Ken McCarthy’s Jazz on the Tube interviews filmmaker Abraham Ravett about his film “Forgotten Tenor: A Tribute to Tenor Saxophonist Wardell Gray.”
Tenor saxophone giant Wardell Gray was born February 13, 1921, in Oklahoma City. OK. He was a graduate of the Cass Technical High School, a Detroit school that also lists Donald Byrd, Lucky Thompson, and Al McKibbon as distinguished alumni.
You can order a DVD copy of the film “Forgotten Tenor: A Tribute to Saxophonist Wardell Gray” direct from the filmmaker by writing to aravett AT hampshire DOT edu
Wardell is the soloing tenor on this Count Basie performance
You can order a DVD copy of the film “Forgotten Tenor: A Tribute to Saxophonist Wardell Gray” direct from the filmmaker by writing to aravett AT hampshire DOT edu
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
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Louis Armstrong was a genius – no doubt about that.
But there’s no such thing as a genius in a vacuum.
For some strange reason, the culture and community that gave birth to Louis Armstrong is given short shrift in accounts of his life and art.
In his autobiography and in interviews, Armstrong painted a vivid picture of the world he grew up in, but until now, there has been no in-depth inquiry into what he meant when he said things like “I figure singing and playing is the same,” or, “Singing was more into my blood than the trumpet.”
Now thanks to Vic Hobson’s book “Creating the Jazz Solo” we’re starting to understand what he meant.
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The music at the end this interview is “I’m an Old Cow Hand” composed by Johnny Mercer and recorded by Fairfield,Texas-born (1924) Kenny Durham on January 10, 1960. For a unique “discography” of Durham’s work, see Oliphant’s biography-poem KD: A Jazz Biography
A documentary short about Native Texas Poet Dave Oliphant. This documentary was filmed, edited, produced and directed by Kanya Lyons in 2018.
Oliphant was born in Fort Worth in 1939. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in English from Lamar University and the University of Texas, respectively, and his Ph.D. from Northern Illinois University. His primary reading and writing interest has always been poetry, but he has also written four books on jazz (primarily by Texas musicians).
He has translated poetry from Spanish and was a winner of the Texas Institute of Letters book translation award in 2011. In addition to fourteen collections of his own poetry, among them The Pilgrimage: Selected Poems 1962-2012, he has edited three anthologies of Texas poetry and one of Chilean poetry. For forty years he contributed essays on and reviews of Texas poetry to various state literary magazines, and 55 of those pieces were collected in 2015 in his Generations of Texas Poets.
He retired from the University of Texas at Austin after serving for 30 years in various capacities, from assistant professor to editor of a scholarly journal, senior lecturer, and coordinator of the Freshman Seminars Program. He lives in Cedar Park, Texas with his wife and muse, Maria.
The Jazz on the Tube podcast theme song is “Mambo Inferno” performed by The Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra conducted by Bobby Sanabria from the CD ¡Que Viva Harlem!
At the end of today’s interview, we featured “I’m an Old Cow Hand”, written by Johnny Mercer and performed by Kenny Dorham (Xanadu Records, The Kenny Dorham Memorial Album) recorded January 10, 1960 (4:12)
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.
Inspired by Chapter One (pgs. 28-34) of Texan Jazz by Dave Oliphant
Composer Euday Bowman (1915)
Born November 9, 1887, Fort Worth, Texas
Louis Armstrong – Recorded 1927
Benny Moten & His Kansas City Orchestra – Recorded 1927
Duke Ellington – 1931
Fats Waller – Recorded 1935
Count Basie with Lester Young – Recorded 1939
Andy Kirk featuring Mary Lou Williams (piano and arranger) – Recorded 1940
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP0bsxX0TqM
Sidney Bechet – Recorded 1941
This page inspired by Chapter One (pgs. 28-34) of Texan Jazz by Dave Oliphant
– Ken McCarthy
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.
Gilberto Valdés Zequeira was born in Havana on August 16, 1928.
Note: His mother was a milliner (hat), not a millionaire.
As a kid he listened to Chano Pozo’s rehearsals in the Colon neighborhood of Havana.
His vocal group had a weekly gig at the San Souci night club in Havana and he appeared on Cuba’s pioneering television channel twice a week in the 1950s.
Roy Haynes introduced him to American jazz drumming and gave him his first set of drumsticks.
He performed with his old friend Bebo Valdés when the two of them found themselves in Europe in the early 1960s.
He spent time as the #2 man at Egrem.
He was Dizzy Gillespie’s host when Dizzy visited Havana in 1977.
He introduced Irakere to Columbia Records and toured the world with them as their manager.
He helped save Cuba’s most important jazz club La Zorra y el Cuervo from being turned into a pizzeria.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of Gilberto’s remarkable life.
P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.
Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner, Jackie McLean, Woody Shaw, Freddie Hubbard, Sonny Fortune, Doc Cheatham, Sir Rolland Hanna, Michael Brecker, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Chico Freeman, Hamiet Bluiett, and many others have all agreed: Ronnie Burrage.
In this call, we talk about Ronnie’s fascinating family, his career as a top go-to jazz drummer, and his inspiring work using music to serve the community.
Ronnie’s latest project is bringing young people to elder homes so they can enjoy music and talk about it – and life – together. Robbie calls it “gen-to-gen”, generation-to-generation, and we get into why it’s so important on the call.
You can support Ronnie’s community work by voting for his project.
You have to open an account to vote. After, you open the account you’ll be given choices to vote for. Vote for the World Rhythm Academy.
Yes, the process is a pain, but it’s worth doing.
Remember: The rules allow you to vote every day, once a day for the duration of the contest.
Music credit: The Jazz on the Tube podcast theme song is “Mambo Inferno” performed by The Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra conducted by Bobby Sanabria from the CD ¡Que Viva Harlem!
