Happy Cal Tjader Day! Naturally, for Cal's birthday I had to come out of hibernation and do something for the great Californian jazz musician. Lately, I've been spinning a Tjader record that I grabbed during my last trip to California, fittingly enough. It's got groovy music and cover art to match. Here comes Cal, and [...]
Today marks the official beginning of the summer season, and what a beautiful, sunny day it is here in north Alabama. To celebrate the start of summer, I thought it'd be fun to spotlight some of my favorite records with a summer vibe. Since I kinda really hate the song "Summertime" (sorry not sorry Gershwin), [...]
If there's one thing Raggy Waltz enjoys more than anything, it's starting a series. If there's one thing that Raggy Waltz enjoys more than starting series, it's abandoning a series soon after it began. In a remarkable example of both, a series was developed and thought up, but then just as I began to really [...]
Periodically, I'm really into a particular artist and their music. A few months ago it was Shirley Scott (actually, it's still Shirley Scott). Before that, it was Cannonball Adderley. Now? Back to Cannonball. I don't have many of his albums, but the few that I do have are spending much of their time these days [...]
As a hobby, record collecting can be a relatively tame endeavor. Yes, there's the excitement of finally finding an album that you've always wanted, or finding something rare in the wild, and it's always interesting to see what's new in the stores. These are relatively isolated and spread out events, though, and aren't the norm. [...]
Revising a silly series I started two years ago, here's an album from an unlikely source that has some rather fantastic and refreshing music on it, music that's perfect for the last day of April, or the first day of May depending on where in the world you are. To the music! The Music The [...]
The leaves are back on the trees, the sun is finally working again, and birds are building nests once again. Spring has sprang! I mean sprung. But also sprang. Keep reading to understand what I'm talking about. To the music! The Music The Tune: "Bijou"Recorded: 1955Personnel: Ralph Burns- PianoJimmy Raney- GuitarClyde Lombardi- BassOsie Johnson- Drums [...]
This is a special post for a couple of reasons. First, it's Horace Silver. Any Horace Silver album is special. The other reason? Keep on reading. To the music! The Music The Tune: "Gregory Is Here"Recorded: 10 November, 1972 at Englewood Cliffs, NJPersonnel: Randy Brecker- Trumpet & FluglehornMichael Brecker- Tenor SaxHorace Silver- PianoBob Cranshaw- Electric [...]
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 [...]
It's A Raggy Waltz 