Dexter Gordon filmed 3 concerts in 1964 while living in Europe … Holland, Switzerland and Belgium. Body and Soul is from the Belgium session, and particularly highlights his classic style and silky tone.
“Long tall Dexter” was an early influence on both John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins, as well as many other greats. As above, accompanying Dex on Lady Bird are George Gruntz on piano, Guy Pedersen on bass, and Daniel Humair playing drums.
Shirley Horn was both a jazz singer and pianist. She formed her first jazz trio at the age of 20, and collaborated with many legendary musicians, including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis, and others. She was most noted for her ability to accompany herself with near-incomparable musical independence on the piano as she sang. This was an ability described by arranger Johnny Mandel as “like having two heads.” Her rich, lush voice, a smoky contralto, was once described by noted producer and arranger Quincy Jones as “like clothing, as she seduces you with her voice.”
The video above is Nice and Easy, recorded in concert at the 1990 International Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland … and, as the title indicates, it swings comfortably. Below [left] Shirley performs an uptempo Just In Time, at the 1992 Newport Jazz Festival in Newport, Rhode Island … while below [right] she eases back with a haunting rendition of How Insensitive.
Finally, [bottom-most] Shirley Horn reaches for your heartstrings and tugs a bit with a quiet look at life, as she performs Here’s to Life at the 1994 North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands. She is backed by the Metropole Orchestra and a sea of lush strings.
Sunny Stitt is often compared with the great Charlie Parker. No wonder … he speaks “Bird!” Everything Happens to Me was recorded in Tivoli, in 1971, with Art Blakey on drums and Al McKibbon on bass.
During a 1964 memorial tribute to Parker in Berlin, Sonny Stitt, J.J. Johnson (tb), Howard McGhee (t), Walter Bishop Jr. (p), Tommy Potter (b), and Kenny Clarke (d), play his composition My Little Suede Shoes.
Lover Man [Oh Where Can You Be] has become a standard … laid back and mellow. Sonny is joined once again by Walter Bishop, Tommy Potter, and Kenny Clarke. More Sonny Stitt … March 15,2019. Compare his Lover Man solos.
The perfect musical storm descended upon at CBS Studio 58 in New York City, on December 8, 1957. The chemistry among the musicians––between each other and with the vocalist––radiated a rare magic that occurs only when the stars are in utopian alignment. And the incredible Billie Holiday was at her bluesy best!
She was backed by a band featuring such legends as Doc Cheatham, Roy Eldridge, and Joe Newman on trumpets; Bob Brookmeyer on trombone; Jimmy Giuffre playing clarinet; Earle Warren on alto; Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Lester Young playing tenors; Gerry Mulligan was on baritone; Freddie Green and Jim Hall played guitars; Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Nat Pierce, and Mal Waldron played pianos for the session; Milt Hinton, was on bass; Papa Jo Jones and Osie Johnson alternated on drums.
Billie Holiday was Fine and Mellow (My Man Don’t Love Me).
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