Ballads. Put your feet up on a rainy Sunday afternoon and let the music wash away the week. In a rare appearance together, John Coltrane and Stan Getz were actually supposed to be playing Autumn In New York … but it’s the one tune they don’t play! The medley they do play consists of Autumn Leaves, What’s New and Moonlight In Vermont. Besides Coltrane and Getz on tenors, Wynton Kelly is at the piano, Paul Chambers is on bass and Jimmy Cobb plays the drums.
Take The ‘A’ Train to Jazz At The Philharmonic in Paris. The year was 1960 and Roy Eldridge was featured with all stars like Benny Carter, Don Byas, Coleman Hawkins and Jo Jones, among others from the ‘who’s who’ of jazz. An historic performance of the Ellington tune!
An Eldridge original, Rosetta, was performed just 5 years later in Paris at the Jazz festival à la Mutualité with notables such as Earl Hines, Stuff Smith, Ben Webster, Don Byas and Kenny Clarke, to name just a few of the all-stars on hand.
Sharky’s Machine is a brutal, hard-boiled crime drama starring Burt Reynolds as a burned-out Atlanta cop transferred to the absolute slime hole of Atlanta’s vice department, after a drug deal turns sour. It’s a very different role for Reynolds from the more lovable, buffoonish roles we have come to know. The soundtrack that drives the movie is superb, featuring Randy Crawford, Manhattan Transfer, The Crusaders, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams, Chet Baker, Peggy Lee and more!
In the top video I’ve combined the opening title sequence for the movie (1981) with a live performance of Street Life, by singer Randy Crawford and The Crusaders in 2003 at Montreux … including founder Joe Sample on piano and Ray Parker, Jr. on guitar. This is followed by two tunes from the soundtrack album, 8 To 5 I Lose by Joe Wiliams and My Funny Valentine by the very sultry Julie London. Topping things off is The Manhattan Transfer with, arguably, the most outstanding version they’ve recorded of Route 66. So, take a listen and get your kicks!
On June 6th 1944, 76 years ago, a bunch of mostly American and Brit kids saved the world from Nazism and preserved the freedom we, now, seem so ready to relinquish. Danny Boy seemed the right mood and Glenn Miller the right orchestra for a salute to all those heroic members of The Greatest Generation who so willingly made the ultimate sacrifice for liberty and justice for all.
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