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dan's words and deeds
News and thoughts by Pianist Dan Cray
and the Dan Cray Trio.
. . .
12.24.2007
RIP Oscar Peterson
One of my all time favorite pianists passed away today. I listened to Oscar almost non stop in high school, and I think his records had a lot to do with my initial attraction to Jazz music. I still haven't heard anyone swing harder. . .what a force!
I only got to hear him live once, and it was after his stroke, but it was still a memorable night. I remember waiting around after the concert in hopes of meeting him, but had to settle for sending back the liner notes to a box set in hopes of a signature. He was nice enough to oblige, even personalizing a message to me, which was quite a memento for a kid. I'm jealous of those of you who got to hear him at the London House in an intimate setting--that must have been amazing!
If you've never really checked out Oscar, look for the box set "Exclusively For My Friends," a series of recordings he did for the MPS label. They were recorded at a studio in the Black Forest of Germany, and include many live takes for a small group of friends as well as his first solo album. The rhythm section features either Ray Brown or Sam Jones on bass, and Ed Thigpen, Bobby Durham and Louis Hayes on drums. All in all, it's some of the best and most swinging jazz trio music I've heard. Put on the track In a Mellotone (Check it out here on Rhapsody) and I think you'll agree.
posted by Dan at 3:19 PM
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12.17.2007
December News
Happy Holidays! Thanks to those of you who made it out for our live recording at Pops last month--we're currently sorting through the tracks, and hope to have something out by the Spring. Recording live presented quite a few challenges, but I'm really happy overall with how things turned out and the enthusiastic response from many of you.
In other news, Clark has decided to move to New York in January. It's been a long run of playing multiple gigs a week together while forming a group concept, and things will be really different without him around. But we're going to try to keep the group alive as best we can with less frequent local gigs and more gigs out of town.
Our run at Pops for Champagne will be ending after tomorrow night, so please come out and hang, say goodbye to Clark, sit in if you're a musician, etc. We're there from 9:00 PM to 12:00 AM.
If you're looking for something to do on New Year's, I'll be at Timo Restaurant with Mike Allemana and Lorin Cohen. Adding to the theme of loss and woe, Timo will be closing after the gig. Owner John Bubala, in addition to being a wonderful chef and a great guy, has been a strong supporter of the local jazz scene for many years. We're definitely going to miss him and Timo. We're on from 10-1, and reservations for the late seating begin at 9:30. INFO
As always, you can still hear the group at the Rhythm Room in Evanston every Friday from 7-11.
Finally, a bit of good news. . .The TV show Gossip Girl, airing Wednesdays on the CW network (formerly the WB), has formally asked to use my song "Good Morning.Good Bye" for a scene that will air January 9th. I've never seen the show so I can't really tell you too much about it, but apparently it's big with the kids. I was just talking with bass player Eddie DeHaas about the complete lack of jazz on TV, so it's nice to see someone thinking outside the box for once. The show airs at 9/8c.
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Thanks for your support this year, and all the best for a healthy and happy New Year!
posted by Dan at 1:27 PM
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12.10.2007
NU Ressurects Jazz Studies Program
Jazz Studies at Northwestern was resurrected with the announcement that saxophonist Victor Goines, recently at Julliard, would be taking over the program. This is some shocking news, as I thought for sure the program was dead and buried. It remains to be seen whether a viable program can be built at NU given the vehement opposition displayed by some of the traditionalists there, but this is certainly encouraging.
posted by Dan at 2:31 PM
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