Search Results for “bob hecht”

“Two Famous Johns” – a true jazz story by Bob Hecht

The writer remembers an evening in New York’s Half Note in 1964 when he witnessed a John Coltrane performance that was also attended by the pop singer Johnny Mathis

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“Spring is Here!” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

With perhaps Lorenz Hart’s most sardonic lyric — which is saying something! — this song remains one of the greats, and has been interpreted in many ways, from the plaintive and melancholy to the upbeat and hard swinging, such as John Coltrane’s version. Check out this bouquet of ten tracks to celebrate this great season!

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“Darn! All These Dreams!” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

In this edition, the jazz aficionado Bob Hecht’s 13-song playlist centers on one tune, the great Jimmy Van Heusen/Eddie DeLange standard, “Darn That Dream,” with the first song being a solo musician recording and each successive version adding an instrument.

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“A Perfect 10” – a playlist of tentets by Bob Hecht

Bob adds another instrument to his progressive playlist feature, and shares what a variety of arrangers have been able to accomplish writing for a tentet.

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“Look Ma, No Net!” – a playlist of nonets, by Bob Hecht

In this episode of our progressive instrumentation playlists, we add a ninth instrument to the mix to form a Nonet!

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“Two Jazz Survivors” – a true jazz story by Bob Hecht

A remembrance of a personal friendship with the late Sheila Jordan, one of the most unique vocalists in jazz history.

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“Eight is Great!” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

The cover of the 1959 album The Greatest Trumpet of Them All by the Dizzy Gillespie Octet. A song from the album, “Just by Myself,” is featured on Bob Hecht’s new 28-song playlist – this one devoted to octets.

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“Septets—Seven’s Heaven.” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

Bob Hecht’s 26 song playlist features septets, and includes the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Jimmy Rowles, Charles Mingus, Chick Corea, Art Farmer, and Cannonball Adderley.

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“Sextets: The Joy of Six” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

The cover of the 1960 debut album by the Jazztet, co-founded by the trumpeter Art Farmer and the tenor saxophonist Benny Golson, and which always featured a trombonist and a piano-bass-drums rhythm section. Golson wrote much of the music, but “Hi-Fly” – a tune featured on Bob Hecht’s playlist devoted to sextets – was written by pianist Randy Weston, and appears on the 1960 album Big City Sounds.

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“Quintets – Gimme Five!” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

The Cannonball Adderley Quintet, on the cover of their 1960 Riverside Records album Live at the Lighthouse. The ensemble – including Cannonball’s brother Nat on cornet, Victor Feldman on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums – is a classic hard bop band, and their performance of “Blue Daniel” is part of the 22-song playlist consisting of memorable quintet performances assembled by jazz scholar Bob Hecht.

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“Quartets – Four and No More” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

A 25-song playlist that focuses on quartets, featuring legends like Miles, MJQ, Monk, Brubeck, and Sonny, but also those led by the likes of Freddie Redd, David Murray, Frank Strozier, and Pepper Adams.

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Notes on Bob Hecht’s book, Stolen Moments: A Photographer’s Personal Journey

Some thoughts on a new book of photography by frequent Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht

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“‘Different’ Trios” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

In this 27-song playlist, Bob Hecht focuses on non-traditional trio recordings.

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“Trios – Three’s Not a Crowd” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

In the history of jazz there have been many variations of instrumentation within the trio format (think of Benny Goodman’s trio or Jimmy Giuffre’s) but on this playlist, Bob Hecht concentrates on a handful of the classic trio configurations—either piano, bass and drums, or in a few instances, piano, guitar and bass……

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“Duos – Two of a Mind” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

In this edition of extensive jazz playlists, the award-winning jazz producer and scholar Bob Hecht presents a 31-song playlist of historic and contemporary duo performances that exemplify the essence of jazz as a conversation between individuals, an open exchange between equal partners.

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“Alone at the Piano” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

In this edition of extensive jazz playlists, the award-winning jazz producer and scholar Bob Hecht focuses his attention on solo piano performances, including those by artists such as Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Art Tatum, Tommy Flanagan, Cedar Walton, Bill Evans, Jaki Byard, Keith Jarrett.

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“The Naked Jazz Musician” – A playlist by Bob Hecht

As Sonny Rollins has said, “Jazz is about taking risks, pushing boundaries, and challenging the status quo.” Could there be anything riskier—or more boundary-pushing—than to stand naked and perform with nowhere to hide? Bob’s extensive playlist is comprised of such perilous undertakings by an array of notable woodwind and brass masters who have had the confidence and courage (some might say even the exhibitionism) to expose themselves so completely by playing….alone.

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“The Pianoless Tradition in Modern Jazz” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

An extensive playlist built around examples of prominent pianoless modern jazz.

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“Latin Tinges in Modern Jazz” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

A nine-hour long Spotify playlist featuring songs by the likes of Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Ahmad Jamal, and Dizzy Gillespie that demonstrates how the Latin music influence on jazz has been present since the music’s beginnings.

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“Autumn Comes and Goes” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

A 28-song Spotify playlist devoted to Autumn, featuring great tunes performed by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Lester Young, Stan Getz, and…well, you get the idea.

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“What Is This Thing Called Something Else?” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

Contrafacts, as such reworkings are called, are the product of writing a new melodic line over an existing set of chord changes, thereby disguising or sometimes completely obscuring the identity of the original piece.

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Don Thompson – a playlist by Bob Hecht

An 18 song playlist to demonstrate some of the genius and versatility of the Canadian jazz musician Don Thompson

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Hard boppers dig the standards — a playlist by Bob Hecht

A Spotify playlist featuring standard tunes from the Great American Songbook as performed by hard bop musicians.

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“So What!…or, Where were you when you first heard Kind of Blue?” — a true jazz story by Bob Hecht

Bob Hecht recalls his experience of first hearing “Kind of Blue,” the 1959 jazz album by trumpeter Miles Davis

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“The Compositional Genius of Bill Evans — A Brief Overview & Playlist,” by Bob Hecht

Contributing writer Bob Hecht discusses Bill Evans’ enduring compositional genius, and has assembled an extensive Spotify playlist that includes many of his tunes.

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“An Interview with Lee Konitz” — by Bob Hecht and Grover Sales

Bob Hecht hosts a previously unpublished 1985 interview with the late, great jazz saxophonist Lee Konitz, featuring photography and music

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“Zoot’s Sound of Surprise” — a poem by Bob Hecht

Zoot blew this earth
into a friendlier place—
I can still see,
at the Half Note,
his rough angel face

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“All Blues: The Story of a Lost Friendship” — a true jazz story by Bob Hecht

…..I have to wonder how many friendships have been forged over mutual love of Miles Davis’ album, Kind of Blue. The one I want to tell you about came to pass in an unlikely setting back during the winter of 1963…

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“Whistlin’ the Bird” — Two True Jazz Stories by Bob Hecht

Part 1: Confirmation (1969)

It wouldn’t be the first time my penchant for whistling jazz tunes got me in trouble…nor the last.

I’d been crazy about whistling from my boyhood. Perhaps I inherited my obsession from my late father. He wasn’t a jazz fan like I am, and I barely even remember him whistling—he wasn’t around much when I was a boy and he died when I was twelve—but my mom later told me he was an outstanding whistler. “He could do triple tonguing and everything,” she said.

So maybe it was in my DNA. But at any rate, after his death I determinedly taught myself to whistle. I have a good ear and decent sense of pitch, so I found I could easily get in sync with whatever music I was hearing. And then I practiced and practiced, whistling along with jazz compositions and solos for years until I got

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“The Color of Jazz” — an essay by Bob Hecht

The late, great trumpeter Clark Terry once offered one of the most pointed, and humorous, comments about the perennial controversies in jazz over race and the perceived abilities of white versus black musicians…

He said, “My theory is that a note doesn’t give a

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“Jazz and Democracy” — by Bob Hecht

As someone who both adores the best qualities that jazz has to offer, and abhors our current national politics of polarization, I’m often struck by how the two realms of jazz and politics so dramatically conflict, in their respective expressions of two great American inventions.

It’s not supposed to be like that, though, because jazz and democracy, theoretically at least, share so many core principles.

Jazz, I believe, contains the best of democratic values. In jazz, everyone has a ‘voice’ and a

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A true jazz story — “The Sober Years” by Robert Hecht

From a small balcony above the stage of the Maybeck Recital Hall in Berkeley, I’m looking down on the jazz duo of bassist Red Mitchell and pianist Roger Kellaway, while tapping my foot to the earthy, swinging beat they are laying down.

It’s a Sunday afternoon in 1992 at this unique venue. The recital hall is part of a house originally built by the famed architect Bernard Maybeck in the early twentieth century. (Maybeck designed the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, along with many other notable buildings in that city.) The hall accommodates only about 50 people, and it’s a warm, redwood-paneled room with beautiful leaded glass windows on three sides. It actually feels a lot like being in a little chapel—but the religion being worshipped here is that of acoustic jazz, primarily of the pianistic variety.

For several years now, ‘The Maybeck’ as it’s familiarly called, has hosted a who’s-who of

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A true jazz story: “Woody ‘n Me” — by Robert Hecht

I’m driving up Raymond Boulevard toward downtown Newark. In the darkness the huge lighted sign atop the Public Service Electric & Gas Company serves as a beacon for approaching the city. Yet tonight something is off with the sign, and I laugh out loud as I see that its ‘L’ has burned out…and that it is now offering ‘PUBIC SERVICE’ to the community!

I am on my way to work at radio station WHBI where I am a staff announcer but also produce a nightly jazz show. On the car seat next to me is my

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“In Your Own Sweet Way” — A Bill Evans Memory, by Robert Hecht

It was the kind of New York night not fit for man nor beast. Sleet and wind whipping about, snow banks and ice everywhere. With my ‘49 Dodge slipping and sliding on the Village streets, I make my way to the Vanguard to catch the midnight set. The small sign outside the entrance inconspicuously announces: “Bill Evans Trio.” This is the 1962 edition of the trio, reformed after bassist Scott LaFaro’s death the year before; and this is the club where Bill had played his last sets with

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“Bird Lives” — a memory of Charlie Parker’s Kansas City, by Robert Hecht

The night I truly ‘got’ the shining genius of Charlie Parker I was in my girlfriend’s apartment on the Lower East Side. The year was 1961. I was nineteen, she was much older and hipper, and had turned me on not only to some great music but to getting high as well. She had all the essential jazz records, including the one on the turntable that night. It was The Fabulous Bird, on the old Jazztone label, consisting of reissues of some of Bird’s phenomenal 1947 Dial sessions. She had a very low-fi stereo—I can still see the nickel she had scotch-taped to the tone arm to keep it in the grooves. But the fidelity didn’t matter, in part at least because this evening I had just smoked a

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Interview with Gary Carner, author of Pepper Adams: Saxophone Trailblazer

The author speaks with Bob Hecht about his book and his decades-long dedication to the genius of Pepper Adams, the stellar baritone saxophonist whose hard-swinging bebop style inspired many of the top-tier modern baritone players.

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Interview with Alyn Shipton, author of The Gerry Mulligan 1950’s Quartets

In this May, 2023 interview, Shipton and Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht talk about Mulligan’s unique contributions to modern jazz.

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Playlist: “Jazz Tributes” — compositions and performances by jazz musicians, for jazz musicians

Bob Hecht has created an extensive Spotify playlist he calls “Jazz Tributes” that also serves as a kind of “Thanksgiving” greeting – compositions and performances by jazz musicians, for jazz musicians.

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Playlist: “Miles Plays Wayne”

Bob Hecht, a frequent contributor to Jerry Jazz Musician, writes about a current fascination – the compositions of Wayne Shorter, and his contributions to the Miles Davis groups he played in during his time with the trumpeter, 1964 – 1970. Bob has assembled a 20 song Spotify playlist featuring many of the recordings…

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Playlist: Compositions of Ornette Coleman

Contributing writer Bob Hecht’s 40-song playlist features 20 compositions by Ornette Coleman that alternates a cover version of an Ornette composition – often by a pianist or other harmonically-based instrument – followed by Ornette’s original version. It provides a nice perspective on the beauty of his music, even for those who may not particularly be fans.

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“Life in E Flat” — a conversation about Phil Woods, with pianist Bill Charlap and jazz journalist Ted Panken

Bob Hecht talks with pianist Bill Charlap and writer Ted Panken about the late Phil Woods, and his book Life in E Flat: The Autobiography of Phil Woods

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“Remembering Sonny Rollins” – a collection of poetry

Over the years, many poems have been published on Jerry Jazz Musician that were written in reverence of the man we refer to simply as “Sonny.” In the wake of his death, many more have been written. This collection is an example.

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21 jazz poems on the 21st of May, 2026

An ongoing series designed to share the quality of jazz poetry continuously submitted to Jerry Jazz Musician. In this edition…An array of poetic styles communicate personal reverence for and experiences with jazz music, and its cherished musicians.

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“What one song best represents your expectations for 2025?” Readers respond…

What are your hopes, anxieties, expectations for 2025? How do you see it playing out? 50 readers respond to the question, What one song best represents your expectations for 2025?

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Publisher’s Notes…a 3-dot update

News about upcoming publishing dates, collections, and recent posts…

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What’s going on at Jerry Jazz Musician? A brief three dot update…

News about recent and upcoming features to be published on Jerry Jazz Musician

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The Sunday Poem: “I Hear Music in the Kitchen” by Sandra Rivers-Gill

Naturally, his lyrics are cued a cappella./“I’m home” slips from his lips,/sizzles like the taste of what I’m baking in the oven,/as he unwinds his day.

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Interview with Joe La Barbera, co-author of Times Remembered: The Final Years of the Bill Evans Trio

Drummer Joe La Barbera talks about his book, and the significance of his experience working in Bill Evans’ last trio

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Poems, by Patricia Carragon and Michael L. Newell

do you hear the wind?
see that scarlet leaf
dance on concrete?

I am that wind
I am that leaf
I am that dance

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“Summer Love” — a poem by Jerrice Baptiste

Blossom Dearie sings Mad About The Boy.
Her fingers quicken over black & white bars.

A young man & woman fall in love during summer.
Moon climbs up the mountain, lips quiver

during their first kiss under stars.

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“Kind of Blue” — a poem by Kathleen S. Burgess

Spring rains watercolor the earth leaf, daffodil, violet,
then soften to a blue-gray mist,

and clear. Day’s begun transitioning, sky-bright blue to
lapis lazuli. Moon dreams in the north.

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Three poems…by Michael L. Newell

Sailing through a midnight sky,
entangled in pine branches,
a golden full moon graces
the night with a beauty

comparable to a Bill Evans
or Duke Ellington solo,
nothing needed to expand
the floating vision;

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“The Art of Accompanying” — a 50-song playlist

A 50 song jazz playlist featuring countless great performances, including by Shirley Horn, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra, Mel Torme, and many others

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Two of a Mind: Conversations on Creative Collaboration, Vol 1: featuring Bill Charlap and Sandy Stewart

An intimate portrait of Bill Charlap and mother Sandy Steward, who explore the art of musical collaboration and accompanying singers.

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Book Excerpt: Life In E Flat: The Autobiography of Phil Woods

This excerpt from the just released Life In E Flat: The Autobiography of Phil Woods(written with Ted Panken) covers Woods’ post-high school life as a budding musician from Springfield, Massachusetts. He recalls early memories of work in local jazz clubs, as well as trips to New York to take lessons with the pianist Lennie Tristano, who introduces him to none other than Charlie Parker.

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“What one song best represents your experience with 2020?”

The community of poets, writers, artists and photographers who have recently contributed their work and time to Jerry Jazz Musician to answer this question, “What one song best represents your experience with 2020?”

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“First Cold Night Of Autumn” — a poem by John Stupp

In the mountains
trees practice for winter,
dropping their leaves.
Birds, like thin farmhands,
sweep down on rutted back roads,
begging for food.
It’s Thanksgiving.

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Reminiscing in Tempo: “What are some of your all-time favorite record album covers?”

Gary Giddins, Jimmy Heath, Fred Hersch, Joe Hagan, Maxine Gordon, Tim Page, Veronica Swift and Marcus Strickland are among the 25 writers, musicians, poets, educators, and photographers who responded to our question, “What are some of your favorite record album covers of all time?”

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“An Archaeologically Authenticated, Gastro-Musicological Historical Artifact: The Menu For The Jazz Brunch At Jack’s Tea Garden” – humor by Lee Shamberg & Mark Shamberg

“An Archaeologically Authenticated, Gastro-Musicological Historical Artifact: The Menu For The Jazz Brunch At Jack’s Tea Garden” is excerpted from a work-in-progress entitled “The Hip Man Letters, vol. 2: Dear Morty.”

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Three takes on Louis Armstrong

One afternoon at the age of ten, lightning strikes.

Alone in our ramshackle wood-frame house in Hartford, I decide to listen to some of my parents’ 45 RPM records. I watch one slide down the fat spindle and plop onto the turntable to receive the tone arm and needle. The music starts and like a bolt captures not just my ears but my whole being. It’s a guy with a gravelly voice singing something about

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Cover Stories with Paul Morris, Vol. 18

Paul Morris is a graphic designer and writer who collects album art of the 1940’s and 1950’s. He finds his examples of influential mid-century design in the used record stores of Portland, Oregon. In this edition, Paul writes about album covers picturing designer furniture

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