Here's the record that caused me to re-examine why I buy jazz records. Here's the record that re-sparked my excitement and love towards records. And at the end of the day, here's an album that has some fantastic music on it. The Music The Tune: "Poinciana"Recorded: 16 January, 1958 at the Pershing Hotel, Chicago, ILPersonnel: [...]
There's a ton of jazz albums with titles like '____Plays Cole Porter', or '____ Does The Gershwin Songbook'. How many albums are dedicated to jazz musicians NOT named Duke Ellington? Not many. How many are dedicated to Horace Silver? Like two. This album is one of those two. The Music The Tune: "Moon Ray"Recorded: 17 [...]
I was back in Southern California for another wedding, and of course I had to hit up the local record store again. It was extremely productive the last time I was there, so a return trip was necessary. I ended up grabbing a lot of records, only to discover an unpriced stack of 10-inch albums [...]
It's Tuesday, I have a rare day off, but I have a full week and some change of long days and short nights ahead. I'm pre-exhausted. When I'm pre-exhausted, there's nothing better than slipping into an easy chair, putting on a soothing record, and letting the music give me a back rub. As of late, [...]
Here at Raggy Waltz headquarters, we love creating new blog series. Enter this new series, entitled 'Record Storing'. "What's it about, and what the heck is 'record storing'?" you ask? Good question. Quite simply, it's about me going to record stores, the subsequent albums I take home, and my thought process that takes place between [...]
What is it about the color blue that is so expressive, so hip, so cool? Rhapsody in Blue. Kind of Blue. Blue Trane. True Blue. And then there's Midnight Blue. The Music The Tune: "Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You"Recorded: 8 January, 1963 at Englewood Cliffs, NJPersonnel: Kenny Burrell - GuitarMajor Holly - BassBill [...]
*Disclaimer: This is not -I repeat NOT- an authoritative piece of writing, nor is it personal exposition passed off of as the gospel. What follows is exactly what the rather academic-sounding title says: my personal thoughts on an interesting aspect of collecting jazz on vinyl! Last week while in the Motherland of Southern California, I [...]
I mean, if I'm doing a Black History Month tribute, I can't NOT feature an album from the illustrious Blue Note label, can I? The answer, of course, is no. Hail no. And as a trumpeter myself, of course I had to profile one of my favorite trumpeters of all time. Enough chit chat; to [...]
Rolling right along in my celebration of Black History Month, here's an album featuring a rare type of jazz artist- a female who strictly plays and doesn't sing. Of course, there's also a bit of intrigue behind the album as well. To the music! The Music The Tune: "Hip Soul"Recorded: 2 June, 1961 at Van [...]
It's February 1st, which is the beginning of Black History Month here in the States. At the Raggy Waltz offices, we're celebrating Black History Month by highlighting albums made by black artists. To kick off the official start of February, here's quite possibly the most unpretentiously black album I own. With that, to the music! [...]
