Not Easy Being Green

by | Jan 29, 2022 | Trio

I had never really listened to Benny Green until I came across some old Art Blakey Jazz Messenger’s recordings and focused my ears past the drums.  It has been said that that “those who can’t do teach” … well, Benny Green teaches but is equally gifted as a performer, evidenced by the videos below.  Topmost, Tempus Fugit is an uptempo Bud Powell composition, recorded at New York’s Lincoln Center, that features a trio of Green at the piano, David Wong on bass and Aaron Kimmel playing drums.  Lower left is Me And My Baby.   Lower right something called Cupcake.  Both offer the trio of Benny playing piano, Ben Wolfe on bass and Carl Allen on drums.

This is Me And My Baby, a comfortably toe-tapping tune that takes Benny Green’s trio out of the concert hall and into a more relaxed clublike atmosphere.

Cupcake is a more laidback piece than the first two, keeping you in that same easy going setting.  It’s a clever arrangement that is sure to capture your attention.

Houston: A Person Worth Listening To

by | Jan 23, 2022 | Sextet

Silk and cement … that’s the way I would describe Houston Person’s tenor voice.  After more than half-a-century, he can still touch you or growl at you during the same musical passage and I’ve always liked what he had to say.  In 2017 Houston appeared in Spain at the San Javier International Jazz Festival with his sextet, Jim Rotondi (t), Dena DeRose (p), D.J. Foster (b) Marc Miralta (dr).  The two videos are from that performance:  The topmost cooks comfortably with the popular 1966 tune Sunny, while the video below it is a wonderfully soulful treatment of the familiar standard Since I Fell For You.  Finally, Person treats our ears and our hearts to the wonderfully gentle But Beautiful, audio from his album The Art And Soul Of Houston Person.

But Beautiful

by Houston Person | The Art And Soul Of Houston Person

C-Jam Blues – Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington

by | Jan 14, 2022 | Big Band, Vocal

Sometimes referred to as “The First Lady of Song,” Ella Fitzgerald was the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century.  She first met Duke Ellington in the mid-1930’s, while she was performing at Harlem’s legendary Savoy Ballroom with Chick Webb and His Orchestra. The two would remain friends and collaborators for the rest of their lives.  Here, Duke and Ella team up to perform Ellington’s C-Jam Blues (also known as “Duke’s Place”) during their 1966 European tour.

The Genius Of Bill Evans

by | Jan 7, 2022 | Trio

The legendary pianist Bill Evans is a great way to begin any New Year!  “Re: Person I Knew” is an original composition, recorded at the Molde Jazz Festival in Norway during August 1980, and was Evans’ last performance before his passing only five weeks later. It was also his last trio, and consisted of Bill Evans (p) Marc Johnson (b) and Joe La Barbera (dr).

On March 19, 1965, a much earlier version of the Bill Evans Trio stopped by the BBC studios in London to play a couple of sets on Jazz 625, a popular TV program hosted by the British trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton. From that performance, the second video features an obviously younger Evans along with Chuck Israels (b) and Larry Bunker (dr) playing the Victor Young standard “My Foolish Heart”.