mjzee

J.C. Johnson was an African-American songwriter whose music was an integral part of the Harlem Renaissance. But although many of his songs are now standards of jazz and blues ("Dusky Stevedore" is one of the few numbers recorded by both Louis Armstrong and Bix Beiderbecke), the man himself is barely known. On one hand, his name was too similar to that of his illustrious colleague, the stride piano pioneer James P. Johnson (no relation). But on the other, J.C. Johnson (1896-1981) tended to let himself be overshadowed by such larger-than-life contemporaries as Fats Waller, Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith, all of whom were his collaborators. This week starting Monday, a new show built around Johnson's songs, Trav'lin'," promises to be a highlight of the ongoing New York Musical Theater Festival, which continues through Oct. 17. More here: WSJ

I remember those white records...

October 12: Tubby Hall, drums, 1895 (The jazz birthday equivalent of a slow news day)

Can your heart stand it?? Stamford Advocate

October 11: Art Blakey, drums, bandleader, 1919 Billy Higgins, drums, 1936

October 10: Harry Sweets Edison, trumpet, 1915 Thelonious Monk, piano, composer, 1917

October 9: Abdullah Ibrahim, piano, 1934 Kenny Garrett, sax, 1960

October 8: Clarence Williams, piano, 1893 Pepper Adams, baritone sax, 1930

October 7: Jo Jones, drums, 1911 Larry Young, organ, 1940

And it's the context. I didn't really "get" Coltrane, thought him too serious, until I played his music in the car. It's great driving music!

Vols. 1 & 2 Vols. 3 & 4

Product Description 2010 five CD archive release containing all existing studio recordings by one of the best Jazz piano trios ever, that of Red Garland, Paul Chambers and Art Taylor. Included on this release are nine complete original albums, as well as many other isolated selections that were only previously issued on various compilations. The LP Moodsville #6 appears here on CD for the first time ever! All tracks have been organized chronologically by session order. The LPs contained are: A Garland of Red, Groovy, Red Garland's Piano, The P.C. Blues, Red Garland Revisited, It's a Blue World, Can't See For Lookin', Red Garland Trio Moodsville #6 and All Kinds Of Weather. Includes 24-page booklet with original liner. Amazon

October 6: Carmen Mastren, guitar, 1913 Norman Simmons, piano, 1929

You should digitize the interviews, airchecks, and anything else that's rare. Cassettes break, and there may come a time in the (not so distant) future when you can't buy a machine to play them on.

October 5: Jimmy Blanton, bass, 1918 Bill Dixon, trumpet, 1925

October 4: Walter Bishop Jr., piano, 1927 Steve Swallow, bass, 1940

I take a more circuitous route. I record my vinyl using my normal turntable onto a good Marantz CD recorder (I'm told it has a good DA converter), then rip that CD and edit it using Amadeus Pro. I save the results as mp3 files and import them into iTunes.

October 3: Von Freeman, tenor sax, 1922 Ronnie Laws, sax, flute, 1950

In a town where bureaucrats come and go, Chuck Brown remains. Now 74 years old, the singer-guitarist dubbed "The Godfather of Go-Go" just released a three-disc set, "We Got This" (Raw Venture), that includes an EP—with five new tracks featuring Jill Scott, Ledisi and bassist Marcus Miller—as well as a concert CD and DVD that serve as career retrospectives. The last two discs document a phenomenon in contemporary pop music: Go-go is a form of funk indigenous to this city that's rarely heard elsewhere—unless Mr. Brown is touring. At a table at Ben's Chili Bowl here, he said that "I would've been just as happy if the sound only stayed in D.C." Go-go music's lack of broad appeal seems to boil down to the perception that it can draw a violent crowd: Promoters would rather steer clear of it, and as a result a wide audience hasn't been nurtured. That's a shame, because go-go music, at least when Mr. Brown serves it up, is an undeniably infectious strand of dance music with the potential to draw in fans of old-school R&B, hip-hop and '70s jazz funk. Put Mr. Brown on stage at a festival like Bonnaroo or Glastonbury and he'd come away with thousands of new fans—and so would go-go music. More here: WSJ

October 2: Howard Roberts, guitar, 1929 Django Bates, piano, 1960

October 1: Dave Holland, bass, 1946

September 30: Buddy Rich, drums, bandleader, 1917 Oscar Pettiford, bass, cello, 1922

September 29: Rolf Kuhn, clarinet, 1929 Jean-Luc Ponty, violin, 1942

September 28: Kenny Kirkland, piano, 1955

September 27: Bud Powell, piano, 1924 Red Rodney, trumpet, 1927 Guido Basso, trumpet, bandleader, 1937