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Jeanne Lee
Archie Shepp: Blase And Yasmina Revisited
by Chris May
The three albums tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp recorded in Paris for BYG Records during one week in August 1969 tend to get overlooked in the slipstream of the dozen or so he made in the US for Impulse earlier in the decade. More is the pity, for as Blasé And Yasmina Revisited so resoundingly attests, the BYGs contain some of the most audacious, many splendored and deep roots music that Shepp has recorded in his still-kicking career (at the time ...
read moreJeanne Lee, Ran Blake: The Newest Sound You Never Heard
by Alberto Bazzurro
Jeanne Lee e Ran Blake si conoscono a cavallo fra anni Cinquanta e Sessanta ai corsi del Bard College di New York, affacciato sul fiume Hudson. Si producono per la prima volta in duo in occasione di un concorso all'Apollo Theater, che vincono, cosicché, sul finire del 1961, incidono un primo album, The Newest Sound Around, destinato ad avere più eco in Europa che non in patria, dove passa quasi inosservato. È così che nel 1963 pianista ...
read moreJeanne Lee: Natural Affinities
by Clifford Allen
All instruments are, naturally, a mere approximation of what can be done with the human voice; yet in avant-garde improvisation, it is the saxophonists and pianists who are credited with being the innovators. Artists like Jeanne Lee, Patty Waters and Julie Tippetts are often shunted aside to make way for counterparts Archie Shepp, Albert Ayler, and Evan Parker... men with horns.
Of those three vocal artists, Lee was always the most grounded in jazz vocal tradition, able ...
read moreJeanne Lee and Mal Waldron: After Hours
by Alexander M. Stern
Mal Waldron’s passing this past December robbed jazz of one of its finest and most original pianists. His long career was marked by many high points, including stints with Billie Holiday, Charles Mingus, Eric Dolphy and Booker Little. It is especially wonderful to listen to Waldron in solo and duet settings, where his unique style on his instrument can be heard to its fullest effect. One of the best of these albums is After Hours, a thrilling standards set recorded ...
read moreJeanne Lee/Mal Waldron: After Hours
by Rex Butters
Like too many utterly original and fearless jazz artists, Jeanne Lee’s audience and reputation seems to reside more within the community of musicians than listeners. Despite remarkable classic recordings with Archie Shepp, Anthony Braxton, Carla Bley, Andrew Cyrille, Billy Bang, William Parker, Steve Coleman, and of course, Gunter Hampel, Lee has never received the notoriety due a musician with such an impressive resume. Her naked alto, broad interpretive skills, improvisational gifts, and choice of material left her with few peers ...
read moreJeanne Lee: All About Ronnie
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
The song All About Ronnie has an interesting history. The song was written by Joe Greene, who worked extensively for Stan Kenton during the 1940s and 50s, when the band was in constant need of original vocal material. Greene typically wrote quasi novelty tunes like I Been Down in Texas, Across the Alley From the Alamo, And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine, And the Bull Walked Around, Olay! and Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying. All About Ronnie was ...
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