Jazz Legends

Trumpeter, composer/arranger Thad Jones born March 28, 1923, was the middle son in a family that also produced younger brother Elvin Jones, perhaps best known as John Coltrane’s longtime drummer, and pianist Hank Jones, who performed and recorded with almost everyone in his long career, as one of the first black musicians to have a long and fruitful career in the New York studios. Thad first made his mark on the national scene as a soloist and arranger/composer for the Basie band in 1954. When he moved to New York City in the 1960’s, he founded a big band he co led with drummer Mel Lewis that still plays weekly at the Village Vanguard, still playing much of the music Thad wrote. In 1979 he moved to Copenhagen, Denmark where he lead the Danish Radio Big Band, and taught at the Royal Danish Conservatory. In 1985 he took over leadership of the Basie Band, but tragically passed way in 1986 of cancer.

In addition to being one of the denizens of the NYC 52nd St scene, pianist/composer Lennie Tristano was an influential and pioneering teacher of jazz improvisation. He had prodigious technical abilities as a player, and his pedagogical approach to teaching improvisation eschewed learning “licks” in favor of creating fresh original improvised music. His many compositions exhibit this somewhat stream of consciousness approach, uniquely original, often angular lines based on standard chord progressions. His linear approach to playing was championed by his best known students, saxophonists Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh, who utilized his concepts for their entire careers. 

Alec Wilder and Harold Arlen are both composers in the great American Songbook tradition. Chances are good you've never heard of Alec Wilder, even if you’re familiar with some of his popular songs, like "I’ll Be Around" or "While We’re Young." He was also a prolific composer of chamber music, many of the best known virtuosos of the day were personal friends of his, and he wrote most of his chamber works with them in mind. Frank Sinatra was so enamored with Wilder’s chamber music that he released a recording of several of his instrumental works as “conducted” by Sinatra!

Harold Arlen is perhaps best remembered for his score for The Wizard of Oz and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" is one of the most recorded songs of all time. It’s easy to overlook the fact that he wrote over 500 songs during his career, a large number of which became standards, about which Irving Berlin said "He wasn't as well known as some of us, but he was a better songwriter than most of us, and he will be missed by all of us."

Tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon was one of the most quintessential performers on that instrument for over 40 years. Born in Los Angeles on February 27, 1923, he was initially heavily influenced by Lester Young, but soon developed his own bebop vocabulary and a room filling sound befitting his 6’6” frame, his playing heavily influenced Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. He was one of a number of American jazz musicians to become an expatriate, spending 14 years in Copenhagen and Paris. His bravura performance in the film Round Midnight earned him a best actor nomination, in 1986. On Sunday, the Jazz Evensong Quintet will perform a selection of his compositions from his over 90 recordings as a leader.

This week, the band talks composer, arranger, and pianist Tadd Dameron as they prepare a setlist in his honor for Sunday night.

This week, we feature the music not of a person but of a place: New Orleans.

The band talks Duke Ellington as they prep for their instrumental adaptation of Duke's Concert of Sacred Music.

How did the Jazz Legends podcast come about? Who are the musicians you'll be hearing from on the show? Listen on to get acquainted as we launch these episodes for a new season of Jazz Evensong here in Carlsbad, California.