In suburban Louisville where Jimmy Raney lived, there were a lot of crickets out at night. But at some point one of them managed to find a home right outside his front door of the apartment complex (perhaps in a door frame or nearby hallway plant). In the beginning he was curious how this cricket came to be displaced but with a small hallway as a sounding board, and with the cricket showing no signs of leaving, this nightly sound became quite irritating.

Continuity of Conception In the last post Bill Evans Explained Part 2, we were discussing the groundbreaking solo “Re: Person I Knew”.  The hallmark of that solo and many others is the continuity of Bill’s conception. As he explained previously, “…he has a reason for every note he plays.” Evans ponders carefully the concept he is using when recording, often working out specific details meticulously between takes. Tony Bennett talks about it in this video in their collaborations with Bill in the 70’s (around 3:58 in).

I’m participating in an interesting discussion concerning Red Garland’s solo to “Billy Boy” from Miles ’58 record at my sometime forum haunt, All About Jazz It’s really for pianists concerning technique and how to go about learning these solos and the right fingering to choose. Here is the discussion thread And this is the solo on you tube:

Yesterday morning I had a flood of ideas entering my head about jazz piano. A full blown post in my head. Video clips, music clips, explanatory text, etc. So much that I thought I had better not commit it to one post but a planned series. What better idea than to pace things out and have continuous content, right? Of course I needed to get to work and it was getting on the late side. This morning (Saturday) I get up. I have no idea what the F$$k I was thinking about

Wish a happy 58th birthday to my brother. He is not too active now due to ill health but is one of the best to ever play. I knew it first hand of course. As is usual per this time of year I am on vacation right now with limited access to my usual blogging tools. However I will be doing a follow up blog with the last installment of the”Blast from the Past” recordings from our 1996 Birdland gig that included Doug, myself and the late Dennis Irwin on bass. Cheers Jon

Today marks what would have been his 87th year had he lived. His birthday sneaks up on me because it’s two days before mine. He is still with me all the time.

Here’s another audio track pulled from that same October 1996 gig at Birdland. 2nd tune of the night, Doug’s minor blues foot-tapper, “Something’s Up” from an album of the same name.

This was audio recording of Doug’s triumphant return gig in NYC at Birdland, October 1996 that he and I played together. It was a blast. I was hoping to clean up the audio a bit but I think it’s about as good as it can be given the source tape. Several guitarists in the audience as you expect! We kicked off the set of an arrangement I did of Dad’s “Motion” (originally for Joe Cohn’s record Two Funky People)

The evening prior to the Raney Legacy gig in Boston was accompanied by this radio interview on WBZ with host Jordan Rich. Although late at night, I’m told the program broadcasts to 12 states and parts of Canada. As this was my first interview on radio I’m happy to say it went pretty well and Jordan the host, in addition to being a class act made it quite easy for me. Hopefully this kind of thing will continue as the Raney Legacy project is indeed important for me and fans alike. We talked about my Dad, some family history and the gig. To hear the interview click here: WBZ-Jordan-Rich-Show-JRaney

This week I am off from my day gig and in Boston University area for my daughter’s graduation. I’m so proud of her. In celebration of it I’m coming out of my retirement from music to celebrate the Raney family legacy. I will performing in a local club called the Lilypad in the Cambridge area in Boston on May 17th (Last night I caught local saxophonist emeritus George Garzone and an old friend, trumpeter Phil Grenadier in a quintet there).  The 2 set gig will feature the music of Jimmy, Doug and Jon Raney as well as standards made famous by Jimmy.  For you nightbirds, I have radio interview scheduled…