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DIW Records
DIW Records is a Japanese record label specializing in avant-garde jazz. It is a subsidiary of Disk Union. Kazunori Sugiyama was an executive producer for the label before starting Tzadik Records with John Zorn. DIW's name stands for "Discs in the World" and is from a music magazine sold at Disk Union stores that announced the latest releases from American and European labels. Wilber Morris recorded the first album for DIW in 1983 in New York City. The catalogue includes music by the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Lester Bowie, James Carter, Steve Grossman, Harold Mabern, David Murray, James Blood Ulmer, David S. Ware, Rodney Whitaker Rodney Whitaker (born February 22, 1968) is an American jazz double bass player and educator. Biography Born in Detroit, Whitaker attended Wayne State University, and studied with Robert Gladstone, principal bass with the Detroit Symphony Orche ..., and John Zorn. Discography References {{DEFAULTSORT:Diw Records Japanese record labels Ja ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avant-garde Jazz
Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Originally synonymous with free jazz, much avant-garde jazz was distinct from that style. History 1950s Avant-garde jazz originated in the mid- to late 1950s among a group of improvisors who rejected the conventions of bebop and post bop in an effort to blur the division between the written and the spontaneous. Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor led the way, soon to be joined by John Coltrane. Some would come to apply it differently from free jazz, emphasizing structure and organization by the use of composed melodies, shifting but nevertheless predetermined meters and tonalities, and distinctions between soloists and accompaniment. 1960s In Chicago, the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians began pursuing their own variety of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruce Ditmas
Bruce Ditmas (born December 12, 1946) is an American jazz drummer and percussionist. Early life Ditmas was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey on December 12, 1946, but grew up in Miami; his father was a trombonist in Miami big bands. Ditmas studied the piano from the age of nine and switched to the drums two years later. He studied with Tony Crisetello and then attended Stan Kenton clinics at Indiana University and Michigan State University in the early 1960s. He started playing with Ira Sullivan while still at high school,Tarro, Zim (January 2015Bruce Ditmas Interview ''Cadence''. Accessed June 24, 2019. and continued until 1964. Later life and career Ditmas accompanied singers including Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, Della Reese, Leslie Uggams, and Sheila Jordan between 1964 and 1970. He moved to New York City in 1966 and often worked in the city thereafter, although he was based in Miami from 1970 to 1983. In the 1970s Ditmas played in the pit orchestra for the Broadway show ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marion Brown
Marion Brown (September 8, 1931 – October 18, 2010) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, writer, visual artist, and ethnomusicologist. He was a member of the avant-garde jazz scene in New York City during the 1960s, playing alongside musicians such as John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, and John Tchicai. He performed on Coltrane's landmark 1965 album '' Ascension''. AllMusic reviewer Scott Yanow described him as "one of the brightest and most lyrical voices of the 1960s avant-garde." Biography Early life Brown, the grandson of an escaped slave from Georgia's Sea Islands, was born in Atlanta in 1931 and was raised by a single mother. He began studying the saxophone at an early age, inspired by Charlie Parker. He left high school in the 10th grade and joined the army. During his three-year enlistment, he played alto saxophone, clarinet, and baritone saxophone, and was stationed in Hokkaido for some time. In 1956, he returned to Atlanta and enrolled at Clark College, wher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sonny's Time Now
''Sonny's Time Now'' is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray, his first as a leader. It was recorded in New York City on November 17, 1965 and first released on LeRoi Jones' Jihad label. It was later reissued on the DIW and Skokiaan labels. The album features Albert Ayler and Don Cherry, with whom Murray had recorded and toured during the previous year, along with two bassists, Henry Grimes and Lewis Worrell. (''Sonny's Time Now'' is one of the few recordings on which Ayler appears as a guest artist.) The track titled "Black Art" features Jones reading his poem of the same name, backed by the musicians. ("Black Art" is one of Baraka's most controversial poems, and it "became a central icon of the Black Arts Movement, and at the same time, it also became a favorite target of those critics who regarded the black aesthetic as an anti-aesthetic.") According to Jeff Schwartz, bassist, Ayler biographer, and author of "Free Jazz: A Research and Information Guide", Jones ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sunny Murray
James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray (September 21, 1936 – December 7, 2017) was an American musician, and was one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming. Biography Murray was born in Idabel, Oklahoma, where he was raised by an uncle who later died after being refused treatment at a hospital because of his race. He began playing drums at the age of nine. As a teen, he lived in a rough part of Philadelphia, and spent two years in a reformatory. In 1956, he moved to New York City, where he worked in a car wash and as a building superintendent. During this time, he played with musicians such as trumpeters Red Allen and Ted Curson, pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith, and saxophonists Rocky Boyd and Jackie McLean. In 1959, he played for the first time with pianist Cecil Taylor and, according to Murray, " r six years all the other things were wiped from my mind..." "With Cecil, I had to originate a complete new direction on drums." Murray stated: "We played for about a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaoru Abe
(May 5, 1949 – September 9, 1978) was a Japanese avant-garde alto saxophonist. Self-taught at a young age, Abe performed with notables such as Motoharu Yoshizawa, Takehisa Kosugi, Yosuke Yamashita, Derek Bailey, and Milford Graves, although he generally performed solo. He was married to the author Izumi Suzuki, and was a cousin to singer Kyu Sakamoto. He was portrayed in Kōji Wakamatsu's film ''Endless Waltz'' by novelist and punk rock singer Kō Machida. Personal life Abe dropped out of highschool in 1967, at 17 years of age, to focus on perfecting his playing, and in 1968, he did his first performance, at a jazz spot named Oreo. In 1970, he met Masayuki Takayanagi. in 1971, he met Izumi Suzuki, and in 1973, they married. In 1976, they had a daughter. However, in 1977, they divorced. Career Abe was prolific, appearing almost every day to jazz spots and concerts. His library consists almost entirely of archival and live recordings, however he has recorded in a studio. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Haig
Alan Warren Haig (July 19, 1922 – November 16, 1982) was an American jazz pianist, best known as one of the pioneers of bebop. Biography Haig was born in Newark, New Jersey and raised in nearby Nutley. In 1940, he majored in piano at Oberlin College. He started performing with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker in 1945, and performed and recorded under Gillespie from 1945 to 1946, as a member of Eddie Davis and His Beboppers in 1946 (also featuring Fats Navarro), and the Eddie Davis Quintet in 1947, under Parker from 1948 to 1950, and under Stan Getz from 1949 to 1951. The Gillespie quintet, which included Haig, recorded four 78 r.p.m. sides for Guild Records in May 1945 which are regarded as the first recordings to demonstrate all elements of the mature bebop style. He was part of the nonet on the first session of Miles Davis' ''Birth of the Cool''. For much of the 1950s and 1960s, "Haig was all but a forgotten giant", in Brian Case's words; "Jazz pianism, ever more ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Hilversum Session
''The Hilversum Session'' is an album by American free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler recorded at a radio studio in Hilversum, The Netherlands on November 9, 1964 and first released in 1980 on the now-defunct Dutch Osmosis label. It was later re-released on DIW, Coppens, ESP, and Modern Silence. In 2016, the tracks that appeared on ''The Hilversum Session'' were re-released by hatOLOGY on the ''European Radio Studio Recordings 1964''. Background In August 1964, the Cafe Montmartre in Copenhagen, where Ayler had previously played with Cecil Taylor, invited Ayler and his trio, which included bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray, to return for an extended engagement. Despite having been offered only a one-way ticket, Ayler accepted the terms with the goal of exposing his music to a wider audience, given the bleak prospects and lack of interest in the United States. (According to Val Wilmer, "Peacock had been without food for fifteen days when Ayler dragged him from his bed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist, singer and composer. After early experience playing R&B and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. However, some critics argue that while Ayler's style is undeniably original and unorthodox, it does not adhere to the generally accepted critical understanding of free jazz. In fact, Ayler's style is difficult to categorize in any way, and it evoked incredibly strong and disparate reactions from critics and fans alike.Claghorn, 1982. His innovations have inspired subsequent jazz musicians. His trio and quartet records of 1964, such as ''Spiritual Unity'' and ''The Hilversum Session'', show him advancing the improvisational notions of John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman into abstract realms where whole timbre, and not just mainly harmony with melody, is the music's backbone. His ecstatic music of 1965 and 1966, such as "Spirits Rejoice" and "Truth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gil Evans
Ian Ernest Gilmore Evans (né Green; May 13, 1912 – March 20, 1988) was a Canadian–American jazz pianist, arranger, composer and bandleader. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest orchestrators in jazz, playing an important role in the development of cool jazz, modal jazz, free jazz, and jazz fusion. He is best known for his acclaimed collaborations with Miles Davis. Early life Gil Evans was born in Toronto, Canada on May 13, 1912 to Margaret Julia McConnachy. Little is known about Evans' biological father, although a family friend said that he was a doctor who had died before Evans was born. Originally named Gilmore Ian Ernest Green, Evans took the last name of his step-father, John Evans, a miner. The family moved frequently, living in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon, migrating to wherever Evans' father could find work. Eventually, the family ended up in California, first in Berkeley, where Evans attended the ninth and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monica Zetterlund
Monica Zetterlund (born Eva Monica Nilsson; 20 September 1937 – 12 May 2005) was a Sweden, Swedish jazz Singing, singer and Actor, actress. Through her lifetime, she starred in over 10 Swedish film productions and recorded over 20 studio albums. She gained international fame through her collaborative album with Bill Evans, ''Waltz for Debby (1964 album), Waltz for Debby.'' Career Singer Zetterlund began by learning the classic jazz songs from radio and records, initially not knowing the language and what they sang about in English. Her hit songs included "" (Swedish cover of "Walkin' My Baby Back Home (song), Walking My Baby Back Home"; in Swedish a tribute to Stockholm town), "Visa från Utanmyra", "", "", "" ("Little Green Apples"), "" ("Waltz for Debby (song), Waltz for Debby"), "" ("Hit the Road Jack"), "", "", "" (cover of Sting (musician), Sting's "Moon Over Bourbon Street") and "", among many others. She also interpreted the works of such Swedish singer-songwrite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eric Dolphy
Eric Allan Dolphy Jr. (June 20, 1928 – June 29, 1964) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, bass clarinetist and flautist. On a few occasions, he also played the clarinet and piccolo. Dolphy was one of several multi-instrumentalists to gain prominence in the same era. His use of the bass clarinet helped to establish the instrument within jazz. Dolphy extended the vocabulary and boundaries of the alto saxophone, and was among the earliest significant jazz flute soloists. His improvisational style was characterized by the use of wide intervals, in addition to employing an array of extended techniques to emulate the sounds of human voices and animals. He used melodic lines that were "angular, zigzagging from interval to interval, taking hairpin turns at unexpected junctures, making dramatic leaps from the lower to the upper register." Although Dolphy's work is sometimes classified as free jazz, his compositions and solos were often rooted in conventional (if highly abstracted) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
