Pioneering Cellist Abdul Wadud Dies at 75
Abdul Wadud, a cellist who pioneered the use of his instrument as a vehicle for jazz improvisation, died August 10 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was … Read More “Pioneering Cellist Abdul Wadud Dies at 75”
Fletcher Henderson: A Study in Frustration (Poll Winners [originally Columbia], 1961) [recorded between 1923 and 1928]
The shape and sound of big-band jazz is largely Fletcher Henderson’s doing. A Study in Frustration (so named because he never got the fame and fortune he deserved) captures the bands and arrangements that would define an era, along with breakthrough recordings by Coleman Hawkins, Benny Carter, and a brash young New Orleanian trumpeter they called “Satchelmouth.” MICHAEL J. WEST