The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid Gribetz

Teddy Charles was a hard swinging master of the vibes and also a sophisticated composer and arranger of forward looking sounds.
Theodore Charles Cohen was born in 1928 to Jewish immigrant parents in Springfield, Mass.  He loved music as a child, noodled on the piano and took drum lessons.  As a teenager during the World War II years he played professional gigs filling in for those drafted overseas.  He suffered from anti-semitism and chafed at the poor musical prospects in his small town.  So, upon graduating high school he was fortunate to move to New York, and he eventually qualified to enroll in Julliard.  He also pursued “musical studies” in 52nd Street nightclubs.
These were the bebop years, and the youthful Teddy was caught up in the sway of this modern music.  It the early 1950s he formed a vibes-guitar-bass trio and later worked closely with pianist Hall Overton and guitarist Jimmy Raney.  Teddy’s “New Directions” series for Prestige incorporated his modal ideas and concept of more free form improvisation within straight ahead jazz.  It was during this period that his agent had him use the professional name “Teddy Charles”.
Prestige records hired Teddy to open and run its California office in 1953 at the age of 25.   There he honed his organizational skills, recorded old friend Wardell Gray and “discovered” Sonny Clark and Frank Morgan, among others, for their first recordings.
Charles returned to New York and had significant associations with modern workshops and composers, and he developed a long lasting friendship and collaboration with Charles Mingus.  He arranged the stunning “Blue Moods” album with Miles and Mingus.   Teddy also formed his own favorite group, his Tentet, which gave him the opportunity to explore his complex writing and arranging ideas.  The Tentet released two classic albums on Atlantic.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, in addition to his own playing, Charles became an A&R man and producer for record companies and an arranger, championing the likes of Booker Little.  He was part of the scene of the “Newport Rebels”.  As a producer, he supervised recordings for artists ranging from John Coltrane to Aretha Franklin.
Later in the 1960s, fed up with the music business and wishing to explore the other love of his life, sailing, Teddy moved to the Caribbean and became a charter boat captain.  In the early 1980s, Charles felt an itch to return to music, so he moved back to New York, living first on City Island and then for many years in Greenport on Long Island, and from those bases he still pursued maritime activity while also returning to the jazz scene and many gigs, working often with Harold Danko.
In his later years Teddy collaborated with Chris Byars.  They resurrected his tentet charts and other compositions, and Chris organized ensembles for renewed concerts and recordings.
Teddy Charles died of heart failure in 2012 at the age of 84.
 
originally broadcast June 21, 2026

Frank Strozier, a powerful and dynamic player on the otherwise softer instruments of alto saxophone and flute, was born in 1937 and came of age in Memphis the 1950's among an influential group of young musicians who combined the soulful Southern rhythms with the intricacies and sophistication of bebop to create a style and sound that has a lasting impact in the development of modern jazz.
 Strozier made his first mark with the “MJT + 3" group.  He also played with Memphis buddies such as Booker Little, George Coleman, and Harold Mabern, among others in the New York area.  Frank was in the Roy Haynes group for a time. In the mid-60's he moved to California, working with people like Shelley Manne and Oliver Nelson.  He briefly was in the famous Miles Davis organization.
 Strozier returned to be a prominent player on the New York jazz scene in the 1970's and early 1980's.  But thereafter he retired from music and became a science teacher in Yonkers, still occasionally sighted the piano in the Westchester area.
 The radio show will present a retrospective of his various recordings, which will impress you with his power, lyricism, and personal voice, a strong musician who should be wider known.
 
originally broadcast June 2, 2013

Shirley Scott was born in 1934 in Philadelphia and was raised in a musical family.  As a schoolchild she played both trumpet and the piano.  She began playing jazz professionally on the then-robust and creative Philadelphia jazz scene.  Upon embarking in earnest in her professional career, in the mid 1950's Shirley turned to the Hammond B-3 Organ and established herself as one of the primary figures in our jazz organ canon.
 
Her first major professional association, and what a great one it was, was in the dynamic combos of saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, performing around the country and creating classic albums such as the Cookbooks.  By the early 1960's, Scott became one of the foremost jazz organists.  In this fertile and prominent period of her career, Shirley led her own groups, appeared as an accompanist to her then-husband Stanley Turrentine, and also used Stanley as her “sideman” – she produced prolific recording outputs in all these formats.
 
Scott stepped aside from her touring career in her later years, and focused on education in her native Pennsylvania, establishing a jazz music program at Cheney State University.  She continued to perform, mainly on piano, and she remained an important figure and mentor in Philadelphia, and on the national jazz scene, as well.
 
Shirley developed health problems in her sixties after taking the dietary supplement fen-phen, and she died of heart disease in 2002.  As a legal footnote to her life story, Shirley won a significant lawsuit against the makers of the drug shortly before her demise.
 
originally broadcast April 14, 2019

For the Miles Davis Centennial (May 26, 1926) WKCR presented a series of marathon programming over several days.
Here's one of my segments.  It includes selections of Sonny Rollins, Miles with Bob Dorough, and then over two hours of an in depth listen to the Bill Evans association with Davis.

Mark Murphy (1932-2015) was an unsung hero among modern jazz vocalists, a cult figure who deserves wider recognition, a primary influence for new generations of jazz singers.
He was a risk taker of musical invention.  Murphy was a masterful scat singer and a champion of vocalese with compositions such as Stolen Moments and Red Clay.  Mark’s outlook is that of a wide ranging humanist, including his poetry and theatrical sides, with interpolations from Jack Kerouac, Lord Buckley, and other literary greats in his songs and presentations.  And he possessed a sturdy baritone on standards and Brazilian songs.
Murphy was born in Syracuse, NY and made his first name as a pop-jazz singer with recordings on the Decca and Capitol labels.  He hit his stride upon moving to New York City in the early 1960's, and with hip modern recordings on Riverside.  Since then he traveled the world as a vibrant, performing force.
This episode provides five hours of fun.
originally broadcast December 4, 2011

WKCR presents a marathon broadcast celebrating Charles Mingus annually, on his birthday anniversary, April 22.  From my segment on the 2026 edition, I presented a variety of sounds, among them a selection of early Debut recordings, and a feature of live concerts of the 1964 ensemble with Eric Dolphy (about an hour towards the end).

Saxophonist Teddy Edwards was born in Jackson, Mississippi on April 26, 1924.  His grandfather and other family members were leading local musicians, and Teddy began playing the alto sax as a youth. By age 12 he had played in some professional settings himself.  As a teenager he went to Detroit to live with an uncle and began participating in the vital Motor City scene. In his development, he forged connections with many young jazz artists, among others notably Wardell Gray with whom he became a close friend.
Edwards toured with R&B and jazz bands and ended up in Los Angeles in 1945.  There he teamed up with Howard McGhee and switched to tenor sax.  With his sophisticated harmonic sense and free flowing sound, Edwards became a leading figure in the early bebop days on the West Coast.  He was a key member of the Central Avenue scene, participating in duels with Dexter Gordon and Wardell and making notable records such as “Blues In Teddy’s Flat”.
Prominent on the West Coast, Edwards was one of the original Lighthouse All Stars and an early choice to be in the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet. By the late fifties and sixties, he recorded notable LPs with compatriots such as McGhee, Leroy Vinnegar and Gerald Wilson for the World Pacific, Contemporary, and Prestige labels (“It’s All Right”).
An accomplished arranger, Edwards wrote for brass and string ensembles and contributed to many projects. Additionally, he was an important accompanist for vocalists such as Jimmy Witherspoon, Helen Humes, King Pleasure and numerous others.
Edwards never ventured to the major New York limelight, but he was an important and influential figure in Los Angeles. In later years he  spent time in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, where he enjoyed admiration and popularity.  Edwards gained some publicity in the popular field when he toured regularly with Tom Waits for a time in the 1980s..
Edwards had a powerful and pulsating sound on the sax, always tinged with emotional warmth and insight.
I always liked this encomium to Edwards from Tom Waits: “He can sound like a train, or he can sound like he's drinking champagne on that same train."
Edwards had various health problems in later life, and he died of cancer at the age of 78 in 2003.
originally broadcast April 19, 2026

For the 2026 WKCR Billie Holiday Birthday Broadcast. I prepared a survey of Lady Day's recordings with Prez, Lester Young (about 2 hours).  The epitome of sublime intimacy and heartfelt companionship.  The episode opens and closes with several other Holiday tracks for casual listening, not so shabby in their own right.

John Coltrane is a major figure in our culture.  The majesty, grandeur and passion of his saxophone communicates with the soul and has inspired the reverence and spiritual devotion of his listening audience.
It would be difficult to profile his widespread body of work in a single radio program.  Therefore, this episode focuses on one discrete portion of his career, his recordings on the Prestige record label.
Coltrane attained his first major notice in his late twenties as a member of the classic Miles Davis Quintet (fall 1955-early 1957).  However, Coltrane was struggling with substance abuse and other personal difficulties, and Miles fired him from the group.  With immense personal dedication, and spiritual guidance from his wife Naima, Coltrane beat his addiction and began a renewed, refreshed life.  He moved to New York City (203 West 103rd Street).  Trane began working with Thelonious Monk, and their legendary six month engagement at the Five Spot reinvigorated each of their careers.
At the same time, Coltrane was looking to establish himself as a recording artist.  While with Miles, he was also a freelance sideman on many now classic albums, and in early 1957 Coltrane eventually got a contract with Bob Weinstock’s independent Prestige company, a deal that would last through the end of 1958.
There, Coltrane recorded his first three albums as a leader (“Coltrane”, “John Coltrane With The Red Garland Trio (aka Traneing In)” and “Soultrane”), sessions led by his friend Red Garland, and many all star dates.  As was his custom, Weinstock recorded many sessions under Trane’s leadership, which were "kept in the can", stockpiled, and released on additional albums in the next few years.
This was a pivotal period in the development of Coltrane’s career, leading in to “Giant Steps” and further levels of artistry.  Accordingly, these Prestige records are sometimes overlooked, but they, too, have a robust and sophisticated improvisational fervor worth savoring.  Critic Ira Gitler wrote of “the excruciatingly exhilarating intensity of rapid exigent runs with their residual harmonic impact” in coining the overworked but still apt term “Sheets of Sound” to characterize this phase of Coltrane’s style.
originally broadcast May 19, 2024

WKCR has a long standing tradition of celebrating Roy Eldridge, “Little Jazz”, with a marathon 24-hour broadcast tribute every year on the trumpet giant's birthday anniversary, January 30.
Here’s my shift from the 2026 edition.  We begin at the 1977 Montreux Jazz Festival, followed by 70 minutes of Roy in the 1950s, including his Verve session with Art Tatum and other goodies.  Next comes a detailed survey of Roy’s association with Gene Krupa (approx 85 minutes).  This episode concludes with a potpourri of various recordings for general listening.