Three Little Bops (1957)

Happy Birthday Shorty Rogers!

Cartoon Credits Here

Journey Into Jazz (1964)

Sorry to jump back to black & white (and another jazz post for that matter). But I have been looking for the full clip of this for quite some time.  It's Leonard Bernstein & the New York Philharmonic performing Gunther Schuller's "Journey into Jazz" featuring Eric Dolphy, Benny Golson, Richard Davis, and Don Ellis taken from a 1964 television broadcast.  I know I have said this before, but this is really worth sitting through:

Leonard Bernstein - Journey into Jazz
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Black Reflections by Franz Kline (1959)

Oil on paper.  Image courtesy of The Boston Globe.  All this monochrome was making my eyes hurt.  It's Spring for chrissakes!

Happy Birthday Gerry Mulligan, Charlie Rouse, Art Taylor, & Randy Weston (April 6th)

What a day for birthdays...

Photo (LA, 1953) by Bob Willoughby

Photo (NYC, 1948) by William Gottlieb

Photo by (NJ, 1957) by Francis Wolff

Photo (NYC, 1957) by Ted Williams

Bud Shank (1926-2009)

Chet & Bud, LA, 1954, photo by Bob Willoughby

Rest in Peace, Bud

Flamingo by Alexander Calder (1973)

Photo by Raniero Tazzi

Barney Kessel Trio (1962)

I've been digging deeper into Charlie Christian lately and have been re-evaluating some of those guys he most heavily influenced. I haven't given Barney Kessel a lot of air time around the flat in the past, but that has been changing. I've always respected him - but some of his tracks are downright top notch. Here's a clip featuring Kessel's tight 1962 trio with the legendary Stan Levey on drums (anyone who held down a regular gig in Charlie Parker's group is legendary in my book). What more is that I am 90% sure this was taken from Steve Allen's "Jazz Scene U.S.A." hosted by none other than Oscar Brown, Jr. (aka THE MAN). OBJ is absent from the clip, but he is with us always in spirit.