Jazz

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead looks at the work of jazz pianist and composer Thelonious Monk. This week, Monk received a special posthumous citation from the Pulitzer Prize committee for "a body of distinguished and innovative musical composition that has had a significant and enduring impact on the evolution of jazz."

Jackie McLean, the legendary jazz saxophonist who died last week at age 74, began playing at the age of 15 in his native New York City. Schooled in bebop at the start of his career, the alto sax player names Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young and Charlie Parker as influences. We offer a rebroadcast of a conversation with McLean.

Sidney Bechet played soprano saxophone in the early decades of jazz, before John Coltrane popularized the instrument. A new anthology, Mosaic Select: Sidney Bechet, offers listeners a chance to hear Bechet's music, transferred and restored from rare recordings from 1923 to 1947.

The new CD from the Mary Lou Williams Collective is Zodiac Suite: Revisited. The trio, created by pianist Geri Allen, plays the tunes of Mary Lou Williams.

Drummer Paul Motian has spent more than 50 years in music, working with jazz luminaries like Bill Evans and Thelonious Monk. At 75, he has a new CD of bebop jazz: Garden of Eden, featuring his own band.

The jazz trio headed by Sam Rivers has a new CD out, Violet Violets (Stunt label). Rivers' horn work is complemented by bassist Ben Street and Danish drummer Kresten Osgood.

Monk's Bones is the new CD from the Monk's Music Trio.

Cubist Music is the new recording by Puerto Rican pianist Edsel Gomez. It's on the Zoho label.

The new box set Miles Davis: The Cellar Door Sessions 1970 is the latest in a crop of critical anthologies that add perspective to the history of jazz.

Pianist Erwin Helfer is a son of New Orleans who adopted Chicago as his home. His music is a blend of the jazz he grew up with and the blues he discovered. Eleven songs — a mix of standards and originals — illustrate his wide-ranging, energetic sound on the CD Careless Love.

Blue Note has recently reissued recordings that feature three so-called "second-tier" saxophonists: The Complete Blue Note 45 Sessions by Ike Quebec; Tex Book Tenor by Booker Ervin; Let Me Tell You 'Bout It by Leo Parker.

For lovers of jazz music, the year 2005 brought a wealth of reissues by critical artists from Jelly Roll Morton to John Coltrane.

Jelly Roll Morton: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings by Alan Lomax presents the exhaustive recordings made by the sound documentarian.

Singer and pianist Shirley Horn died last week on October 21st at the age of 71. In 1992, Horn took part in a concert and interview with Fresh Air. Playing with her was her long time drummer Steve Williams and bassist Charles Ables (who died in 2002).

Musicians Harry Connick Jr. and Branford Marsalis, two New Orleans natives, have been friends for years — back to the days when Connick took piano lessons from Marsalis' father, Ellis

Jazz critic Kevin Whitehead reviews Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall. It's a long-forgotten recording of a 1957 benefit concert, which has never been released until now.

Trumpeter Gregory Davis has been with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band since its inception in 1977. The group, known for revitalizing the New Orleans brass band sound by incorporating funk, jazz, gospel and rock, will play at the upcoming "Big Apple to the Big Easy" Benefit Concert at Madison Square Garden Sept. 20, 2005.

Guitarist Al Casey died Sunday of colon cancer at age 89, days short of his 90th birthday on Sept. 15. Casey's distinctive style helped to define the sound of Fats Waller's band in the 1930s and 1940s. Casey also played with Louis Armstrong, Teddy Wilson and Billie Holliday. (This interview originally aired May 19, 2004.)

The latest album from legendary tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins is Without a Song: The 9/11 Concert. Rollins, who turned 75 last week, talks about the album, the Sept. 11 attacks and the death of his wife Lucille.