News & Updates — jazz

Passing just two months after Charlie Parker was another genius of the saxophone, tenor player Wardell Gray. He was one of the bright lights of the West Coast scene of the late '40s/early '50s and it's a shame how relatively little-known he is compared to some of the other titans of the era, of which he surely should rank alongside. His style was flowing and melodic, not too heavy. He was one of the players who straddled the line between the swing and bop eras. His first instrument was clarinet but he was inspired upon hearing Lester Young to switch to...

Happy birthday to the underrated microtonal composer and reedsman Joe Maneri. In 1963 he recorded a demo of 12-tone music with ethnic influence and a sort-of free jazz for Atlantic Records that didn't see release until 1998 (Paniots Nine, released on John Zorn's Tzadik label, and later used in the movie American Splendor), which would've placed him in the avant-garde of jazz had it seen the light of day at the time. Instead, nothing much happened for Maneri, outside of Boston, until his son Mat encouraged him to be more active in the 1990s. He made several records in the...

A pioneering guitarist and violinist (and a popular singer) in blues and jazz, Lonnie Johnson came from a musical family in New Orleans and learned to play several instruments. He toured the UK for two years and returned home to find that nearly his entire family, save his brother, were killed by the flu epidemic of 1918. The two brothers worked the riverboat scene and Lonnie married blues musician Mary Johnson. In the '20s he recorded several sides for Okeh and toured with Bessie Smith. In 1927 he recorded with Louis Armstrong and with Duke Ellington the following year. His...

The Voice of the Galaxies, June Tyson was the cosmic lead vocalist in Sun Ra's band from '68 until her death. She was also a dancer and helped design costumes for the Arkestra members, as well as played some violin in later years. I highly recommend the classic low-budget blaxploitation sci-fi flick Space Is The Place. Check out June and the Arkestra in this clip: And here's a bonus interview with June:

Jutta Hipp was a pioneering female jazz pianist from Germany. After a rough time as a displaced person in the '40s in Germany, she toured around Europe in the '50s with Atilla Zoller and others before coming Stateside in '55. She made a few records before retiring from the scene. Today, she has a street named after her in her hometown. This cut features Zoot Sims on the sax: