Grady Johnson Sextet: Jazz at Bistro 110

A Jazz Odyssey: The Life of Oscar Peterson
By Oscar Peterson,
New York: Continuum Books, June 2002, 382 pages, $29.95.
Reviewed by David Simpson

by Rick Kennedy and Randy McNutt
Indiana University Press 1999
198 pages, $24.95
reviewed by Jim Linduff

The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz
Edited by Leonard Feather and Ira Gitler
Oxford, 718 pages, $49.95
Reviewed by Don Rose
(This review first appeared in the November 7 Chicago Sun-Times.)

Golden Rules for Ensemble Playing
Unknown author
The following was forwarded to us from bandleader Bill O'Connell. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, we reproduce it here.

1. Everyone should play the same piece.
2. Stop at every repeat sign and discuss in detail whether to take the repeat or not. The audience will love it.
3. If you play a wrong note give a nasty look to one of your partners.
4. Keep your fingering chart handy. You can always catch up to the others.

Damon Short: Go Figure

It took almost 6 years to Damon Short to get this recording out. In itself, this is a tribute to the drummer’s persistence and unabated will to present his music even if commercial success and proper recognition have been eluding him—even in Chicago.

Despite Short’s uncompromising resolve, Go Figure remains relatively accessible. Of course, it will take time to truly appreciate the wealth of the compositions, which strike a balance between tuneful ensemble playing and unbridled soloing.

Bob Acri: Timeless, The Music of Bob Acri

Bob Acri is one of Chicago's veteran piano players, now in his young eighties, he continues to play in the clubs—for over 50 years! Great musicians never retire.

Jon Menges: Changes Within

Jazz has certainly always been about change and on his first CD as a leader, Jon Menges seems to celebrate the concept on a variety of levels. Considering the contrast of the two standards within this collection of mostly original tunes, this collection could easily be about transitional change. But if we consider the alternating palette of bright and dark tones between guitar and trumpet, soprano and flugelhorn to be found here in abundance, we might well be dealing with a different kind of change.

John Temmerman: The Power of Two

Jeff Marx Quartet: The Great Unknown