The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid Gribetz

While lesser-remembered today, Bennie Green was one of the great trombone players in the post war jazz years, a period when the otherwise cumbersome instrument developed into a persuasive and interpretive soloist’s vehicle. Green had a facile and fluid ease on the trombone, a great sense of rhythm and swing, and a sophisticated understanding of modern jazz harmonies.  These traits all  informed his ability to succeed in many styles of mainstream jazz, and laid the groundwork for his contributions to the historic developments of jazz trombone.

Bennie Green was born in Chicago in 1923 and came of age with lessons from the famed Walter Dyett at DuSable High School, and he also gained influence from his musical family.  His first major professional engagement was with the Earl Fatha Hines big band as a teenager.  Green was eventually drafted in to the armed forces later in World War II, but after the war he returned to the Hines organization.  In the late 1940's, Green joined Charlie Ventura’s popular “Bop For The People” band, and afterwards he resumed an affiliation with the Hines small groups in the early 1950's.

 In addition to his facility with swing and bop, Green participated in seminal early modern jazz dates with Miles Davis and Charles Mingus.  By the later 1950's, Green recorded prolifically as a leader, for Prestige, Blue Note and other labels in the prevalent hard bop idiom, while also swinging hard.

 As jazz lost its popularity in the rock era, Green worked for a time with Duke Ellington’s orchestra, and then he settled in Las Vegas for a professional career with the resort hotel bands.  After a long bout with cancer, Green died in 1977.

originally broadcast July 19, 2015
re-broadcast April 4, 2021

Cedar Walton is one of the leading “hard bop” pianists to come of age in the late 1950's and 1960's.  In addition to his great lyrical skill at the piano, Walton is well-known as a composer and arranger, and this radio show focuses on his compositions.

 Among the prominent work early in his career was his stint in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in the early 1960's, and he contributed the songs Mosaic, Ugetsu [Fantasy in D], Plexus, and others, which have become classics of the Blakey book.  Additionally, Walton has penned many compositions that, if not by title, you will find familiar as standard tunes of the enduring modern jazz repertory, such as Bolivia, Firm Roots, Cedar’s Blues, Afreaka, Mode For Joe, and Turquoise.  His songs are dynamic and complex but always “meaty” and accessible numbers for soulful jazz improvisation.

 This program features both classic and lesser known recordings of Walton’s songs, by Walton’s own groups, from Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and friends and musical companions such as Joe Henderson, Lee Morgan, Houston Person, Blue Mitchell and Junior Cook.

 Born in Dallas, Texas in 1934, Walton was selected for the prestigious National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Award in 2010.  He was still active at the age of 79 when I produced this program in July 2013.  Unfortunately, after a brief illness, Walton passed away several weeks later on August 19, 2013.

originally broadcast July 7, 2013
re-broadcast September 26, 2021

John Coltrane’s 1959-1960 recordings for the Atlantic record label are surveyed during this three hour program.

Having finally left the Miles Davis group, John Coltrane had the opportunity to explore his own developing sounds and lead his own groups.   This was a transitional period that featured the breakthrough classic albums “Giant Steps” and “My Favorite Things”.   Atlantic’s releases also included memorable songs such as “Like Sonny” and  “Central Park West”, and the Milt Jackson collaboration, among other choice treats.

originally broadcast September 22, 2019

There is a long history of American jazz musicians making the scene in Europe,  and there are many expatriate stories of note.  For this program I’ve selected three significant aspects of Americans in Paris to comprise a five hour package for an afternoon of casual listening.

First I will feature Don Byas.  Byas was a magnificent tenor saxophonist, fluent in both the swing and bebop idioms, harmonically sophisticated, and possessed of an exquisite tone.  He was most prolific from the years 1944-1946 and poised to be a major star, but he moved to France in 1947, where he remained until the mid-1950s, and then lived elsewhere on the continent until his early death in 1972, therefore not achieving greater fame in the US.  I will play his many recordings with French musicians which are not as well known but display his awesome talents.

For the second portion I’ll turn my attention to the fall of 1953, when during a lengthy residency in Paris during a European tour, the young turks from the Lionel Hampton orchestra conspired to sneak away and record their own music in numerous sessions for local record companies.  Gigi Gryce organized and arranged the productions, which included various small and large ensemble settings.  These discs are great examples of the beginning careers of brilliant figures such as Gryce, Clifford Brown, Art Farmer, Quincy Jones and others.

The final chapter will focus on Lucky Thompson, a sublime genius of the tenor sax and early modern innovator on soprano as well.  During extended visits to Paris in 1956 and 1957 he made numerous recordings that were never released in the US until the 21st century but serve as prime examples of his oeuvre.  Thompson also moved to Paris full time in 1959, and he lived there into the early 1960s, also producing some fine music in those years.

 

originally broadcast July 12, 2026

For the Miles Davis Centennial (May 26, 1926) WKCR presented a series of marathon programming over several days. To kick things off, I presented this five hour "Introduction to Miles Davis".