Happy Valentine's Day

Dave Brubeck 1920-2012

Legendary Jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck died today, one day short of his 92nd birthday.

Brubeck is best known for Take Five.

 

Music Break! Clark Terry

Notice when Clark Terry plays his flugelhorn solo, he's holding it upside-down.

Frank Foster Dies at 82

I've been meaning to put this up for a week now. We lost another jazz giant.

NY Times: Frank Foster, a saxophonist, composer and arranger who helped shape the sound of the Count Basie Orchestra during its popular heyday in the 1950s and ’60s and later led expressive large and small groups of his own, died on Tuesday at his home in Chesapeake, Va. He was 82.

Music Break! Michael Brecker

I'm in one of those moods, so I always go to the source that snaps me out of it. My favorite saxophonist, Michael Brecker, who left this world too soon.

Delta City Blues

George Shearing Dies at 91

NY Times: George Shearing, the British piano virtuoso who overcame blindness to become a worldwide jazz star, and whose composition “Lullaby of Birdland” became an enduring jazz standard, died on Monday in Manhattan. He was 91.

The cause was congestive heart failure, said his manager, Dale Sheets. Mr. Shearing had homes in Manhattan and Lee, Mass.

Music Break! Mel Tormé

Dat Dere

Abbey Lincoln Dies at 80

NYTimes: Abbey Lincoln, a singer whose dramatic vocal command and tersely poetic songs made her a singular figure in jazz, died on Saturday in Manhattan. She was 80 and lived on the Upper West Side...

...Ms. Lincoln’s career encompassed outspoken civil rights advocacy in the 1960s and fearless introspection in more recent years, and for a time in the 1960s she acted in films with Sidney Poitier.

Music Break! Count Basie

Haven't done one of these in a long time.

Music Break! Jamie Cullum

My sister was able to score and extra ticket to Jamie Cullum playing at Joe's Pub last night (a show that sold out in about a minute and crashed their website) and what a great show it was! Usually, I'm pretty low key at these things with regards to recording, but when Cullum climbed off the stage with his bassist to roam around the small room and sing I Get a Kick Out of You (without a mic), I had to pull my BlackBerry out and record it.

Enjoy.

Ed Thigpen, Jazz Drummer, Dies at 79

NY TIMES: Ed Thigpen, a drummer whose tasteful and understated style made him a favorite accompanist of some of the best-known performers in jazz, died on Jan. 13 in Copenhagen, where he had lived since 1972. He was 79.

...Mr. Thigpen was most famous for his tenure with the pianist Oscar Peterson’s trio, one of the most popular small groups in jazz, from 1959 to 1965. He was the first drummer to work with Peterson, whose trios up until then had consisted of piano, bass and guitar, and he earned raves for his supportive playing and especially for his deft use of brushes.

After leaving Peterson, he spent five years with Ella Fitzgerald. He then moved to Copenhagen, where he became an in-demand sideman for visiting and expatriate American jazz musicians.

Music Break! John Pizzarelli

Avalon

Music Break! Jon Faddis

Here's That Rainy Day

Music Break! John Coltrane

Happy Birthday, Trane.

On Green Dolphin Street

Music Break! Eddie Daniels

Solfeggietto/Metamorphosis

Cartoon Break! Three Little Bops

Check out the credits - Stan Freberg and Shorty Rogers.

Music Break! John Coltrane

Afro Blue

Music Break! Benny Goodman

This month would have marked Benny Goodman's 100th birthday. I spent last night with my wife at Jazz at Lincoln Center and swung with the Benny Goodman Centennial Jazz Jam.

Enjoy.

Music Break! Clark Terry

Mumbles

Music Break! John Pizzarelli

Avalon