Don Menza

Born: April 22, 1936

Don Menza is a powerful tenor saxophonist who, although able to effectively imitate most of the top stylists (from Coleman Hawkins to John Coltrane), has a distinctive sound of his own. Menza started playing tenor when he was 13. After getting out of the Army, he was with Maynard Ferguson's Orchestra (1960-1962) as both a soloist and an arranger. A short stint with Stan Kenton and a year leading a quintet in Buffalo preceded a period living in Germany (1964-1968). After returning to the U.S., he was with Buddy Rich's big band in 1968, recording a famous solo on "Channel One Suite" that utilized circular breathing and was quite classic. He settled in California and has worked with Elvin Jones (1969), Louie Bellson, as an educator, and in the studios

Scrolling Down the Leaderboard

by Monk Rowe
October 5, 2024

OSU Jazz Orchestra: Angular Tuesday

by Jack Bowers
May 9, 2024

The splendid Oklahoma State University Jazz Orchestra seldom pauses for breath on Angular Tuesday, its third album under director Tommy Poole. The ensemble enters as though shot from a cannon on Don Menza's frenzied “Time Check," and keeps on swinging and swaying through a lively program that encompasses sunlit compositions by Maria Schneider, Bob Mintzer, Thad ...

Tim Lin: Empathy

by Jack Bowers
July 2, 2023

Saxophonist Tim Lin, still fresh enough on the scene to be described as a “young lion," tips his horn to a number of his mentors on Empathy, his second album as a leader, following 2021's Romance on Formosa. As on that earlier album, Lin, a first generation Taiwanese-American (from Fremont, CA), has chosen a charming blend ...

Groove Town: Buffalo Jazz And Its Legacy - Historical Insights

by Barbara Ina Frenz
April 5, 2022

From early on, Buffalo attracted musicians as a place to live and pursue their artistic endeavors—and they were excellent ones: Lil Hardin Armstrong, Jimmie Lunceford, Pete Johnson, and Stuff Smith. Dodo Greene, two masters of polyrhythm, Frankie Dunlop and Clarence Becton, as well as pianist and bassist Wade Legge grew up here. Two distinctive voices on ...

Chad Lefkowitz-Brown: Quartet Sessions

by Jack Bowers
March 24, 2021

The Quartet Sessions (there are two of them) mark the eighth recording as leader by New York-based tenor saxophonist Chad Lefkowitz-Brown, an heir-apparent to an acclaimed dynasty of hard-boppers whose monarchs include Dexter Gordon, Wardell Gray, Gene Ammons, Charlie Rouse, Hank Mobley, Sonny Rollins and their peers, and embraces such contemporaries as Eric Alexander, Don Menza ...

OceanFirst Bank Jazz @ the Point 2018 Festival brings the best of jazz to South Jersey: Thursday, October 11 through Sunday, October 14. Get your all access pass!

October 5, 2018

The South Jersey Jazz Society has once again put together a lineup of incredible Jazz artists to perform at this year��s OceanFirst Bank Jazz @ the Point Festival Thursday, October 11 through Sunday, October 14. Shows will be presented throughout various venues in Somers Point, New Jersey for fans of this great American art form to ...

Doug Webb: Fast Friends

by Mark Corroto
September 27, 2018

There is nothing as soul cleansing as bebop. Period. When you couple the music with the sunshine of Los Angeles (OK, when the smog has cleared) there is a medicinal, tonic effect to be had. Enter L.A. session saxophonist Doug Webb, a contributor to film and television, and member of big bands led by Bill Holman, ...

Los Angeles Jazz Institute Festival - Woodchopper's Ball: Part 2-4

by Simon Pilbrow
September 23, 2018

Los Angeles Jazz Institute Festival “Woodchoppers' Ball" Four Points by Sheraton at LAX Los Angeles, CA May 23-27, 2018 Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 Concert 4: Keen and Peachy: Music of the Woody Herman Second Herd -Directed by Michael Berkowitz ...

University of Kentucky Jazz Ensemble: On the Road

by Jack Bowers
January 7, 2018

The University of Kentucky Jazz Ensemble was indeed On the Road in recent years, performing the first eight of the fourteen numbers on this impressive album at the 2017 Elmhurst College (IL) Jazz Festival, the others at the Montreux and North Sea (Netherlands) Jazz Festivals in 2011. If you are puzzled by the lack of audience ...