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Jack Walrath

An often exciting, thoughtful trumpeter and good arranger, Jack Walrath has steadily gained attention and exposure through his contributions to outstanding sessions. Walrath began playing trumpet at nine, and studied at Berklee in the mid- and late '60s while working with other students and backing up R&B vocalists.

He moved to the West Coast in 1969, and co-led the bands Change with Gary Peacock, and Revival with Glenn Ferris. Walrath also toured a year with Ray Charles. Walrath relocated to New York in the early 70s, and worked with Latin bands before playing with Charles Mingus from 1974 to 1979, an association that gave him a certain amount of recognition. Walrath contributed some arrangements and orchestrations to Mingus' final recordings.

In the 1980s and '90s, he led his own bands, toured Europe with Dannie Richmond and the British group Spirit Level, worked with Charlie Persip's Superband and Richard Abrams, and helped keep the music of Charles Mingus alive by playing with Mingus Dynasty. Jack Walrath has recorded as a leader for Gatemouth, Stash, SteepleChase, Red, Muse, Spotlite, Blue Note, and Mapleshade; he is still improving with age.

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Album Review

Charles Mingus: @ Bremen 1964 & 1975

Read "@ Bremen 1964 & 1975" reviewed by Stefano Merighi


"In questo paese--sentenziò Charles Mingus--percepisco ancora intatto il puzzo delle camere a gas e dei campi di concentramento. Ma non fatevi troppi problemi: gli Stati Uniti d'America sono anch'essi un grande campo di concentramento." Il paese era la Germania Ovest, la città era Brema, l'anno il 1964. La dichiarazione è riportata da Joachim Ernst Berendt in un articolo del 1979 e ripresa come incipit dell'indimenticabile Charlie Mingus di Mario Luzzi (Lato Side, 1983) Dichiarazione ...

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Album Review

Charles Mingus: @ Bremen 1964 & 1975

Read "@ Bremen 1964 & 1975" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


It is 1964 and the big bass emperor rules the old continent as he commanded every stage he set foot on. So @ Bremen 1964 & 1975 just does not sound right. Charles Mingus Swings Bad Ass and Liberates Your Body and Your Mind @ Bremen sounds way more like it. For—as much as anything in his grand, sweeping arc serves to highlight how mercurial and spot-on his real time genius was—this previously unreleased four-disc joy bomb will certainly be ...

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Album Review

Charles Mingus: @ Bremen 1964 & 1975

Read "@ Bremen 1964 & 1975" reviewed by Chris May


Four hours of previously unissued, premier-league music by Charles Mingus is something to shout about, and @ Bremen 1964 & 1975 is about as good as the bassist and composer's posthumously released live albums get. Four CDs chronicle two extended, intense performances recorded in Germany by Radio Bremen. Both gigs featured all-star bands and both are typically and gloriously uplifting Mingus melanges of through-composition and in-the-moment improvisation touching on blues and roots, bop, hard bop, New Orleans marching band, swing, ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Another Set of Recent Listeners’ Favorites

Read "Another Set of Recent Listeners’ Favorites" reviewed by Marc Cohn


The number of the week is five (as in Show 435)! So, it's time for listener favorites from recent shows (421-430). WHYR, Mixcloud, Pacifica and All About Jazz messages, emails, and one-on-one (masked!) feedback in the grocery store are all considered. That would generate some five to six hours of material. So, we have to exercise a certain degree of editorial judgement. See if your favs made the cut. Want to weigh in for Shows 431-440? Shoot me an email! ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Hanksgiving: Jazz Tributes to Hank Williams

Read "Hanksgiving: Jazz Tributes to Hank Williams" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


Do you sympathize with the plight of the turkeys? Do family reunions bring you anxiety? Then forget about Thanksgiving! Mondo Jazz is here to help you switch to Hanksgiving, with two hours of Jazz tributes to the great Hank Williams, the only singer who is more American than pumpkin pie! This week we have concocted a delicious playlist for you which is all stuffing and no tryptophan, two hours to show how jazz musicians can make even Country ...

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Album Review

Jack Walrath: Ballroom

Read "Ballroom" reviewed by Francis Lo Kee


Jack Walrath not only displays tremendous trumpet playing, a rich and varied approach to composition and wonderful band, he also puts something into this fantastic CD that's missing from too much new jazz: a sense of fun and humor. That's not to say that it isn't sensitive and touching at times--"An Hour Blessed" is arguably as gorgeous as anything ever recorded. However, what is a listener to make of a version of Elvis Presley's “Heartbreak Hotel"? Just ...

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Album Review

Jack Walrath: In Montana

Read "In Montana" reviewed by J Hunter


Trumpeter Jack Walrath went back to Montana in January of 1980 to accomplish three things: visit his parents, burn down his old high school, and do a recording with a local quartet called--interestingly enough--Montana. Walrath never got around to torching his alma mater, but he did develop a working relationship with four talented musicians who were just as dedicated to stretching the envelope as he was. The result was In Montana, just re-released by Labor Records.

Montana wasn't your average ...

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Event

Berklee Remembers Herb Pomeroy: Tribute Concert to Feature Joe Lovano, Hal Galper, Jack Walrath, and Greg Hopkins and the Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra

Berklee Remembers Herb Pomeroy: Tribute Concert to Feature Joe Lovano, Hal Galper, Jack Walrath, and Greg Hopkins and the Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra

Source: Toni Ballard PR

PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT THE HERB POMEROY SCHOLARSHIP FUND On Tuesday, April 1, 2008, Berklee College of Music will present an historic musical event, as colleagues and former students converge to honor the memory of beloved trumpeter and educator Herb Pomeroy, who passed away in August, and whose four decades teaching at Berklee helped the college earn its world-wide reputation as the premier institution for the study of contemporary music. Proceeds from the concert will benefit the Herb Pomeroy Scholarship Fund. ...

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

@ Bremen 1964 & 1975

Sunnyside Records
2020

buy

Heavy Mirth

Strand Records
2010

buy

Ballroom

SteepleChase Records
2009

buy

In Montana

Labor Records
2007

buy

Invasion Of The Booty...

Savant Records
2002

buy

I Am The Walrath

Strand Records
1999

buy

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