New musical discoveries in Gettysburg, Pa

Today we saw the Buzz Jones band.  Mr. Jones is the leader and a music teacher at Gettysburg College.  This band consists of people he has played with for many years, plus current student musicians.  They were a joy to see as they ran through a varied set which consisted of Now's The Time, St. Louis Blues, St. James Infirmary, When It's Sleepy Time Down South, among others.  The price was right at no charge.  I encourage everyone to seek out venues like this.  There are many great musicians out there, possibly near you.  Across the street from the theatre, there was a record store where I found some great lps.  Brand X, a jazz fusion band with Phil Collins on drums, The World Saxophone Quartet lp Dances and Ballads, a Mississippi John Hurt compilation lp, and an L.T.D. lp with Jeffrey Osborne.  This was a fine day of music filled with little surprises.  

Cecil Taylor videos

 

 

Debut blog from Armstrong to Zappa

I can't think of a better day to debut this blog than celebrating the 84th birthday of Cecil Taylor.    www.wkcr.org is doing a birthday broadcast as we speak.  Cecil Taylor was born on March 25, 1929 in New York City.  Classically trained, he is one of the pioneers of free jazz.  He has a percussive approach to the piano, producing extremely improvised music, frequently involving tone clusters and polyrhythms.  Taylor has had a long and varied career as a solo performer and leader of many aggregations.  I would suggest visiting youtube for a sample of his performances and search the web for tour dates.