The Ever-Controversial WWUH Jazz

Pronunciation Guide

NOTE: This Introduction was originally written when this Guide was being offered to jazz radio programmers in a now defunct effort to build an online jazz programmer community. The Guide is now offered to anyone interested. It will likely never be updated, so here it is, "for the Ages." --J.O. Spaak, former 'UH Jazz Director, May 2002

As serious jazz  people, we probably all get irritated when we hear a radio
announcer lacking jazz experience inform us that we were just listening to
"Art Blakely and the Jazz Messengers" or "violinist Stephanie Grappelli". This
kind of error is as much a result of being a lazy or inattentive reader,
obviously, as being inexperienced in jazz. This Guide does not pretend to be able to cure that problem. And, it's very obvious that it will be of no help when one is sitting before an open mic, reading the personnel from a recording not
encountered before, and discovering an equally "foreign" name (foreign in
quotes because it may very well be a name from the English-bred world).
However, if one plans to do a special segment spotlighting the music of
someone you've long admired, but dreaded pronouncing the name, it may be of
some modest aid to you.

The first batch of candidates for inclusion here was culled from an informal
survey of New England radio people at a meeting several years ago. The
nominees were to be musicians whose names  we had heard other radio people mispronounce frequently. (The database has grown since, by additional
nominations and on the Editor's own initiative, and now includes the
occasional place name, name of a composition, name of a record label, names of noted producers or others associated with the music, etc.) Even in a room
containing many decades of collective jazz radio experience, some names
struggled valiantly to avoid a consensus being reached about them. This raises
the issue of authority. "Joe Blow has been on the air for 20 years and he says
it this way..." is not sufficient authority. I'll bet you "dollars to donuts"
that "Joe Blow" doesn't know how to say "Montreux"! Obviously, the ultimate
authority would be derived by summoning the subject (from the grave, when
appropriate) to appear before us and tell us with his/her own lips how the
name should be said. Since this is slightly impractical, the next best thing
is to have "earwitness" testimony of someone who did, at one time, speak
directly to the party in question and heard how the person pronounced her or
his own name. When this is possible, the Editor will cite that information in
the entry. [The Editor only appoints himself an "Authority" in one area:
French! This because he studied it in his youth until it "came out his
ears".]

Why does all this matter? Should we all go about speaking like, to borrow
Monty Python's immortal phrase, "upper class twits"? Your Editor believes it
is a matter of respect for other cultures (time to reverse the trend of
English-speakers trotting the globe demanding that "the natives" be the ones
to learn a new tongue!), and respect for an individual's personal heritage.
(With all the attention garnered by Wynton, Branford, et al, why have some
media types still not picked up on the fact that it's pronounced
"Mar-sell-iss", not "Mar-sail-iss" or some other variant?!?) Is your Editor so
deluded as to believe a unanimity of pronunciation by jazz radio hosts in New
England can be achieved? Not quite, but it's endless fun to argue over these
things! By the way, though your Editor takes sole responsibility for what
appears here, he makes no claim to infallibility. Yes, there's the occasional educated guess where reliable resources just weren't available. Take it or leave it, folks!!

A-E

• Abate, Greg   ah-bah-tay   Saxophonist
• Abrams, Muhal Richard   moo-hol ("hol" as in "holly")   Pianist, com-
  poser, bandleader
• Airto   eye-air-toe   (last name: Moreira)    Percussionist
• Akiyoshi, Toshiko   toe-she-ko ah-ki-yo-she   Pianist, composer,
  bandleader. [authority: personal interaction with the artist--Spaak]
• akLaff, Pheeroan   fair-own  ahk-lahf   Drummer  [authority:
  personal interaction with the artist--Spaak]
• Allyson, Karrin   car-inn  al-liss-un    Vocalist
• Almeida, Laurindo   lor-een-do ahl-may-dah   ("lor" rhymes with "oar") Classical/jazz guitarist.
• Arnold, Horacee   Disregard that final 'e' (it's "silent"). Drummer
• Atkinson, Lisle   L"isle" as in another term for "island"   Bassist
• "Au Privave"   oh pree-vahv ("ah" as in "Stick out your tongue and say
  'ahh'")   Charlie Parker tune, often misprinted as "Au Private"
• Ayler, Albert   eye-ler   Avant garde saxophonist
• Barbieri, Gato   gah-toe bar-bee-air-ee   Argentine saxophonist
• Bates, Django   zhane-go   Pianist/composer
• Beaudoin, Gerry   bow-dun   ("dun" as in "dungaree")   Guitarist
• Bechet, Sidney   beh-shay   Legendary soprano saxophonist,
  clarinetist
• Benoit, David   beh-noyt   Pianist (He prefers this
  "Americanized" version of French name.)
• Bigard, Barney   bi-guard   ("bi" as in "bit") New Orleans clarinetist, Ellington stalwart
• Blake, Ran   "ran" as in "She 'ran' away."   Pianist/composer
• Blake, Seamus   shay-muss   A fine ol' Irish name!    Saxophonist
• Bley, Carla; Bley, Paul   blay   Pianist/composers, bandleader (Carla)
• Bluiett, Hamiet   ham-ee-it blew-it   Saxophonist, arranger, producer. Alternative:  ham-it    [Authority for latter: Personal conversation with the artist by Richard Paske, dpmusic, St. Paul, MN]
• Boland, Francis   frahn-see  bo-lahn    ("bo" as in "bonus")   French
  big band leader
• Bonfa, Luiz   lou-eez bone-fah   Brazilian songwriter, (?) pianist
• Bunnett, Jane   buh-net   Flutist 
• Catingub, Matt   cat-tin-goob   Arranger, big band leader
• Childers, Buddy   chill-ders   Trumpeter
• Chopin, Frédéric   fray-day-reek shu-pan   ("shu" as in "shut"; 'n' in last name said with "nasal" tone, and half-swallowed)   Francified Polish piano master, composer of 19th Century; occasional dedicatee of
  modern jazz homages
• Cohen, Avishai   ah-vi-shy   ("vi" as in "vintage")   Bassist
• Coleman, Cy   "sigh"   Songwriter
• "Concierto de Aranjuez"   cone-see-air-toe  day  ah-rahn-wezz   (now
  here's the really good part: the second 'c' in first word and the last
  syllable of final word are...lisped!! To execute this correctly, you should end up with your tongue protruding between your upper and lower teeth. Try it--it's fun!)   Composition for guitar and orchestra by J. Rodrigo, served as inspiration for famous Gil Evans/Miles Davis collaboration, among others
• "Crepuscule With Nellie"   cray-pus-skyool   Thelonious Monk tune (in
  French: "Crépuscule avec Nellie"), sometimes misspelled "crepescule",
  more or less translating to "Twilight With Nellie"
• Cyrille, Andrew   sir-rill   Percussionist
• Danielsson, Palle   pol-uh  dahn-el-sson   ("pol" as in "policy"; "sson"--
  "hissy" kind of 's' sound, long 'o')   Drummer
• Debussy, Claude   de-byoo-see   ("de" as in "debt")   19th/20th Cen-
  tury French "impressionist" composer, whose works are occasionally
  given a "jazz slant"
• "Dindi"   zheen-zhee   A.C. Jobim composition
• DiPaola-Davis, Mary   dee-pow-luh   Pianist
• Dorough, Bob   durr-oh   ("durr" rhymes with "purr")   Singer/song-
  writer
• D'Rivera, Paquito   pah-key-toe day-ree-vair-ah   Saxophonist
• Duvivier, George   dew-vee-vee-ay   ("ay" as in "day")   Bassist
• Eade, Dominique   dom-ee-neek eed   Vocalist
• Eckstine, Billy   ekk-styne   Legendary baritone singer and one-time leader of wickedly "hot" big band in early years of bop  [listed because reportedly said as "eck-steen" on occasion]
• Elias, Eliane   el-lee-ahn-ay eh-lee-ahz   Pianist/vocalist
• enja   en-yah   ("en" as in "engine")   German label
• "Estate"   e-stah-tay  ('e' as in "edge")  Composition; Portuguese (?) (and Italian, I'm told) for "Summer"   [I take Shirley Horn's pronunciation in performance of this tune as 'gospel'--how could Ms. Horn be wrong??--J.O.S.]
• Evingson, Connie   long 'e' (as in "eve")    Minnesotan vocalist
  [authority: personal interaction with the artist--J.O.S.]
  

           Key      A-E      L-P      Q-U      V-Z

  ---

                                        F-K
  

• Gaillard, 'Slim'   gay-lird   ("lird" rhymes with "bird")   Guitarist, master
  of "jive talk". May or may not have been born in Cuba. If he hadn't
  existed, could anyone really have invented him?
• Garbarek, Jan   yahn  gar-bah-rek    ("gar" as in "garment", "rek"
  as in "wreck")   Norwegian reed player, ECM stalwart
• Gilberto, Astrud   ah-strude  zheel-bare-toe    Brazilian vocalist who
  rocketed to fame (well, by jazz standards!) through her work with
  Stan Getz at birth of Bossa Nova era (mid-1960s)
• Gilberto, Joao   zhwow  zheel-bare-toe    Brazilian composer,
  singer, pianist
• Giuffre, Jimmy   jew-free   [sorry, but that's the best phonetic way to put
  it]   Clarinetist
• Goykovich, Dusko   dooze-ko  goy-ko-vitch   Trumpet/flugelhorn
  player
• Grappelli, Stéphane   stay-fahn  grah-pell-ee   Swing violinist supreme;
  though forever linked with France, he was born in Italy
• "Gymnopédies"   zham-nup-ay-dee   ("nup" as in "nuptials")   Series of
  pieces originally for solo piano, by Erik Satie (the word itself is made-
  up nonsense); sometimes given a jazz treatment
• Hammer, Jan   yahn  hah-mer    Keyboardist of Czech origin
• Hidalgo, Giovanni   zhee-oh-vahn-ee    ee-doll-go   Percussionist
• "homage"   um-azh    ("um" as in "hum")   French for "in tribute to";
  sometimes appears in composition title, e.g. "Homage to Coltrane"
• Houn, Fred   ho   Saxophonist, composer; in recent years, he has
  dropped the 'un' from his name to avoid confusion
• Hughart, Jim   hew-ert    Bassist.  [authority: Personal conversation with the artist by Brian Sanders, KUNV, Las Vegas]
• Humair, Daniel   dahn-yell  ewe-mare    Swiss-born drummer  [Look,
  Ma! I got to use the names of two critters in one entry!]
• Ibrahim, Abdullah   ahb-doo-lah    eeb-rah-heem   South African
  pianist (formerly known as Dollar Brand)
• Jacob, Christian   kreest-yahn    zha-cub ("cub" as in baby bear)
  Pianist
• Jacquet, Illinois   zha-kay    Saxophonist/bandleader; this is preferred
  pronunciation [authority: Personal conversation with the artist by Phil
  Bowler, WPKN-FM], but he's accustomed to "jacket"
• Jamal, Ahmad   ah-mod  zha-moll   ("mod" as in Mod Squad, "moll"
  rhymes with "doll")   Pianist
• Joyce   joyce-ee   Brazilian vocalist
• Jung, Tom   "ju" as in "judge"    Pioneering digital audio engineer and
  head of Digital Music Products ("dmp") label
• Kamuca, Richie   kah-moo-kah    Tenor saxophonist
• Kirk, Rahsaan Roland   rah-son   ("son" as in "sonic")   Indescribable,
  truly unique individual; if you ain't hip to him--get there!
• Knepper, Jimmy   the 'k' is silent    Trombonist
• Kohlhase, Charlie   coal-hace    Saxophonist
  
             Key        A-E      F-K       Q-U      V-Z

  ---

                                              L-P
  

• Lateef, Yusef   yoo-zeff  lah-teef    Multi-instrumentalist, composer
• Legrand, Michel   mee-shell  loo-grahn   ("loo" like "look")   Com-
  poser/bandleader
• Leonhardt, Jay   len-heart  ("le" like in "lemon")  Bassist [authority: this is how he introduces himself on a live recording]
  Levey, Stan   lee-vee   Drummer
• Lupri, Matthias   mah-tee-uss  loo-pree    Vibraphonist   [authority:
  personal communique from the artist]
• M'boom   oom-boom   Max Roach's percussion ensemble. In
  southern African tongues, "M'" is pronounced "oom"; so, yes, it's
  a nice rhyme scheme. Any objections?
• McEachern, Peter   mick-care-en   (or, simply pretend it's
  "McCarran")   Trombonist
• McLaughlin, John   mc-lock-lin   (the "gh" has nothing to do with the
  word "laugh")   English guitarist of Irish ancestry
• McLean, Jackie   mc-leen   [Your editor has heard Max Roach,
  among other well-informed individuals, let this slip as "mc-lane"--
  the name is of Scottish origin, after all--but the family itself uses the
  stated pron.]   Alto saxophonist, educator
• McLean, René   roo-nay   ("oo" as in "look")   Saxophonist, son of
  above
• Makowicz, Adam   ah-dahm  mah-koh-vitch    Pianist of Czech
  origin
• Marsalis, Delfeayo   delf-ee-oh  mar-sell-iss    Trombonist,
  producer   [authority: this is how brother Branford pronounced his
  name when I interviewed the saxophonist. Pronunciation of last name
  applies to the whole "clan", of course]
• Masekela, Hugh    moss-ay-kay-lah    ("moss" as in the soft, green
  plant life; just don't say it like a New Yorker ["mawss"], please!)
  South African trumpet/flugelhorn player
• Michel, Ed;  Michel, Lisa   mee-shell   (French-style)    Since
  daughter (vocalist) says it this way, we'll make bold assumption
  that it's correct for papa (legendary recording session producer)
• Michelot, Pierre   pee-yair  meesh-low    French bassist
• Moncur, Grachan  III   gray-shun  mon-core    ("mon" as in
  "monetary")   Trombonist.   This is consensus pronunciation;
  anyone have contradictory, authoritative info? Give it up!
• Monk, Thelonious   theh-loan-ee-uss    ("th" as in "threat")   Pianist,
  composer   [Your editor suspects it's an "urban legend" that a college
  radio announcer once said this as "the loneliest monk"--but that was
  the caption when his portrait appeared on the cover of Time maga-
  zine! For years, his first name was misspelled by omitting the second
  'o']
• Montreux   moan-trooh   (the 'n' is kind of half-swallowed, the "oo"
  like in "look" with last syllable kind of explosive, the 'x' is silent)   Swiss
  site of famous jazz festival   [ironically, if there was an 'a' after the 'e',
  the way Americans mispronounce this would be close to correct--
  except they still wouldn't get the first syllable right! French--you
  gotta love it!]
• Motian, Paul   moe-shun   (like "motion")   Drummer
• Musillami, Michael   muzz-ih-lahm-ee    ("muzz" like in "muzzle")
  Guitarist
• Mutet    'mu' as in "mutate"   Group led by reed player Jeff
  Coffin   [authority: Mr. Coffin's own pronuciation in a live
  performance--J.O.S.]
• "Naima"   nah-eem-ah   John Coltrane composition, named for his
  wife
• Newborn, Phineas   Jr.   finn-ee-iss    Pianist   [Jon Pollack of
  WMBR--Cambridge, relates that, according to Mr. Newborn's
  brother, he was given the name "Phinus" at birth, but taunting by
  peers in his formative years led to his changing his name to Phineas
  for public consumption; your editor argues that we should use the
  latter.]
• Nieske, Bob   ness-key   New England-based bassist
• "Nuages"   nwazh   Django Reinhardt composition; French for
  "Clouds"
• Okegwo, Ugonna   ooh-gahn-ah  oh-keg-woh    Bassist
• Onishi, Junko   zhoon-ko  oh-nee-she    ("oon" as in "loon")   Pianist
• Ozone, Makoto   mah-koh-toh  oh-zoh-nay    (long 'o' in all cases)
  Pianist
• Petrucciani, Michel   mee-shell  peh-true-chee-ah-nee    ("chee"
  like in "cheese")   Pianist   [as with S. Grappelli, we have a mix of
  French and Italian heritage here]
• Ponty, Jean-Luc   zhahn-lyook  poan-tee    ("poan" rhymes with
  "loan", and of course--it's French, after all--the 'n's are half-swal-
  lowed...i.e., sort of "held back")   Violinist
• Previte, Bobby   prev-itt   ("ev" as in "seven")   Drummer
• Puente, Tito   tee-toh  pwen-tay    Percussionist, bandleader
• Purim, Flora   pooh-reem   Vocalist
  
           Key       A-E      F-K       L-P      V-Z
  

  ---

                                 Q-U
  

• Ravel, Maurice   moh-reese  rah-vell    French composer of
  19th/20th Centuries; inspiration for occasional jazz "impressionism"
  or homage to the composer [who was known to "hang out" with
  the likes of George Gershwin]
• Reinhardt, Django   zhane-go  rhine-heart    (long 'a' in first name)
  Famous "Gypsy" guitarist and collaborator with Grappelli in The
  Quintet of The Hot Club of France
• Roche, Betty   ru-shay   ("ru" like in "rush")   Vocalist, most notably
  with Ellington
• Rosnes, Renee   ree-nee ros-nehz    ("ros" as in "rosin" or "Roswell")
  Pianist
• Rowles, Jimmy   rolls   (as in Rolls Royce)    Pianist
• "Rue de la Harpe"   ryoo  deh  lah   arp   Composition [French for
  Harp Street]
• Rypdal, Terje   tear-yay  rip-doll    ("tear" as in "tear to shreds")
  Guitarist
• Saindon, Ed   sane-dun   Vibraphonist    [thanks to Steve Schwartz
  of WGBH/Boston for this tip]
• Sanchez, David   dah-veed   Saxophonist
• Satie, Erik   sah-tee   20th Century French composer/absurdist
  whose "Gymnopédies" are sometimes given jazz treatment
• Simon, Edward   see-moan   Pianist of Hispanic heritage
• Spaak, Jazz Officer   "spock"   [a.k.a. Johann Odysseus Spaak; J.O. Spaak]   Half-Vulcan, half-human purveyor of half-baked jazz radio, who is determined to not be sued by Paramount Television
• Staton, Dakota   stay-ton   ("ton" as in 2000 lbs.)   Vocalist
• Styne, Jule   "julie"   Yes, that's how this male songwriter's first name
  is pronounced
• Sulieman, Idris   eeh-driss  soo-lay-mahn    ("soo" rhymes with "zoo")
  Trumpeter
• Swartz, Harvie   swartz   [Harvie states in an email that he almost
  gets physically ill if he hears his name pronounced as if there's a 'ch'
  in it. I guess this one's definitively resolved! Thanks to Fred
  Bouchard, WMBR--Cambridge, for passing that along.]   Bassist
• Tchicai, John   chee-kigh   ("kigh" rhymes with "sigh")   Danish reed
  player
• Terrasson, Jacky   tear-uh-son    ("tear" as in "tear the paper", "son"
  as in "sonic")   Pianist   [your editor doubts that this would "cut it"
  in Jacky's native France, but apparently this is what he's settled for
  in the English speaking world]
• Thielemans, 'Toots'   teel-mahnz   Belgian guitarist/harmonica
  player/whistler
• Tjader, Cal   jay-der   (yes, the 't' is silent)   Vibraphonist, pioneer
  in taking Latin jazz mainstream
• Turrentine, Stanley and Tommy   ter-en-teen    ("ter" like in "term")
  Saxophonist and trumpeter, respectively
  
             Key       A-E      F-K       L-P      Q-U

  ---

                                   V-Z
  

• Vinding, Mads   modz  vin-ding    ("mod" as in "modern", "vin" as
  in "vintage")   Danish bassist
• Vitous, Miroslav   meer-uh-slahv  vee-tooz    Bassist
• Wakenius, Ulf   oohlf  vah-ken-ee-uss    Guitarist
• Watanabe, Kazumi   kah-zoo-mee  what-uh-nah-bay    Guitarist
• Watanabe, Sadao   sah-day-oh   Saxophonist
• Weill, Kurt   court vile   [not a comment on our judicial system--
  this is phonetic approximation of this German composer whose
  "Threepenny Opera" gave us "Mack The Knife". It's said that after
  Hitlerism forced him into exile, he desired to be "de-Germanized",
  so an Anglo-ized pron. is acceptable]
• Whitfield, Weslia   wezz-lah   Vocalist; in recent years, she has
  dropped the silent 'i' from first name to avoid confusion
• Winding, Kai   kigh   win-ding    (Careful! "kigh" rhymes with "sigh";
  "win" as in "window")   Danish trombonist.   Jim Wilke of "Jazz After Hours" persuaded your editor that this was fine and dandy with
  the artist in question, regardless of how that 'w' may have been
  pronounced on Danish soil. Problem? Blame Jim!
  
  
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