On this Programme:
Frank Zappa
Musical maverick Frank Zappa was a free spirit whose multi-faceted career defied categorisation. He began in the 1950s with a love of the blues and doo-wop; later, he formed The Mothers of Invention, notorious for their theatrical and sometimes licentious stage shows. Zappa was also a meticulous record producer and an artistic control freak, whose musical oeuvre ranged from anarchic and satirical songs to orchestral works performed by the London Symphony Orchestra and Boulez’s Ensemble Intercontemporain. Tom is joined by the writer Robert Sandall to review Barry Miles’s new biography of Zappa and to discuss the contradictions and creativity of his unique life.
Barry Miles: Frank Zappa. Pub. Atlantic Books, hb. £19.99
Jazz Pianists
From Art Tatum to Keith Jarrett, Oscar Peterson to Thelonius Monk, jazz pianists have been some of the most progressive jazz artists of the last century. Tom talks to author Alyn Shipton about the distinctive role of the jazz pianist and catches up with Carla Bley, Bobo Stenson and Matthew Bourne, all pianists involved in this year’s London Jazz Festival, about their own perspectives on their chosen craft and the problems of finding an individual voice.
Alyn Shipton: A Handful of Keys – Conversations with Thirty Jazz Pianists. Pub. Equinox, hb. £16.99
David Redfern - Jazz photography
The familiar ‘cool’ image of jazz, set in moodily lit clubs with smoky atmospheres, or through the characteristically concentrated expressions of its performers, reveals a deep-set iconography. Tom visits the gallery of one of the leading jazz photographers, David Redfern, who has been chronicling jazz for 50 years, to talk about his own iconic images of jazz greats – a collection which includes Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Nina Simone and Bill Evans.
“45 Pictures Can’t be Wrong”, an exhibition of photographs taken at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club featuring the work of David Redfern, David Sinclair, John Hopkins and Val Wilmer, can be seen at Redferns Music Picture Gallery until 4th December.
Redferns Music Picture Library Website: www.redferns.com
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Jazz Today
Miles Davis famously pronounced jazz dead in the mid-1970s. However, celebrations of the living art-form like the London Jazz Festival suggest otherwise. For many, jazz is already a historical music, a genre that can be codified, emulated, even taught; for others, it’s a label that embodies a whole lifestyle; and for record companies, performers like Jamie Cullum and Norah Jones have made it a lucrative industry. But, has jazz really sold-out to commercialisation? Tom discusses the spirit and future of jazz with the saxophonist Gilad Atzmon, and writers Robert Sandall and Peter Culshaw.
For more information about jazz on BBC Radio 3, visit the website:
www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/jazz
