Bags' Groove

Bags' Groove (PRLP 7109) is a jazz album by Miles Davis, released in 1957 by Prestige Records, compiling material from two 10" LPs recorded in 1954, plus two alternate takes.

Both takes of the title track come from a session on December 24, 1954, the first version having been previously released on Miles Davis All Stars, Volume 1 (PRLP 196). ("Bags" was vibraphonist Milt Jackson's nickname). The other tracks recorded during this session may be found on Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants (PRLP 7150), and all of them are also featured on the compilation album Thelonious Monk: The Complete Prestige Recordings. The rest of the album was recorded earlier in the year, on June 29, and four of the tracks had already been released as Miles Davis with Sonny Rollins (PRLP 187), with the fifth being a previously unreleased alternate take.

The title track and the three compositions written by the young Sonny Rollins went on to become jazz standards. On "Oleo", Davis used the Harmon mute to obtain a peculiar sound: it was the first time it was used on a studio recording and it would become an important feature of his playing.

Milt Jackson

Milton "Bags" Jackson (January 1, 1923 – October 9, 1999) was an American jazz vibraphonist, usually thought of as a bebop player, although he performed in several jazz idioms. He is especially remembered for his cool swinging solos as a member of the Modern Jazz Quartet and his penchant for collaborating with several hard bop and post-bop players.

A very expressive player, Jackson differentiated himself from other vibraphonists in his attention to variations on harmonics and rhythm. He was particularly fond of the twelve-bar blues at slow tempos. He preferred to set the vibraphone's oscillator to a low 3.3 revolutions per second (as opposed to Lionel Hampton's speed of 10 revolutions per second) for a more subtle vibrato. On occasion, Jackson sang and played piano professionally.

Biography

Jackson was born on January 1, 1923 in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Manley Jackson and Lillie Beaty Jackson. Like many, he was surrounded by music from an early age, particularly that of religious meetings: "Everyone wants to know where I got that funky style. Well, it came from church. The music I heard was open, relaxed, impromptu soul music" (quoted in Nat Hentoff's liner notes to Plenty, Plenty Soul). He started on guitar when he was seven, then on piano at 11. While attending Miller High School, he played drums in addition to timpani and violin and also sang in the choir. At 16, he sang professionally in a local touring gospel quartet called the Evangelist Singers. Jackson also took up the vibraphone at 16 after hearing Lionel Hampton play the instrument in Benny Goodman's band. Jackson was discovered by Dizzy Gillespie, who hired him for his sextet in 1945, then his larger ensembles. Jackson quickly acquired experience working with the most important figures in jazz of the era, including Woody Herman, Howard McGhee, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker.

Miles Davis

Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential and innovative musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, together with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz, hard bop, modal jazz, post-bop and jazz fusion.

In 2006, Davis was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which recognized him as "one of the key figures in the history of jazz". In 2008, his 1959 album Kind of Blue received its fourth platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of at least four million copies in the United States. On December 15, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a symbolic resolution recognizing and commemorating the album Kind of Blue on its 50th anniversary, "honoring the masterpiece and reaffirming jazz as a national treasure".

Life and career

Groove

Groove or Grooves may refer to:

Music

Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional stock car racing driver and a six-time champion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He currently drives the No. 48 Chevrolet SS for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Johnson was born in El Cajon, California, and began racing motorcycles at the age of four. After graduating from Granite Hills High School he competed in off-road series. He raced in Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG), Short-course Off-road Drivers Association (SODA) and SCORE International, winning rookie of the year in each series. In 1998, Johnson and his team, Herzog Motorsports, began stock car racing. He moved to the national American Speed Association (ASA) series for late model touring cars, and won another rookie of the year title. In 2000, he switched to the NASCAR Busch Series (now Xfinity Series).

He moved to Hendrick Motorsports in the Sprint Cup Series in 2002. After finishing fifth in the points in his first full season, he was second in 2003 and 2004 and fifth in 2005. Johnson won his first Cup series championship in 2006 and with further wins in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, he became the first and only driver in NASCAR history to win five consecutive championships. Johnson finished sixth in the points standings in the 2011 season and third in 2012. In 2013, Johnson won his sixth championship, one fewer than Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt who both have the record for the most championships at seven. Johnson is also a two-time winner of the Daytona 500, winning in 2006 and 2013. Between 2002 and 2015, Johnson has recorded six championships, 75 career race wins, 207 Top 5's, 314 Top 10's, and 34 pole positions.