Category Archives: Past Featured Artist

Charlie Haden

Compiled by Louise Vogel Charlie Haden (Charles Edward), bassist, composer, and bandleader was born in the Midwest in 1937 into a musical family. The Haden Family Band played folk music, and sang country and western songs for the Haden Family … Continue reading

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Benny Carter

Album Cover: Further Definitions Compiled by Louise Vogel As Duke Ellington once wrote: “The problem of expressing the contributions that Benny Carter has made to popular music is so tremendous it completely fazes me, so extraordinary a musician is he.” … Continue reading

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Wes Montgomery: Pure Musical Genius

Album Cover: Riverside Records Wes Montgomery (1923-1968) Compiled by Deanne Savage While researching Wes Montgomery, I found this JazzTimes article from 2005, by Josef Woodard. I simply could not come close to writing anything as great as this – so … Continue reading

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ART BLAKEY: Messenger with a Mission

Featured image, from Ken Burns Jazz Series Art Blakey also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina 1919 – 1990 By Deanne Savage Art Blakey: Messenger with a Mission. Jazz drummer Art Blakey was one of the most inspirational and important figures … Continue reading

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LESTER YOUNG: The “Pres”

  photo credit, pbs.org, ken burns jazz series    Lester Young (1909 – 1959) Photo credit, dailymusicbreak.com   By Deanne Savage Before Pharrell Williams sported his hat to become the ultimate contemporary hip-cat; there was a group of young jazz musicians … Continue reading

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Earl Hines: Jazz Legend

Earl Hines   One of the most important pianists in the history of jazz… Earl Hines has been called the first modern jazz pianist. His style differed from other pianists of the Twenties in his use of what were then … Continue reading

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Lester Young

Biography: In his 1985 biography on Lester Young, entitled Lester Young, Lewis Porter describes Young as a man of few words, who often “spoke through silence” (Porter P.4). Young’s language was one of his own creation, wrapped in “exquisite loneliness” … Continue reading

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Nina Simone

Biography: “There’s no other purpose, so far as I’m concerned, for us except to reflect the times, the situations around us and the things we’re able to say through our art, the things that millions of people can’t say.” Nina … Continue reading

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Wayne Shorter

Biography: Wayne Shorter didn’t pick up a musical instrument until he was fifteen, a relatively late start for a jazz great.  He’d always preferred the visual arts, specifically film.  It wasn’t until a revelatory moment of hearing Thelonious Monk’s ‘Off … Continue reading

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Tito Puente

Biography: (1923 – 2000) El Rey de Mambo Caliente by Mark Allred As summer rolls around the Puget Sound, the longer days and hotter temperatures can conjure memories of palm trees blocking stunning sunsets. A yearning can be felt for sand, … Continue reading

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