What I Like About Jazz

Montana Jazz Artists are the focus on "What I Like About Jazz" this week. Montana has a long history of great jazz players. There is a wide range of artists from players like Jack Walrath, Jim Rotondi, David Morgenroth, and Chuck Florence, to singers Dee Daniels, Eden Atwood, MJ Williams, and Jeni Fleming.

Jazz piano great Horace Parlan passed away March 1, at the age of 86. His unique piano style was heard in classic recordings by Charles Mingus, Stanley Turrentine, Thad Jones, and many more Jazz artists from the late 1950's through the '80s. Join us on "What I Like About Jazz" on  March 15 for a tribute to Horace Parlan.

We all know of many great women in jazz, but usually what comes to mind are the singers- Ella, Billie, Sarah, Dinah, we could list dozens of great ones. Most people can name at least a couple of piano players, too; Marian McPartland and Mary Lou Williams quickly come to mind.

But what about all the other instruments associated with jazz?

Tune in January 11 for a very special "What I Like About Jazz" as we're joined by trumpet player and educator Terell Stafford.

In his 25 years as a recording artist, and more than 30 years as an educator, Stafford has toured the world, performed in both small groups and appeared in the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni Big Band, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and been a longstanding member of the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra.

As a recording artist, Stafford has more than 130 albums to his credit, including multiple Grammy nominations and wins.

Join host John Arvish on "What I Like About Jazz" for a conversation with Terell Stafford, Wednesday, January 11, from 8:00 - 10:00 p.m.

Host John Arvish continues to explore the six-decades-long career of engineer Rudy Van Gelder Wednesday on "What I Like About Jazz," starting at 8:00 p.m.

After moving into his own studio at Englewood Cliffs, NJ, Van Gelder continued his long relationship with Blue Note Records, as the primary engineer on most of their hundreds of sessions between 1953 and 1967.

He also developed a relationship with the newly-formed Impulse Records. Among his many sessions there, Van Gelder recorded nearly all of John Coltrane's records up until his death. He also did pivotal sessions with J.J. Johnson, Yusef Lateef, McCoy Tyner and numerous others.

"What I like About Jazz" does a retrospective on the career of George Coleman, in honor of his first album as a leader in many years. George came up in the 1950's, and played and recorded with Lee Morgan, Booker Little, and Max Roach, then replaced Hank Mobley in Miles Davis' band in 1963. Coleman has recorded as a leader and sideman, and was the original saxophone in Eastern Rebellion with Cedar Walton and Billy Higgins.

Hear all these and more on MTPR, including his new album "The Master Speaks," Wednesday, May 25 from 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. on your radio, or online.

This week on "What I Like About Jazz:" a tribute to the tenor sax, with a spotlight on two of the masters, Gene Ammons and Houston Person.

This week on "What I Like About Jazz", Director of Jazz Studies Rob Tapper sits in again. This time, for a tribute to drummer Jeff Hamilton, whose trio plays at The University of Montana on February 6.

Tune in to "What I Like About Jazz" Wednesday night at 8:00 as jazz artists interpret the songs of Stephen Sondheim. Artists as wide ranging as Herbie Hancock, Eden Atwood, Holly Cole, Sarah Vaughan, Bill Mays and Kurt Elling show their chops.

We'll pay special tribute to trombone players, including Curtis Fuller, JJ Johnson, Bob Brookmeyer, Frank Rosolino, and Steve Davis. But we'll also hear some great arrangers and some favorite tunes.

Join John Arvish and guest Rob Tapper, Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Montana, this week on What I Like About Jazz. That's Wednesday, November 25, from 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. on MTPR; online or on your radio.

American jazz artists, and indeed the jazz form have had a strong link with with Paris since the early days of jazz. This week on "What I Like About Jazz," we pay tribute to France's love of American jazz, with recordings made there by the likes of Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Donald Byrd, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Dexter Gordon. We'll also hear from classic French artists including Michel LeGrand, Barney Wilen, Bobby Jaspar, and Jacques Loussier. Tune in Wednesday, November 18 from 8:00-10:00 p.m. on your radio or online.

This week on "What I Like About Jazz", we pay tribute to jazz musicians who served in the armed forces. Four branches of the service will be represented.

We'll hear from everyone from Jack Sheldon (Air Force) to Nat and Cannonball Adderley (Army) to John Coltrane (Navy) and Oliver Nelson (Marines). Other Veterans include Wynton Kelly, Junior Mance, Clark Terry, Aaron Bell, Jamil Nasser and many, many more.

This week on What I Like About Jazz, we pay tribute to the songs of Cal Massey, a brilliant composer, arranger and little-known trumpet player. We'll hear from Lee Morgan, John Coltrane, Herbie Mann, Freddie Hubbard, Houston Person, McCoy Tyner, Archie Shepp, and more.

Benny Green has been playing jazz piano for decades, and has recorded with everyone from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers to the Ray Brown trio, as well as being part of George Wein's Jazz Futures band in the early 90s.

Join us this week on "What I Like About Jazz" for a return visit with Butte native Jim Rotondi. Jim is a world class musician and educator, with nearly a hundred albums to his credit, appearances in clubs all over the world, and past associations include Ray Charles, Charles Earland, Harold Mabern, and Cecil Payne, among many others.

Lee Konitz has been playing and recording since the late 1940s, and at age 87, is still going strong. Lee got his start in recordings of Lennie Tristano and Miles Davis in the late 1940s, and has played with many of the all-time greats, from Charlie Parker to Bill Evans, and modern players including the group Minsara, pianist Brad Mehldau and many more.

Konitz was just voted into the Downbeat Hall of Fame, and is a 2009 NEA Jazz Master. Tune in to "What I Like About Jazz" on MTPR for a tribute to the music of Lee Konitz. Wednesday July 22 at 8:00 p.m. on your radio or live online.

I was deeply saddened to hear today of the passing of one of the great guitar players of modern jazz, Jim Hall, who passed away in his sleep last night at 83. What I Like About Jazz will pay special Tribute to Jim on Wednesday night, featuring cuts asa  leader and sideman with people like longtime friend Art Farmer, and modern legends like John Lewis, Sonny Rollins, Jimmy Giuffre, Ron Carter, Tom Harrell and more.

Saxophonist Wayne Escoffery has been recording music for more than a decade, has played with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Mingus Big Band, Ron Carter, Ben Riley and many others. Escoffery has also been a member of Tom Harrell's longest continuous group, playing and recording six albums over the last nine years.

Wayne has also recorded several collaboration albums with his wife, vocalist Carolyn Leonhart. (In addition to her own albums and projects, Carolyn has been a featured singer with Steely Dan for more than a decade).

This week, we'll take a look at jazz artists takes on classic Soul and R&B, with covers of Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield and more. Artists include Organists Charles Earland and Leon Spencer, Stanley Turrentine, One for All (with Erci Alexander, Jim Rotondi, Steve Davis, and David Hazeltine), Guitarists Paul Bollenback and Phil Upchurch and much more. 8:30 Wednesday on What I Like About Jazz.

Tonight on WHAT I LIKE ABOUT JAZZ , it's part two of a tribute to the late Cedar Walton. We'll hear a selection of "later" recordings from the last 30 years; solo piano, duets with Ron Carter, the Sweet Basil trio, Eric Alexander and more,  including one of his latest recordings with Houston Person.  8:30 pm Wednesday, October 2.

Tune in Part to What I like About Jazz for a special two-part tribute to the late Cedar Walton, groundbreaking pianist who played with John Coltrane, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, led Eastern Rebellion and the Sweet Basil trio and so much more. Credits over the years have also included several stints with Clifford Jordan, Art Farmer, Vincent Herring, Houston Person and David 'Fathead' Newman among others.