Cannonball Adderley 50 Years -- August 8, 2025

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I was probably listening to KJAZ when they announced that sax player Julian "Cannonball" Adderley had died. He was only 46, and he died after having a stroke. The nickname "Cannonball" came from his propensity for eating. "Cannonball" was a distortion of "cannibal." 

He played with the Miles Davis sextet on the album Kind of Blue and other albums.

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (Live)


Miles Davis - So What (Official Video)


Miles Davis - Straight, No Chaser

San Francisco Examiner, 24-August-1956

Turn Your Lights Out -- October 26, 2024

Oakland Tribune, 02-February-1972

Halloween is coming.

When I was a kid, Gene Nelson on KSFO played old radio shows at 10 pm on weeknights. I would be in bed by ten so I could listen every night unless the Giants' game ran late. I had to keep the radio's volume turned down very low because my dad was a light sleeper. 

Nelson often played episodes of great horror shows. Arch Oboler's Lights Out was hard to come by, but it had many wonderful stories including "The Chicken Heart" and "The Dark." 

When I took public speaking in high school, I reenacted Bill Cosby's routine about "The Chicken Heart." 

On this night, Nelson also played an episode of The Inner Sanctum, which was not as much fun as Lights Out, but which had one of the best openings of any radio show.

My wife and I both miss Dinner Jazz on KJAZ.

Max Roach 100 -- January 10, 2024

Max Roach was born on 10-January-1924, 100 years ago today. I was surprised to read that he was 83, and yet he had been around as long as I can remember. They used to play his music and talk about him on KJAZ. He would turn up on television sometimes. He always looked really serious, with the glasses and the suits. He wasn't one of the musicians I wanted to be when I grew up (I never wanted to be a drummer), but he was always there.

He subbed in Duke Ellington's orchestra when he was 16. He was one of the creators of bebop. He played on "Birth of the Cool". He worked with Abbey Lincoln and Clifford Brown. He composed; he taught; he worked for Civil Rights; he led a good life.

Abbey Lincoln & Max Roach group "We insist!" 1964 Belgian TV

Dave Brubeck 100 -- December 6, 2020

Composer and pianist Dave Brubeck, a native of the Bay Area, was born 100 years ago today, on 06-December-1920.  I remember seeing him and the quartet on television.  They were integrated, which was remarkable, and they looked like accountants, but they made wonderful music.  When I heard them on KJAZ or elsewhere, I knew there was something different about them.  

Freddy Cole and Annie Ross, RIP -- July 23, 2020

Pianist and singer Freddy Cole, brother of Nat King Cole, died last month.  I always enjoyed it when KCSM or KJAZ would play one of this new recordings.

Singer Annie Ross has died.  She was one of the pioneers of vocalese.  I like Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.

Hazel Scott and Shelly Manne 100 -- June 11, 2020

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Beautiful and fantastically talented Hazel Scott was born 100 years ago today, 11-June-1920, in Port of Spain, Trinidad.  She could play jazz and classical piano, sing and act.  She was active in striving for civil rights.

Drummer and band leader Shelly Manne was also born 100 years ago today.  I used to hear him on KJAZ. I always like the use he made of his name, like Shelly Manne and His Men. His Los Angeles nightclub was Shelly's Manne-Hole. He played with the early bebop musicians. He played for Woody Herman and Stan Kenton. He played on many movie and television show soundtracks.

Pete Seeger, Amiri Baraka and Bud Spangler, RIP -- January 29, 2014

 

I came along after the folk music craze had lost steam.  Groups like the Kingston Trio give me hives. Pete Seeger, on the other hand, was not just an element of a craze.  He supported migrant farmworkers, union organizers, the anti-war movement (except World War II, he served in that and believed we had to "lick Mr. Hitler"), the environmental movement  and the no-nukes movement.  He joined the Communist Party and later drifted away.  He was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee and invoked his First Amendment right of free association.  He was blacklisted.  He taught children.  A good life.  Arlo Guthrie said "Well, of course he passed away! But that doesn't mean he's gone."

I first heard of Amiri Baraka when I read a book about humor from the Anza Branch Library.  It talked about his play The Dutchman, and called him LeRoi Jones, which I thought was an interesting-looking name.  He generated a lot of controversy with his poetry and his statements, but he was an artist.  I listened to his son's eulogy on KPOO.  He talked about his father's spirituality and how the home was always full of jazz and artists and food. 

Bud Spangler was a drummer, a record producer, and a radio producer and artist.  I remember him on KJAZ, where he produced a show with Turk Murphy.  Later, I listened to his "Sunday Night Suites," a series of remote broadcasts on KCSM.  I borrowed the photo from Wikipedia. 

Dave Brubeck, RIP -- December 5, 2012

Dave Brubeck, a native of the Bay Area, died.  I remember seeing him and the quartet on television.  They were integrated, which was remarkable, and they looked like accountants, but they made wonderful music.  When I heard them on KJAZ or elsewhere, I knew there was something different about them.  This is sad news. 

Phil Frank and Joe Zawinul, RIP - September 14, 2007

I was sad to learn a week or so ago that Phil Frank was going to stop drawing his local comic strip, Farley, for the San Francisco Chronicle. Now he is gone. I remember Farley years ago, when it was a syndicated strip, Travels With Farley. All the news stories mention Farley's jobs as reporter and park ranger, but I remember when he was a cable car conductor.

Having a local comic strip allowed Frank to talk about San Francisco issues in a way that no except Herb Caen equalled.

We'll all miss the bears, the cats, Baba Rebop, and the bird. Good-bye, Phil.

I know I had heard Joe Zawinul's stuff on KJAZ, like his work with Cannonball Adderly, but I don't think I was aware of his name until I heard Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and saw him in the credits. I remember a friend lent me the first Weather Report album. I found it more accessible than Bitches Brew. I listened to it many times and was reluctant to return it. I finally broke down and found the money to buy a copy for myself.

Thank you, Joe for all the music.

One more thing: The other day, I visited the California Historical Society's current exhibit, "Past Tents". It made me want to go camping, something I haven't done for years.

Max Roach, RIP - August 19, 2007

Max Roach passed on the other day. I was surprised to read that he was 83, and yet he had been around as long as I can remember. They used to play his music and talk about him on KJAZ. He would turn up on television sometimes. He always looked really serious, with the glasses and the suits. He wasn't one of the musicians I wanted to be when I grew up (I never wanted to be a drummer), but he was always there.

He subbed in Duke Ellington's orchestra when he was 16. He was one of the creators of bebop. He played on "Birth of the Cool". There aren't many people left (Lee Konitz?) who played on those sessions.

He composed, he taught. He led a good life.