By Devon (Doc) Wendell In my late teens, my goal was to find the ultimate bop recordings. I was an obsessive “completist” of the works of Bird, Sonny Rollins, Bud Powell, Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Navarro, Dexter Gordon and of course Miles Davis. The harder and more complex the music was, the better. There are… Read More Doc Wendell’s Prescription For Ultimate Bop: “Miles Davis/Collectors Items”
By Devon Wendell Although I despise the whole concept of “desert island discs,” top ten, twenty, or 100 “Greatest” lists and that kind of lazy and pedantic journalism, I do accept the fact that there are certain recordings that I simply cannot live without. The Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet is the perfect band of the… Read More Doc Wendell’s Prescription for Bebop: “Clifford Brown and Max Roach at Basin Streets” (Emarcy)
By Don Heckman Los Angeles – Dec. 3 – 5. (Thurs. – Sat.) The Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, presents a program of Bach and Mendelssohn. Violinist Gil Shaham is featured in a pair of Bach Concertos. The Philharmonic takes the spotlight with Mendelsohn’s Symphony No 1 and Overture for Harmoniemusik. An… Read More Picks of the Week: Dec. 2 – 6 (Wed. – Sun.) in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle, Chicago and New York City
By Devon Wendell I’ve had this deep, lifelong obsession with the trumpet. I’ve written about some of the greatest musicians to ever pick up the instrument like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, Freddie Hubbard, Kenny Dorham, Art Farmer, Clifford Brown, and Wild Bill Davison, to name a few. I’d trade my right foot and… Read More Doc Wendell’s Prescription For Hard-Bop Trumpet: Donald Byrd’s ”Byrd In Hand” (Blue Note)
By Devon Wendell Phil Woods was not just a musician; he was a force of nature to be reckoned with. He was tough, full of grit, and always ready to defend the music that he loved and played so effortlessly with all of his might. I’ve seen Phil reduce mere mortals to ashes when they… Read More An Appreciation: Phil Woods
By Devon Wendell There’s nothing quite like a gritty Chicago tenor saxophone battle, especially during the post war hard-bop era. By the mid ‘50s, Players like Johnny Griffin, Gene Ammons, Von Freeman, and John Neely were blowing at each other with this insatiable hypo-manic bop that would make your head spin. What these men played… Read More Doc Wendell’s Prescription For Bop: Clifford Jordan & John Gilmore “Blowing In From Chicago” (Blue Note)
– SONNY- By Devon Wendell Today, Monday September 7th, Sonny Rollins shall turn 85 years young. So I couldn’t help but write about what Sonny means to me. Very few artists have had the impact on my life that Sonny has had, and he’s still doing it. I don’t think a day goes by… Read More Happy 85th Birthday: Sonny Rollins
By Devon Wendell Thelonious Monk has been labeled “The High Priest of Bebop.” Yes, Monk’s contributions to the bebop era were essential in the development of the music. But Monk was so much more than that. No one played piano like him or thought the way he did when composing or covering even the most… Read More Doc Wendell’s Prescription For Monk: “Thelonious Monk – Thelonious Himself” (Riverside)
By Devon Wendell For many occasional jazz listeners there are only 3 great trumpeters that come across their minds and lips, and they are of course Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and occasionally Louis Armstrong. For those of us obsessed with the music’s many genres and glorious history (like myself) the list is much longer and… Read More Doc Wendell’s Prescription For Fat Girl: Fats Navarro Memorial No. 2: Nostalgia (Savoy)
By Devon Wendell Paul Chambers or “Mr. P.C.” was one of the most prolific and inventive bassists to emerge from the hard-bop era. His presence was so strong on classic albums by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, J.J. Johnson, Sonny Rollins, Art Pepper, Bill Evans, and Thelonious Monk, (to name only a few) that… Read More Doc Wendell’s Prescription For Bass BeBop: Paul Chambers: “1st Bassman” (Vee Jay Records)
The International Review of Music 