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
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.
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.
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.
Hugh Wyatt was part of the group that put the legendary New York radio station WBLS on the air and saved the Apollo Theater.
For nearly thirty years, he wrote and edited for New York Daily News.
And he’s enjoyed a long friendship with Sonny Rollins,
In this landmark book, Hugh not only shares some previously unknown details of Sonny’s life and evolution as an artist, he also goes into depth on a little appreciated fact of jazz history: the serious spiritual seeking that characterizes Sonny’s life and the lives of many of the great artists whose work formed jazz as we know it today.
You can get information on Hugh’s book through his publishing company: Kamama Books
– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube
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!
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!
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!
