It was 1965 in St. Louis and The Rat Pack performed Birth Of The Blues live as only Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. could. However, you may notice one new member of the group for this particular performance … Johnny Carson! Actually, he held up his end pretty well and his voice wasn’t terrible either. Great song, fast company and some unforgettable shtick.
Since our first posts back in 2017, Mark Of Jazz has treated entrance into the New Year nostalgically, even reverently. With the current state of the world so uncertain and more than a little hectic, I thought we could all use a few gentler moments to ring in 2023.
In the video, Diana Krall quietly wonders What Are You Doing New Years Eve … while you can close your eyes and see the snowy evening and crackling fire as Ray Charles tries to make the case for Betty Carter to stick around because, Baby It’s Cold Outside.
Finally I have brought my Days Of Auld Lang Syne podcast forward from our Jazz Scene Podcast page. Auld Lang Syne is a song we all know and nearly always sing to say goodbye to the old year and welcome in the new … but what do those words mean? It’s a jazzy adventure that answers questions about the tune that has played with people’s heads for generations. Speaking of generations, we even have a nostalgic visit with Fay Wray … the lady who monkeyed around with that big ape in the ORIGINAL 1933 classic King Kong!
Here’s wishing you a HAPPY, HEALTHY and PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR … and hoping that you thoroughly enjoy our little MOJ celebration!
‘Tis the season to be snowy! New York Voices is the Grammy Award winning vocal ensemble renowned for their excellence in jazz and the art of group singing. Like the great groups that came before, such as Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, Singers Unlimited, Manhattan Transfer and, of course, The Four Freshmen, they have learned from the best and taken their musical form to new levels. I couldn’t resist adding some visuals to their marvelous rendition of the Sammy Cahn – Jule Styne tune, Let It Snow … written in July 1945!
Marshmallow World may not be jazz, but it is definitely Christmas … and these two characters are definitely Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra (in a 1967 TV special).
Finally, I have brought The Christmas Show forward from our Jazz Scene Podcast page. May you enjoy every minute of this musical Christmas card and have the Merriest of all Christmases with the ones you love!
On March 30, 1988 Sonny Rollins and a quintet consisting of Clifton Anderson (tb), Jerome Harris (g), Mark Soskin (p), Bob Cranshaw (b), Al Foster (d) gave a live concert in Tokyo that resulted in an album called Dancing In The Dark. Here are two Rollins originals … the familiar Alfie’s Theme is the top video and Promise, the lower video, became part of that album.
NOTE: I’m sorry to say that this will be the last Mark Of Jazz weekly post until sometime around the middle of May. Thanks for being here and, please, don’t go away … we won’t!
Hearing Joe Pass and Duke Ellington together would normally be a rare treat in itself, but put them together in a small group setting and you have reason to celebrate! Ellington was always an underrated piano player, probably because he is usually lost among 15 or 16 other incredibly talented musicians in his own band and you don’t really hear him. After all, as the leader Duke is often buried in plain sight. Now add bassist Ray Brown and drummer Louie Bellson to the mix, and what you have is the amazing quartet performing Cottontail in the video above and Love You Madly below on a cut from Duke’s 1974 “Big 4” album. Joe Pass? Well, he sets fire to any group of fine musicians … large or small, slow or fast!
The Marsalis family’s musical gifts all flow from the “headwaters’ … an internationally renowned piano player named Ellis. Sons Wynton, Branford, Delfaeyo and Jason have all become famous in their own right, with Wynton and Branford each standing with one foot in jazz and the other in classical music. In the video, Ellis Marsalis is joined by Andrew Baham on trumpet, Derek Douget on sax, Gerald Watkins at the drums and Jason Stewart playing bass. The tune is Delilah, recorded in New Orleans at The Jazz and Heritage Center December 15, 2018. Below that is Beautiful Old Ladies, a tribute to older women from Ellis’s Whistle Stop album, featuring Branford Marsalis on soprano sax, Robert Hurst playing bass, Jeff Watts on drums and, of course, Ellis at the piano.
On March 20, 1981 the great Joe Williams joined the Count Basie Orchestra for a star-studded concert in New York at Carnegie Hall, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Basie’s illustrious career. Also on board were Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett and George Benson. The concert later became a television special and eventually a performance DVD … Going To Chicago Blues is one of three songs Joe contributed to the performance that evening. Posting the audio cut of Smack Dab In The Middle from his album The Greatest – Count Basie Plays, Joe Williams Sings Standards, was irresistible. I double dog dare you to keep your feet still!
Above, Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin & Andreas Varady, perform Oliver Nelson’s “Stolen Moments” at the 47th Montreux Jazz Festival in 2013. Tom Kennedy played bass and Chris Coleman was on drums. Below, Lee adds Eric Marienthal’s tenor to his quartet for an infectious “Night Rhythms” … a Ritenour original recorded in 1988. Lee started as a session player when he was just 16 years old, and recorded his first solo album, First Course, in 1976. By the way, Fourplay was the ‘supergroup’ that Lee Ritenour formed and performed with during the Smooth Jazz ’90s.
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.
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.
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