This is the grave of Clark Terry. Born in 1920 in St. Louis, Terry picked up the trumpet at a young age and was playing in local jazz bands when he was in high school. He grew up poor, like real poor.
Early in the film series, we looked at the Duke Ellington film Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life. Let’s return to the great one tonight with the 1933 short, A Bundle of Blues. It’
The other night, I watched Shirley Clarke’s weird 1985 documentary about Ornette Coleman. Ornette: Made in America combines the classic documentary form of showing a great musician in performanc
The Criterion Channel presently is streaming the 1981 Ron Mann documentary Imagine the Sound, probably the foremost film ever made on the free jazz scene. It features four greats–Cecil Taylor, A
The great jazz pianist is gone, at the age of 81. Tyner’s famous for his legendary work with John Coltrane at the peak of the saxophone master’s career between 1961 and 1965. Somewhat oddl
This is the grave of Jean-Baptiste “Illinois” Jacquet. Born in 1922 in Louisiana, Jacquet and his parents moved to Houston when he was young. His father was a bandleader, though he didn
This is the grave of Lester Young. Born in 1909 in Woodville, Mississippi, Young grew up in New Orleans as part of a family of musicians. But although professional musicians, they were also poor, as t
This is the grave of Duke Ellington. Born in 1899 to a pair of pianists in Washington, Edward Kennedy Ellington followed his parents to the piano from a young age. Although he was more interested in b