JazzWax

Dave Schildkraut: Key Ingredient

Alto saxophonist Dave Schildkraut didn't record a bad album. Except perhaps his own leadership session, at the tail end of his recording career in 1979. By then, he sounded coarse and tapped out. But if you look through his discography and listen to the recordings, the New York jazz sideman managed to draw only aces. There isn't a dud in the bunch. Not even a slightly sub-par jazz recording.

Schildkraut's sound was routinely and somewhat unfairly compared to Charlie Parker's. His alto playing was edgy, bluesy and seamless, but his sound really was his own. His solos were confident and poetic, so Bird became the default comparison when Schildkraut was praised. Which is why so many great New York players recruited him for their sessions—to add his key ingredient.

To quote bassist Chuck Israels' recent email to me:

Dave made relatively few recordings compared to his contemporaries, and by the time I got a chance to play with him, he was a shadow of his former self. From what pianist Bill Triglia told me (I didn’t know Schildkraut well), he was a shy guy who just couldn’t tolerate the competitive world. Like Gigi Gryce, he was not constitutionally built to live comfortably in it. [Photo above of Bill Triglia]

Yet Schildkraut was special. I can listen to Art Pepper and like what I'm hearing once without wanting to hear it again. Schildkraut is rewarding over multiple listens. And lacking the dramatic comeback story of some jazz musicians who struggled with drugs, Schildkraut's quality and contribution are hardly known today.

I tend to agree with Chuck (and send him a special thanks for nudging me to give Schildkraut a full listen). But the Pepper comparison may be apples to oranges. Pepper recorded a long list of leadership albums, some great and others disappointing, while Schildkraut was a sideman offering us only bursts of his soul.

It's rather puzzling that someone as gifted as Schildkraut was never championed by a producer who could have coaxed him into a studio to record leadership albums. Not once. Little is known about him other than his saxophone recordings. From my research, it does seem there were struggles with mental illness, which surely would have left hm emotionally erratic and withdrawn. Dave Schildkraut dropped out of the jazz scene in the early 1960s and died in 1998. I have no idea what he did during that long period of time.

Fortunately, I have virtually all of Schildkraut's recordings, minus his many road recordings in the early 1950s with Stan Kenton. Schildkraut's discography is here. To give you a sense of his sound, here are 11 of my favorite tracks that feature his masterful alto saxophone solos:

Here he is with Miles Davis playing Solar in 1954...

Here's Schildkraut on George Handy's A Tight Hat, from Handyland USA in 1954...

Here he is behind Tony Bennett, on one of the singer's hippest albums, Cloud 7, soloing on I Can't Believe You're in Love With Me, in 1954...

Here's Schildkraut soloing on Gone With the Wind, arranged and conducted by Pete Rugolo, in 1954...

Here's Schildkraut soloing on Chuckles from Oscar Pettiford's Basically Duke, in 1954...

Here's Schildkraut soloing on Cool Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, on Ralph Burns's Jazz Studio 5, in 1955...

Here's Schildkraut soloing on Blue Beetle from Eddie Bert's album Like Cool, in 1955...

Here's Schildkraut soloing on Phil Urso's P.U. Stomp, from Buddy Arnold's Wailin' album in 1956...

P.U. Stomp

Here's Schildkraut soloing on Tiny—Not Ghengis, on Tito Puente's Puente Goes Jazz in 1956...

Here's Schildkraut soloing on Strictly Confidential from Sam Most's Plays Bird, Bud, Monk & Miles in 1957...

And here's Schildkraut soloing on A Night in Tunisia in 1961, on Live at Clifton...

Night In Tunisia

Henri Salvador, Part 2

Yesterday, I posted on French singer-entertainer Henri Salvador and his career up until his semi-retirement at age 78 in 1995. Today, I'm posting about one of pop's most startling comebacks topped only by Tony Bennett's. Salvador's rebound also featured his passion for Brazilian music.

First, let's look at his first visit to the South American country. On Christmas of 1941, bandleader Ray Ventura was in Rio de Janeiro with Salvador as his vocalist. Ventura and his band were preparing to leave for a tour of the U.S. when Salvador was offered a contract to remain in Brazil and become a headliner. Salvador signed and stayed behind. A few months later, he became a major star, singing in French, English and Portuguese.

But despite his newfound status, Salvador was routinely shortchanged. Despite packing in audiences at all the city's major casinos, his pay was marginal and he had to pick up empty Coke bottles and sell them to raise money to eat. One day, Salvador received a telegram from Ventura urging him to re-join the band in post-war Paris. Off he went.

Yesterday, I filled in the bulk of Salvador's career. Picking up where I left off in his twilight years, by the time he turned 78, his songs no longer were connecting with younger French music fans. So he went into semi-retirement following his "farewell" album, Monsieur Henri.

At the Victoires de la Musique awards the following year, in 1996, Salvador was honored with a special lifetime achievement award and performed a duet with Ray Charles of his whimsial Le Blues du dentiste. Celebrating his 80th birthday in 1997, Salvador was ready to throw in the towel.   

Enter Source Records' artistic director Marc Domenico, who offered Salvador the chance to record a dream album. So he went back into the studio to record Chambre avec vue, an album with songs written by Keren Ann and Benjamin Biolay, as well as Marc Estève, Art Mengo and others. He also wrote and performed a duet with '60s icon Françoise Hardy called Le Fou de la reine.

The album was a massive hit, selling over 1 million copies—success Salvador never before experienced even in his heyday. The singer was back and was selling out theaters. At age 87, Salvador dropped the cheesy comedy, embraced ballads with a bossa nova beat and found himself with a touring schedule filled for the next three years.

Here are eight clips from Salvador's triumphant golden years:

Here's Salvador singing Chambre avec vue...

Here's Salvador and Francoise Hardy signing Le fou de la reine from the same album...

Here's Salvador with Lisa Ekdahl singing All I Really Want Is Love...

Here's Salvador singing Jazz Méditerranée...

Here's Salvador singing Jardin d'hiver...

Here's Tant de demps...

Here's Salvador singing Dans mon ile...

And here's Salvador singing Ma chère et tendre...

Bonus: Here's Salvador and Ray Charles in 1996 singing a duet on Le blues du dentiste...

Henri Salvador, Part 1

Henri Salvador was a French singer, musician and dancer whose talents were so exceptional and profound, we don't really have anyone of comparable status in the U.S. Salvador played guitar and trumpet, he sang beautifully and he had French hits in virtually every music genre, including jazz, pop, chanson, cabaret, rock 'n' roll and bossa nova. He also appeared regularly on TV singing, dancing and playing, encapsulating the French spirit and soul.

Like Edith Piaf, Maurice Chevalier and Yves Montand, Salvador represented the essence of French showmanship. Whenever I hear Salvador's voice, I think immediately of Paris. In fact, when I was in Montreal several years ago, the French restaurant where I was having lunch was playing him on its sound system. I had no idea who it was, not because I didn't know Salvador's voice but because I was unfamiliar with the song playing. Salvador's catalog was eclectic and wide-ranging, My family is used to me making them uncomfortable as I grill waiters for the names of remarkable artists and songs on their iTunes system if unknown to me.

Salvador wasn't a dabbler in the stage but a full-fledged entertainer and recording artist who made everything look easy. Born in French Guiana in 1917, he emigrated to Paris in the 1930s and was spotted by Django Reinhardt, who employed him as his accompanist. During World War II, Salvador was stuck on the French Riviera and joined French bandleader Ray Ventura just as he fled Vichy France for South America. Ventura was Jewish.

After the war, Salvador returned to Paris with Ventura and began his recording career and flourished in the 1950s with the arrival of the 10-inch LP. The rise of television also found Salvador on TV variety shows, and he twice appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in New York. In the 1950s, he was among the first to write and record rock 'n' roll songs in France, partnering with songwriter Boris Vian. They collaborated on more than 400 songs that ranged from blues to beguines.

Admittedly, Salvador recorded and performed a sizable amount of junk, including dreadful novelty songs and hammy material that either is appreciated only by the French or was done to pay the bills. His jazz-pop recordings were executed at a much higher taste level and remain stunningly beautiful today. His compartmentalization makes one wonder who the real Salvador was—the elegant, sensual balladeer or the silly, comic music-hall singer. Perhaps both.

Today, I'm featuring 10 of my favorite Salvador jazz-pop recordings. Henri Salvador died in 2008 at age 90.

Here's Salvador with Ray Ventura singing Hey Ba-Ba Re-Bop in 1946..

Here's Salvador singing and playing guitar on A Saint-Germain des Près in 1955...

Here's Salvador singing Salvador Plays the Blues in 1956...

Here's Salvador scatting and playing guitar on Stompin' at the Savoy in 1956...

Here's Salvador in 1957 singing Maman La Plus Belle Du Monde...

Here's Salvador singing and playing guitar on Il n'y a Plus D'Amands in 1957

Here's Salvador in 1961...

Here's Salvador singing Dans Mon Ile in 1963. Salvador originally recorded it in 1958. Antonio Carlos Jobim has said the song was major influence on him to slow down the samba and create the bossa nova...

Here's Salvador singing L'Inspration in 1963...

Here's Salvador singing Count Basie, Neal Hefti's Lil' Darlin' set to lyrics by Frank Tenot and Daniel Filipacchi, two jazz broadcasters, in 1963...

Bonus: Here's the original Dans Mon Ile in 1958...

And here's Salvador playing and singing La Petite Jacqueline in 1957...

And one for the road. Here's Salvador playing and singing Syracuse in 1962...

Kim, Jimmy and Arthur

In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed actress Kim Cattrall for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Kim is best known for playing Samantha Jones on TV's Sex and the City series. but she has had a long acting professional career that began in 1975. She was born in Liverpool, moved with her family to Vancouver (British Columbia), studied in Liverpool at age 12, and moved to New York at 16 to study acting. Her first movie was Rosebud (1975), directed by Otto Preminger. Former New York City mayor John Lindsay appeared in the film, too. He helped Kim get her green card. Currently, she stars in TV's Filthy Rich (Fox). [Photo above of Kim Cattrall from YouTube]  

Here's Kim on Who Do You Think You Are?...

SiriusXM. On Tuesday, I'll join co-hosts Nik Carter and Lori Majewski on Feedback to talk about my recent "Anatomy of a Song" column on Dexys Midnight Runners' Come On Eileen. Tune in at noon (EDT), on channel 106.

Tony Fruscella. Back in 2018, I posted about trumpeter Tony Fruscella and bassist Red Mitchell, and their rendition of I'll Be Seeing You. Photographer Gilles D'Elia sent along the following (be sure to click on the link and view his work, it's extraordinary):

Hi Marc. Thanks to your website, that I read very often, I've discovered the Red Mitchell version of Tony Fruscella's solo on "I'll Be Seeing You." I can't help it: I had to write and record an adaptation in French, my native language. Even if I'm not a musician nor a singer, I've done it just for pleasure, and I hope maybe you will like to listen to it. Here it is. Please be indulgent...

David Thompson. This weekend, Dave plays Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Heusen's Polka Dots and Moonbeams, Frank Sinatra's first hit with Tommy Dorsey in 1940...

Art Pepper practicing the tenor saxophone in the basement of Synanon in Santa Monica, Calif., in 1969, courtesy of Laurie Pepper's Facebook page.

Dave Brubeck. Got a few million bucks? You may want to consider the former home of Dave and Iola Brubeck, which just came on the market in Wilton, Ct., for $2.75 million. I spent an afternoon there for the WSJ with Dave and his wife, Iola, in 2010 (go here) and have written about the house and architect Bev Thorne at JazzWax (go here, here and here). Thanks to Carl Woideck for bringing the listing to my attention.

Jimmy Sweeney was Elvis Presley's first vocal influence when Presley began recording at Memphis's Sun label in 1955. Listen to Sweeney's voice...

For Record Store Day on Saturday (September 26), Org Music is making available a vinyl album entitled Jimmy Sweeney: Without You, featuring 17 sides by the Black singer. To order from your nearest participating store, go here.

Here's Arthur Prysock in 1964 on Dick Clark's American Bandstand singing Close Your Eyes (sorry, the end is cut off)...

And here's Prysock in 1976 singing his disco hit, When Love Is New...

Autumn and Miles Ahead + 19

A month after I moved into my dorm along the Fenway in Boston in September 1974, I took the "T" to Harvard Square in Cambridge. The weather had already begun to turn blustery, as was the case in Boston back then. Fall slid toward winter's doorstep rather quickly. I'm not sure if that still happens now due to global warming. I remember, because I had my pea coat on with the collar up.

Emerging at Harvard Square, I headed over to the "Coop," a co-operative book store affiliated with Harvard and MIT that in the early '70s featured a record department with one of the best jazz sections in town. The Coop is housed in a brick Federalist building that dates back to 1882.

Down in the record department, I discovered Miles Davis and Gil Evans's Miles Davis: Miles Ahead +19. It happened to be playing on the speaker system and Davis's romantic horn backed by Evans's breathless arrangements captured my imagination instantly. I grabbed the album along with four others and headed back to Boston. [Photo above of Gil Evans and Miles Davis]

Ever since, Miles Ahead + 19 has been my autumn album. We all have one—music purchased in the fall that you always associate with the colorful, chilly season. For me, this one is it and always will be.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Miles Ahead + 19 (Columbia) here.

JazzWax clips: Here's the first song on the album; then all the other tracks follow. You just have to click on the embed at the end for the next track. Or click the link I provided and go to YouTube...

For longtime fans of the album, here's an "alternate" album that someone built out of alternate takes. To me, these sound like the rundown, when musicians, soloist and conductor simply feel their way along for the first time without concern for precision or perfection...

Thelonious Monk: Palo Alto

There are no bad recordings of pianist Thelonious Monk together with tenor saxophonist Charlie Rouse. Well, maybe two—when they were in a top-notch group assembled in the late 1940s to back a so-so vocalist named Frankie Passions, who recorded two lackluster pop songs. But starting in the fall of 1958, at New York's Five Spot, Monk and Rouse began a working and recording relationship that lasted until 1969. Fortunately for us, most of their sessions were live.

Recently, a new entry was released in the Monk-Rouse gig canon called Palo Alto. The CD and vinyl came out in June on Impulse while the download was released last week by Legacy. The previously unissued concert was captured at a performance Monk gave the afternoon of  October 27, 1968 at Palo Alto High School in California. A wise janitor asked if he could record the gig if he tuned the piano. Danny Scher, a senior at the school who produced concerts there, wisely let him. Danny, of course, would go on to work with concert impresario Bill Graham as his right-hand man for 24 years. [Photo above of Thelonious Monk by Lee Tanner, courtesy of Legacy Records]

But there were complications. Unsure if Monk would appear, Danny called him up before the scheduled performance. Here's the story from Danny's liner notes...

People were skeptical that Monk would ever show up, so two days before the concert I called him at San Francisco’s Jazz Workshop where he was performing and I wasn't old enough to enter. I had never received a fully executed contract. [Photo above of Danny Scher from YouTube]

Monk said he knew nothing about the concert and wondered how he would even get to Palo Alto and back for his evening Jazz Workshop performance. I said that my brother, Les, was old enough to drive to San Francisco and could pick up him and his band and return them in time for that evening’s performance.

Monk agreed to have Les picking them up and drive them back. What you hear on the new album is what took place after they got out of the car. The tracks are Ruby, My Dear, Well, You Needn’t (with a terrific arco solo by bassist Larry Gales and a crisp drum solo by Ben Riley), Don’t Blame Me, Blue Monk, Epistrophy and I Love You Sweetheart of All My Dreams, which the quartet had recorded in 1964 for Columbia's Monk album. [Photo above of Charlie Rouse and Thelonious Monk from IMDB]

The sound of this new release is excellent, and the quartet's playing is assertive, outgoing and generous. Monk's piano, in particular, was jumping, with notes going off like packs of firecrackers. Rouse, Gales and Riley also played with extra edge. One wonders if the group's shoulders leaning into the music had something to do with Danny and his family.

Few tickets had been sold by the time Danny's brother, Les, returned from San Francisco with the quartet, the bass sticking out the window. The people who weren't convinced Monk would show lingered in the parking lot until they saw the band roll up. Then they reached into their pockets. "People went to the box office and bought tickets," Danny writes. "The show sold out, but Monk was hungry. My parents went across the street and brought back food for him and the band." [Photo above of Palo Alto High School]

Danny and his family were those kind of people. As a result, we now know where the Thelonious Monk Quartet was on an afternoon in October of 1968 and how great the band sounded. I'll have to ask Danny what they had for lunch. 

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Thelonious Monk: Palo Alto on vinyl and CD (Impulse) here. The digital download (Legacy) is here.

JazzWax clips: Here's Well You Needn't...

Here's a mini-doc about the album...

10 by Mancini in 1960

Hollywood arranger and conductor Henry Mancini released four albums in 1960—two soundtracks and two jazz instrumental LPs. The scores were for the film High Time and TV series Mr. Lucky. The jazz-flavored instrumentals were The Blues and the Beat and The Mancini Touch. In the case of all four, their cool swing, melodic jauntiness and instrumental textures were perfectly in sync with the minimalist space-age feel of the year and the palm-lined breeziness of Beverly Hills. Or did they invent the mood and everything else followed? [Photo above of Henry Mancini, courtesy of Ginny Mancini]

Here are 10 songs from the four albums that are quintessentially and undeniably Mancini in 1960 [photo above of Ginny and Henry Mancini, courtesy of Ginny Mancini]:

Here's So Neat from High Time...

Here's The Beat from The Blues and the Beat...

Here's Free and Easy from The Mancini Touch...

Here's Night Flower from Music From Mr. Lucky...

Here's Moon Talk from High Times...

Here's How Could You Do a Thing Like This to Me from The Blues and the Beat...

Here's a Cool Shade of Blue from The Mancini Touch...

Here's That's It and That's All from Music From Mr. Lucky...

Here's Tiger! from High Time...

And here's Politely from The Mancini Touch...

Larry Bluth: Formations

If you love cool-jazz pianist Lennie Tristano as much as I do, then you're likely familiar with Sal Mosca, a student of Tristano's who mastered his singular keyboard approach. And if you dig Mosca, you should be aware of pianist Larry Bluth, a little-known student of Mosca's who recently died on August 26 at age 79. [Photo above, from left, Larry Bluth, Don Messina and Bill Chattin in Yonkers, N.Y., in the 1990s by Joseph Squilante]

Bluth was an extraordinary player who made three excellent albums for Zinnia Records backed by two terrific musicians—bassist Don Messina and drummer Bill Chattin. The albums are Live at Orfeo (1991-'92), Four Concerts and a Landscape (1993-'95) and Formations (1996-'98). Of the three, my favorite for now is Formations, but it's a close call and could change at any time.

Bluth's playing is stellar in the Mosca style, andhis hands seem to be sliding around on the keys as if finger painting rather than playing. The song choices are wonderful—A Rhyme, There Will Never Be Another You, She's Funny That Way, I Never Knew, All of Me, Moonlight in Vermont, Formations, Shoals, Everything Happens to Me, For Sal and On Time.

Songs move backward, then forward, with a liberal use of block chords. Or they seem to roll around gently, like a ball of cotton, touching on a song's familiar melody before rushing off in other directions. Bluth's left and right hands are in constant conversation, playing off each other rather than functioning traditionally, when the left hand plays bass support to the right hand's lead. Meanwhile, Don's bass drives up the middle with muscular precision and Chattin works the breezy brushes. Rustling autumn leaves making music.

This week you're in luck. On Wednesday, Don Messina will be on the radio spinning recordings from these three albums plus other things. You can catch Don with show host Richard Willeche on WOMR in Provincetown, Mass., from 2:30 p.m. to 4 (EDT). Listen from anywhere in the world by going here and clicking "listen." Hey, tis autumn.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find Larry Bluth, Don Messina and Bill Chattin's Formations here.

JazzWax tracks: Here's There Will Never Be Another You...

There Will Never Be Another You

Here's Moonlight in Vermont...

Moonlight in Vermont

And here's Everything Happens to Me...

Everything Happens to Me

San Gabriel 7: Red Dress

What would Tower of Power sound like if we swapped out Lenny Williams for Femi Knight and added a teaspoon of the Jazz Crusaders? Obviously, we'll never know, but the San Gabriel 7's new album, Red Dress (Jrl Sgs), with singer-songwriter Femi Knight, gives us an idea.

The SG7 is based in the Los Angeles area, and Red Dress is the group's 10th album. The band features two distinct components—a funky rhythm section and a robust squad of horns. On varying tracks, the band features Chad Edwards (keyboards, organ), Matt Weisberg (keyboards), Chris Gordon (piano, background vocals), Steve Gregory (guitar), Jonathan Pintoff (bass), Randy Drake (drums) and Scott Breadman (percussion) with Mike McGuffey (tp), Jeff Jarvis (tp, flhn), Kyle Palmer (tp), Glen Berger (ts,as) and Jim Lewis (tb).

The songs are I'm Going Home Tonight, Give a Little, West Indian Brown (Red Dress), When a Woman's Had Enough, New Tomorrow, The Next Big Thing, Stranger, Never Make Your Move Too Soon and The Next Big Thing (radio edit).

Arrangements are by Dave Cushman, and all of the songs were written by Knight, except When a Woman's Had Enough and Never Make Your Move Too Soon.

Knight's songwriting is top notch. So are her vocals, both as lead and overdubbed harmony on backup. She pulls from '70s soul but keeps her lyrics and feel here and now. Cushman's arrangements are taut and punchy, also with a '70s sensibility. Back then, horn charts added zippy hipness in the all right places rather than flooding the zone. The rhythm section is solid, especially Gregory's guitar, which often plays off the horns.

An upbeat, warm album that ushers in autumn and a reminder of good past times and good times to come once this blasted virus is history.

JazzWax tracks: You'll find San Gabriel 7's Red Dress (Jrl Sgs), with singer-songwriter Femi Knight, here.

JazzWax clips: Here's I'm Going Home Tonight, with Femi Knight on vocal...

Here's West Indian Brown (Red Dress), which has a What Is Hip flavor...

And here's Stranger...

Here's Femi and her beautiful voice a few years ago...

For more information about the San Gabriel 7, go here.

Rainn, Brian and John

In The Wall Street Journal this week, my "Anatomy of a Song" column was on Come On Eileen, a #1 Billboard hit in 1983 by Britains Dexys Midnight Runners (go here). A fascinating song on so many levels. For one, the only electric instrument played on the song is the bass. Everything else is acoustic. For another, the introduction, verses and chorus are all in different keys. And third, there's even a purposeful speed-up on the bridge. An earworm, to be sure. A song that directly benefited from MTV, which in its early years was akin to Beatlemania.

Here's the video, directed by Julien Temple. It was released in 1982 and helped push the single to the top of the Billboard pop chart, knocking Michael Jackson's Billie Jean out of the #1 spot for a week.

Also in the WSJ, I interviewed actor Rainn Wilson (above) for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Rainn most famously played Dwight Schrute on TV's The Office. He talked about going to Nicaragua at age 4 and why he became interested in acting in high school rather than the chess club.

Here's Rainn in his new film, Blackbird...

And here's a hilarious video of Rainn quizzing Billie Eilish (pre-green hair) on Office trivia...

Dave Thompson plays a beautiful rendition of Like Someone in Love with a Bill Evans feel here...

David Thompson · Like Someone In Love</div

And here's an original by Dave called Interlude...

Stéphane Grappelli. Following my post a couple of weeks ago on jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli, I received the following from Danilo Morandi:

Hi Marc, thank you for the delightful Stéphane Grappelli BBC documentary. Here's a video of The Hot Club of France playing J'attendrai, from a popular Italian tune of the day, Tornerai. Here, it's amazing to see Django playing with two fingers...

In the '70s, Grappelli's playing became sharper, losing some of the "prettiness" of the '50s and '60s. He loved to play with young musicians. One of the best examples is the beautifully recorded album entitled, Young Django, a favorite of mine, with Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass, Larry Coryell on guitar and Philip Catherine on guitar.

This is the most energetic Swing Guitars, that really cooks, without undue nostalgia for the original. At the end, an awed Coryell, says. "That was beautiful!" Stéphane's modest reply is, "Maybe it's good, I don't know."

Here is Oriental Shuffle...

Here's Grappelli playing piano after soloing on violin...

Grappelli became something of an icon in Europe, playing duos with the best. Here he is with Duke Ellington, playing Solitude, Don't Get Around Much Anymore/I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart and It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)...

Brian Bromberg—Bromberg Plays Hendrix (Artistry Music). In 2012, jazz bassist Brian Bromberg took a hard-rock break with this album, which was just updated with a remix and remastering. On the album, Bromberg fires up fretless and piccolo basses to create a throaty, thrashing Hendrix tribute. The only musician backing Bromberg here is eight-armed drummer Vinnie Colaiuta. All the Hendrix biggies are here, including The Wind Cries Mary, Hey Joe, Purple Haze and Fire. As close as it gets in music to mounting a Harley-Davidson and riding off. Go here for download, here for CD.

Here's Fire...

And here's Brian in action...

Steve Miller. On September 18, 1970, the day Hendrix died, Steve Miller was performing at the Pepperland Ballroom in San Rafael, Calif. He played his band's Peppa Sauce in tribute to the guitarist. Go here...

John Coltrane radio. Next Wednesday, September 23, WKCR-FM in New York will feature its John Coltrane Birthday Broadcast for 24 hours, starting at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday night (EDT). To listen from anywhere in the world, go here.