 1970 is probably PD. Bertrand.

it likely was around that time, yes.

Glad to have your perspective back.

I really like those three Prestige boxes

March 16, 2026: Toninho Horta, Monk's Jazz Club, Austin March 20, 2026: Tutu Jones, Balcony Club, Dallas March 21, 2026: Sunny War, Anne Harris, Sable Sisters (Kaia Kater), Buffalo Nichols, Jake Blount, Justin Robinson, Fort Worth African American Roots Music Festival, Southside Preservation Hall, Fort Worth Shelley Carrol, Scat Jazz, Fort Worth March 22, 2026: Sarah Hanahan, Eldorado Ballroom, Houston March 26, 2026: Pat Metheny Side-Eye III, Marc Ribot, Ches Smith Clone Row, Isaiah Collier, William Hooker Quartet, SML, Big Ears Festival, Knoxville, Tennessee March 27, 2026: John Scofield Trio, Roscoe Mitchell and Tyshawn Sorey, Ghost Train Orchestra: The Music of Moondog, Jeff Parker Expansion Trio, Miles Okazaki Trickster, Nate Smith, Ned Rothenberg, Nik Bartsch, Sullivan Fortner Trio, Tim Berne, Thomas Fujiwara: Dream Up, Saha Gnawa, SML, Big Ears Festival, Knoxville, Tennessee March 28, 2026: Darius Jones Trio, Either/Orchestra, Marquis Hill Blacktet, Mary Halvorson, Miles Okazaki: The Compete Monk, , Nate Smith, Nik Bartsch Ronin, Hania Rani, Patricia Brennan Septet, Shabaka, Yasmin Williams and William Tyler, Incerto, Electrical Field of Love, L. Shankar, SML, Big Ears Festival, Knoxville, Tennessee March 29, 2026: Brandon Woody's Upendo, Chicago Underground Duo, Dave Douglas Gifts Quartet, Either/Orchestra Plays Eithiopiques, Hania Rani, Julian Lage Quartet, Marc Ribot, Matt Mitchell's Zealous Angles, Miles Electric Band, Nels Cline: Lovers, Openness Trio, Tom Skinner, Big Ears Festival, Knoxville, Tennessee April 1, 2026: Samara Joy, Winspear Opera House, Dallas Pat Metheny Side-Eye III, Majestic Theater, Dallas April 2, 2026: Kaia Kater, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock, Arkansas Samora Joy, Austin City Limits April 4, 2026: Samora Joy, Tobin Center, San Antonio Melissa Aldana, Bates Recital Hall, Austin April 7, 2026: John Fedchock, Parker Jazz Club, Austin April 10, 2026: Coltrane at 100 (Joe Lovano, Melissa Aldana, Ndudzo Makhathini, Matt Garrison, Jefftain Watts), Cullen Theater, Houston Shelley Carrol, Scat Jazz, Fort Worth April 11, 2026: Rakesh Charaurasia (flute) and Amit Kavthekar (tabla), Matchbox4, Houston April 12, 2026: John Beasley's Unlimited Miles (John Beasley, Mark Turner, Sean Jones or Marquis Hill, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ben Williams, Terreon Gu)), Eisemann Center, Richardson April 17, 2026: Eddie Gomez Trio, Scat Jazz, Fort Worth April 22-26, Delgres (Guadeloupe), Natu Camera (Guinea), Vieux Farka Toure (Mali), Festival Internationale de Louisiane, Lafayette April 23, 2026: Nicholas Payton featuring Butcher Brown Presents the Supreme Blue, Monty Alexander "Jamericana", Charlie Musselwhite, Kyle Roussel, Kenny Neal, Vieux Farka Toure (Mali), Nidia Gongora (Columbia); Yusa (Cuba), Aurora Nealand and the Royal Roses, Jamil Sharif, Peter Harris Presents Firm Roots, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 24, 2026: Hiromi's Sonicwonder, Adonis Rose and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra featuring Andromeda Turre, Astral Project, Parlor Greens (w/Jimmy James), Tribute to Ragtime Piano Legends feat. Terry Waldo, Tom McDermott, and David Boeddinghaus, Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials, Sevana (Jamaica), Joy Clark, Wendell Brunious, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 25, 2026: Mahmoud Chouki, Louis Ford, Little Freddie King, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival April 26, 2026: Ron Carter Quartet, Catherine Russell, Roger Lewis and Baritone Bliss, Love Is Supreme: A Tribute to John Coltrane feat. Derek Douget, Trevarri Huff-Boone and Ricardo Pascal, Chris Thomas King, Tuba Skinny, People Museum, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festiva April 28, 2026: Robert Cray, Empire Theater, San Antonio Joe Alterman, JazzTX, San Antonio April 29, 2026: Robert Cray, Heights Theater, Houston April 30, 2026: Isaiah Collier (The World is on Fire), Steve Masakowski Family Band, Sasha Masakowsti as Trash Magnolia, Helen Gillet, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival May 1, 2026: Terence Blanchard with Ravi Coltrane; Charlie Gabriel; Victor Campbell, Stephen Walker, D.K. Harrell, Meschiya Lake and the Little Big Horns, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Jackie Venson, Main Street Crossing, Tombull May 2, 2026: Dianne Reeves; Uptown Jazz Orchestra; Alexey Marti, Leroy Jones, Tribute to Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers feat. Dr. Michael White and Shaye Cohn, Larry McCray, Leyla McCalla, , New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Kenny Garrett, Jazz and Blues Market, New Orleans Ustad Shahid Parvez Khan (sitar), Unity Church of the Hills, Austin May 3, 2026: Herbie Hancock; Jason Marsalis, Trumpet Mafia featuring Keyon Harold, Jackie Venson, Lila Ike (Jamaica), Doreen's Jazz New Orleans, New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival May 8, 2026: Guitar Prasanna, Windmills, The Colony May 9, 2026: Hiromi's Sonic Wonder, Cullen Theater, Houston Guitar Prasanna, Windmills, The Colony May 16, 2026: Chucho Valdes, Paramount Theater, Austin Sandip Chatterjee (Violin) & Subhajyoti Guha (Tabla), Kathak Rhythm Studios, Plano May 17, 2026: Lucia, Eldorado Ballroom, Houston May 30, 2026: Jackie Venson, Beer City Music Hall, Oklahoma City June 6, 2026: L Shankar (double violin), Unity Church of the Hills, Austin Abhisek Lahiri (Sarod) & Subrata Bhattacharya (Tabla), Kathak Rhythm Studios, Plano August 22, 2026: S. Akash (flute) & Vivek Pandya (tabla)/ Manas Kumar (violin) and Ojas Adhiya (tabla), Unity Church of the Hills, Austin August 27, 2026: Buddy Guy, Majestic Theater, San Antonio August 28, 2026: Buddy Guy, Austin City Limits August 29, 2026: Buddy Guy, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, The Woodlands August 30, 2026: Buddy Guy, Majestic Theater, Dallas October 10, 2026: Niladri Kumar (sitar), Stafford Center, Houston October 11, 2026: Niladri Kumar (sitar), Austin October 18, L. Shankar (violin), Selvaganesh Vinayakram, Swaminathan, Amit Kaythekar (percussion), Matchbox4, Houston

The Cecil Taylor sides

Everyone has good days and bad days. I once met a pianist after a show to ask him for an autograph. He ignored me and acted as if I was not even standing there. A few years later, I saw him again and when I asked the leader of the gig for an autograph, the pianist stepped up and asked me if I wanted his autograph on the record too. I ended up getting the whole band to sign and got to talk to that pianist for several minutes and he was the nicest guy you'd ever meet. FWIW, if the year was closer to the late 00's (like 2008), she was going through a divorce from Wallace Roney. I worked with a woman for many years and when she was going through her divorce, she was not the same person. It was almost unbearable to be in the same room with her for about a year after her divorce. She actually apologized to me years later because she realized how badly she'd been acting to everyone, particularly men.

Ha. Find this to be true with Absolutely exquisite. Right speed, perfect.

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