Common’s “Drivin’ Me Wild” produced by Kanye West.

“Swing ’77” displays an astonishing bond between violinist Don Harper and guitarist Denny Wright. While the violin saws away like a hillbilly, the guitar picks up the Latin vibe over the plucking acoustic bass that swings like a motherfucker. Yet whether Harper and Wright perform as a duo, trio, quartet or sextet, Combo featured some of the most exotic sounds in jazz including the cover of Ellington’s “Mood Indigo” and Rodgers-Hammnerstein II’s “My Favorite Things” made popular by John Coltrane in the 60s. With each track clocking in no longer than four minutes, this LP serves as a delightful appetizer to jazz.

An interview with jazz legend Sonny Rollins on NPR.

NPR‘s Weekend Edition with Lyle Ritz:

Ritz is known as the “father of jazz ukulele” for merging the genre with the four-stringed instrument, and his credits on bass include multiple pop hit singles. However, it was in college, while he was working at a Los Angeles music store, when Ritz first pick

Haven’t got a hold of Billie Holiday: Remixed & Reimagined yet, but here is what Nate Chinen wrote in the New York Times: “The remixes may be modish, but the originals are timelessly modern.”

Fred Kaplan’s “Still Married to the Music“:

It’s a happy accident that two of the most self-absorbed legends in the history of jazz — the bassist Charles Mingus and the alto saxophonist Art Pepper — married women who wound up equally absorbed in the preservation of their legacies. The men have been dead now for a quarter-century, yet their widows, Sue Graham Mingus and Laurie Pepper, keep unveiling major discoveries.

Had a relaxed time on the beach to catch up with some jazz. I’ll try to blurb them when I get a chance. With the ever-growing collection, it would take me at least three-month vacation to go through, but I’ll get there. So stay tune for more dope jams. I promise you’ll like them. If not, shrug!

Before heading off to the shore (Wildwood, New Jersey), I leave you guys with Duc Tuan’s outstanding rendition of “Hoi Trung Duong” from his classic Pham Dinh Chuong songbook for you to enjoy while I am gone. Not sure if you’ll miss me, but I am sure the magnificent orchestration and Duc Tuan’s soulful, powerful vocals will keep you entertain for the rest of the week. Love his Hue accents:

Miền Trung vọng tiếng
Em xinh em bé tên là Hương Giang
Đêm đêm khua ánh trăng vàng mà than
Hò ơi, phiên Đông Ba buồn qua cửa chợ
Bến Vân Lâu thuyền vó đơm sâu.
Hỡi hò, hỡi hò, Quê hương em nghèo lắm ai ơ
Mùa đông thiếu áo hè thời thiếu ăn.
Trời rằng, trời hành cơn lụt mỗi năm à ơi,
Khiến đau thương thấm tràn, ngập Thuận An
Để lan biển khơi, ơi hò ơi hò.

I am outta here!

Perhaps the highlights of Iron Man aren’t just the humanized arpeggios from Eric Dolphy’s saxophone on the groovy title track, “Mandrake” and “Burning Spear,” but the funereal tempo on “Come Sunday” and “Ode to C.P.” Dolphy’s flute floats like a soaring eagle over Richard Davis’ pizzicato bass in a tribute to Charlie Parker. Unlike Bird, Dolphy was not a junkie. Like Bird, his death, which caused by diabetes attack, at a young age (36) shocked the world of jazz.

Nice poster for your bathroom wall.