Billy Higgins

Born: October 11, 1936

Billy Higgins was reportedly the most recorded jazz drummer in history, and certainly one of the most beloved. Higgins was one of the most musically sensitive jazz players around, with a light but active swing. His style did not draw attention to itself and could not be described by mannerisms; his musicianship simply raised the standard of every band he played in. Although he did release few records under his own name, Higgins was in great demand as a sideman, providing sensitive accompaniment in a variety of settings. Higgins was born in Los Angeles, on Oct. 11, 1936 and began playing drums at the age of 12

I Thought About You

By Louis Stewart

Label: Livia Records
Released: 2025
Track listing: I Thought About You; Litha; Smiling Billy; Unit 7; November Girl; Straight No Chaser; All Blues; November Girl - alt.

Ornette Coleman's and Horace Silver's "Lonely Woman" �� A Disambiguation

by Artur Moral
July 27, 2025

Reality is filled with confusion and misunderstandings; some are suggestive or creative, while others are disappointing or, worse, malicious. The jazz world is no stranger to the first type: specific compositions are often confused or misidentified as if they were the same. Usually, this happens because of similar melodies or titles that are sometimes identical. This ...

Louis Stewart: I Thought About You

by Ian Patterson
July 24, 2025

For jazz guitar fans, and for aficionados of Irish guitarist Louis Stewart in particular, the 2022 relaunch of '70s label Livia Records has been manna from heaven. This is the born-again label's fifth reissue of the great Dublin six-stringer's out-of-print recordings since the series launched with Stewart's other 1977 album Out on His Own (Livia Records, ...

Billy Higgins, Hank Jones, Benny Green & Carl Allen

by Joe Dimino
February 9, 2025

We launch the 892nd episode of Neon Jazz with a true jazz veteran--Carl Allen--who's back with his first album in decades. Tippin' (2025) marks his triumphant return, all while he continues shaping the next generation of jazz as the Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. This hour is packed with stories from ...

Gravity and Resurgence: The Many Dimensions of Dexter Gordon

by Arthur R George
February 6, 2025

Long Tall Dexter; swinger, bebopper, saxophone balladeer; acting the dissipated genius expatriate who was not unlike himself in the movie Round Midnight; his dressed-up persona “Society Red;" the laconic elder statesman of his later years. Dexter Gordon is all those things, but more than a kaleidoscope of caricatures. Those who trace their lineages through ...

Classic Bobby Hutcherson Blue Note Sessions 1963 �C 1970

By Bobby Hutcherson

Label: Mosaic Records
Released: 2024
Track listing:

Disc One:
The Kicker
1. If Ever I Would Leave You (A) 10:32
(A.J. Lerner-F. Lowe)
2. Mirrors (A) 6:51
(Joe Chambers)
3. For Duke P.(A) 7:53
(Bobby Hutcherson)
4. The Kicker (A) 6:05
(Joe Henderson)
5. Step Lightly (A) 14:17
(Joe Henderson)
6. Bedouin (A) 8:11
(Duke Pearson)
Dialogue
7. Catta (B) 7:15
(Andrew Hill)
8. Idle While (B) 6:35)
(Joe Chambers)
9. Les Noirs Marchant (B) 6:35
(Andrew Hill)

Disc Two:
1. Dialogue (B) 9:58
(Joe Chambers)
2. Ghetto Lights (B) 6:12
(Andrew Hill)
3. Jasper (B) 8:27
(Andrew Hill)
Components
4. Components (C) 6:23
(Bobby Hutcherson)
5. Tranquility (C) 5:01
(Bobby Hutcherson)
6. Little B��s Poem (C) 5:08
(Bobby Hutcherson)
7. West 22nd Street Theme (C) 4:42
(Bobby Hutcherson)
8. Movement (C) 7:29
(Joe Chambers)
9. Juba Dance (C) 5:21
(Joe Chambers)
10. Air (C) 4:45
(Joe Chambers)
11. Pastoral (C) 2:02
(Joe Chambers)
12. West 22nd Street Theme (alt tk) (C) 5:42
(Bobby Hutcherson)

Disc Three
Happenings
1. Aquarian Moon (D) 7:50
(Bobby Hutcherson)
2. Bouquet (D) 8:00
(Bobby Hutcherson)
3. Rojo (D) 6:00
(Bobby Hutcherson)
4. Maiden Voyage (D) 5:45
(Herbie Hancock)
5. Head Start (D) 5:15
(Bobby Hutcherson)
6. When You Are Near (D) 3:50
(Bobby Hutcherson)
7. The Omen (D) 7:00
(Bobby Hutcherson)
8. Aquarian Moon (alt tk) (D) 10:28
(Bobby Hutcherson)
9. Bouquet (alt tk) (D) 8:15
(Bobby Hutcherson)
10. Rojo (alt tk) (D) 6:49
(Bobby Hutcherson)

Disc Four
Stick-Up!
1. Una Muy Bonita (E) 6:24
(Ornette Coleman)
2. 8/4 Beat (E) 6:56
(Bobby Hutcherson)
3. Summer Nights (E) 6:55
(Bobby Hutcherson)
4. Black Circle (E) 6:54
(Bobby Hutcherson)
5. Verse (E) 9:29
(Bobby Hutcherson)
6. Blues Mind Matter (E) 3:31
(Bobby Hutcherson)
7. Una Muy Bonita (alt tk) (E) 6:09
(Ornette Coleman)
8. Black Circle (alt tk) (E) 7:30
(Bobby Hutcherson)
9. Verse (alt tk) (E) 8:02
(Bobby Hutcherson)
Oblique
10. Subtle Neptune (F) 8:33
(Bobby Hutcherson)

Disc Five
1. ��Til Then (F) 4:44
(Bobby Hutcherson)
2. My Joy (F) 7:11
(Bobby Hutcherson)
3. Theme From ��Blow Up�� (F) 8:16
(Herbie Hancock)
4. Oblique (F) 7:20
(Joe Chambers)
5. Bi-sectional (F) 5:07
(Joe Chambers)
Patterns
6. Effi (G) 7:07
(Stanley Cowell)
7. Irina (G) 7:20
(Joe Chambers
8. Nocturnal (G) 4:12
(Joe Chambers)
9. Patterns (G) 5:54
(Joe Chambers)
10. A Time To Go (G) 5:44
(James Spaulding)
11. Ankara (G) 6:24
(Joe Chambers)
12. Patterns (alt tk) (G) 6:00
(Joe Chambers)

Disc Six
Total Eclipse
1. Herzog (H) 6:32
(Bobby Hutcherson)
2. Total Eclipse (H) 8:52
(Bobby Hutcherson)
3. Matrix (H) 6:45
(Chick Corea)
4. Same Shame (H) 9:25
(Bobby Hutcherson)
5. Pompeian (H) 8:50
(Bobby Hutcherson)
Spiral
6. Ruth (I) 7:50
(Joe Chambers)
7. The Wedding March (I) 3:52
(Stanley Cowell)
8. Poor People��s March (I) 6:15
(Harold Land)
9. Spiral (I) 6:13
(Joe Chambers)
10. Visions (I) 3:49
(Bobby Hutcherson)
11. Photon In A Paper World (I) 6:49
(Stanley Cowell)
Medina
12. Comes Spring (J) 3:20
(Bobby Hutcherson)

Disc Seven
1. Avis (J) 6:41
(Bobby Hutcherson)
2. Dave��s Chant (J) 5:16
(Stanley Cowell)
3. Orientale (J) 5:51
(Stanley Cowell)
4. Medina (J) 10:55
(Joe Chambers)
5. Ungano (J) 8:02
(Joe Chambers)
San Francisco
6. Goin�� Down South (K) 7:01
(Joe Sample)
7. Prints Tie (K) 7:22
(Bobby Hutcherson)
8. Jazz (K) 5:21
(Joe Sample)
9. Ummh (K) 7:42
(Bobby Hutcherson)
10. Procession (K) 5:40
(Bobby Hutcherson)
11. A Night In Barcelona (K) 7:20
(Harold Land)

Free Jazz to Ornette! Revisited

By Ornette Coleman

Label: Ezz-thetics
Released: 2024
Track listing: Free Jazz; W.R.U.; T. & T.: C. & D.: R.P.D.D.

Marco Pennisi: la Red Records di oggi

by Libero Farn��
December 9, 2024

La foto riportata qui sopra, scattata da Curti Parini, �� emblematica perch�� rappresenta il passato e il presente della Red Records, storica casa discografica milanese che dal 2021 ha ripreso quota, incrementando le sue mirate edizioni. Da sinistra possiamo distinguere Tommaso Belletti (digitale e promozione), Cem Cansu (store manager), l'attuale produttore e responsabile Marco Pennisi, Sergio ...

Cedar Walton One Flight Down

by Thomas Conrad
September 1, 2024

They are thinning out: the ranks of pianists who can trace their lineage directly back to primary sources like J.J. Johnson, the early Jazz Messengers of Art Blakey, and the Jazztet of Art Farmer and Benny Golson. In the last few years, we have lost Tommy Flanagan, Mal Waldron, Roland Hanna, Dodo Marmarosa, Russ Freeman, Frank ...