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Mitchell & Ruff: Brazilian Trip

I'm not sure why the jazz duo of Dwike Mitchell and Willie Ruff weren't better known in the '50s and '60s, when they did most of their recording—or why they still aren't household names. Part of the reason, I suppose, is that the delicate combination of Mitchell (piano) and Ruff (French horn and bass) wasn't exactly a happening sound back then. Delicate and sensitive with touches of classical influence, the duo's jazz wasn't pop-flavored in the late '50s or expressive and excessive in the '60s. Today I suspect they aren't well known because most of their albums haven't been released digitally.

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Jutta Hipp in Germany: 1952-'55

Jutta Hipp is a forgotten '50s jazz pianist with an odd past. She recorded briefly but gave up on jazz in 1956 for reasons that remain mysterious. The German-born Hipp spent her teens under Nazi rule and performed in Germany after the war. She recorded in Germany sporadically from 1952 to '55, when she caught the ear of producer Leonard Feather, who was in Duisburg, Germany. Feather urged Hipp to come to New York.

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Interview: Nils Lindberg

Yesterday I posted on composer, arranger and pianist Nils Lindberg's 1962 album Trisection, a superb but almost unknown 12-piece jazz recording. I also provided a bit of background on Sweden's 100-year love affair with jazz. Today, a conversation with Nils on Sax Appeal (1960) and Trisection (1962)—two of his early jazz albums recorded in Stockholm:

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Interview: Buzz Aldrin

In today's Wall Street Journal (go here), I interview Buzz Aldrin—the second astronaut to walk on the moon after Neil Armstrong set up cameras on the lunar surface. In my conversation with Buzz, we talked about what it was like to live in the lunar craft for 21 1/2 hours, the stress of being so far from home and his dread that the Eagle might not lift off, leaving him and Armstrong there to perish. Some improvisation and quick thinking were required—especially when a circuit breaker came undone.

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Buddy Featherstonhaugh: '56

The future of jazz for the jazz listener is foreign jazz. As good as American players were and are, there's a world of jazz past, present and future out there that will likely be a revelation to you. For those readers who tire of buying the same historic recordings over and over again in different packages, start exploring jazz albums from different countries that were recorded in the 1950s. You'll find thousands of great recordings by musicians whose names you've never heard before.

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