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"No great poet has ever been afraid of being himself" -Langston Hughes

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Don’t count, feel! The only count I know, is Count Basie!

Dawn Hampton (via tumbition)

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Louis Armstrong performs "Dinah".  Resistant, Elegant and unmistakably American. 

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A transcription of the entire interview with critic Stanley Crouch that took place on July 1, 1997. The interview was conducted by Ken Burns who used a lot of it for his documentary jazz. The Interview is very detailed (it's 60 pages long). Crouch has some interesting points and opinions. 

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Insightful essay. Hughes addresses the impact of racism and oppression and it's relationship to black identity. 

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"Popular culture tells you that schools and parents don't know what's going on, the police are dogs, politicians are all liars and scum, and any crime that's not committed by the Mafia is done by the CIA." -Stanley Crouch

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A great documentary about Jazz Pianist Thelonious Monk. The documentary mostly consists of footage of Monk performing. There is also Archival footage of him touring and commentary from the musicians and people closest to him.

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Thelonious Monk performing the beautiful ballad "Pannonica" in solo piano from the album "Alone in San Francisco.  

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Lee Morgan & Art Blakey

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“One of the reasons I believe in jazz is that the oneness of man can come through the rhythm of your heart. It’s the same anyplace in the world, that heartbeat. It’s the first thing you hear when you’re born — or before you’re born — and it’s the last thing you hear.”

Rest in peace, Dave Brubeck. You’re a legend. Thank you for your legacy and the gift of your sound. (via bijoubaby)

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“It’s like a whole orchestra, the piano for me.”

Rest in peace, Dave Brubeck | December 6, 1920 — December 5, 2012

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Coming to you live with the third piece from the 2001 collaboration between the New York Philharmonic and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (and arguably the best known tune from the play) here’s Tchaikovsky’s “Trepak” and Ellington’s “The Volga Vouty” Enjoy! 

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This evening’s audio selection is a special one considering that I have only recently discovered where this tune comes from. Greensleeves, in its original form, wasn’t a Christmas carol as the lyrics center around a mysterious Lady Green Sleeves who was either a prostitute or a woman in costume with a firm hand on moral, upstanding behavior. The song’s melody appears in over half a dozen English folk songs published between 1580 and 1584 all of which bear titles referencing a “Lady Green Sleeves”. It wasn’t until 1865 when William Chatterton Dix, an English songwriter, wrote the lyrics for “What Child Is This?” to Greensleeves melody that the tune because associated with Christmas.

The recording I have for you here is even more interesting, because not only is the song not actually a Christmas carol, this version by John Coltrane wasn’t released on a Holiday themed album. Africa/Brass was Coltrane’s first album released under the Impulse! label, featuring a total of 21 musicians performing tunes arranged by Eric Dolphy and McCoy Tyner.  This version of Greensleeves is a live performance at the Village Vanguard, recorded by and released on Impulse! in November of the same year (Africa/Brass was released in June) and features Coltrane, Tyner (piano), Elvin Jones (drums), Reggie Workman (bass), all of whom were on the Africa/Bass session.  

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Workin’ With The Miles Davis Quintet

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John Scofield Trio in "How Deep Is The Ocean". Live at the blue note.

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“I Know I Have Met You, Grandpa”

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Max Kaminsky on trumpet, Lester Young on tenor saxophone, a nearly-hidden George Wettling on drums, Hot Lips Page on trumpet,Charlie Parker on alto saxophone, Lennie Tristano on piano at the original Birdland (NYC) in 1949.

Credit: Bettman/Corbis archives.