The Godmother of Rock’n’Roll (and a great jazz singer too) – Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Juke joints, bordellos, speakeasies….

The roots of jazz?

Not quite.

The real engine of the music revealed in this documentary about Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

The focus of the documentary is on her massive influence on rock and roll, but she as a young woman she was a very popular jazz singer too.

– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube

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Chucho Valdés y Su Combo ft. Amado Borcelá “Guapachá” (1964)

Personnel:

Amado Borcelá “Guapachá” (Voz)
Chucho Valdés (Piano y Director Musical)
Carlos Emilio Morales (Guitarra Eléctrica)
Orlando Lopez “Cachaito” (Bajo)
Julio Vento (Flauta)
Papita Ampudia (Pailas)
Cala (Bongos)

Jazz on the Tube Interview with a Havana musician who lived in this scene

Note: A “milliner” is a hat-maker, not a millionaire.

Gilberto Valdés Zequeira was born in Havana on August 16, 1928.

As a kid, he listened to Chano Pozo’s rehearsals in the Colon neighborhood of Havana.

His vocal group had a weekly gig at the San Souci nightclub in Havana and he appeared on Cuba’s pioneering television channel twice a week in the 1950s.

Roy Haynes introduced him to American jazz drumming and gave him his first set of drumsticks.

He performed with his old friend Bebo Valdés when the two of them found themselves in Europe in the early 1960s.

He spent time as the #2 man at Egrem.

He was Dizzy Gillespie’s host when Dizzy visited Havana in 1977.

He introduced Irakere to Columbia Records and toured the world with them as their manager.

He helped save Cuba’s most important jazz club La Zorra y el Cuervo from being turned into a pizzeria.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg of Gilberto’s remarkable life.

Click here to learn more about Gilberto.

– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube

P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
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Musical Time Travel

Jazz on the Tube’s Ken McCarthy talks about a unique way to think about and enjoy music.

The example he gives in the second half of the video comes from a presentation by Lionel Leinwand at the Jalopy Theater in Brooklyn.

Lionel’s website is here: Ethanleinwand.com

The Jalopy Theater and School of Music website is here: jalopytheatre.org

The complete presentation

This is a talk I gave about something we can all do to appreciate music even more deeply.

Then I give an example of this approach in action in the hands of an inspired educator/performer.

The example happens to come from a genre called “Barrelhouse Blues,” which had its flowering about 100 years ago in the South among African-American youth.

But this approach to music appreciation can be adapted to any genre to good effect. It just takes a little imagination.

It will make a lot more sense when you experience it firsthand.

– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube

P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
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The country roots of jazz legend Charlie Haden

A track from Charlie’s album “Rambling Boy” (title track)

“Ramblin'” with Ornette Coleman

Charlie and the Portugal concert

A talk by Charlie Haden

– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube

P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
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Yes, country and jazz music are cousins


Note: The eye-opening article by Geoffrey Himes to which I referred is here: “Jazz and Country Fusion: The Searchers.”

Two supplementary videos below

Country Jazz Guitarists – A compilation by Ment Morris

Guitarists:

George Barnes
Chet Atkins/Les Paul
Jimmy Bryant
Roy Nichols
Hank Garland
Leon Rhodes
Jimmie Rivers
Andy Reiss
Redd Volkaert
Jim Campilongo

The Jazz on the Tube video that got this conversation started

Related Jazz on the Tube podcasts

Vic Hobson, barbershop quartet, and the education of Louis Armstrong
https://www.jazzonthetube.com/vic-hobson-and-the-roots-of-louis-armstrongs-music/

“Country” Eddie Durham was one of the key quarterbacks of the swing
https://www.jazzonthetube.com/ed/

Ornette and the Texas Hillbillies
https://www.jazzonthetube.com/ornette-in-amarillo/

When Robert Johnson played that Italian wedding in Newark
https://www.jazzonthetube.com/bruce-conforth-and-the-real-robert-johnson/

– Ken McCarthy
Jazz on the Tube

P.S. Our unique programming is made possible by help from people like you. Learn how you can contribute to our efforts here: Support Jazz on the Tube
Thanks.