Kind of Bird

Kind of Bird Louisville’s classic jazz radio show! Fridays 7-8 am on 97.1 WXOX-FM & streaming at artxfm.com

Released on this date in 1972…
10/11/2025

Released on this date in 1972…

With the release of 1972's 'On the Corner', Miles Davis completely rethought his approach to music and changed jazz forever

Happy 99th Birthday to Saint John Coltrane.
09/24/2025

Happy 99th Birthday to Saint John Coltrane.

2 hours and 10 minutes left to help WXOX reach its goal…DO IT FOR MILES!!CLICK THE LINK BELOW………..
09/19/2025

2 hours and 10 minutes left to help WXOX reach its goal…DO IT FOR MILES!!

CLICK THE LINK BELOW………..

ART FM asks for your support on this one day to help keep our noncommerical station on air all year!

This Thursday, 9/18 is Give for Good Louisville.Get ready to be part of something GOOD! The Community Foundation of Loui...
09/16/2025

This Thursday, 9/18 is Give for Good Louisville.

Get ready to be part of something GOOD! The Community Foundation of Louisville's most generous day of giving returns this Thursday, September 18. From midnight to 11:59 p.m. (ET).

Thank you for supporting my program on WXOX 97.1 FM !

ART FM asks for your support on this one day to help keep our noncommerical station on air all year!

09/13/2025

A noteworthy exhibit at the National Jazz Museum in Harlem thrusts Ellison’s life with music to the fore.

09/10/2025

Calling all film buffs and collectors! 95 years ago this month, Louis Armstrong made his first feature film appearance in “Ex-Flame,” a movie that was heavily publicized at the time, but which has remained “lost” since it left theaters later in the 1930s. Our latest “That’s My Home” post has everything we know about it, including pages from Louis’s script, photos, reviews, newspaper coverage, pages from Armstrong’s scrapbooks, and much more. Feel free to share far and wide and perhaps one day, “Ex-Flame” can be found!

LINK IN STORY AND BELOW!

https://virtualexhibits.louisarmstronghouse.org/2025/09/10/his-first-big-talkie-the-story-of-louis-armstrongs-lost-first-film-ex-flame/

Happy Birthday to Prez!
08/27/2025

Happy Birthday to Prez!

Lester Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959) was one of the true jazz giants, a tenor saxophonist who came up with a completely different conception in which to play his horn, floating over bar lines with a light tone rather than adopting Coleman Hawkins' then-dominant forceful approach. A non-conformist, Young (nicknamed "Pres" by Billie Holiday) had the ironic experience in the 1950s of hearing many young tenors try to sound exactly like him.

Although he spent his earliest days near New Orleans, Lester Young lived in Minneapolis by 1920, playing in a legendary family band. He studied violin, trumpet, and drums, starting on alto at age 13. Because he refused to tour in the South, Young left home in 1927 and instead toured with Art Bronson's Bostonians, switching to tenor. He was back with the family band in 1929 and then freelanced for a few years, playing with Walter Page's Blue Devils (1930), Eddie Barefield in 1931, back with the Blue Devils during 1932-1933, and Bennie Moten and King Oliver (both 1933). He was with Count Basie for the first time in 1934 but left to replace Coleman Hawkins with Fletcher Henderson. Unfortunately, it was expected that Young would try to emulate Hawk, and his laid-back sound angered Henderson's sidemen, resulting in Pres not lasting long. After a tour with Andy Kirk and a few brief jobs, Lester Young was back with Basie in 1936, just in time to star with the band as they headed East. Young made history during his years with Basie, not only participating on Count's record dates but starring with Billie Holiday and Teddy Wilson on a series of classic small-group sessions. In addition, on his rare recordings on clarinet with Basie and the Kansas City Six, Young displayed a very original cool sound that almost sounded like altoist Paul Desmond in the 1950s. After leaving Count in 1940, Young's career became a bit aimless, not capitalizing on his fame in the jazz world. He co-led a low-profile band with his brother, drummer Lee Young, in Los Angeles until re-joining Basie in December 1943. Young had a happy nine months back with the band, recorded a memorable quartet session with bassist Slam Stewart, and starred in the short film Jammin' the Blues before he was drafted. His experiences dealing with racism in the military were horrifying, affecting his mental state of mind for the remainder of his life.

The Jazz Giants '56
Although many critics have written that Lester Young never sounded as good after getting out of the military, despite erratic health he actually was at his prime in the mid- to late-'40s. He toured (and was well paid by Norman Granz) with Jazz at the Philharmonic on and off through the '40s and '50s, made a wonderful series of recordings for Aladdin, and worked steadily as a single. Young also adopted his style well to bebop (which he had helped pave the way for in the 1930s). But mentally he was suffering, building a wall between himself and the outside world, and inventing his own colorful vocabulary. Although many of his recordings in the 1950s were excellent (showing a greater emotional depth than in his earlier days), Young was bothered by the fact that some of his white imitators were making much more money than he was. He drank huge amounts of liquor and nearly stopped eating, with predictable results. 1956's Jazz Giants album found him in peak form as did a well documented engagement in Washington, D.C., with a quartet and a last reunion with Count Basie at the 1957 Newport Jazz Festival. But, for the 1957 telecast The Sound of Jazz, Young mostly played sitting down (although he stole the show with an emotional one-chorus blues solo played to Billie Holiday). After becoming ill in Paris in early 1959, Lester Young came home and essentially drank himself to death. Many decades after his death, Pres is still considered (along with Coleman Hawkins and John Coltrane) one of the three most important tenor saxophonists of all time.

Source: Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

Part 2…
08/26/2025

Part 2…

Editor's Note: Today's post is the second in a series about legendary sound engineer Rudy Van Gelder and his impact on jazz. See part 1.The Beginnings of a MasterVan Gelder caught the recording bug at an early age. At seven he was already in the experimenting with sound using his first piece of equ....

08/26/2025

Part 1…

The lush tones of Miles Davis are unmistakable to millions. It is common knowledge among jazz fans that Davis was heavily influenced by giants such as Charlie Parker and Coleman Hawkins. Yet, had it not been for a modified U47 microphone, and a family’s living room in Hackensack, New Jersey, we...

08/25/2025

Caribbean jazz trumpeter Dizzy Reece's debut album for Blue Note Records, 'Blues In Trinity,' was recorded in London in 1958.

08/24/2025

Everything seemed stacked against the session even taking place never mind producing music of any worth...

but the resulting music is astonishing!

Full album review via link below 👇

08/24/2025

In the 1950s, the covers of most jazz records featured abstract designs. By the late 1960s, album aesthetics better reflected the times and the musicians.

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