The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid Gribetz

4d ago

Celebrating the Centennial of Dexter Gordon on February 27, 2023, WKCR presented a marathon broadcast. From my segment, here’s a detailed survey of Dexter’s early work in the 1940s. About 115 minutes, bookended for casual listening by a potpourri of some 1970s recordings upon his magical return to the US.

Dec 5

Miles Davis is one of the “superstars” of jazz, a dynamic trumpet master renowned throughout the world for many varied achievements during his decades long career. For this radio program, I isolated a lesser remembered period, to put a sharp focus on his activity during the years 1953 and 1954. Miles Davis was born in Alton, Illinois May 26, 1926. A teenage wunderkind, he arrived in New York in 1945 to play with Charlie Parker and join in forging the nascent bebop movement of modern jazz. By the late 1940's he was working on further innovations such as his creative arrangements for nonet orchestras, later named “The Birth Of The Cool”. In 1949, he was famous enough to be one of the headliners of the International Jazz Festival in Paris, a significant event returning American jazz to Europe in the postwar renewal of the continent. In the legend and lore of Miles’s career, he had a triumphant “comeback” at the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival. This was to be followed soon by major landmarks we all know – the quintet including Red Garland and John Coltrane, Gil Evans orchestras, Kind Of Blue, the 1960's groups with Wayne Shorter, and all the further milestones until his death in 1991. So then, what happened after 1949 that Miles needed a comeback? First, he succumbed to the demons hovering around the jazz world of the time and suffered the scourge of heroin addiction. However, the ravages of his drug use were not so great that it prevented him from performing, and he continued to tour the country and make records with different groups. During this time Miles was in a period not just of personal self-doubt and struggle, but also of re-assessment of his musical conceptions and trumpet tones. By some time in 1953 he had finally beaten the drug addiction, and with recuperation came renewed strength and consolidation of skills. Jazz itself was also going through a period of re-assessment in the early 1950's, on the one hand searching for avenues to take the be-bop breakthroughs to whatever next levels would come, but on the other hand popular musical tastes were changing and rhythm and blues also on the rise. So this is where we find Miles Davis in the early 1950's. He had signed with the young independent jazz label Prestige and starting in 1951 made dozens of records in the 15 or 20 dates he had with them. At first not an exclusive deal, he also had three sessions for Blue Note. Most of these recordings were not by regular working “groups” but amalgamations of those with whom he played regularly – saxophonists such as Sonny Rollins, Jackie McLean and Jimmy Heath, trombonist JJ Johnson, pianists Horace Silver and John Lewis, and drummers Art Blakey and Kenny Clarke, to name a few. These records might also not be as well known in his oeuvre, but they do include some that should be considered classics. Perhaps another reason for their lack of lasting fame is that this was a period when record companies were in the transition to the long playing era, and these discs were originally issued as 78s, 45 EPs, 10" LPs, and other soon to be esoteric formats, and only later reissued in ersatz album groupings. Accordingly, they could not be so coherently known with common monikers so as to fit in a Davis “canon”. With these factors in mind, this program features the years 1953 and 1954, with records such as Kelo and Tempus Fugit, When Lights Are Low and Tune Up, his definitive cool version of Old Devil Moon, the extended performance on Walkin’, and concluding with the legendary tempestuous date with Thelonious Monk, Milt Jackson and the Modern Jazz Giants on Christmas Eve 1954. These 1953-4 records are glorious on their own merit and just as impressive as other Miles Davis offerings. As some have said upon reflection, one might think that the critics who had called 1955 a “comeback” were the ones who had been away, and not Miles. And these recordings are key to study as a preface to the next level that Miles and other jazz artists took the music in the late 1950's. As Dick Katz perceptively wrote about the musicians on Walkin’: “To me they represent a sort of summing up of what had happened musically during the preceding ten years. It’s as if they all agreed to get together to discuss on their instruments what they had learned and unlearned, what elements of bop they had retained or discarded”. originally broadcast December 22, 2019

Nov 30

We celebrate the centennial of Gigi Gryce (Basheer Qusim). Gryce became a leading figure in his brief career in the 1950s. as a saxophonist, composer, arranger, music publisher, and teacher and mentor to many musicians. Gryce was born November 28, 1925 in Pensacola, Florida. His parents owned a clothes cleaning business, but his father died when he was seven. In the midst of the Great Depression, the family lost the business, and his mother raised a large brood of children as a single mother. But there was always music in the home with his various siblings, and Gigi also had a strong high school music education. Drafted into the Navy during World War II, thankfully someone noticed his musical talent. He was eventually assigned to military bands, notably at the Great Lakes Training Station. Discharged from the service after the war, Gryce moved to New England and had serious classical music conservatory training in Hartford and Boston. But upon graduating the conservatory, he moved to New York City and began an intensive career in our jazz fellowship. Gryce had a personal sound on the alto sax, and an organizational ability that had him successfully leading his own bands and consulting with many others in leading theirs. He made some remarkable recordings in his own bands, a group with Art Farmer, and the “Jazz Lab” that he co-led with Donald Byrd. He appeared as a musician and arranger, sometimes both roles at once, in significant projects of the greats such as Clifford Brown, Thelonious Monk, Oscar Pettiford, Max Roach, Dizzy Gillespie, Teddy Charles, Thad Jones, and Benny Golson, to name a few. Gryce composed more than 60 songs, most of which have remained components of our modern jazz repertory to this very day – examples are Minority, Hymn To The Orient, Nica’s Tempo, Reminiscing, Reunion, Social Call, Wildwood, and there are many more. Distressed by the harsh economic realities of the music business and personal issues in the breakup of his family life, Gryce left jazz in the early 1960s. He began a second career as a schoolteacher in New York City Public Schools. He studied for a doctorate in Education at Fordham University, and eventually settled in as a leading educator at PS 53 in the South Bronx. Living under his Muslim name and otherwise drawing no attention to his prior musical life, Qusim became a beloved youth leader in the community. He died in 1983. Upon his passing the school was named for him, and still stands on East 168th Street. originally broadcast November 23, 2025

Nov 24

WKCR presents an annual marathon broadcast celebrating the Coleman Hawkins birthday on November 21. From the 2025 edition here are segments from my contribution -- 60 minutes of a potpourri of Hawkins favorites, followed by a 105 minute survey of his recordings from the period 1945-1949.

Nov 14

Five hours of Harold Arlen. This program is one in my occasional series examining the impact of the legendary composers on the jazz repertory, as some of the best in jazz derives from its interpretations of the great American popular songbook, . Harold Arlen was born in 1905 in Buffalo, New York, the son of an orthodox cantor. He began his musical career singing Jewish melodies with his father in the synagogue. Smitten with popular music as a rebellious teenager in the Roaring Twenties, Arlen dropped out of school and began a career as a touring pianist and vocalist in Jazz Age combos. After arriving in New York City, by the early 1930’s he secured work as the arranger for the house band and dancers at the Cotton Club, and he also played blues and jazz piano in small Harlem saloons. Only at this point did Arlen turn his attention to a career composing popular songs for the Broadway stage and Hollywood film musicals. Synthesizing the influences of this varied background, Arlen’s songs are informed by a yearning, spiritual quality, and his musical modes are especially suited for jazz interpretation. Often overshadowed in history by Kern, Gershwin, Rodgers, and the like, nonetheless Arlen is on a par with these giants and his legacy should bear a similar stature. Just a brief sample listing of his songs includes perennials such as Stormy Weather, I’ve Got The World On A String, It’s Only A Paper Moon, That Old Black Magic, One For My Baby, Blues In The Night, and Come Rain Or Come Shine. Not to mention the score for The Wizard Of Oz. This program presents jazz versions of Arlen’s songs featuring many instrumental improvisations by the greats Louis Armstrong, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and John Coltrane, among others, and less famous recordings as well. With a nod to his lyricists Ted Koehler, Yip Harburg and Johnny Mercer, we sprinkle in some vocal versions by Tony Bennett, Dinah Washington, and more. originally broadcast June 17, 2018

Nov 9

When McCoy Tyner passed away in March 2020, WKCR responded, as we often do, by pre-empting regular programming to present a memorial tribute, celebrating the legacy with a marathon broadcast of the artist’s music. Here’s segments of my contribution, first about 60 minutes of piano trio recordings, and then a presentation of more than an hour sampling his collaborations in groups with John Coltrane.

Oct 27

Here’s five hours on blues and jazz singer and pianist Charles Brown. Charles Brown was born September 13, probably 1920 (usually listed 1922), on the gulf coast of Texas and raised by his educated and religious grandparents. He played piano and sang in church, and excelled as a science student. His high school chemistry teacher, who also moonlighted as a musician, took Charles under his wing, and had Charles play piano with his dance band. Brown had academic aspirations and attended Prairie View College. After graduation, Brown worked as a research chemist, eventually in government service for the war. When it was time to actually go in to the armed forces Charles was 4-F for a childhood illness. Instead, he left the science field, and the segregated South Brown decided to try his hand as an entertainer and moved to southern California. The army’s loss was our gain, as Charles blossomed in his musical career. But, in effect, he still contributed to the war effort. During World War II there was a great migration of African-Americans to California, both in the workforce of industrial factories, and servicemen stationed while awaiting shipment to the Pacific. A burgeoning black entertainment scene developed in California to entertain this swelling community. Brown’s first major engagement was at Ivie Anderson’s Chicken Shack in Los Angeles. Soon he teamed up with guitarist Johnny Moore, and they formed a trio emulating Nat King Cole’s group. (Johnny Moore’s brother Oscar was the guitarist with Cole.) Their “Three Blazers” took the elegant sound of the Nat King Cole trio and infused it with a grittier aspect. At the same time, Brown’s mellow vocal style, influenced by idols like Pha Terrell, offered a refined side of blues singing that struck a responsive chord with popular listeners. Charles Brown and Moore’s Three Blazers had monster hits such as “Driftin’ Blues” and “Merry Christmas Baby” in the postwar period. Eventually leaving the group, Brown had continued success as a single for a number of years but drifted in to obscurity. He left a string of now forgotten hit records, but a direct influence acknowledged by singers from Ray Charles onward. In the 1980's Brown was “re-discovered”, becoming a popular attraction at the famous New York nightclub Tramps, featured on an acclaimed PBS documentary, releasing a breakthrough 1986 jazz album “One More For The Road”, and taken on tour by artists like Bonnie Raitt to be exposed to a younger generation. With a base in northern California, and guitarist Danny Caron as musical director with a sympathetic style, Brown had great success once again touring the world and making many fine jazz records for the Muse and Verve labels, until his death in 1999. We will explore Brown’s tasty, often overlooked, jazz piano playing, and his great blues and ballad singing, sampling the recordings from across his career during this five hour radio broadcast. originally broadcast March 1, 2015

Oct 20

Five hours on piano legend Dodo Marmarosa! Michael Marmarosa was born on December 12, 1925 to a working class Italian immigrant family in Pittsburgh. Dodo was a childhood nickname, and he began taking serious classical music lessons as a young child. He also befriended slightly older Steel City jazz pianists such as Billy Strayhorn, and especially Erroll Garner. With Garner and other young musicians, he explored their developing mutual jazz interests. As a teenager during the World War II years, Marmarosa had opportunities to begin a professional career performing in popular swing era big bands, eventually gaining recognition with Gene Krupa, Charlie Barnet, and Tommy Dorsey. He had a significant stay with Artie Shaw. When Shaw disbanded in California in 1945, Marmarosa remained in Los Angeles. Establishing himself there, he was “present at the creation” to became THE pianist in the formative years of bebop on the West Coast. Dodo not only “played with” all the greats, but he appears on classic, major, historic recordings of Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Artie Shaw’s Gramercy Five, Lucky Thompson, and Norman Granz “The Jazz Scene”. Marmarosa also delighted in the playground of Slim Gaillard, joining in the fun but also providing luscious piano counterpoint to the jive on many of his records. Marmarosa returned to his native Pittsburgh by 1950, settled down domestically, and played the piano in local clubs and restaurants, away from the national limelight. He never made any more records, other than three isolated, stunning sessions for Argo in Chicago in 1961 & 1962 (only one of which was released at the time). He had retired from professional music by the mid-1970's, but lived quietly until 2002, when he died at the age of 76. Dodo’s piano style is lively and tasty, informed from his swing era beginnings, while his harmonic sense also demonstrates the Romantic classical music roots, as well as the jazz modernism of his time. He is a neglected and overlooked figure in the scope of jazz history, but his piano recordings are daring and fresh, and will surprise and enthrall you. originally broadcast October 12, 2025