Written by user on September 23, 2015
(John Coltrane in 1963, Photo: Hugo van Gelderen. Courtesy of Wikipedia)
Today marks what would have been the 89th birthday of the legendary saxophonist, composer, and bandleader John Coltrane!
In celebration, we’ve curated a short playlist on Spotify that plays highlights from his incredibly varied and trailblazing career, from some of his earliest hard bop work, his modal work with Miles Davis, to his groundbreaking quartet, to his ecstatic Free Jazz work that marks his later career.
Click here to listen!
Written by user on October 10, 2014
Today marks the birthday of the legendary Thelonious Monk!
A few years ago, pianist Eric Reed helped us mark Monk’s birthday by sharing some of his favorite Monk albums, tunes, sidemen, and more. We’re re-posting them here, as Reed picked out some wonderful selections. Enjoy!
Pianist Eric Reed
Top 5 Favorite Monk Albums
1. Thelonious Monk Trio, (Prestige, 1952)
2. Monk, (Prestige, 1954)
3. The Prophet, (Vogue, 1954)
4. Two Hours With Thelonious, (Riverside, 1961)
5. Mulligan Meets Monk, (Riverside, 1957)
Thelonious Monk, 1947 (Photo: …
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Written by user on September 24, 2014
Photo: Hugo van Gelderen
John Coltrane would have celebrated his 88th birthday on the 23rd. His status as one of the most universally beloved, admired, and imitated jazz artists has held true for more than half a century. In 2012, Jazz at Lincoln Center hosted a John Coltrane festival, and in preparation for that, we asked several artists to discuss the impact of John Coltrane, as well as to list their favorite Trane albums. What resulted was a remarkable …
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Written by user on September 23, 2014
Today marks what would have been John Coltrane’s 88th birthday. In recognition, the extraordinary saxophonist Gary Bartz shares some of his thoughts about Trane:
“John Coltrane gave me an insight of how hard one needs to work in order to create music that has never been heard before. His work effort continues to inspire me. What a wonderful musical scientist he was. In order to compose music on the spot, one cannot leave any stone unturned. One lifetime is not long …
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Written by user on October 15, 2013
This month, the pianist and composer Thelonious Monk would have celebrated his 96th birthday. While his singular style of piano playing is not necessarily considered BeBop, he is nevertheless sometimes referred to as the “High Priest of Bop,” and his many compositions are canonical in BeBop repertoire (as well as Swing, Hard Bop, and many other styles).
In these videos, pianist Eric Reed pays tribute to Monk in various ways. In this video, he explains Monk’s importance in jazz. In other …
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