Recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder helped shape the sound of jazz for Blue Note Records. It became known as the Van Gelder sound, but like it or not, it left an enduring impression on jazz for years.
Episodes
December 29, 2013
The Art of Resolution (12.29.13)
As we turn to the new year, what will be different? Look to jazz for the innovation and inspiration, for discovery and improvisation. It’s the core of what jazz represents. It can also be applied to the lives that we live and the dreams that we have in order to make things matter.
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December 22, 2013
The Art of Tradition (12.22.13)
Tradition compresses time and brings us into the moment of timelessness when things are safe. In jazz, the art of tradition is to recreate sounds and lives, to bring the listener back home, especially during the holidays. The tradition of jazz is the expectation of improvisation and requiring the artist to be on top of […]
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December 15, 2013
American jazz saxophonist and composer Charlie Parker crafted the sound that was eventually called bebop. This deeply soulful music gave him and other musicians a way to express themselves in original ways. Parker’s addiction to heroine unfortunately cut his life short at just 34 years old. He died in the hotel room of his friend […]
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December 8, 2013
Drummer Chico Hamilton is considered a voice of West Coast Jazz. He found success in movie soundtracks and eventually formed his own ensemble. In the late ’50s and into the 1960s he performed with many jazz greats like Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, Charles Mingus and others.
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November 24, 2013
Composer, conductor and pianist Leonard Bernstein had a lengthy storied career. His music speaks of the “can-do-ism” of Americans. It crossed through jazz, classical, musicals, television and movies. Bernstein is an iconic figure in our musical heritage.
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November 10, 2013
Kathleen Annie Pannonica Rothschild, nicknamed Nica, was referred to as the jazz baroness. She was more than just a patron of jazz. She provided support and encouragement to many of the great artists during the ’40s and ’50s. In the early sixties she compiled a book called “The jazz musicians and their three wishes” which […]
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November 3, 2013
Recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder helped shape the sound of jazz for Blue Note Records. It became known as the Van Gelder sound, but like it or not, it left an enduring impression on jazz for years.
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October 27, 2013
Ellington and Strayhorn (10.27.13)
The collaboration of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn led to a collection of music that has spanned generations. Their music and compositions are seemingly effortlessly entwined.
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