Tag Archives: kenburns

Book Review: Stan Levey: Jazz Heavyweight by Frank R. Hayde

If Martin Scorsese ever gets round to making his jazz movie, he could do a lot worse than a Stan Levey biopic. Levey, who died in 2005, was one of the first great bebop drummers. Completely self-taught and an early master of fast tempos, he played with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Tatum, Miles Davis, […]

Sonny Rollins: Saxophone Colossus

Every serious jazz fan seems to have a favourite Sonny Rollins story. A good one is recited by musician Matt Glaser in Ken Burns’ ‘Jazz’ documentary. Sonny was playing a late-night Carnegie Hall gig on Easter Saturday during the 1990s. He embarked on a typically Herculean solo at around 11:30pm. This went on for quite […]