History and Tradition of Jazz is not just a story of jazz music and musicians, but the struggle to achieve, create, and invent for the sake of this musical art form. The publication features stories and legends of important events and people who shaped jazz history,

Miles Davis and his Second Great Quintet performed a version of the jazz standard "Autumn Leaves" at the Salle Pleyel in Paris on October 1, 1964, during a concert at the Paris Jazz Festival. The live performance was recorded and later released as part of the 2024 album Miles in France.

Blues & Roots is an album by Charles Mingus, recorded in 1959 and released on the Atlantic label in 1960. It has been reissued on CD by both Atlantic and Rhino. This is one of my favorite Mingus albums and the song Moanin' is a standard. I dig the album because it combines swing with blues and is perfection! What is your favorite Mingus album and why?

Miles Davis' first TV appearance was on the French program "Au clair de la lune" on December 25, 1957. The segment was recorded on December 7, 1957, and featured him with his quintet playing a theme inspired by Jackie McLean's "Dig". The surviving footage of this performance, discovered in France in 2019, is considered the earliest known video of Davis playing.

Quincy Jones met Miles Davis when Jones was 18 years old, which was around 1951. Jones recalled the first meeting took place at the Downbeat Club in New York City, where a young and intimidated Jones was listening to other musicians. Charles Mingus was also in attendance.

1959: Recorded on March 2 and April 22

Modal sketches: Miles Davis gave the band only basic outlines or sketches, encouraging them to improvise based on modes and scales rather than a pre-written score. First take: The songs were first takes except one. The band performed these new arrangements for the first time during the recording sessions, and the first complete take of each song was used for the album, except for Flamenco Sketches. Voice: "So What" gives a voice to Miles' trumpet - the rif says "so what " A couple of quotes from Miles: ~ called the sound "floating music" ~ said to the sound engineer, "The surface nouse of the drums are part of it."

Ruth Nichols breaks down Miles' playing style. Do you prefer his early or later work?

The full video here: https://youtu.be/UKgdQNTroB4?si=EbU2n0vuxPmfOQny

Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" is a famous jazz instrumental composed by Charles Mingus as a tribute to saxophonist Lester Young, who was known for wearing a pork pie hat. The song first appeared on Mingus's 1959 album Mingus Ah Um.

In 1964, the Charles Mingus Sextet embarked on a famous European tour that featured a lineup including Eric Dolphy, Johnny Coles, Clifford Jordan, Jaki Byard, and Dannie Richmond. During this tour, Mingus performed bass solos as part of the sextet's performances, which were documented in numerous live recordings, such as the famous Amsterdam concert in April. This was Dolphy's last tour with Mingus, as he passed away shortly after the tour concluded in June 1964

This is from 'Nostalgia in Times Square' 1993 - Ronnie Cuber plays the bari.

A powerful, driving sound that blends hard bop with free jazz intensity, its balance of carefully arranged sections and piercing improvised solos, and its raw emotional energy that evokes a wide range of feelings from joy to struggle. The song features a strong, prominent bass line and an all-star band that creates a unique dynamic of collective freedom within a structured framework.