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Hank Crawford: Help Me Make It Through The Night
by Arnaldo DeSouteiro
One of the first artists signed by Creed Taylor for CTI's subsidiary Kudu label, Hank Crawford suffered violent criticism during the period (1971-1978) he recorded ?for the label, being accused of making mellow and commercial albums. On the other hand, Hank achieved a new level of popularity during his CTI/Kudu years. Some of the eight albums he cut for the label sold over 100,000 copies with almost no promotion. And his Kudu debut, Help Me Make It Through The Night, ...
Continue ReadingCelebrating Don Sebesky, Part 1
by Dan McClenaghan
The passing of composer/arranger Don Sebesky in April 2023, invites a revisitation of his artistry. A Manhattan School of Music-trained trombonist, Sebesky played in the big bands of Kai Winding, Claude Thornhill, Tommy Dorsey and Maynard Ferguson. But by 1960, he found that his true passion was arranging and conducting. For this, he was nominated for 31 Grammy Awards. He won three of them. Though he received praise and accolades for his work, he was also the target ...
Continue ReadingRodrigo Lima: Saga
by Chris M. Slawecki
“I fell in love with the jazz guitar--all kinds of jazz guitarists, from Jim Hall to Pat Metheny to Luis Bonfá, by listening to their records," explains Brazilian composer, arranger, bandleader and guitarist Rodrigo Lima. Saga luxuriously extends this jazz guitar love affair across the American and Brazilian continents--it was recorded in New York, Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro and Curitiba--and across the two CDs of Lima's utterly magnificent recorded debut. Producer Arnaldo DeSouteiro elegantly ...
Continue ReadingDon Sebesky: Giant Box
by Dan Bilawsky
It's a bit bizarre to find an album called Giant Box in a small cardboard case, or as a download lacking physical form, but times change. When Don Sebesky's grand musical statement on CTI hit the marketplace in 1973, it came in a classical-type record box, befitting the stature of the music. Opinions vary as to whether Sebesky can be said to have been a savior of jazz in the '70s, or a jazz Judas who helped ...
Continue ReadingJim Hall: Concierto
by John Kelman
Amongst the many CTI classics of the 1970s, few stand the test of time as well as guitarist Jim Hall's Concierto, an ambitious album that, in its original form, married one side of modern mainstream with a second taken up by a 19-minute version of Joaquin Rodrigo's 1939 piece for classical guitar and orchestra, “Concierto de Aranjuez." That Miles Davis and Gil Evans had already delivered what was considered the definitive jazz adaptation on the trumpeter's 1960 classic, Sketches of ...
Continue ReadingDon Sebesky: Joyful Noise
by David Adler
Duke Ellington tribute records there have been by the dozen, but this one surely stands out as among the best. Big band arranger Don Sebesky brought together the cream of the crop: trombonist Bob Brookmeyer, trumpeter Tom Harrell, altoist Phil Woods, pianist Jim McNeely, guitarist John Pizzarelli, bassists Dennis Irwin and Ron Carter, and other fine soloists and section men. All these stellar players are in top form. It’s especially nice to hear Woods and Harrell together again — Harrell ...
Continue ReadingDon Sebesky: Joyful Noise - A Tribute To Duke Ellington
by Jack Bowers
Joyful? Absolutely. Noise? Not on your bass drum, compadre.If it has taught us nothing else, the “Year of Ellington” now drawing to its close has shown that there are an almost infinite number of ways in which to enter and throw light upon the Duke’s abundant storehouse of enduring musical treasures. Don Sebesky has chosen the big–band route — the one most favored by the maestro himself — to stylishly renovate half a dozen opulent melodies by Ellington ...
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