Press play and read on. The Missing Specialty Recordings album? I’ve always respected the fact that there was never a CTI Christmas album… or “holiday special”. Given the 1978 bankruptcy, it would have been easy money to have send a few talented musicians over to Rudy Van Gelder’s studio in New Jersey and get them to record some holiday classics. […]
Gary Peacock – Gone, But Plenty To Remember
My only exposure to Gary Peacock was mid-1985, New York City. Sometime one hot Saturday, after wandering through a bunch of art galleries around the East Village, I came across a small cinema, probably on 2nd Ave. It was showing Michael Snow’s “New York Eye and Ear Control” film on repeat. I’d never heard of the film, but at just […]
Happy Born Day – Bill Evans
A guest post by @Jazzman1108 on Instagram. Downbeat Hall of Fame pianist, composer and leader, jazz icon William “Bill” John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was born on this date in 1929. With the passage of time, Evans has become an entire school unto himself for pianists and a singular mood unto himself for listeners. There is […]
On This Day: RIP Ennio Morricone
When I turned on the BBC radio early this morning, already past lunchtime in the UK, it was announced that Ennio Morricone had passed. A legend for film and music, Ennio was age 91. You might wonder why I’d mark his passing here? Apart from being an absolute legend especially of the same era as many of Creed Taylor’s best […]
On This Day: The GETZ / GILBERTO Grammys
On April 13th, 1965, 55-years ago today, Jazz had it’s most successful night at the Grammys ever. On a night that originally declared “the British Invasion was complete” , what actually happened was that Jazz arrived on the top step at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills in Los Angeles. Despite the presence of the Fab Four, who’d arrived in […]
Stan Getz Ringtone
Well we are all stuck at home, and things have all of a sudden become less urgent. It’s time for a less demanding ring-tone. I’ve done this a few times before on one of my other websites, used edits from music tracks as ringtones. When my wife calls, it’s Donna Summer, I’ll leave the track to your imagination, don’t be […]
Little Eva – The engine that Creed couldn’t restart
Perhaps one of the artists that Creed Taylor is least known for producing was Little Eva. Yes, The Loco-motion Eva. It’s so little known that her singles Creed produced for Verve are not even included on Little Eva’s wikipedia page. I’ll fix that(fixed). Little Eva, born Eva Narcissus Boyd, on June 29, 1943 in Belhaven, North Carolina, moved to New […]
On This Day: Wes Montgomery Wins Grammy Award, 1967
At the 9th Annual GRAMMY Awards (1966), presented on March 2nd, 1967, Wes Montgomery won the grammy for BEST INSTRUMENTAL JAZZ PERFORMANCE – GROUP OR SOLOIST WITH GROUP for Goin’ Out Of My Head. Goin’ Out of My Head was producer Creed Taylor’s idea that Montgomery should do a cover of the title song, a 1964 hit by Little Anthony […]
On This Day – A Conversation With Myself
[Thanks to Doug Payne for the edits and corrections] On this day, February 6th, 1963, 57-years ago, Bill Evans entered the studio for a series of dates with himself as a leader and sideman at Webster Hall in New York City. He’d be in the studio again on the 9th, and finally on February 20th. The album notes, by Gene […]