Seven for Saturday - 7 Charles Mingus Videos

"Seven for Saturday" is a great way to see some of the legendary men and women of jazz in action.

Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was a bassist, composer, bandleader, and civil rights activist.

Mingus's compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop and drew heavily from black gospel music while sometimes drawing on elements of Third stream, free jazz, and classical music. Yet Mingus avoided categorization, forging his own brand of music that fused tradition with unique and unexplored realms of jazz.

The first video with Mr. Mingus is probably not well known. He was a part of pianist Hazel Scott's trio (the drummer was Rudy Nichols). This performance of "A Foggy Day" was on a "March of Dimes" television show from 1955:

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Seven for Saturday - 7 Freddie Hubbard Videos

"Seven for Saturday" is a great way to see some of the legendary men and women of jazz in action.

Trumpeter Frederick Dewayne "Freddie" Hubbard (Apr 7, 1938 – Dec 29, 2008) was born in Indianapolis, IN. He was known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post bop styles from the early 1960s and on. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives for modern jazz and bebop.

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Seven for Saturday - 7 Tito Puente Videos

"Seven for Saturday" is a great way to see some of the legendary men and women of jazz in action.

This time around it's Tito Puente, Sr., (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000)!

A dynamic percussionist, veteran bandleader, masterful arranger and an irrepressible showman, Tito Puente Sr. is forever remembered as El Rey — the King of Latin Music. In more than 50 years of fusing American jazz with Afro-Cuban rhythms, Puente was central to the ongoing popularity of Latin music in the U.S.

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Seven for Saturday - 7 Wes Montgomery Videos

"Seven for Saturday" is a great way to see some of the legendary men and women of jazz in action.

Yesterday was the 4th anniversary of the passing of a friend.  The void and subsequent grief that I felt about his unexpected death is what led me to throw myself into jazz music.

Today, I present the music of guitarist Wes Montgomery. My buddy adored Mr. Montgomery, Grant Green and John Coltrane.

I don't have much else to say. There will be no biographical info about Mr. Montgomery in this post. I'll cover that at another time.

Enjoy ~

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