The Gone Sounds of Jazz with Sid Gribetz

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 widespread listening audience.

It would be difficult to profile his widespread body of work in a single radio program.  Therefore, this program focuses on one discrete portion of his career, his recordings on the Prestige record label.

Coltrane attained his first widespread 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.

We continue an occasional series of programs focusing on the American Popular Song, examining the impact of the legendary composers on the jazz repertory.  For some of the best in jazz improvisation derives from its interpretations of the musical forms, melodies and harmonies of these great treasures.

For this show I did something different, and fun, and less intensive.  I surveyed songs that won the Academy Award Oscar as Best Original Song in a motion picture.  These movie songs certainly contribute to the heritage of our great American songbook.

Among the composers winning this award are Jerome Kern, Harry Warren, Harold Arlen and Jimmy Van Heusen, to name a few.  And tunes such as The Way You Look Tonight, Over The Rainbow, It Might As Well Be Spring, Days Of Wine And Roses.

We’ll present a curated presentation of jazz versions of the songs, by greats John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, Clifford Brown, Kenny Dorham, and less famous figures as well.

originally broadcast March 15, 2026

Howard McGhee, a renowned trumpeter of both the big band and be-bop eras, also was a leading figure and mentor on the New York jazz scene in the 1960's and 1970's. 

Born in Oklahoma in 1918, and raised in Detroit, McGhee gained attention in his youth in the big bands of Lionel Hampton, Charlie Barnet, and, notably, Andy Kirk.  Settling in Los Angeles in the 1940's and working in Coleman Hawkins small group, McGhee became a major player in California, recording with musicians ranging from Lester Young to R&B bands.

When Bird, Charlie Parker, famously stayed in LA in 1946 after Dizzy and his group returned to New York, McGhee became a key companion and an important figure in the history of bebop jazz.

McGhee also played with Machito’s Afro-Cuban band, with Milt Jackson, Jazz At The Philharmonic, and had many other significant associations.

In the 1950's, among other credits, he recorded for Bethlehem Records and performed regularly in James Moody’s working group.

Over the last decades of his life, McGhee made records with Phineas Newborn, Teddy Edwards and other prominent figures, which we will hear on the program.  “Maggie”, as he was known, also led his own big band, and he was active in community events with the St. Peter’s Church jazz ministry.

McGhee died in 1987 at the age of 69.

originally broadcast February 10, 2019

Serge Chaloff was a fleeting star on the baritone saxophone during his brief lifetime, one of Woody Herman’s “Four Brothers” and a bebopping legend as well.   He was a sophisticated musician and swinging performer.  Serge possessed a lithe, fleet, flowing conception propelled with a lighter tone and nimble execution on the big horn.

Raised by his prominent classical musician and educator parents in Boston, Serge Chaloff was born November 24, 1923.  His father Julius Chaloff was a pianist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and ran his own music school; his mother Margaret Stedman Chaloff, revered  by her many famous classical and jazz musician students as “Madame Chaloff”, was a long time teacher with her own studio and also at the New England Conservatory and other schools.

As a young child his parents taught him the piano, and he received formal lessons on the clarinet.  Inspired by Harry Carney he was self taught on the baritone saxophone and began performing in big bands.  Chaloff was also influenced by Charlie Parker and informed by the contemporary bebop scene, and he incorporated those styles as a major component of his expression.

Chaloff was hired by Woody Herman for the “Second Herd” band in 1947-1949 and excelled as part of its legendary saxophone section memorialized by the Four Brothers song and sound.

Unfortunately, Chaloff also absorbed another lesson from the bebop era and many contemporaries, succumbing to heroin addiction.  Chaloff was smitten and suffered more intensively than most, harming his physical health and inspiring erratic behavior to an extent that almost cost him his musical career, and his life.

Let go by Herman, Chaloff spent the early 1950's basically in local Boston clubs and with some brief prominent spots such as a stint in Count Basie’s octet.  He also spent some time on the road with low profile gigging.

By 1954, Chaloff began getting some treatment, and friends eventually  prevailed upon him to enter an intensive in patient rehab program.  Chaloff emerged totally clean and renewed his career with vigor.  Highlights included appearances at George Wein’s Storyville nightclub and his record label.  The “Fabel Of Mabel” album is a storied endeavor and a cult classic.  Chaloff went on significant national tours, appeared on the Steve Allen TV show, and recorded with Capitol Records - two LPs “Boston Blow Up” and “Blue Serge”- that are now considered masterpieces.

However later in 1956 Chaloff was stricken with cancerous tumors on his spine and after some initial surgeries that allowed him to endure, the tumors spread and he died in July 1957 at the age of 33.

With his short life span and limited body of recordings, Chaloff is not well remembered, but he was a significant figure who deserves lasting recognition.

 

originally broadcast February 15, 2026