Johnny Griffin - R.I.P.

John Arnold Griffin III 

(April 24, 1928 - July 25, 2008)

US jazz tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, who played alongside such luminaries as Lionel Hampton, Art Blakey and Thelonius Monk, died Friday in France, his agent Helene Manfredi said. He was 80.
Nicknamed the Little Giant, Griffin was due to perform Friday evening alongside US organist Rhoda Scott, French saxophonist Olivier Temime and drummer Julie Saury.
Griffin died at home in Mauprevoir, a village in the west-central La Vienne district, where he had spent the last 18 years of his life. The cause of death was not disclosed.
After studying music at the DuSable High School in his native Chicago, Griffin joined vibes star Hampton's orchestra in 1945 before leaving with trumpeter Joe Morris to join the latter's own band.
Throughout the 1950s, he played with a variety of combos, including Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.
He also played alongside cornetist Nat Adderley and recorded with John Coltrane. The fruits of that collaboration produced the 1957 Blue Note album for which he is perhaps best remembered, "A Blowin' Session."
At the start of the 1960s, Griffin founded his own group along with another saxophone player, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, but in 1962 he decided to set up home in France.
A spell in the Netherlands followed in the 1970s, before his return to France, where he continued to record and tour right to the end.
Legendary London jazz club Ronnie Scott's described Griffin on its website as a "member of jazz's elite ... his burning solos and furiously nimble runs anchored by an amazingly well-informed and complete grasp of melody and harmony, marking him out as one of the greatest tenor sax players". (AFP)



Griff on Myspace
NY Times Article

Archie Shepp - Jazzmusician

Photograph by Juan Esteves

Archie Shepp started playing jazz in the early 60's and still tours around the world playing tenor saxophone and piano, accompanied by his soulful voice. Archie has worked with Cecil Taylor, John Coltrane and Yusef Lateef, as well as countless other jazz greats. To write about his musical qualities would take quite some time, so please check out more on his website:

He was the first Jazzmusician I really met and I was immediately captured by his absolutely amazing style and his cheeky grin. That day he wore a great dark hat, a very well tailored dark double breasted pin stripe suit and had a cane in his hand...very much like on the picture above. He was so incredibly cool and relaxed between all those busy people working at the festival office where he was...I was ravished by him!

 

www.archieshepp.com

Philip Glass - Book of Longing

Book of Longing

Music by Philip Glass
Poems and Artwork by Leonard Cohen

I like a lot of things about Philip Glass and his many collaborations with other artists certainly belong to those things. He worked with Fine art masters Richard Serra and Chuck Close, with Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, David Bowie and Ravi Shankar amongst others. Glass manages to always be Glass  no matter with whom he works. Some people might misinterpret this as repeating himself but I don`t think it`s true. Having a distinctive sound isn`t repeating yourself and even if he would do...repetition is a major point in his music anyway.

SYNOPSIS:
Composed by Philip Glass and based on the poetry of Leonard Cohen, Book of Longing is a song cycle composed for ensemble, singers, spoken word and imagery. The culmination of years of mutual admiration between two of the most celebrated musical artists of their generation, the piece features new music by Philip Glass that is inspired by Cohen’s collection of poems and his artwork of the same name.

Composer’s Note:
"Leonard and I first began talking about a poetry and music collaboration more than six years ago. We met at that time in Los Angeles, and he had with him a manuscript that became the basis of the collection of poetry now published as the Book of Longing. In the course of an afternoon that stretched into the evening, he read virtually the whole book to me. I found the work intensely beautiful, personal, and inspiring. On the spot, I proposed an evening-length work of poetry, music, and image based on this work. Leonard liked my idea, and we agreed to begin. Now, six years later, our stars are in alignment, the book is published, and I have composed the music. For me, this work is both a departure from past work and a fulfillment of an artistic dream." (Philip Glass)

www.philipglass.com 

Rotaug Collective

"Rotaug is a collective of creatives from different parts of Austria, its base being Vienna. The sphere of its artistic actions spreads over Music, Video, Photography, Interactive Media, Graffiti, Installation, Web, Live Performances, DJing and VJing.
Founded in 1999 as a loose connection of friends sharing the same artistic interests, Rotaug has been growing eversince and as more artists joined over the years, the collective finally became official in 2006.
Being a non-profit association for arts and culture, the collectives main goal is to provide the technical and social infrastructure to create an environment for each artist and consequential for the community to emerge and grow. It is an essential part of Rotaug to support media arts in public with all its different facets by various means, be it installations, performances, exhibitions, workshops, or infrastructure as already mentioned above. (Rotaug)"

Artists: Berserka , Clrcdd, Exidas, Gandl, Henroy, Kat, Kompact, Lens, Lemon, Sake, Tini, Win

Since a couple of those guys come from my hometown, the site is even more interesting for me.
Check it out and get more information on the Blog or click through their Projects.

http://www.rotaug.com/

Off beat Berlin on the beat - VAO

The soundtrack to my upcoming Berlin visit...



http://www.vao.at/
On YouTube

Swing into spring

Today it was such a beautiful spring day, that I decided to put a little bit of spring in my last post today... well actually somebody else will do it for me:

Swing into Spring 1959
Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, with Benny Goodman, Andre Previn, Lionel Hampton, Shelly Manne



This Video on Youtube

Gansch and Roses - Cabrio

www.ganschandroses.com
www.myspace.com/ganschandroses

Gansch & Roses - Concert

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a concert of my favourite band. Viennese trumpet player Thomas Gansch and his Band "Gansch & Roses" rocked the house and electrified the audience as usual.

I took this picture about two years ago at a concert in Graz (different Line-up).

www.myspace.com/ganschandroses
http://www.ganschandroses.at/

The Beginning...

Starting my blog and brightening my day and with a little Ella...