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Posts tagged as “Art Blakey”

MUSIC MONDAY: “Speak No Evil: The Best of Wayne Shorter” Playlist (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Speak No Evil: The Best of Wayne Shorter” Playlist (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on March 6, 2023

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy Music Monday, you all. This collection celebrates another recently departed great, Wayne Shorter. He was a giant of jazz for six decades. He was a well-regarded improviser, bandleader, composer, and thinker.

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From his teen years with Art Blakey and Miles Davis to his work as a founder of Weather Report, to leading his own landmark quintet Shorter was among the greatest.

A well-known figure on the jazz circuit since the late 1950s, Shorter would go on to take a strong hand in shaping much of 20th Century jazz music.

The 12-time Grammy award winner played alongside several greats, including Carlos Santana, Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, and Herbie Hancock.

In 1964 he was swooped away after several attempts by jazz legend Miles Davis to become part of Davis’ “Second Great Quintet.”

Wayne Shorter would also release solo albums by 1959, including the acclaimed Speak No Evil, Night Dreamer, and JuJu.

Among the dozen Grammy awards he won, Shorter received a Lifetime Achievement award in 2015

In 2018, Shorter received the Kennedy Center Honors Award from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for his lifetime of contributions to the arts.

Hope you enjoy the collection. As usual, stay safe, sane, and kind. See ya next month!

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: “Now’s The Time” – a Collection of Live Jazz (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: “Now’s The Time” – a Collection of Live Jazz (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on April 19, 2021

by Marlon West (FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Happy Music Monday, you all. As promised a couple of weeks ago, this collection is devoted to live jazz performances.

April is also Jazz Appreciation Month, so this playlist is arriving not a moment too soon. For many of us, live jazz is the best way to enjoy jazz. The unbridled spontaneity of top-notch musicians at the very top of the game, improvising and spurring each other on to greater creative heights is the essence of the art form.

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I’ve gathered performances from nearly 100 years of jazz music. Big band, Be-Bop, Avant Garde, Soul Jazz, and so many other styles are present. There are recordings from Massey Hall, the Village Vanguard, the Newport Jazz Festival, Birdland, and many other iconic venues.

Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Eric Dolphy, Duke Ellington, Art Blakey, Geri Allen, and dozens of other greats are included in this over 13-hour collection of stunning performances. While the sound quality in some venues isn’t as good as that of a state-of-the-art recording studio, and post-production is not on the table, the improvisatory nature of jazz makes live performance the quintessential way to experience the music. Do enjoy!

And as always, stay sane, safe, and kind. “See” ya next week.

PS: This is another one to set that crossfade, on Spotify, at 12 seconds if you are listening on a computer.

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)
MUSIC MONDAY: Weekly Playlist From GBN – Soul Jazz from Herbie Hancock, MeShell Ndegeocello, Art Blakey and More (LISTEN)

MUSIC MONDAY: Weekly Playlist From GBN – Soul Jazz from Herbie Hancock, MeShell Ndegeocello, Art Blakey and More (LISTEN)

By goodblacknews on April 13, 2020

GBN Contributor Marlon West is back again this week with his excellent curation of a sub-genre known as “Soul Jazz.”

In Marlon’s words:

“Heavily influenced by funk, gospel, and R&B, Soul Jazz emerged in the late 1950 and ‘60s. Artists like Jimmy Smith, Shirley Scott, and Art Blakey were not going to take the popularity of soul music laying down. They created music designed for jukeboxes of the time, and is still endlessly sampled and influential today.”

Enjoy!

(FB: marlon.west1 Twitter: @marlonw IG: stlmarlonwest Spotify: marlonwest)

Marlon West (photo courtesy Marlon West)