Leighton's Recommendations

Where the river goes, available at the Music Library, with Wolfgang Muthspiel, guitar; Ambrose Akinmusire, trumpet; Brad Mehldau, piano; Larry Grenadier, double bass; Eric Harland, drums. 

Ambrose Akinmusire is an American musician who pushes the boundaries of jazz, incorporating hip hop and classical elements to create new sounds. In 2021 his album, on the tender spot of every calloused moment, was nominated for Best Jazz Instrumental Album in the 2021 Grammy Awards.  In particular, Andrew Adridge recommends the last track of the album, "Hooded Procession (read the names outloud)".

Members of the U of T community can listen to Ambrose's music on Qwest TV.

Digging by Amiri Baraka (2009), available at the Music Library and as an eBook through UTL.

Amiri Baraka (also known as Imamu Amiri Baraka, previously known as Everett Leroy Jones, Leroy Jones, and LeRoi Jones) is an American poet and playwright known for representing the experiences and suppressed anger of Black Americans as they face white supremacy and systemic discrimination.

You can find works by and about Amiri Baraka at several U of T libraries.

1987 recording by Aretha Franklin, One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, available at the Music Library.

Aretha Franklin was an American soul singer, pianist, and songwriter. Over a 60 year career, Aretha created an impressive discography and accumulated many prestigious awards and recognitions, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Grammy's Living Legends Award.

There are many books and recordings by or about Aretha Franklin available through the University of Toronto Libraries, inlcuding her album One Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Aretha's gospel album, Amazing Grace, and others are available at the Toronto Public Library.

Ben Wolfe's CD From Here I See, available at the Music Library.

Ben Wolfe is a New York bassist, composer, and bandleader. In describing his music, he has said “Much of the music I’ve composed; particularly the music that includes strings, I think of as chamber music within a jazz context.”

Several recordings from Ben are available at the Music Library.

The Dave Young Quintet, Mainly Mingus, available at the Music Library.

Dave Young is a jazz and classical bassist, and is currently a sessional professor at the U of T Faculty of Music. He has performed with the Edmonton Symphony, the Winnipeg Symphony, and the Hamilton Philharmonic, and in 1993 won the Juno Award for "Best Mainstream Jazz Recording" with his album, Fables and Dreams.

Several of his recordings are available through the Music Library.

Duke Ellington and Claude Bolling, Black, Brown, and Beige : A Drum is a Woman (1989), available at the Music Library.

Duke (Edward Kennedy) Ellington was an American pianist who is often considered the greatest jazz composer and bandleader of his time. He was an originator of big-band jazz, and his career encompasses over 50 years, thousands of scores, and the founding of the renowned Duke Ellington Band.

Duke Ellington's album, Black Brown and Beige Suite (1958), features gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. Jackson is often known as the "Queen of Gospel Song," and throughout her career gained fame around the world. She was also an active participant in the American civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.

Cover Art recording by the Next Collective (including Gerald Clayton, piano), available at the Music Library.

Gerald Clayton is a pianist and composer whose debut recording, "Two Shade," was nominated in 2010 for the "Best Improvise Jazz Solo" Grammy Award. Gerald explores mixed media performances, and also honors the legacy of his father, John Clayton.

You can listen to Gerald perform on the album Cover Art, by Next Collective, available at the Music Library.

Jazz and Justice by Gerald Horne, available at the Music Library.

Jazz and Justice traces the history of "jazz" from the music of Africans freed from slavery in North America, through the "blues," Jim Crow, the Civil War, to the present. Horne focuses on the economic, soical, and political forces that shaped "jazz," and the ways that "jazz" has influenced arts and culture in the U.S.

Jazz and Justice by Gerald Horne is available at the Music Library.

Jimmy Blanton appears on this collection of Duke Ellington recordings (1936-1940), available at the Music Library.

Jimmy Blanton was an American jazz bassist who played in the Duke Ellington band for 2 years. He made over 130 recordings with Duke Ellington, but his career was cut short due to tuberculosis.

Blanton plays on several Duke Ellington recordings that are available through the Music Library.

The complete Blue Note Lee Morgan fifties sessions, available at the Music Library.

Lee Morgan was an American jazz improviser and songwriter, lyric artist, and trumpet virtuoso. At 18, he was featured with the Dizzy Gillespie big band, but his career was cut short by his death at the age of 34. In his interview, Leighton Harrell mentions this quote from Lee Morgan: “they call it jazz, I like to call it Black classical music".

Several of Lee Morgan's recordings are available in the Music Library.

Max Roach recording, available at the Music Library.

Max Roach was an American jazz drummer and composer. Performing with artists such as Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, Roach developed percussion techniques and rhythms which established percussion as a melodic improv instrument. Roach was also a political activist, which often influenced his compositions and performances.

Recordings of Max Roach are available through the Music Library.

Miles Davis, Boplicity: Original Recordings 1949-1953, available through the library's subscription to Naxos Music Library Jazz.

Miles Davis was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader. In his interview, Leighton specifically referenced an incident in which Davis was attacked by police, which occurred in 1959, just eight days after his release of Kind of Blue. The incident occurred in Midtown Manhattan, and Davis was then arrested for resisting arrest.

There are many items by or about Miles Davis in the Music Library, including books, scores, and CDs.

U of T community members can also watch "Miles Davis Quintet - Live at Newport Jazz Festival, Paris" on Qwest TV.

You can also listen to Miles Davis' Boplicity: Original Recordings 1949-1953, available through the library's subscription to Naxos Music Library Jazz.

Nicholas Payton on his 1998 recording Payton's Place, available at the Music Library

Nicholas Payton is an American multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, composer, producer, arranger, essayist, social activist, and Grammy Award winner. 

Leighton references a 2011 blog post which Nicholas Payton wrote called "On Why Jazz Isn't Cool Anymore."

Several of Payton's recordings are available in the Music Library.

Ray Charles Anthology, available at the Music Library.

Ray Charles was an American pianist, singer, composer, and bandleader. He is often credited with the early development of soul music.

In 1960, Charles released a vinyl titled Ray Charles Presents David Newman* - Fathead. David "Fathead" Newman was an American musicians who specialized in flute and alto and baritone saxophone. He worked with Charles from 1954 to 1964, and frequently collaborated with him in later years. 

Ray Charles Presents David Newman* - Fathead is available at the Toronto Public Library.

U of T community members can also learn more about Ray Charles and David "Fathead" Newman in Ray Charles and the Raelettes - Live at Antibes Jazz Festival on Qwest TV.

Jazz in the Bittersweet Blues of Life by Wynton Marsalis and Carl A. Vigeland, available at the Music Library.

Wynton Marsalis is an American musician, composer, bandleader, and educator. He has composed for quartets, chamber music ensembles, symphony orchestras, and big bands.

Several of the U of T Libraries have scores and recordings by Marsalis, and they also offer access to several films and documentaries about him through Medici TV.