Ossie Davis

The American saxophonist based in Paris, Logan Richardson, released interesting albums in the past to make us curious about his next step. Shift, his Blue Note debut, was recorded with the illustrious Pat Metheny, Jason Moran, Harish Raghavan, and Nasheet Waits, but the new album, Blues People, features a new band whose exploration of sound allows a sensible coexistence between post-bop, blues, hard rock, hip-hop, and electronica. Throughout the 14-song repertoire, a past and present reflection…

The Life of Art Tatum Author Taylor Jr. who goes by the name of Art Tatum is said to be the greatest jazz pianist of all time, known for his famous two-handed runs. Art was born in October 13, 1909 in Toledo, OH to pianist Mildred Hoskins and Guitarist Arthur Tatum Sr. Completely blind by cataracts in one eye and nearly blind in the other, Art played music by ear, mimicking the sounds he heard from other musicians such as Fats Waller. He played so well that by age three he was considered a…

Courtney Amon Jazz Band Mr. McCarthy 04/07/2017 A Master Jazz Trumpeter In the world of music, especially Jazz, we have heard of many great musicians over the years, such as Nat King Cole and Louie Armstrong, but there is one that I think stands above all especially when it comes to trumpeter’s. One does not usually need to look to far down a list of greats before they find this world class trumpeter, Chet Baker. Chet has had many accomplishments in the music world, but also has had…

Duke Ellington Duke Ellington was a famous jazz musician in the 1920s. He was the leader of a band and composed songs such as “Ko-Ko”, “It Don’t Mean a Thing if it Ain’t Got That Swing”, and “Cotton Tail”. The jazz he played was distinctive just like his band was. Ellington was more than just a musician, however. Many people thought he was an apolitical man, however this was untrue. Ellington, like most Americans, practiced his rights in politics. Duke Ellington spent his life focused on…

Duke Ellington (1899-1974) is known to many Americans as the leader of a swing-era dance band as well as a writer of pop tunes. Some musicians and jazz fans also know him as a major composer--arranger. In fact, there are musicologists and journalists who consider Ellington to be America's greatest composer, which puts him in a league with Charles Ives and Aaron Copland. Though many jazz fans think of Ellington as a pianist too, few scholars have examined how unique and original his approach to…

Introduction Angela Davis, the writer, scholar and activist, advocates for oppressed people of the world, mainly people of color. Angela Davis was born on January 26, 1944, in Birmingham, Alabama, and is recognized as an essential activist for social issues. Growing up in Alabama, she knew the four girls that were killed in the Birmingham church bombing of 1963; therefore, she experienced racial prejudice and discrimination firsthand. She studied philosophy at Brandeis University in…

The concert I decided to attend was on Thursday, March 31st, at 8pm in Kemp Recital Hall. The concert consisted of ISU Jazz Combos. Speficaly, there were two different combos, the Marko Combo and the Nolan Combo. Within the Marko Combo, the songs of Stablemates by Benny Golson, Desfinado by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Everybody wants to be a Cat by Robert and Richard Sherman, Ballade de Papillon by Jeff Arbisi, and One for Trane by Mickey Bass were played. The Marko Combo consisted of Kevin Buck and…

Angela Davis: An Autobiography Better known as a prominent figure in the Black Panther Party, Angela Davis is a well known radical leftist and a member of the Communist Party USA. She was a professor at UCLA, which then California Governor Ronald Regan urged the Board of Regents of the University of California to fire her for her Communist affiliations. However, she fought them in court and it was ruled the Regents could not fire Davis solely because of her affiliations with the Communist Party.…

In a music hall of Vienna, the pianist Friedrich Gulda performed Beethoven’s “Emperor” Concerto with his superb skills and receive lasting applause. After the concert, Gulda rushed to a nightclub and start to play the jazz, behaved like another person. Surprisingly, he played Beethoven’s masterpieces and intoxicated jazz music equally well. It made people wonder, how would that be by mixing jazz and classical music? In the article “Jazz, America’s Classical Music”, Dr. Billy Taylor introduces…

American Jazz sensation, Miles Dewey Davis III was born in Alton, Illinois, on May 26th 1926. The nine time Grammy winner is considered to be one of the top musicians of his era. He forever changed the style of jazz and history of music. Throughout his years in music, he has proven to be a universal musical genius that was able to stretch his style of sound for miles. Davis grew up in a middle class home with his parents, Miles Davis Jr. and Cleota Henry. His father was a successful oral…