Scott Yanow
Scott’s Contributions
October 2008 The Archivist
Percussion Ensemble
Milford Graves
In recent times, nearly the entire catalog of the 1960s avant-garde ESP-Disk label has been getting reissued (although Ran Blake Plays Solo Piano never seems to return). Percussion Ensemble features drum duets by Milford Graves and the forgotten Sunny Morgan...
09/21/08 Concerts
Jazz Festival 2008 Brazil
Brazil is primarily known in the jazz world for bossa nova, Antonio Carlos Jobim and the developing styles of the past few decades. Jazz Festival Brasil is the dream of Marcelo Costa, a trumpeter who decided that it was long overdue for the music he loves...
September 2008 Books
Being Prez: The Life & Music of Lester Young
Dave Gelly
The Lester Young story has been sorted out, fully analyzed and solidified through the years in such books as Frank Buchmann-Moller’s You Just Fight for Your Life, Lewis Porter’s Lester Young and Douglas Henry Daniels’ Lester Leaps In. Born in Woodville...
September 2008 Books
Upbeat: Nine Lives of A Musical Cat
David Amram
Whether playing French horn in jazz settings, writing for the New York Philharmonic or jamming on pennywhistle and flutes in dozens of countries, David Amram has seemingly encountered everyone important in music over the past 60 years. At one point in Upbeat...
August 2008 The Archivist
First Giant Steps
John Coltrane
John Coltrane was already 29 when he took the first step toward fame and influence in the jazz world by joining the Miles Davis Quintet in 1955. There are relatively few examples of Trane’s playing before that year: He took a solo with Dizzy Gillespie on...
August 2008 The Archivist
Classic Columbia, OKeh and Vocalion Lester Young with Count Basie (1936-1940)
Lester Young with Count Basie
The four-CD limited-edition boxed set from Mosaic, Classic Columbia, OKeh and Vocalion Lester Young with Count Basie (1936-1940), celebrates the Basie Orchestra of 1939-40 and its innovative tenor saxophonist Lester Young. Compared with the tough-toned...
August 2008 The Archivist
All Aglow Again
Peggy Lee
Collector’s Choice, which has recently reissued nearly the entire Nat “King” Cole Capitol catalog of the 1950s and early ’60s (with an emphasis on Cole’s cheerful ballad and pop singing), has now launched a Peggy Lee series. All Aglow Again spotlights Lee’s...
August 2008 The Archivist
Ornette Coleman Town Hall 1962
Ornette Coleman Trio
The steady reissue of releases from Bernard Stollman’s ESP-Disk label (when will they get to their long-elusive Ran Blake Plays Solo Piano date?) is quite welcome. ESP was one of the top free-jazz/avant-garde labels during the second half of the 1960s, and...
August 2008 The Archivist
Live at the Club Baby Grand Vols. 1-2
Jimmy Smith
Jimmy Smith, who burst onto the jazz scene in 1956 and forever changed the way the organ is played, recorded prolifically for Blue Note during six-year period that followed his emergence. Live at the Club Baby Grand Vols. 1-2 had previously eluded other...
August 2008 The Archivist
Live In Zurich
Duke Ellington
Despite how many of their CDs are available, one can never have too many Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington albums. The Austrian TCB label has dug up two previously unreleased live sets that were performed in Zurich. Armstrong’s Live in Switzerland is from...
August 2008 The Archivist
Classic Hawaiian Steel Guitar Performances 1933-34
Sol Hoopii
A Hawaiian steel guitarist well worth discovering, Sol Hoopii was a pioneer, taking guitar solos in 1925 (before Eddie Lang) and serving as an unacknowledged influence on Western swing of the 1930s and ’40s. Classic Hawaiian Steel Guitar Performances 1933...
March 2008 The Archivist
Hamburg, Germany February 29, 1956
Various Artists
During 1944-57, Norman Granz produced Jazz at the Philharmonic, a series of organized all-star jam sessions that brought together many of the great solo stars of swing and bop on tours of the United States and Europe. Imagine getting to see Dizzy Gillespie...
March 2008 The Archivist
Teddy Wilson in Copenhagen
Teddy Wilson
The Danish Storyville label has extensively documented American jazz musicians touring Europe for the past 50 years. Four recent sets of previously unreleased material are part of its In Copenhagen series. Teddy Wilson in Copenhagen is a typical trio set...
March 2008 The Archivist
The Hilversum Session
Albert Ayler
Bernard Stollman founded the ESP-Disk label in 1964 and put out 45 albums, mostly of improvised free-jazz, before things slowed down in 1974. The music has resurfaced several times since then and, in recent times, Stollman has been accelerating the number...
March 2008 The Archivist
The Best Of Von Freeman On Premonition
Von Freeman
Von Freeman, a brilliant tenor saxophonist based in Chicago who has always had a sound of his own, recorded four CDs for Premonition. The Best of Von Freeman on Premonition has 18 selections on two CDs drawn from those sessions (two are previously unreleased...
March 2008 The Archivist
The Complete Hit of the Week Recordings, Volume 3
Various Artists
The Hit of the Week label was quite unique. Every Thursday during much of 1929-32, a one-sided record was released on a piece of cardboard and sold at newsstands for 15 cents. Most of the performances were as much dance music as jazz, although Duke Ellington...
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ReportAbout Scott Yanow
Scott Yanow has been writing about all eras and genres of jazz since 1975, for all varieties of outlets: From major publications to obscure magazines and the omnipotent All Music Guide, Yanow’s byline pops up everywhere. He has also written over 500 liner notes and countless press biographies and is the author of nine books, including Jazz On Film, Trumpet Kings and Jazz On Record 1917-76.