Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Southern California Fires Hit the Jazz Community
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
Saxophonist Gary Smulyan has announced plans to release a new album, High Noon: The Jazz Soul Of Frankie Laine (Reservoir) on Jan. 28, 2009.
The album explores the work of vocalist and composer Frankie Laine, who died in February 2007. As a singer/songwriter, Laine released hit records like “Mule Train” and “Jezebel” in the ‘40s and ‘50s and sang the theme songs to the television series Rawhide and films like 3:10 To Yuma and Blazing Saddles in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Laine was also a prolific composer with more than 80 songs to his credit.
Smulyan worked with arranger Mark Masters of Los Angeles’ American Jazz Institute to select 10 songs that display the depth and sophistication of Laine’s music. Tunes include hits like “High Noon” and “That Lucky Old Sun,” along with Laine’s own compositions like “Baby, Baby All The Time,” “I’d Give My Life” and “We’ll Be Together Again.”
Gerald and John Clayton at the family home in Altadena during a photo shoot for the June 2022 cover of DownBeat. The house was lost during the Los Angeles fires.
Jan 21, 2025 7:54 PM
Roy McCurdy and his wife had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing over coffee in their Altadena home, when he…
“She said, ‘A lot of people are going to try and stop you,’” Sheryl Bailey recalls of the advice she received from jazz guitarist Emily Remler (1957–’90). “‘They’re going to say you slept with somebody, you’re a dyke, you’re this and that and the other. Don’t listen to them, and just keep playing.’”
Feb 3, 2025 10:49 PM
In the April 1982 issue of People magazine, under the heading “Lookout: A Guide To The Up and Coming,” jazz…
The Old Country: More From The Deer Head Inn arrives 30 years after ECM issued the Keith Jarret Trio live album At The Deer Head Inn.
Jan 21, 2025 7:38 PM
Last November, Keith Jarrett, who has not played publicly since suffering two strokes in 2018, greenlighted ECM to drop…
As Ted Nash, left, departs the alto saxophone chair for LCJO, Alexa Tarantino steps in as the band’s first female full-time member.
Mar 4, 2025 1:29 PM
If only because openings for JLCO’s 15 permanent positions appear about as frequently as sub-freezing days on the…
Larry Appelbaum with Wayne Shorter in 2012.
Feb 25, 2025 10:49 AM
Larry Appelbaum, a distinguished audio engineer, jazz journalist, historian and broadcaster, died Feb. 21, 2025, in…
