Great Live Moments - Abbey Lincoln

April 8, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

Add new comment | Filed under: aaron walker, abbey lincoln, anna marie, bassist, carmen, diva, drummer, gaby, Iridium, Jazz Alive, lincoln, Listening Post, Live Music, marc cary, max roach, moseka, pianist, poet laureate, professional names, proof, singers, vulnerabilities, wbgo

Abbey Lincoln is proof that a rose by any other name smells as sweet. The reigning diva of jazz has had more than a few names over the years. She was born Anna Marie Wooldridge. Her earliest professional names include Gaby Wooldridge and Gaby Lee. For eight years, she was legally Mrs. Max Roach. The cultural minister of Zaire bestowed the name Aminata Moseka.
Abbey Lincoln has certainly earned the right of the great singers in our music, those who need only one name. Billie. Sarah. Ella. Carmen. Betty. Abbey.
For decades, Ms. Lincoln has also been the poet laureate of jazz. Her songs have expressed the essential components of a life unfolding, the sum of our strengths and vulnerabilities. That which makes us human. What's right and what's wrong with us. What we have done. What we can do better.
WBGO recorded Abbey Lincoln at Iridium in New York, October 1996. Marc Cary is the pianist, Michael Bowie the bassist, Aaron Walker the drummer.

Listen to Abbey Lincoln sing "Bird Alone," from the WBGO Archives.
-Josh

© 2008 WBGO

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Great Live Moments - Kevin Eubanks

April 7, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

Add new comment | Filed under: bassist, blazing trails, branford marsalis, cameron brown, guitarist kevin, jay leno, Jazz Alive, jazz forum, jazz guitar, jazz musician, johnny carson, kevin eubanks, Listening Post, Live Music, music director, robin eubanks, sf jazz, solo career, television career, tonight show with jay leno, trombonist, weeknight, wes montgomery

You may know guitarist Kevin Eubanks from the Tonight Show Band. Each weeknight, he sits in front of the band, acting as a comic foil for host Jay Leno. Kevin has actually been the music director for the show since 1995, when Branford Marsalis departed. Eubanks has been on the show since 1992. He even penned the show's closing theme song, "Kevin's Country."
Kevin Eubanks is a jazz musician by calling. In fact, music is genetically programmed into the Eubanks clan. Just ask trombonist Robin Eubanks, who is currently blazing trails with the SF Jazz Collective touring ensemble.
Check out Kevin on "Blues for Wes," a duet tribute to one of the heroes of jazz guitar, Wes Montgomery. This selection is a duet recording with bassist Cameron Brown. WBGO recorded it in 1983 at the Jazz Forum in New York. Johnny Carson was still the host of the Tonight Show. Kevin Eubanks was starting a solo career. His television career was yet to come.
-Josh

© 2008 WBGO

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Great Live Moments - Harold Mabern

April 7, 2008. Posted by Joshua Jackson.

Add new comment | Filed under: ahmad jamal, american museum of natural history, bassist, citicorp center, dizzy gillespie, drummer, gant, george coleman, gil fuller, harold mabern, heyday, history check, jamil nasser, Jazz Alive, Listening Post, Live Music, memphis native, museum of natural history, pianist, quartet, ray brown, veteran, wbgo

It's a Memphis Monday, courtesy of Harold Mabern. WBGO has recorded pianist Harold Mabern as a member of George Coleman's quartet. We've also recorded Mabern's own quartet at American Museum of Natural History.
Check out this version of Harold Mabern's trio, recorded in 1984 at Citicorp Center in New York. Bassist Jamil Nasser (like Mabern, a Memphis native) and drummer Frank Gant, two veteran trio performers (check out those Ahmad Jamal records!) make the trio. They play "Ray's Idea," a song composed by bassist Ray Brown and Walter "Gil" Fuller during the heyday of Dizzy Gillespie's big band.
-Josh

© 2008 WBGO

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