Shows
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzSonny ClarkSonny Clark was a pianist with a bluesy sound combined with crisp and swinging technique. His style also embodied an element of “cool” suited to the modern jazz of his period. As a composer, his songs were angular and sophisticated, but melodic enough to be accessible. Many of his tunes, such as “Sonny’s Crib” and “News For Lulu”, endure in the standard jazz repertory.
Conrad Yeatis “Sonny”Clark was born in western Pennsylvania in 1931 and raised in the Pittsburgh area, a hotbed of jazz. After high school, Clark moved to California to begin his career as a professional musicia...2025-07-164h 56
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzLouis Armstrong 3From the 2025 Fourth of July Louis Armstrong traditional WKCR special, here’s a segment starting with 85 minutes or so of a casual listening potpourri of the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival, a Fleischmann’s Yeast radio show, and other diverse goodies, followed by a curated survey of Armstrong’s 1929-1932 OKeh recordings of popular songs, also about 85 minutes’ worth. Oh memory!
2025-07-072h 55
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzCharlie RouseHere’s a five hour treat of Charlie Rouse.
Best known for his long association with Thelonious Monk in the 1960's, tenor saxophonist Rouse also had an extensive and varied career in modern jazz. He expressed a tone of warmth and lyrical sensitivity on his horn, which lent a suave element to the rhythmic and harmonic creativity of his performance.
Rouse was born in 1924 and raised in Washington, DC. He came of age as bebop began to flower, and made important early records with Tadd Dameron, Fats Navarro and others. Mentored and influenced by Ben Webster...2025-07-044h 52
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzLambert Hendricks & RossThis program presents the vocal magic of Lambert Hendricks and Ross.
Lambert Hendricks and Ross brought the art of ensemble group vocals to a higher level. Bebop singers Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross each individually were pioneers of vocalese, the style of writing lyrics to recorded instrumental solos to create new songs. The synergy of the group was even more remarkably creative.
Dave Lambert already had What’s This?, Annie Ross had Twisted, and Jon Hendricks had his start with King Pleasure, among other early impacts on the scene. Then Dave and Jon were w...2025-06-284h 57
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzArnett CobbArnett Cobb was a full-bodied, hard swinging musician with a warm, soulful sound that exemplified the tough, Texas, tenor tradition. During his career, Cobb overcame deep personal setbacks, experiences that lent an emotional insight and intensity to his artistic expression.
He was born in Houston, Texas on August 10, 1918 and began playing all sorts of music as a child. Cobb was proficient enough to play professionally in touring bands during summer vacations in high school, in the heart of the Great Depression. Upon graduating high school, Cobb began his career in earnest, notably with the Milt Larkin orchestra, a Te...2025-06-124h 55
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzBillie Holiday 4My segment from the 2025 edition of WKCR's annual Billie Holiday birthday special: The first hour is a potpourri of recordings for casual listening pleasure. It’s followed by a two hour presentation of a detailed survey of Billie’s sessions for the Commodore and Decca labels in the 1940s.
2025-06-053h 00
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzHarold MabernFive hours of the soulful jazz pianist Harold Mabern.
Mabern was born March 20, 1936 in Memphis and raised in that Southern town, surrounded by many great young jazz players. Mabern’s own mentor and friend, only a couple of years older, was Phineas Newborn. His schoolmates and lifelong associates included Frank Strozier, George Coleman, and Booker Little.
Shaped by the indigenous rhythm and blues and southern soul, this cadre of Memphis musicians brought these influences as another hard driving layer to the vocabulary of modern jazz of the 1950's and 1960's.
Mabern moved to Chic...2025-05-314h 58
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzDuke Ellington 1WKCR presents a marathon broadcast celebrating Duke Ellington annually, on his birthday anniversary, April 29. From my segment in the 2025 edition, here’s 40 minutes of Ben Webster features with Duke, followed by a two hour set of selections from Ellington in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
2025-05-252h 32
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzChu BerryAlthough less well known today, tenor saxophonist Leon “Chu” Berry was one of the most vital and vibrant improvising musicians of the Swing Era.
He was an innovator and progenitor of modern saxophone styles, cited as an influence by many insiders. Berry was a leading figure in big bands such as Fletcher Henderson’s, and the featured soloist in Cab Calloway’s famous orchestra. Chu also recorded legendary small group sides, accompanied vocalists such as Billie Holiday and Mildred Bailey on some of their classic recordings, and made some key dates with Roy Eldridge, Teddy Wilson and Lionel Ham...2025-05-224h 50
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzFreddie Redd
Freddie Redd is perhaps best known for his association with Jack Gelber’s groundbreaking 1959 off-Broadway play “The Connection”. Redd is perhaps least known as an active jazz musician for the following 60 years of his long life. For, he never sought publicity, traveled frequently, and, not favoring the constrictions of the recording studio, did not leave a long discography of commercial recordings.
In life, Freddie Redd was a free spirit, and as a musician he possessed an individual sound. His artistry conveyed a story-telling facility, whether in his unique body of compositions or his expressive performance style at the piano. ...2025-05-124h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzCharles Mingus 1WKCR presents a marathon broadcast celebrating Charles Mingus annually, on his birthday anniversary, April 22.
For my segment on the 2025 edition, I prepared a program first featuring 70 minutes or so of a casual sampling of his classic 1959 recordings, and then followed by a two hour survey of Mingus collaborations with Teddy Charles.
2025-05-023h 08
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzJimmy RushingJimmy Rushing, “Mr. Five by Five”, was a robust and hearty singer, making full use of his husky frame to deliver
lusty presentations whether shouting the blues or imparting his vivacious yet heartfelt style to popular songs.
Rushing was born in Oklahoma City to a middle class, musically inclined family, and his development ranged from proper musical lessons to the sounds of the sporting house.
He came of age in the 1920's during the flowering of the swinging Southwestern jazz style. Notable bands of the period included Walter Page’s Blue Devils and the Bennie M...2025-04-304h 55
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzGene AmmonsGene Ammons (1925-1974) was a master of the full-bodied deep sound on the tenor saxophone. He was vigorous and free-flowing swinging the blues and presented a luscious and sensuous presentation in his touch on the sensitive standards.
We'll be "Hittin" The Jug" with great soul and heartfelt ballads as well, in tribute to the "Boss", hard hitting tenor saxophone who needs to be remembered.
This program surveys his career from the Billy Eckstine big band to the Chicago rhythm and blues years in the 40s and 50s, his teamwork with Sonny Stitt, and then his pr...2025-04-174h 52
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzBlue MitchellBlue Mitchell was perhaps the most melodic and lyrical of the coterie of “hard bop” soulful trumpeters, and best known for his work in the classic Horace Silver groups.
Richard Mitchell was born in Miami, Florida on March 13, 1930. “Blue” was a childhood nickname that became prescient as he later picked up the horn and became a professional jazz musician. After high school, Mitchell began a career in popular bands such as Paul Williams and Earl Bostic.
Brought to the attention of Riverside Records by his old colleague and fellow Floridian Cannonball Adderley, Mitchell appeared on the 1958 al...2025-04-124h 54
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzBillie Holiday 3For the 2018 Billie Holiday WKCR Birthday Broadcast I had the closing shift. So for a final salvo on a late Saturday night, I put together a group of recordings – Billie with Louis Armstrong, and then representative “hits" from the various stages of her career. I played them with virtually no talk or interruption. A sublime 77 minutes guiding the way towards a velvety, hushed, seductive midnight hour.
Here to savor at your own speed, to call on Lady Day for ethereal companionship on a special, or not so special, eve........
2025-04-041h 17
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzBurton LaneBurton Lane (nee Burton Levy, 1912-1997) was one of the legendary masters of American popular song. Lane’s signature masterpiece was his score for the Broadway musical "Finian's Rainbow", and he also has lasting fame for the show "On A Clear Day You Can See Forever”. Lane was a figure in tin pan alley and Hollywood musicals, as well as the Broadway stage. He was the composer of enduring standards such as "I Hear Music", "Everything I Have Is Yours", "How About You", “Too Late Now”, “The Lady’s In Love With You” and many other great songs.
This program p...2025-04-034h 55
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzEtta JonesEtta Jones was one of the greatest jazz vocalists in the truest meaning of the word. She sang with a strong personal style, digging deep into the lyrics to reveal their inner meaning and invest them with keen emotion. Etta also swung! She possessed the great rhythmic and improvisational sensitivities of a jazz soloist, and she delivered the blues and the American popular songbook with unmitigatedly raw power.
Etta was born in South Carolina but raised in Harlem, New York. She made her first mark as a 15 year old at the Amateur Contest at the Apollo Theater, wher...2025-03-264h 54
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzCount Basie in the 1950sThe big band era died out in the post World War II years as musical tastes in both jazz and popular music changed in our culture. As another factor, the economics of the music industry were transformed, making it difficult to sustain the financial footing of a large touring ensemble.
Yet Count Basie managed to stem this tide and not only survive, but thrive in this new milieu.
First, in 1950 he trimmed his band to an octet for a couple of years, and soloists such as Clark Terry, Buddy DeFranco and Wardell Gray made him s...2025-03-194h 54
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzJimmy ForrestThis five hour show features the vigorous tenor saxophone of Jimmy Forrest.
Forrest was born in 1920 and raised in St. Louis, coming of age in the tail end of the big band era. For a time, he was a major figure both in rhythm and blues and also mainstream jazz.
His first key jobs, in the 1940's, were in the orchestras of Jay McShann, Andy Kirk, and, notably, Duke Ellington towards the end of the decade.
Forrest made a significant contribution to popular music culture as the composer of the classic rhythm & blues so...2025-03-084h 58
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzPhilly Joe Jones CentennialWKCR presented a marathon broadcast celebrating the centennial of drummer Philly Joe Jones on July 15, 2023.
From my shift, here are segments including a survey of his collaborations with Tadd Dameron, 35 minutes or so sampling of Jones recordings with Elmo Hope, and an obligatory finish with “Blues For Dracula”. For Philly Joe was a child of the night, who made such beautiful music.
2025-02-282h 38
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzBill HardmanBill Hardman was a crisp trumpeter with the brashness and elan of the bebop and hard bop ethos, colored also by a lyrical and even romantic aspect in his tone. While perhaps not achieving tremendous fame, he was a valued figure in our jazz scene of his time.
Bill Hardman was born in 1932 (or 33 depending on the source) and raised in Cleveland, where he came up with musicians such as Tadd Dameron.
After early professional experience, Hardman moved to New York and fit right in with Charles Mingus Jazz Workshop. He also was in a ba...2025-02-214h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzPaul QuinichetteTenor saxophonist Paul Quinichette was born in Denver in 1921 (some say earlier) and as a youth met his mentor Lester Young. Paul adopted Young’s style, and played the sax with the same creamy, free-flowing, lithe tone, although he also had his own very personal invention and attack.
While Paul was college trained, he also was a product of the vernacular western swing tradition. His first major work was with Jay McShann’s big band. Quinichette’s breakthrough came with the Count Basie orchestra, joining in 1951 at the inception of Basie’s “New Testament” band. There he filled the role...2025-02-174h 58
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzStuff SmithStuff Smith was an innovator of jazz violin and a leading figure of small group combos and jumpin’ entertainment in the 1930's.
Stuff Smith derived a deep, driving, sound on his fiddle, with unique voicings, heartfelt tones, and a fluid, driving sense of rhythm and swing that enraptured the soul.
He was a dynamic showman, a humorous vocalist with hit novelty songs such as “I’se A Muggin’”, “You’re A Viper”, and “Knock Knock Who’s There”. As his biographer Anthony Barnett has perceptively noted, Smith could fulfill the roles of comic jive at the same time as being...2025-02-034h 52
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzSonny RollinsWKCR presented a special marathon broadcast celebrating the 93rd Birthday of Sonny Rollins on September 7, 2023. I produced this three hour shift. It begins with a close look at Sonny's recordings as a member of the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet, and then some casual sets featuring Rollins on RCA Victor in the 1960's, and Rollins with Thelonious Monk.
2025-02-022h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzGrant GreenGrant Green was one of the all time greats of jazz guitar. His flame burned brightly for a time, but he is to a certain degree a “forgotten” star.
Green’s approach to the guitar was like that of a horn player. He played single note lines that were melodic and improvisational. His playing was free flowing and swung with a soulful spirit and deep grooves. He presented a crisp, uncluttered sound with impeccable phrasing. To top it off, there was a searing intensity to his art.
Grant Green was born in St. Louis in 1931 (although ma...2025-01-195h 00
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzMax Roach 2WKCR presents a marathon broadcast celebrating Max Roach annually, on his birthday anniversary, January 10.
For my segment on the 2025 edition, I prepared a set focusing on Max Roach’s contributions to great piano trio recordings. It includes sessions with Bud Powell, George Wallington, Thelonious Monk, Herbie Nichols, John Dennis, Sonny Clark, Duke Ellington, and the legendary Hasaan.
This episode begins with an appetizer of tracks from Brown-Roach and Max’s Quartet with Hank Mobley, then serves the main course of 2 ½ hours of the piano trio sides, and concludes with a dessert cordial of Allan...2025-01-123h 04
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzHelen HumesWhen Billie Holiday left the original Count Basie orchestra in 1938, how could she be replaced, and who could replace her? The musical answer is the incomparable Helen Humes, a major figure in her day but long overlooked.
Helen was born in Louisville, Kentucky June 23, 1909 (a date sometimes made younger in press releases and reference books) to a middle class black family, her father a lawyer, just a generation removed from slavery.
As a teenager, she already made her name singing in the classic 1920's blues style and waxed popular records for OKeh. After working in bank...2025-01-114h 58
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzRoy Eldridge 1WKCR has a long standing tradition of celebrating Roy Eldridge, “Little Jazz”, with a marathon 24-hour broadcast tribute every year on the trumpet giant's birthday anniversary, January 30.
Here’s my shift from the 2024 edition. Three and a half hours, comprised of individual segments highlighting Roy’s associations with Oscar Peterson, Mildred Bailey, Tiny Grimes, Billie Holiday, Artie Shaw, Gene Krupa, and the Newport Rebels.
2024-12-303h 23
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzJR MonteroseJR Monterose possessed a very strong and personal emotional tone on the tenor sax, and he is one of the underrated masters of the modern jazz era.
Frank Monterose, Jr. was born in 1927 and raised in Utica, NY. The moniker JR comes not from initials but from being a Jr. but he usually spelled it without punctuation. Monterose started his professional career briefly in the big bands of Buddy Rich and Claude Thornhill. As a young man, he also performed widely in upstate New York in various settings under his own name.
Monterose moved to Ne...2024-12-274h 57
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzMilt JacksonMilt Jackson was one of the all-time jazz greats on the vibraphone. First, he was an innovator bringing this esoteric instrument to the bebop revolution of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Additionally, he possessed superb musicality that added to the popularity of the instrument. Beyond utilizing the percussion role of the vibes, Jackson played with fleet, free flowing lines suitable to modern jazz. He was a master of a soulful, piercing, driving sound. While at slower tempos, with notes elaborated and sustained for romantic effect, he would play ballads or the blues that communicated with the listener to the core...2024-12-194h 55
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzDonald Byrd with John ColtraneWKCR presented a marathon special broadcast saluting Donald Byrd, in December 2024.
For my contribution, I prepared a set surveying Donald Byrd’s intersections with John Coltrane.
In the period 1956-1958, only shortly before each in their own way were to burst forth separately to a next level of stardom, Byrd and Coltrane appeared together (though not "in tandem") on several recording sessions. They made dates with Elmo Hope, Paul Chambers, Sonny Clark (the classic LP “Sonny’s Crib”), Art Blakey, and Prestige blowing encounters with Red Garland. All nice listening with wonderful extended solos and prime coll...2024-12-123h 09
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzJimmy Van HeusenThe best in jazz derives from its interpretations of the great American popular songbook, and Jimmy Van Heusen was one of its composer-giants. In 2013, the centennial of Van Heusen’s birth, we added this jazz flavored element to its commemoration.
Van Heusen was born in Syracuse, NY on January 26, 1913 as Edward Chester Babcock. He began a musical career in high school and worked as a radio disk jockey, taking the stage name Van Heusen from the shirt company. He moved to New York City in the thirties to start as a professional songwriter, his first major association comin...2024-12-124h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzArt Blakey 1958-1964Sid Gribetz features Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers “From Moanin’ To Kyoto”.
Art Blakey is the dynamic drummer and band leader who nurtured many young jazz stars and inculcated the “hard bop” sound in the groups he organized over the many decades of his career until his death in 1990.
Even in a five hour program, we will have time to focus only on a limited aspect of Blakey’s prolific career. Thus, we’ve chosen to explore a period of golden flowering of the ensemble, starting with the arrival in 1958 of Benny Golson. Golson organized matters and broug...2024-12-055h 03
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzBillie Holiday 2During the 2019 Billie Holiday WKCR Birthday Broadcast, I put together a segment of an erstaz sampling of live performances, some famous, some obscure, including, among others, Count Basie, Stan Getz, A Yiddishe Momma, and The Sound Of Jazz TV broadcast. A nice listen....
88 minutes
2024-11-171h 28
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzSammy Price Born in Texas October 6, 1908, Sammy Price began his career as an entertainer on the black vaudeville TOBA circuit as a dancer and singer as well as pianist. He then became a fixture as a pianist in the Southwestern swing and blues jazz scene in Kansas City and its territories in the burgeoning years of jazz in the 1930s.
Price moved to New York City in 1938, working for over a decade as the house pianist and musical arranger for Decca Records, appearing on countless classic blues and gospel recordings, ranging from Trixie Smith to Blue Lu Barker to Si...2024-11-154h 58
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzHouston PersonIn jazz history, Houston Person is one the great purveyors of the deep throated tenor saxophone sound --dynamically powerful and swinging, but also sultry, bluesy, sensitive and romantic.
Houston Person was born on November 10, 1934 in Florence, South Carolina. He was musically inclined as a child, and then studied at South Carolina State University. After college, Person entered the service and was stationed in West Germany for several years in an Air Force unit that included Cedar Walton, Lex Humphries, and Eddie Harris, among other jazz musicians who became lifelong friends and influences.
Upon discharge from the...2024-11-064h 57
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzIke Quebec
Ike Quebec was a deep-toned, dynamic saxophonist, instrumental in both the swing styles and the modern jazz era.
Born in Newark, NJ in 1918, Quebec began his artistic career in show business as a dancer, and then a pianist, but during the World War II years he came of age as a saxophonist. Quebec’s early roots were in the swing styles, both as a key member of Cab Calloway’s big band in the 1940's, and as a soloist in small group swing and blues combos. Notably, Ike participated in some seminal Blue Note recording sessions in the early years of the...2024-11-044h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzClifford Brown 1WKCR presents an annual marathon 24 hour tribute to trumpet virtuoso Clifford Brown on October 30, his birthday anniversary.
Here is my segment from the 2024 edition. It begins with a half hour potpourri of Brown recordings. That's followed by a detailed survey of Clifford's first commercial jazz records in 1953, when he flowered on the scene in sessions with Lou Donaldson and Elmo Hope; J.J. Johnson; Tadd Dameron; and his first date as a leader for Blue Note in August. Finally, the survey includes material from the famous February 21, 1954 live recording at Birdland with Art Blakey.
2024-11-013h 17
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzBuck Clayton
Buck Clayton was a leading trumpeter and arranger of the swing era.
Coming of age in the Southwestern Jazz Styles, Clayton moved to Los Angeles as a young man and made his name in the California Jazz circles. In 1934, he assembled a band that moved to Shanghai, China, and brought American Jazz to the Orient. Escaping Shanghai just before the Japanese invasion, Clayton returned to the US and landed in Kansas City, where he joined the nascent Count Basie orchestra. Clayton served as the lead trumpet soloist (and arranger) in the classic original Count Basie band, and al...2024-11-014h 42
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzThelonious Monk 2WKCR presents annual marathon broadcasts to celebrate the October 10 birthday anniversary of Thelonious Monk.
Here's my segment form the 2024 edition. It begins with selections from Monk's appearances as a "sideman" on sessions with Clark Terry, Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers, and Sonny Rollins. Next is a lengthy survey of Monk's recordings for the Blue Note label from 1947-1952, his first record contract and an opportunity to proudly display the initial conceptions of his now legendary original compositions.
2024-10-162h 44
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzMax Roach 1WKCR presents a marathon broadcast celebrating Max Roach annually, on his birthday anniversary, January 10.
Here's my segment from the 2022 program. The major portion of this episode samples recordings from Debut Records, the independent label owned by Roach and Charles Mingus, and includes material ranging from some esoteric ensembles to the legendary Massey Hall Concert.
2024-10-162h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzGeorge WallingtonGeorge Wallington was one of the legendary pianists of the bebop era but never achieved great fame. With his early retirement from a musical career, he remains a more obscure figure in jazz history and lore. However, he was an especially swinging pianist and inventive composer who deserves continued attention.
Born Giacinto Figlia in Sicily in 1924 (some sources date his birth a little earlier) his family moved to New York when he was an infant, and his father was an opera singer who exposed him to classical music. But when George heard Lester Young and the Count Basi...2024-10-094h 58
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzLorez AlexandriaVocalist Lorez Alexandria was a great interpreter of jazz and American popular song. She sang with deeply felt presentation of the lyrics and a style of improvisational freedom and swing. While originally from the church and informed by that soul, she was not a “shouter” or gospel singer. Some records, like her hit version of “Baltimore Oriole”, employed exotic touches, and others had scat interludes. Like the best instrumental soloists, Lorez communicated with the listener and told her song’s story. Not overly famous during her lifetime, she is certainly not well-remembered today. But she deserves to be.
Lorez Alexan...2024-09-272h 58
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzBenny GolsonBenny Golson is one of the great eminences of jazz, best known as a composer of lyrical compositions that have become enduring staples of the modern jazz repertory. A key performer in some of the most important jazz groups of the late 1950's and early 1960's, Golson added an element of elegance and refinement to the hard bop sound. He imposed a steady sophistication and class to the ensemble presentation.
Stablemates, Killer Joe, Whisper Not, I Remember Clifford, Along Came Betty, Blues March, Five Spot After Dark, and Are You Real are among the great songs that you’ll recognize durin...2024-09-274h 58
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzColeman Hawkins 1WKCR presents an annual marathon broadcast celebrating the Coleman Hawkins birthday on November 21.
From the 2023 affair, here's a 185 minute long segment. It begins with a brief sample of early 1960's recordings with Duke Ellington, and other mainstream sides. Then the final 149 minutes contains an intensive survey of his career in the period from 1939 through 1944, after his return from Europe. From Body And Soul through the Apollo early bebop date.
2024-09-163h 05
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzFats NavarroIn his brief life, Fats Navarro was a fleeting spectacle of brilliance as a leading trumpeter in the history and development of jazz during the bebop years.
Nicknamed “Fats” or “Fat Girl” (befitting all in one his avoirdupois, his high pitched voice, and most important his fat musical tone on the trumpet), Theodore Navarro was born on September 23, 1923 in Key West. He played music seriously since childhood, and left Florida after high school to embark on a career as a professional jazz musician in big bands, first gaining notice as a teenager in Andy Kirk’s Clouds Of...2024-09-164h 44
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzDinah WashingtonDinah Washington called herself "The Queen Of The Blues", and she was that, and then some, a larger than life character and a dynamic singer of great jazz, pop, rhythm and blues, and the American Popular Songbook.
Born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and reared in Chicago (as Ruth Jones), influenced by gospel music she began singing professionally as a youth. Lionel Hampton "discovered" her, and she featured in his band for a number of years under the stage name Dinah Washington, before striking out on her own. Dinah brought forth popular "crossover" hit records for Mercury, jazz classics wi...2024-09-164h 57
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzThelonious Monk 1WKCR presents annual marathon broadcasts to celebrate the October 10 birthday anniversary of Thelonious Monk.
From the 2023 edition, here's 205 minutes of a segment I presented. Begins with a potpourri of Monk's music, first some live performances, next piano music, featuring selections from, among other recordings, the French Vogue session, the Duke Ellington album, and the "The Unique Thelonious Monk". The final 123 minutes includes a survey of a less-famous aspect of Monk's career, his recordings for the Prestige label.
2024-09-073h 25
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzTadd DameronTadd Dameron was born in Cleveland in 1917 and came of age towards the end of the Swing Era. As the bebop revolution unfolded, Dameron was a key figure as a pianist in various bands, arranger for Dizzy Gillespie and others, and composer of classics such as “Hot House", "If You Could See Me Now", "Our Delight", "Good Bait" and "Lady Bird".
He’s been called the romanticist of the bebop era. Certainly his sophisticated musicianship and lyrical touch elevated the harmonic advances of bebop, and his emotive style informed the music of Fats Navarro, Wardell Gray, Clifford Brown a...2024-09-074h 47
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzLester Young 3The "Bird-Prez Birthday Broadcast", a 72 hour (and some years longer) marathon celebrating Lester Young and Charlie Parker around their birthday anniversaries, August 27 and August 29, is a long standing tradition at WKCR, and it is among our listeners' favorites.
For the 2024 edition, I programmed a set reviewing Lester Young's studio recordings for Norman Granz, on "Verve".
2024-08-313h 01
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzEddie JeffersonEddie Jefferson was the progenitor of the style known as “vocalese”, the writing of lyrics to the improvised solos on jazz instrumental recordings.
Jefferson was born on August 3, 1918 in Pittsburgh. His father was in show business, and Pittsburgh back in the day was a jazz town of vitality. Eddie began professionally as a child in song and dance acts with local friends such as Erroll Garner.
As a young man, Eddie plied his trade as a dancer on the traveling black entertainment circuit, working on the same bills opposite jazz greats such as Coleman Hawkins during...2024-08-314h 58
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzCharlie Parker 2The "Bird-Prez Birthday Broadcast", a 72 hour (and some years longer) marathon celebrating Lester Young and Charlie Parker around their birthday anniversaries, August 27 and August 29, is a long standing tradition at WKCR, and it is among our listeners' favorites.
From the 2023 edition, I programmed a set which included primarily a look at Bird's studio recordings of 1947, a magical period for bebop.
2024-08-313h 02
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzSonny StittSonny Stitt was one of the greats. Sonny possessed technical skill and fleet mastery as a musician, and he projected a tone full of warmth and human expression. He excelled whether playing bebop, ballads or the blues, “rhythm” pieces or improvisatory excursions in the American popular songbook standards.
Edward Boatner, Jr. was born February 2, 1924 in Boston. He came from a musical family, as his father was a composer and college music professor, and his mother a piano teacher. Several siblings had careers in classical music. The family moved to Saginaw, Michigan when he was a toddler, and it was th...2024-08-314h 56
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzBen Webster In The 1950'sFor this program I selected a narrow focus -- Ben Webster's activities in the 1950's.
Webster is best known as the tenor saxophone giant from Duke Ellington's famous bands followed up with fame and renown as an ongoing swing legend of the 1940's. In his much later years as a European expatriate, Webster achieved international stardom and respect as an “elder statesman”. But often overlooked were his contributions to jazz during the 1950's. Then in his forties, Webster's maturing artistry reached a level of poetry and grace, which, when matched with his brute force and power, produced some st...2024-08-204h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzLester Young 2The "Bird-Prez Birthday Broadcast", a 72 hour (and some years longer) marathon celebrating Lester Young and Charlie Parker around their birthday anniversaries, August 27 and August 29, is a long standing tradition at WKCR, and it is among our listeners' favorites.
Here's a session that I put together for the 2023 broadcast. Two parts on Lester Young.
First a brief random sample of his collaborations with Billie Holiday. Sumptuous.
The second part is a more in-depth look at Lester Young's activities in 1943 and 1944, a period often overlooked, as overshadowed by other more popular portions of his career.2024-08-193h 00
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzCharlie Parker 1The "Bird-Prez Birthday Broadcast", a 72 hour (and some years longer) marathon celebrating Lester Young and Charlie Parker around their birthday anniversaries, August 27 and August 29, is a long standing tradition at WKCR, and it is among our listeners' favorites.
Here's a three hour set of mine from the 2021 edition, which includes an 80 minute long segment featuring recordings of Charlie Parker in unconventional large group settings (other than Bird With Strings"), and then samples of some other more standard Bird sessions, including a live set from his perch at the Royal Roost.
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The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzLester Young 1The "Bird-Prez Birthday Broadcast", a 72 hour (and some years longer) marathon celebrating Lester Young and Charlie Parker around their birthday anniversaries, August 27 and August 29, is a long standing tradition at WKCR, and it is among our listeners' favorites.
In the 2020 edition of the show, I produced a segment that discussed Lester Young's court martial and confinement in US Army detention barracks towards the end of World War II, and then followed with a lengthy presentation of the recordings, starting with "DB Blues", that he made for the Aladdin label in the post war years.
...2024-08-192h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzSarah Vaughan CentennialTo honor the centennial year of the jazz diva Sarah Vaughan, WKCR produced a multi-day marathon radio broadcast in March 2024.
For this broadcast I presented a historical segment focusing on Sarah's beginnings from the 1940s through the early 1950's.
This approximately 2 and 1/2 hour podcast concludes with a sample of recordings from later in the 1950's.
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The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzIllinois JacquetIllinois Jacquet is one of the tenor saxophone legends of jazz. Nicknamed “The Beast”, his ferocious, meaty and swinging style set an exemplar for the “tough tenors” to come, while he also had a sensitive side and meaningfully deep and hearty approach on ballads and standards.
Most reference works list Illinois Jacquet’s birthday as October 31, 1922, and therefore many have called 2022 his centennial year. However, some researchers have uncovered local records indicating his actual birth date as October 30, 1919. From Broussard in southwestern Louisiana, his family was of Creole origin. All of his siblings were musically inclined. They...2024-08-184h 41
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzJazz And SambaA celebration of the birth of Jazz and Samba.
This program was originally produced by Sid Gribetz in July 2012. The emphasis of the show was the 50th Anniversary of the Bossa Nova craze and the proliferation of jazz records throughout 1962 with the samba influence.
On February 13, 1962, Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd met in Washington D.C.’s All Souls Church for a casual record session. The resulting album, “Jazz Samba”, with its single “Desafinado”, became THE big hit record of the summer of 1962 and ignited a bossa nova craze in jazz and popular music. Within months, jazz artists from Coleman Hawkins to Gene A...2024-08-184h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzDonald Byrd-Pepper AdamsSid Gribetz presented this program in 2020 exploring the collaborations of Donald Byrd and Pepper Adams.
Donald Byrd was one of the all-time greats of modern jazz trumpet, possessed of a fresh, crackling sound and a virtuosity that contributed to a long and successful career in various jazz styles. Pepper Adams, while not as famous as Byrd, was a leading practitioner of the baritone saxophone, playing the otherwise cumbersome instrument with facility, speed, and grace that supported a prolific and varied career in many bands.
Since they each had long, individual, histories in our jazz lore, the...2024-07-262h 56
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzOscar PettifordOscar Pettiford was one of the leading innovative jazz bass players who came of age during the bebop era. He unleashed a sense of dynamic swing that set the standard influencing bass styles to this very day, and his lyrical, free flowing solos on bass, and later in his career on pizzicato cello, have lasting beauty that transcends the conventions of these instruments.
Also, Pettiford was significant as a composer of songs still prevalent in the modern jazz repertory - Bohemia After Dark, Swingin’ Till The Girls Come Home, The Pendulum At Falcon’s Lair, The Gentle Art of...2024-07-264h 50
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzLouis Armstrong 2Here's my segment from the July 4, 2024 WKCR Louis Armstrong broadcast.
Includes a portion that features Louis in the 1960's, plus other components with many classic recordings for casual listening pleasure.
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The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzDon PattersonDon Patterson was one of the unsung heroes of the early generation of jazz organists, following the trail blazing Jimmy Smith.
Born in Columbus Ohio in 1936, Patterson originally played the piano, influenced by Erroll Garner. When the Hammond B-3 organ gained prominence in the mid 1950's, Patterson switched to that instrument.
He worked in an organ-guitar-drums trio with Paul Weeden and Billy James, and he also performed frequently with Sonny Stitt. As the 1960's moved on, Patterson signed with Prestige Records and had a significant impact. His records included associations with many great saxophonists, as well as unencumbered organ dates.
Dogged...2024-07-264h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzRed Garland CentennialWith his block-chord style, and bright and breezy attitude, Red Garland’s piano was swinging and sensitive at the same time. Whether serving as an accompanist in classic jazz combos, or out front as the leader of a romantic piano trio, Garland left a lasting impact in modern jazz.
WKCR presented a marathon radio tribute to Garland on May 13, 2013 to honor the centennial of his birth.
Here's my three hour segment, which focused on Garland with horns, such as John Coltrane, Arnett Cobb, Coleman Hawkins, Eddie Lockjaw Davis and many more. (But...2024-07-263h 05
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzRichard WilliamsTrumpeter Richard Williams was active on the New York scene mainly in the 1960's and 70's. A first rate musician, he had the nickname “Notes”. In addition to jazz combos Williams worked steadily in Broadway show pits, classical music ensembles, many big bands, and modernist large ensembles. As such, he participated in many significant musical endeavors over time, but not in the forefront or the limelight.Richard Williams was born on May 4, 1931 in Galveston, Texas. After college, Williams entered the service and spent many years in an Air Force unit that intensified his musical studies. Stationed for a time in...2024-07-262h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzArthur SchwartzThis is one of a series of Profiles we’ve done over the years focusing on the jazz impact of a legendary composer from the Great American Songbook.
Our enduring “standards” are part of the sinew of jazz performance, as their musical forms, melodies, and harmonic structure provide a sturdy and meaningful basis for jazz improvisation and expression. These songs have become lasting touchstones in our jazz repertory.
Arthur Schwartz was born in 1900 in Brooklyn. His father was an attorney who encouraged him to enter the law. After studies at Boys High, and in Literature and Law...2024-07-094h 53
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzBob Dorough Bob Dorough encompasses a wide arc of American music. He is rooted in the Americana of a Hoagy Carmichael or Johnny Mercer, energized under the counter-cultural fervor and swell of the bebop jazz revolution, a witty and literate songwriter of sophisticated pieces, a cultural icon of children’s songs, and a vivid interpreter of the American popular songbook with a unique personal vision. We will explore all aspects of his career during the program.
Bob Dorough was born in Arkansas on December 12, 1923 and raised in rural areas across Arkansas and Texas. He received formal musical education in Plainvi...2024-07-094h 57
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzRichard WyandsRichard Wyands was one of the great heroes of modern jazz piano. An unassuming man who did not seek much publicity, he was a vital force in our jazz community. Wyands was a sparkling pianist of elegance and grace, with great swing and command. He contributed his talents to many jazz groups throughout the years.
Richard Wyands was born in Oakland, California on July 2, 1928. He exhibited prodigy-like talent as a child and took [mainly] classical music lessons. When as an 11-year old he saw Count Basie perform at the World’s Fair on Treasure Island, he was hooked...2024-07-082h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzWillis "Gator Tail" JacksonWillis Jackson was among the notable cadre of exciting, young, Florida musicians who came of age in the post World War II bebop years. He got his first major professional break in the Cootie Williams orchestra, with whom he scored his first big record "Gator Tail" in 1949. Jackson then plied his trade in the rhythm and blues field and married the great singer Ruth Brown, and his sax strongly backs Brown on her early recordings such as "5-10-15 Hours".
After breaking up with Brown, Jackson made his name for many years in the organ-tenor sax groups wi...2024-07-084h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzBillie Holiday 1From the 2024 edition of WKCR's annual Billie Holiday special, my shift contains a variety of material, including a segment comparing Billie Holiday's classic small group recordings of the 1930's revisited in Norman Granz productions of the 1950's with Ben Webster, Sweets Edison and others.
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The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzElmo HopeBorn in 1923 and coming of age in the bebop and hard bop years, as a youth Elmo Hope was friendly with Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. Hope was a creative pianist and inventive composer. He possessed the fleet linear attributes and innovations of bebop. However, more significant was his compositional outlook, angular and dissonant in the mode of Herbie Nichols or his close friend Monk, yet with a romanticism that tempered the sometimes harshness of that style and stamped his true individualism. He lived on Lyman Place in the Bronx and nourished the African-American musical community of the borough.
...2024-07-055h 00
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzHarry WarrenThe popular standards of the Great American Songbook provide the foundational material for the musical improvisations of the jazz repertory. This program is one of an occasional series we’ve produced focusing on the legendary composers and their jazz interpretations.
Born in New York to Italian immigrant parents in 1893 as Salvatore Guaragna, Harry Warren was a self-taught musician who dropped out of high school to begin performing in the entertainment field. After stateside service in the Navy during World War I, Warren worked for Vitagraph Films in Brooklyn, and then as a song plugger for publishers and a com...2024-07-054h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzHarold LandLand was best known as the tenor saxophonist in the original Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet. But his prolific and accomplished career lasted more than four decades thereafter, although never gaining the more widespread fame that he deserved. Land possessed a firm sound and ingenious creativity on his saxophone and also was an inventive composer.
Harold Land was born in Houston, Texas in 1928, and his family moved eventually to San Diego, where he was raised. As a young man, Land settled in Los Angeles, and he remained a Californian for the rest of his life.
When Max...2024-07-054h 58
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzLouis Armstrong 1WKCR presents annual marathon tributes to Louis Armstrong on the 4th of July. Here’s my segment from the 2023 broadcast, which, in addition to a potpourri of some Satchmo goodies also includes a lengthy set of a mix of his 1957 Verve recordings with Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald, and the Russ Garcia orchestra
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The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzBuddy DeFrancoBuddy DeFranco was one of the greats among the clarinet players in modern jazz. He possessed a cerebral sophistication and intelligence, which, together with his masterful facility and command of the instrument and great sense of swing, made him one of our jazz giants. His tone on the clarinet was always warm, woody, and welcoming.
Boniface “Buddy” DeFranco was born on February 17, 1923 to a poor Italian-American immigrant family in Camden, New Jersey. His father, an amateur guitarist, was blind, and earned his living as a piano tuner. DeFranco was raised in South Philadelphia and attended the legendary vocation...2024-07-034h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzCarmen McRaeCarmen McRae should be high on the list in the discussion of the all time great jazz vocalists. She sang with special concern for the lyrics and performed with pronounced clarity and vision, enhancing the meanings of the songs. Additionally, McRae had a husky, soulful timbre, another factor that intensified her emotional connections with the listener. She was an excellent pianist as well, and her musicality informed her artistic grace and command.
Carmen McRae was born in a middle class Jamaican immigrant African American family in Harlem on April 8, 1920, and she was raised in Brooklyn. Her famil...2024-07-034h 59
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzMelvin RhyneMelvin Rhyne is one the greats from the 1950s heyday of the jazz organ, but he is not so widely remembered today. He should be.
Born October 12, 1936 in Indianapolis, he attended the segregated Crispus Attucks High School, which had a legendary music program and nurtured many jazz greats who came of age when Indianapolis had a thriving jazz scene. Rhyne originally played piano, notably backing Rahsaan Roland Kirk.
When Jimmy Smith and other pioneering giants made the Hammond organ a popular jazz instrument, Rhyne picked it up, but he maintained his pian...2024-07-014h 57
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzErnie HenryNot well known even in his brief lifetime, Ernie Henry was an astonishing musician of grace, style and profound emotion. Henry came up in the bebop days and was a key member of Dizzy Gillespie's 1948-9 big band, and he also participated in the more lyrical side of bebop with Tadd Dameron, Fats Navarro, Howard McGhee, and Walter "Gil" Fuller.
He spent the early fifties with his native Brooklyn beboppers, and as he turned 30 in 1956 he emerged full force on the scene, appearing on Thelonious Monk's “Brilliant Corners”, in Dizzy's famous 1956-7 edition of his big band, and i...2024-07-014h 54
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzDon ByasA prolific and influential figure on the national jazz scene during the World War Two years, Byas moved to Europe in 1946 and remained an expatriate for the rest of his life. While he achieved some celebrity on the continent, sadly his absence from the US has left him a somewhat forgotten figure in our music here.
Carlos Wesley Byas was born on October 21, 1913 in Muskogee, Oklahoma. His paternal grandfather was a blacksmith, and his father a jeweler. His maternal grandfather was a reverend and real estate investor and scion of an educated family. Young Byas lived a midd...2024-07-014h 57
The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid GribetzBeverly KenneyVocalist Beverly Kenney is one of the hidden gems in the treasured vaults of the jazz vocal legacy. She lived a short life and is not well-remembered, but for those who knew her, musician and audience alike, the impact was lasting.
Like a “cool school” saxophonist, Kenney sang with a laid-back detachment that on its surface presented a seemingly distanced and indifferent affect, yet her form possessed an inner reality intensely connected to the lyrics of the song and the deep emotions of artistic expression. In a gentle way she swung in the pocket and took sly liberties with h...2024-06-292h 57