Scott Verrastro

Scott’s Contributions

04/25/07 News

Record Mogul Lee Magid Dies at 80

Lee Magid—the Savoy Records executive, talent scout and song doctor who discovered Della Reese and Al Hibbler—died Saturday, March 31, at UCLA Medical Center. Though not as well known as Ahmet Ertegun or John Hammond, Magid nevertheless left his mark on...

04/19/07 News

Pulitzer Board Lauds Coltrane With Special Citation

Yesterday, we reported that Ornette Coleman won the Pulitzer Prize for music—the first time ever that a jazz work earned the honor (Wynton Marsalis won a Pulitzer in 1997 but for his oratorio on slavery). Well, the Pulitzer Prize Board bestowed a posthumous...

04/18/07 News

Ornette Coleman Wins Pulitzer Prize

In a career that has seen no shortage of groundbreaking actions and well-deserved honors, jazz icon Ornette Coleman achieved yet another historical distinction on Monday: winning the Pulitzer Prize for music for his 2006 album Sound Grammar . Although Wynton...

04/17/07 News

Dakota Staton Dies at 76

One of the lesser known but still highly revered jazz singers from the ’50s and ’60s, Dakota Staton passed away last Tuesday in Manhattan. No specific cause was cited, but Staton’s health had been declining in recent years. She was 76. Born on June 3, 1930...

04/06/07 News

Bill Cunliffe Scores First Feature Film

Grammy-nominated pianist Bill Cunliffe—whose compositions and arrangements have been performed by numerous orchestras and symphonies—recently scored his first feature film, The Northern Kingdom , which will premiere at the Syracuse International Film Festival...

04/05/07 News

Rochester Jazz Festival Announces 2007 Lineup

The Rochester International Jazz Festival, now in its sixth year, announced on Wednesday this year’s lineup, its largest and most eclectic yet. Presented by Heluva Good Quality Foods, the nine-day festival—running from June 8 to 16—will host over 600 artists...

03/30/07 News

Eddie Palmieri to Be Honored at Harvard

Afro-Cuban jazz legend and Grammy Award-winner Eddie Palmieri will be honored at Harvard University from April 11 to 14 for his long-standing and significant contributions to Latin jazz. Palmieri will participate in a residency, which includes a concert...

03/29/07 News

Talking Jazz Box Set Now Available

Often, jazz documentaries and programs can be either too dry and academic or too reverential. Understandably, such passionate music inspires emotional reaction. It’s a rare occasion when a host is objective and levelheaded, while possessing a vast amount...

03/28/07 News

Wayman Tisdale Recovers From Injured Leg

Smooth-jazz bassist Wayman Tisdale, former NBA star for the Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings, injured his leg when he fell down at his home last month. After a series of tests, Tisdale was diagnosed as having a cancerous cyst on his fibula, which he is...

03/27/07 News

Kurt Elling Bonus Tracks

For those of you who can’t get enough of the eccentric vocalist, the Japanese pressing of Kurt Elling’s forthcoming Nightmoves will contain a bonus track of his version of Cole Porter’s “Well Did You Evah?” The track—which first appeared in High Society...

03/26/07 News

Manager Michael Davenport Dies

Michael Davenport—longtime manager of jazz artists at the Merlin Company—succumbed to pancreatic cancer on Monday, March 12. Born in 1941, Davenport devoted nearly 40 years of his life to the music industry, though he remained staunchly pro-artist, reflecting...

03/17/07 News

Trombonist Tyrone Hill Dies at 58

Another member of the Sun Ra Arkestra reaches his alter-destiny: Longtime trombonist Tyrone Hill passed away on Sunday, March 11. He was 58. A native Philadelphian, hailing from the north side of town near the Arkestra group house in Germantown, Hill began...

03/16/07 News

Clint Eastwood Produces Documentary About Dave Brubeck

Jazz fanatic and esteemed actor-director Clint Eastwood announced plans on Wednesday to executive produce a documentary on legendary pianist Dave Brubeck. Tentatively titled Dave Brubeck—In His Own Sweet Way , the film will be directed by Bruce Ricker, whose...

03/09/07 News

55 Bar Owner Queva Jayne Lutz Dies

Queva Jayne Lutz—the well-respected owner of the legendary Greenwich Village jazz club 55 Bar—died at her home in New York City on Thursday, Feb. 22. Lutz’ laidback and supportive personality made the 55 Bar the kind of place where musicians felt free to...

03/08/07 News

Book on Sun Ra and Afro-Futurism Now Available

To these eyes, too much Sun Ra ephemera is never enough, and WhiteWalls/University of Chicago Press’ new Pathways to Unknown Worlds: Sun Ra, El Saturn and Chicago’s Afro-Futurist Underground 1954-68 —designed to accompany the exhibition of the same name...

03/01/07 News

Leroy Jenkins Dies at 74

Arguably the most pivotal free-jazz violinist of the ’60s—internationally renowned for both his compositional and improvisational skills and vision in merging jazz and blues with a European classical sensibility—longtime AACM member Leroy Jenkins passed...