Wayne Shorter, my best friend, left us with courage in his heart, love and compassion for all, and a seeking spirit for the eternal future. He was ready for his rebirth. As it is with every human being, he is irreplaceable . . .
Wayne Shorter was able to reach the pinnacle of excellence as a saxophonist, composer, orchestrator, and recently, composer of the masterful opera “…Iphigenia “ I miss being around him and his special Wayne-isms but I carry his spirit within my heart always.
Pharoah Sanders, Saxophonist Who Pushed Jazz Toward the Spiritual, Dead at 81
“The Creator Has a Master Plan” legend was sideman on John Coltrane’s landmark avant-garde journeys before embarking on a decades-long career that concluded with 2021’s acclaimed Promises
Milford Graves (August 20, 1941 – February 12, 2021) was an American jazz drummer, percussionist, Professor Emeritus of Music,[4][5] researcher/inventor,[6][7] visual artist/sculptor,[8][9][10][11] gardener/herbalist,[12] [13] and martial artist.[14][15] Graves is noteworthy for his early avant-garde contributions in the 1960s with Paul Bley, Albert Ayler, and the New York Art Quartet, and is considered to be a free jazz pioneer, liberating percussion from its timekeeping role. The composer and saxophonist John Zorn referred to Graves as “basically a 20th-century shaman.
Only two weeks ago did “Milford Graves: A Mind-Body Deal,” a major exhibition of his work at the Philadelphia Institute of Contemporary Art, draw to a close after a five-month run.
As a young drummer, Milford performed at John Coltrane’s funeral and led successful Latin music combos, drawing on his Afro-Caribbean roots. When he was barely old enough to vote, his life had taken off in a half-dozen different directions that led to revolutions in music, activism, medicine, botany, and even martial arts. He led the charge in bringing the drums out from the back of the bandstand, to a position equal with the “melodic” instruments. An anchor in the New York Art Quartet with Amiri Baraka, he was also active in the collective-bargaining movement of the Jazz Composers Guild. At the same time, he began his training as a cardiac technician with zeal; he invented a martial art form called Yara based on the movements of the Praying Mantis, boxing, West African ritual dance, and Lindy Hop; and he had an abiding interest in botany and herbology, inherited from his grandmother. By the time he began his nearly 40-year career at Bennington College, as a professor of music and holistic medicine, his fecund intellect had begun to explore radical connections between rhythm and the universe: in music, in movement, in healing, in the subatomic, in the activity of the heart and other organs.
Legendary Jazz Keyboardist Chick Corea Dies of ‘Rare Form of Cancer’ at 79
“My mission has always been to bring the joy of creating anywhere I could, and to have done so with all the artists that I admire so dearly — this has been the richness of my life,” he said before his death
Robert Hossein died of COVID-19, on 31 December 2020, one day after his 93rd birthday.
Milt Jackson was born on January 1. 1923. Bags Groove Milt Jackson (previous post – listen to the Golden Striker, another composition by John Lewis for the film “No Sun in Venice”)
Annie Ross death: Acclaimed jazz singer and actor dies aged 89
London-born musician and nightclub owner left an indelible mark on jazz music
Vocalese trio formed by jazz vocalists (from left to right) Annie Ross, Dave Lambert and Jon Hendricks during a photo shoot for DownBeat magazine shot near First National Bank Building in Chicago, published on 17th September 1959.
The original recording of her song “Twisted” was used in the introduction to the 1997 Woody Allen film Deconstructing Harry.
MM: I want to know more about your choice of music, such as the jazz by Miles Davis. Can you comment a little bit about the pieces you have used for this film, and the reasons behind your selection?
LCD: I needed the music in that scene to have a sense of freedom since that’s what Hae-mi’s dance is about. I wanted to use music that has this specific quality that jazz has where it feels like there’s no beginning or end. That song is called “Lift to the Scaffold,” and I like the sort of bad omen feeling that comes from that title.
Happy birthday Miles Davis!
This is funny “At one time, Miles Davis was one of the highest – paid artists in jazz. He made BIG money. He invested some of this money in an electric company that supplied New York with electricity. Every time he phoned me, his opening remark was, “Have you got your lights on? Go turn your lights on.” (I think I read this from Horace Silver “s autobio)..