Big Band Mulligan

by | May 19, 2023 | Big Band

Gerry Mulligan fronting a big band is a long way from his pianoless quartet of the early 1950s with trumpeter Chet Baker … still historically regarded as one of the best cool groups in jazz.  Out Back Of The Barn [left] features Gary Teller on tenor trading fours and more with Mulligan, while Song For Strayhorn [right] offers a captivating piano solo by Harold Danko.

Although the original quartet  lasted fewer than two years, it had a profound effect upon jazz that extends even to this day.  It was comprised of Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax and Chet Baker on trumpet, with a rhythm section of either Larry Bunker or Chico Hamilton playing drums, and either Joe Mondragon or Bob Whitlock playing bass … depending upon the session.

Walkin' Shoes

by Gerry Mulligan | Complete Recordings

The Incredible Jimmy Smith

by | Apr 1, 2023 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet

Organ Grinder’s Swing (Top) was recorded at the Vienne Jazz Festival on July 7, 1993 in Vienne, France.  They rattled the cobblestones in the streets of that quaint old town with the likes of Jimmy on the Hammond, Kenny Burrell on guitar, Herman Riley playing tenor and Grady Tate at the drums.  Also in 1993, Smith performed Walk On The Wild Side with The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band In a special salute to the Jazz Masters.  We’re more used to hearing collaborations with Oliver Nelson on big band arrangements but the quartet merged equally well with the Carnegie group, as you can hear (Below, left).

While we don’t usually think of Elmer Bernstein when speaking of jazz, I’ve included the credits opening and original rendition of Walk On The Wild Side (Below, right) … because it may just be the greatest opening a motion picture ever had! Well-l-l-l, it certainly rates up there.

Rat Pack Rides Again!

by | Feb 23, 2023 | Big Band, Vocal Group

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.

We Need A Little Christmas

by | Dec 23, 2022 | Big Band, Vocal, Vocal Group

‘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!

The Christmas Show

by Fred Masey | Jazz Scene Podcast

Joe Williams and Count Basie Together

by | Feb 11, 2022 | Big Band, Vocal

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!

Smack Dab In The Middle

by Joe Williams & Count Basie | The Greatest

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.

A Tony Bennett Christmas

by | Dec 17, 2021 | Big Band, Orchestral, Vocal

After Tony Bennett’s recent retirement form a stellar career spanning more than half-a-century, here are two Christmas-themed performances I’d like to share with you from one of his three or four ‘primes’ … as well as an interview with Tony from my Jazz Scene Podcast page.  In 1989 I had the pleasure of peeling back a couple of outer layers and speaking with him about more than just his music.

The first video is a typically smooth Bennett blend of I Love The Winter Weather and I’ve Got My Love To Keep Me Warm from A Family Christmas.  Then Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, together with the Count Basie Orchestra, from A Swingin’ Christmas, moves us just a bit closer to the big day when the jolly old elf himself makes his rounds.

Talkin' With Tony

by Fred Masey | JS Podcast

The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

by | Dec 10, 2021 | Big Band, Vocal

Big name?  No.      Big sound? It’s the Marines!    This is The Third Marine Aircraft Wing Band with,    It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year.

The Muppets probably aren’t found in any jazz lexicon but they are as full of Christmas joy and spirit as Old St. Nick himself! They undeniably help make this The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year!

Locksley Wellington ‘Slide’ Hampton

by | Oct 30, 2021 | Big Band, Orchestral, Septet/Octet

If some of the video images look as though they were reversed, they weren’t.  It’s only that Slide Hampton has the trombone slung over his right shoulder instead of his left.  As a child, he acquired a trombone set up for left handed musicians and continued to play it for the rest of his life … even though he was right handed!  In 1971, Slide was invited to Italy by Franco Cerri, one of the greatest Italian jazz guitarists of the time.  He was featured on an episode of the Italian TV variety show “No Network” and the result was the topmost video Night Never Come, which also appeared on his 1975 album Jazz From Italy with the Slide Hampton Quartet.

The Lower video is Side’s Blues.  It’s part of an 85th birthday celebration for Slide on April 22, 2017 at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola.  It’s a Slide Hampton Original featuring Slide Hampton (trombone) with: Sam Dillon (tenor saxophone); Frank Basile (baritone saxophone); Marshall Gilkes & Ryan Keberle (trombones); Tony Kadleck & Fabien Mary (trumpets); David Wong (bass) and Charles Ruggiero (drums).

The two audio cuts below are both from Hampton’s album “Something Sanctified” recorded in 1960. His Octet was comprised of Slide Hampton (tb, b-horn, arr), Charles Greenlee (tb, b-horn), Richard Williams & Hobart Dotson (tp), George Coleman (ts), Jay Cameron (bs,b-cl), Larry Ridley (b) and Pete La Roca (ds).  In 1962 a revised ensemble, maintaining the same full-throated sound, toured the U.S. and Europe featuring the horns of Booker Little, George Coleman and Freddie Hubbard.

On The Street Where You Live

by Slide Hampton Octet | Somethin' Sanctified

Milestones

by Slide Hampton Octet | Somethin' Sanctified

John Pizzarelli Live!

by | Oct 7, 2021 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet

Like so many great musicians, John Pizzarelli is a New Jersey Guy.  The son of swing guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, John was born in Paterson, began playing guitar at the age of six and has been performing ever since.  The topmost video, If I Had You, was recorded in 1992 during the Montreal Jazz Festival at the Club Soda Concert Hall and Music Venue in Canada, as was the lower-right video All Of Me.  Pizzarelli’s consistent excellence through the years is obvious as you listen to the lower-left video of Baby All The Time recorded in 2007 at the Festival Internacional de Jazz San Javier in Spain.  On Baby, he is joined by Larry Fuller at the piano, Martin Pizzarelli on bass, Tony Tedesco playing drums and Harry Allen on tenor sax.