Here's an album off the beaten trail that I find myself frequently grabbing on Sunday mornings, an album perfect lazy days. Listen closely enough and you can hear the pancakes sizzling on the griddle. Now I'm making myself hungry... Every April and May, I engage in some musical silliness on my humble blog where I [...]
It's been a while, I know. Three whole entire months with nada. I and the entire Raggy Waltz staff apologize for this AWOL, and will attempt to do better going forward. Ok, I feel better now. ANYwho... Today is International Women's Day (or it was when I started writing this), and as such, it gives [...]
It's February, which means it's Black History Month (at least here in the United States), a time where we spend 28 (29 this year!!!) days to think about the life and times of black Americans. Here at Raggy Waltz, we use the month of February to highlight albums by black men and women as well [...]
I've given up on trying to do series and themes. Whenever I try, I get into an artist or a type of music and that's that. So from now on, I'm just writing about whatever I happen to be feeling at the time, and right now I'm feeling piano trios. Specifically, I've been digging Billy [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Over here in the United States, the month of February is Black History Month. The month of February is also the shortest month of the year. As a result of both of these facts, the staff of Raggy Waltz decided to celebrate Black History Month by spotlighting jazz albums made by black artists. Beginning now. [...]
Look out world. After having written a post about an original Blue Note album, here comes my first post about an original Prestige album. Mama I made it. The Music The Tune: "Airegin" Recorded: 29 June, 1954 in Hackensack, NJ Personnel: Miles Davis- Trumpet Sonny Rollins- Tenor Sax Horace Silver- Piano Percy Heath- Bass Kenny [...]
Another Clifford Brown album? There's a method to my madness. The method? Jazz is connected! Continuing with the theme of 'arranger jazz', here's another album that features a small group of musicians playing material specially written and arranged for them, this time featuring an arranger that has been making headlines recently. To the music! The [...]
It's A Raggy Waltz 