On Saturday, August 29, the jazz world celebrates the 100th birth date of Charlie “Bird” Parker. The 100th centennial is no ordinary celebration. Parker is a revered figure whose short-lived life carved a lasting stone of innovation in music. His impact continues to influence venerable and budding jazz artists alike more than sixty-five years after […]
The most iconic group photograph in the history of jazz, entitled “A Great Day in Harlem” was taken on August 12, 1958, in front of a brownstone at 17 East 126th St. The photographer was Art Kane who was on assignment from Esquire Magazine. The image was to become the centerpiece of the January 1959 […]
“Freddy Cole? He’s the tops, mate! The very tops!” When I first learned of the passing of vocalist/pianist Freddy Cole on Sunday at the age of 88, this quote immediately popped into my head, as it did over the past nearly three decades whenever I saw Freddy’s name or heard him sing. With Cole’s passing, […]
The 2019 documentary about the life of the iconic Ella Fitzgerald has made its way to the United States and to the WNY region. Ella: Just One of Those Things is available virtually through an arrangement with The Screening Room and its virtual cinema. The film is directed by Leslie Woodhead and produced by Reggie […]
Jazz pianist and vocalist Freddy Cole has died at the age of 88. Born in 1931 in Chicago, he called Atlanta home for the last 48 years. Cole passed on the evening of June 27, 2020. Freddy Cole was the younger brother of his famous sibling, Nat King Cole. He was the youngest of five children, 12 […]
(Photo Credit: Christopher Anderson / Magnum) “The main thing is do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” the saxophonist Sonny Rollins says. “Sure, everybody knows it, but nobody lives by it.” At the age of eighty-nine, the legendary Sonny Rollins still packs a punch with insightful commentary. Rollins has lived through […]
The NPR program, Jazz Night in America, recently produced an excellent 9-minute video, narrated by jazz artist Christian McBride, that provides an exposé on the infamous use of the cabaret card. The cabaret card was issued by the New York City Police Department from 1940 to 1967. The cabaret law was a requirement that all […]
The Fadale family has been a part of the Greater Buffalo region’s jazz scene for the better part of nearly seven decades. Including Bud Fadale who has appeared often throughout the past few decades as one of the area’s finest jazz bassists. Throughout these decades, the family has often been cited as “Buffalo’s First Family […]
Bruce Eaton Shares What Social Distancing Was Like Before The Pandemic While for most folks the guidelines for dealing with the current pandemic might take a bit of getting used to (or even seem draconian), for me they’re all old hat. In 2014 I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma (bone marrow cancer) and what followed […]
The iconic PBS show, American Masters, will present the premiere broadcast of Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, a documentary on the life of jazz legend Miles Davis. Scheduled for 9 pm ET on Tuesday, February 25 on most PBS stations across the nation. The film by the widely-acclaimed documentarian Stanley Nelson is being aired in […]
