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The Jazz Labels Celebrating jazz and the great music of Blue Note, Verve, Impulse, Concord, Decca, Capitol, Prestige, GRP & more.

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RIP the brilliant multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers, who died on Boxing Day in 2011, at the age of 88.Rivers was accompli...
26/12/2024

RIP the brilliant multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers, who died on Boxing Day in 2011, at the age of 88.
Rivers was accomplished on tenor and soprano saxophones, flute, piano and viola. He was also a fine composer. Rivers worked with Andrew Hill on the 1966 Blue Note album 'Change'.
You can read more about his outstanding jazz musician in this uDiscover feature.

At a time when all norms were being challenged, with ‘Contours,’ Sam Rivers proved that he was a post-bop jazz innovator.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE to all our followers 🎄 🎄 🎄The moving hymn 'Silent Night' was first performed 204 years ago today, on...
24/12/2024

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE to all our followers 🎄 🎄 🎄

The moving hymn 'Silent Night' was first performed 204 years ago today, on Christmas Eve at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, a village in the Austrian Empire.
Here is Jimmy Smith's wonderful version for Verve Records, provided to YouTube by Universal Music.
It features Kenny Burrell on guitar.

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music GroupSilent Night · Jimmy SmithChristmas Cookin'℗ A Verve Label Group Release; ℗ 1964 UMG Recordings, Inc.Released on:...

RIP the fantastic pianist Oscar Peterson, who died on 23 December 2007. He made some great music with Louis Armstrong. F...
23/12/2024

RIP the fantastic pianist Oscar Peterson, who died on 23 December 2007. He made some great music with Louis Armstrong. Find out more in this uDiscover tribute to a meeting of jazz giants

Recorded in 1957, 'Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson' is a classic album of wonderful jazz that combines the talents of two jazz greats.

Celebrated Beat poet Kenneth Rexroth was born on December 22, 1905.Rexroth, a writer described by Time magazine as the “...
22/12/2024

Celebrated Beat poet Kenneth Rexroth was born on December 22, 1905.
Rexroth, a writer described by Time magazine as the “Father of the Beats,” was a regular at the famed Blackhawk in San Francisco, once sharing the bill with the Dave Brubeck Quartet.

Find out more in this excellent examination of how jazz inspired the Beat Generation. By Martin Chilton for uDiscover

Beat Generation poets and authors found inspiration from the jazz artists of their day, such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

On 21 December 1961, John Coltrane recorded ‘It’s Easy to Remember’, when Reggie Workman played bass rather than Jimmy G...
21/12/2024

On 21 December 1961, John Coltrane recorded ‘It’s Easy to Remember’, when Reggie Workman played bass rather than Jimmy Garrison, who does so on the other seven cuts, for his Impulse Records album 'Ballads'.
Find out more in this uDiscover feature

If you're looking for the definitive late night soulful jazz album then probably look no further than John Coltrane Ballads

🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅The brilliantly bittersweet “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was written in 1943 by Hugh Martin and Ralph B...
20/12/2024

🎅🎅🎅🎅🎅
The brilliantly bittersweet “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was written in 1943 by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane.
Martin said that one of his favourite versions was by jazz singer Mel Tormé, who composed the famous “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” song. “Mel wrote a beautiful new verse for it, was really out of this world,” said Martin.
Find out the full story of this festive classic at uDiscover

'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' is one of the most beloved festive songs of all, but it nearly ended up in the garbage bin.

🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄The jazz influences of 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'…Find out more at uDiscover
19/12/2024

🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄
The jazz influences of 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'…

Find out more at uDiscover

'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' is one of the most beloved festive songs of all, but it nearly ended up in the garbage bin.

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄Did you know that when Charlie Parker was recording a live broadcast at the Royal Roost in New York City on C...
19/12/2024

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄

Did you know that when Charlie Parker was recording a live broadcast at the Royal Roost in New York City on Christmas Day in 1948, he played a spontaneous version of "White Christmas" at a customer's request. Bird’s backing band included trumpeter Kenny Dorham and drummer Max Roach. Talk about three kings!
In this uDiscover article, the late Richard Havers tells the fascinating story behind “White Christmas”

Artists have always tried to go one better than Bing Crosby’s 'White Christmas,' the song that arguably defines the holiday season.

One of The Jazz Messengers’ strongest albums of the 60s, ‘Buhaina’s Delight’ finds Art Blakey leading his group through ...
18/12/2024

One of The Jazz Messengers’ strongest albums of the 60s, ‘Buhaina’s Delight’ finds Art Blakey leading his group through pulsating pieces of hard bop.
‘Buhaina's Delight’, which features Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, was recorded in two sessions, the final one being on 18 December 1961 at the Rudy Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs. Find out more at uDiscover

One of The Jazz Messengers’ best albums of the 60s, ‘Buhaina’s Delight’ finds Art Blakey leading pulsating pieces of hard bop.

🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄8 days until ChristmasEnjoy this uDiscover guide to the best festive jazz tunes!
17/12/2024

🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄
8 days until Christmas
Enjoy this uDiscover guide to the best festive jazz tunes!

Breathing new life into songs we’ve heard many times before, this list of the best Christmas jazz songs is perfect for the holiday season.

🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄Here's a great one for the festive season: ‘Peggy Lee sings Christmas.’Find out more at uDiscover
15/12/2024

🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄 🎄
Here's a great one for the festive season: ‘Peggy Lee sings Christmas.’
Find out more at uDiscover

The new collection 'Ultimate Peggy Lee Christmas' will be released by the Peggy Lee Estate in conjunction with Ume/Capitol on September 25.

In a world where Black women are consistently expected to compromise, Dinah Washington made few: she sang the way she wa...
14/12/2024

In a world where Black women are consistently expected to compromise, Dinah Washington made few: she sang the way she wanted to sing; she loved the way she wanted to love; she lived the way she wanted to live. .
Washington worked with Max Roach and Clifford Brown, including on the 1955 EmArcy album 'Dinah Jams'.
Washington was only 39 when she died on 14 December 1963.
Read this fantastic tribute at uDiscover

In a world where Black women are consistently expected to compromise, Dinah Washington, a timeless pop star, made few.

🔔 🔔 🔔 🔔 🔔“Jingle Bells” has also appealed to countless leading jazz musicians, including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, An...
13/12/2024

🔔 🔔 🔔 🔔 🔔
“Jingle Bells” has also appealed to countless leading jazz musicians, including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Anita O’Day, Gene Krupa, Ella Fitzgerald, and Dave Brubeck, who all recorded their own versions.
Check out Martin Chilton's guide to a classic, for uDiscover

Originally penned as a racy romance about an unchaperoned sleigh ride, ‘Jingle Bells’ is now one of the most popular Christmas songs ever.

Read Charles Waring's superb guide to the '20 Essentials From The Legendary Pianist' McCoy Tyner, for uDiscover The late...
11/12/2024

Read Charles Waring's superb guide to the '20 Essentials From The Legendary Pianist' McCoy Tyner, for uDiscover
The late McCoy Tyner was born on 11 December 1938 in Philadelphia.

The best McCoy Tyner albums reveal a questing musician who took what he learned from John Coltrane and channeled it into his own art.

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄Co-written by singer Mel Tormé in 1945, “The Christmas Song” was a massive US hit for Nat King Cole in 1946 and has...
10/12/2024

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄

Co-written by singer Mel Tormé in 1945, “The Christmas Song” was a massive US hit for Nat King Cole in 1946 and has been much covered since. Sinatra’s deliciously low-key 1957 recording is included in this uDiscover guide to Frank Sinatra’s best Christmas songs…

It’s not a white Christmas without Ol’ Blue Eyes. The best Frank Sinatra Christmas songs have a unique magic that brings the holiday to life.

Remembering Jim Hall, the great guitarist who died on 10 December 2013.In 1986, Hall was part of a remarkable concert at...
10/12/2024

Remembering Jim Hall, the great guitarist who died on 10 December 2013.
In 1986, Hall was part of a remarkable concert at Montreux Jazz Festival – a piano-guitar-saxophone trio featuring Michel Petrucciani, Hall, and Wayne Shorter, for a Blue Note album released in May the following year as Michel Petrucciani Power of Three Live in Montreux. “This record remains an exceptional encounter,” Petrucciani recalled a decade later.
Read Martin Chilton’s tribute at uDiscover

Michel Petrucciani, Jim Hall, and Wayne Shorter's incredible 1986 Montreux concert still sounds great today.

"I'm creative; I'm not re-creative... I don't follow what everybody else does"Saluting the great trumpeter Donald Byrd, ...
09/12/2024

"I'm creative; I'm not re-creative... I don't follow what everybody else does"

Saluting the great trumpeter Donald Byrd, who was born on 9 December 1932 in Detroit. You can read more about his album 'Royal Flush' at uDiscover

With ‘Royal Flush,’ Donald Byrd pushed the boundaries of hard bop while also introducing Herbie Hancock to the world.

Saluting the great organist Jimmy Smith, who was born on 8 December 1925 in Norristown, Pennsylvania.Smith taught himsel...
08/12/2024

Saluting the great organist Jimmy Smith, who was born on 8 December 1925 in Norristown, Pennsylvania.
Smith taught himself to play the piano and aged just nine he won a Philadelphia radio talent contest as a boogie-woogie pianist. Read more in this uDiscover tribute

People way too often overlook Jimmy Smith, and that’s been true for far too long. His Hammond organ playing influenced just about everyone.

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