Caption: Billie Holiday with her musical hero Louis Armstrong., Credit: Carl Van Vechten
Image by: Carl Van Vechten 
Billie Holiday with her musical hero Louis Armstrong. 

Best of The New Jazz Archive 2011: Part 2

From: Jeff Haas
Series: The New Jazz Archive
Length: 59:00

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This week on the show, we'll continue our look back at 2011 with some of our favorite artist profiles from the past year, including Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Artie Shaw, and the incredible Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Read the full description.

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This week on The New Jazz Archive we’ll close the book on 2011 and say hello to 2012 with a look back at some of this past year’s memorable profiles of your favorite jazz musicians. We’ll take a virtual tour of Louis Armstrong's former home with the Armstrong House's assisant director Deslyn Dyer, and revisit the story of the reluctant hero of the swing era—big band icon Artie Shaw. That plus our look at the hard luck life of jazz songbird Billie Holiday, and the story of the incredible Rahsaan Roland Kirk are all part of this week's show.

Also in the The New Jazz Archive series

Caption: The swing era's reluctant hero: Artie Shaw

Artie Shaw (59:01)
From: Jeff Haas

In the 1930s, clarinetist and bandleader Artie Shaw reigned as one of the great kings of the swing era. But just 20 years later, he mysteriously left the music business ...
Caption: Jazz funnyman Cab Calloway

Jazz and Comedy (59:01)
From: Jeff Haas

A lot of people probably don't think of jazz as all that funny. But from the music's vaudeville roots to legendary prankster Dizzy Gillespie, there's more than one way to get ...
Caption: The Incredible Rahsaan Roland Kirk

Rahsaan Roland Kirk (59:01)
From: Jeff Haas

His unrivaled ability for playing many instruments at once made him one of the most unique jazz musicians of all time. But Rahsaan Roland Kirk's battle for his place in the ...
Caption: Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin

Sex, Jazz and the Bawdy Blues (59:01)
From: Jeff Haas

In this hour, it's the shared history of jazz and sex—from the blues' raunchy roots to the French lounge singer who made the Pope into his "greatest PR man."
Caption: Duke Ellington and his orchestra

Big Bands (59:01)
From: Jeff Haas

Think of a jazz big band and it's probably the brassy sound of a '30s swing orchestra that comes to mind first. But throughout their more than 80-year history, big bands have ...
Piece image

Billie Holiday (59:00)
From: Jeff Haas

Billie Holiday has one of jazz's most bittersweet voices, and the biography to match.
Caption: Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa (59:00)
From: Jeff Haas

His music was an amalgam of classical music, jazz, R&B, doowop, poetry and—sometimes—just plain noise. And Frank Zappa the man had even more to him than that. Think you know ...
Caption: Free jazz innovator Ornette Coleman

100 Years of Jazz's Avant Garde (59:00)
From: Jeff Haas

This week on the program, we dare to go where many jazz fans dare not tread as we explore 100 years of the jazz avant garde.
Caption: Israeli saxophonist and clarinetist Anat Cohen , Credit: Osnat Rom

Jazz Abroad (59:00)
From: Jeff Haas

Jazz may be an American-grown art form, but there are few places on the globe where the music hasn't found some sort of a home. This week, we go in search of the unique ...
Caption: Philadelphia trumpeter Clifford Brown

Great Jazz Cities: Philadelphia (59:00)
From: Jeff Haas

This week on The New Jazz Archive, we're continuing our ongoing tour of America's "Great Jazz Cities" with the stories and sounds of jazz in Philadelphia.

Piece Description

This week on The New Jazz Archive we’ll close the book on 2011 and say hello to 2012 with a look back at some of this past year’s memorable profiles of your favorite jazz musicians. We’ll take a virtual tour of Louis Armstrong's former home with the Armstrong House's assisant director Deslyn Dyer, and revisit the story of the reluctant hero of the swing era—big band icon Artie Shaw. That plus our look at the hard luck life of jazz songbird Billie Holiday, and the story of the incredible Rahsaan Roland Kirk are all part of this week's show.

Musical Works

Title Artist Album Label Year Length
Serenade to a Cuckoo Rahsaan Roland Kirk I Talk with the Spirits. Verve 1964 04:33
Misterioso - Take 2 Artie Shaw The Complete Grammercy Five Sessions. RVG Bluebird/Heritage 1945 02:59
La Vie En Rose Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong Sings. Geffen 2000 03:24
P.S. I Love You Billie Holiday The Complete Billie Holiday on Verve. Verve 1959 03:34