Show Notes
Cuban pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader Chucho Valdés is one of the most influential figures in modern Afro-Cuban jazz. He was named a 2025 National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master – and the recognition crowns a 60-year career that includes seven Grammy Awards, six Latin Grammy Awards, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, and being inducted into the Latin Songwriters Hall of Fame. His style is characterized by a virtuosic and highl...
More from Jazz Profiles presented by Tim Owens & 32 Bar Blues
His name is synonymous with jazz – although his music is beyond category. Duke Ellington was a composer who enriched western music; a bandleader who used the instruments in his band to color his music – like an artist using a palette to paint. And, he was a fine pianist, using that instrument to compose and swing his orchestra. Here’s part 1 of a special 2-part presentation on an absolute legend. As part of the Peabody Award-winning documentary series “Jazz Profiles,” this special 2-se...
He may be the greatest jazz composer of all time. Certainly, the most prolific. He is also recognized as a “father” of Big Band jazz. As keyboardist – rooted in stride piano – he could propel his orchestra to new heights. And, wow, could they swing. On part 1, we focused on Ellington’s formative years up until the mid-1930s. Here on part 2, we look at the evolution of Ellington’s music from the mid-30s until his death in May of 1974 at the age of 75. As part of the Peabody Award-winnin...
Irrepressible raconteur, indelible stylist, and giant of the Harlem stride piano, Willie “The Lion” Smith was an iconic American jazz pioneer. Known as a “musician’s musician,” his versatile career spanned ragtime, vaudeville, Broadway, and Tin Pan Alley – influencing legends like Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie. As part of the Peabody Award-winning documentary series “Jazz Profiles,” this presentation about Willie Smith was produced in 1997 by Sally Pl...
His was the first jazz album to sell over a million copies. But his music – noted for its odd time signatures – was somehow accessible and hummable. And with his signature quartet, he became a pioneer of the “cool” jazz movement. Stick around. Because you’re about to meet pianist, composer and jazz innovator Dave Brubeck. As part of the Peabody Award-winning documentary series “Jazz Profiles,” this presentation about Dave Brubeck was produced in 1996 by Dan Gediman – and narrated by th...
He simply is one of the most popular musicians in jazz. With his various quartets of piano, bass, drums and a horn – and his tours of college campuses the world over, he introduced thousands of young people to jazz. Once again, meet Dave Brubeck in Part 2 of our story on his life and music. As part of the Peabody Award-winning documentary series “Jazz Profiles,” this presentation about Dave Brubeck was produced in 1996 by Dan Gediman – and narrated by the show host Nancy Wilson. ...