WGTE Public Media Blog

The Face of Bass

By Fritz ByersTwenty-five or so years ago, I spent several hours across several days talking with the bassist Clifford Murphy, a revered and much-missed Toledo treasure. At the time, I was writing a regular jazz column for The City Paper; that month I’d set out to write about another local legend, the pianist Claude Black. For characteristically odd and hilarious reasons, Claude eventually asked that I not publish my piece on him, leaving me scrambling with a deadline approaching. Read More

This Week on Jazz Spectrum - 10/14

Jazz Spectrum

By Fritz Byers

A couple of days ago, I posted a few thoughts about the drummer Ed Blackwell. You can find that post immediately below. This week, Jazz Spectrum begins with “Nebula,” the track that opens What It Be Like?, the posthumous release of the Ed Blackwell Project, recorded in performance in August 1992, two months before his passing. In addition to Ed’s typically nuanced yet propulsive drumming, check out the twined horns of the saxophonist Carlos Ward and the cornetist Graham Haynes. Read More

Drumming Out of Time

Jazz Spectrum

By Fritz ByersYesterday was the birthday of the drummer (and ceaseless innovator) Ed Blackwell (1929). Today is the birthday of both the drummer (and ceaseless incubator) Art Blakey (1919) and the drummer (and ceaseless multi-genre master) Billy Higgins (1936). What a trio!

Let me share a few things you should know about Ed. We can get to Art and Billy next week. Read More

This Week on Jazz Spectrum – October 7 Larry Young’s master work, Unity (1965)

Jazz Spectrum

By Fritz ByersSaturday is the birthday of the organist Larry Young (Oct. 7, 1940-March 30, 1978). He was central to two authentic masterpieces -- the latter is Emergency!, recorded in 1969 by The Tony Williams Lifetime. Read More

Coltrane on Film

Jazz Spectrum

By Fritz Byers

The recent release of Evenings at the Village Gate, a 1961 recording of John Coltrane in performance with Eric Dolphy, propelled both Kim Kleinman and me to share a few thoughts online about ‘Trane and his impact, on us and on the music. (They are below, mine in a Sept. 13 post and Kim’s in a Sept. 26 post.) The set lists for Jazz Spectrum have moved on, but I’ve been spending a good deal of time in the last month reading about and listening to John’s music. Read More

This Week on Jazz Spectrum – September 30, 2023

Jazz Spectrum

By Fritz ByersSaturday is the birthday (September 30, 1922) of the pathbreaking bassist, Oscar Pettiford, son of a half-Cherokee-half-African-American father and a mother of Choctaw descent. Oscar was not exactly a prodigy, but by his teens he’d shown both his proclivity for music and his desire to innovate. His timing was excellent. Read More

Discovering John Coltrane Again

Jazz Spectrum

By Kim Kleinman, Contributing WriterIn his Sept. 13 blog post, titled “An Apex of Innovation,” Fritz shared a few of his thoughts about the recent release of “Evenings at the Village Gate,” a live 1961 recording of John Coltrane with Eric Dolphy, along with the pianist McCoy Tyner, the bassists Reggie Workman and Art Davis, and the drummer Elvin Jones. Read More

This week’s Song of the Week: “Dedicated to You” Notes on the Eight Versions

Jazz Spectrum

By Kim Kleinman, Contributing WriterThat descending figure and resolution over a I-IV chord pattern is what grabbed me when pianist Randy Ingram played “Dedicated to You” on a Small’s Live Stream from Mezzrow’s recently. I played Name That Tune with my usual level of success until Ingram announced it afterwards.

Fritz offered me the chance to pick this week’s song; the choice was easy. Read More

Artemis – The Legend Grows

Jazz Spectrum

By Fritz ByersArtemis, in Greek mythology, is the goddess of free nature, wild animals, the hunt, and vegetation. (If Roman mythology is your thing, think Diana.) Her stature in the ancient world is marked by the countless shrines erected in her honor and by the pervasive cultural veneration directed toward her, in legend, literature, and visual art. Read More

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