Stan Kenton’s West Side Story

by | Mar 17, 2021 | Big Band, Soundtrack

In 1961 The Stan Kenton Orchestra recorded a spectacular jazz album of music from West Side Story that rivaled even the soundtrack of the movie and the Broadway play.  Kenton West Side Story was one of the first ‘mellophonium‘ albums, featuring the newly-developed trumpet/French horn hybrid instrument and won Stan his first Grammy Award in 1962 for Best sound track LP and Best large ensemble jazz LP. Here are three songs from that album:

Kenton’s beautifully mellow rendition of Maria is music from the album itself.  Prologue [on the left] and Cool [on the right] are videos recorded during a live 1961 performance of the album material.

Maria

by Stan Kenton | Kenton's West Side Story

Two Of A Kind / Dat Dere – Art Blakey

by | Mar 6, 2021 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet

Drummer Art Blakey and the 1989 version of his Jazz Messengers (with trumpeter Brian Lynch, tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson, trombonist Frank Lacy, pianist Geoff Keezer and bassist Buster Williams) celebrated the leader’s 70th birthday by welcoming back several notable alumni: trumpeters Freddie Hubbard and Terence Blanchard, altoists Jackie McLeanand Donald Harrison, tenors Wayne Shorter and Benny Golson, pianist Walter Davis Jr. and trombonist Curtis Fuller.  The opening song of that all star  performance was Two Of A Kind … and that set the tone for the next couple of hours.

The lower video features the original Jazz Messengers in 1961 with the slightly comedic Bobby Timmons tune Dat Dere … featuring Blakey on drums, the great Lee Morgan playing trumpet, Wayne Shorter on tenor sax, Bobby Timmons playing piano and Jymie Meritt on bass.

Now’s The Time – J.J. Johnson & The All Stars

by | Feb 27, 2021 | Big Band, Vocal

Many performances feature what they call All Stars but this 1994 Carnegie Hall Concert actually had the proof in the pudding … jazz legends one and all!  Imagine J.J. Johnson, Roy Hargrove, Jackie McLean, Joe Henderson, Kenny Burrell, Herbie Hancock, Hank Jones, Ray Brown, Christian McBride, Kenny Washington, Betty Carter and Dee Dee Bridgewater all in the same place, at the same time, on the same stage!  Charlie Parker’s Now’s The Time was the perfect vehicle to deliver standout moments like Betty Carter trading fours with J.J. Johnson, Roy Hargrove, Jackie McLean and Joe Henderson!  Actually, you don’t have to imagine it.  Here is the grand slam finale of that concert!

You can hear the concert in its entirety on YouTube at https://youtu.be/PTPuhLp8fWM

Shades Of Black – Duke Ellington

by | Feb 6, 2021 | Big Band

On Nov. 2, 1969 a legendary concert was held at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark.  At that time, Duke Ellington was celebrating his 70th birthday and had been leading his orchestra for 44 years.  His band featured such jazz icons as  trumpeters Cootie Williams and Cat Anderson, trombonist Lawrence Brown, altoist Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves on tenor and Rufus ‘Speedy’ Jones on drums.

Here are three of my favorites from that concert, celebrating the Duke’s African roots.  The uppermost video is a haunting, very Ellington piece called “La Plus Belle Africaine,” At the lower left is “Black Butterfly” with a tender Johnny Hodges solo that takes you soaring with the butterfly itself … lower right is “Black Swan” featuring a duel between Duke’s piano and Wild Bill Davis’ Hammond organ..

Baby It’s Cold Outside – Ray Charles & Betty Carter

by | Jan 1, 2021 | Big Band, Vocal

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is a popular song written by Frank Loesser in 1944 and introduced to the public in the 1949 film Neptune’s Daughter. While the lyrics make no mention of a holiday, it is popularly regarded as a Christmas song owing to its winter theme. The song was released in no fewer than eight recordings in 1949 and was originally an invitation to leave, not to stay. 

Baby It's Cold Outside

by Ray Charles & Betty Carter | Jazz After Midnight

Some on the fringe say the lyrics are ‘sexist’ … I say they seem near-perfect for welcoming in the New Year, especially in places like the bone-chilling northeast where January brings more than just cold and fireplaces are more than just atmospheric!

Christmas With Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra & Seal

by | Dec 19, 2020 | Big Band, Vocal

The earliest known recorded version of Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town was by banjoist Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934.  This 2017 version has British singer-song writer Seal performing a duet with Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, through the miracle of modern technology.  It’s seamless, it swings, it’s great!

It’s A Marshmallow World is an excerpt from Dean Martin’s star-studded 1968 Christmas Special, featuring Dean and a few of the fetchingly beautiful girls he likes to surround himself with … constantly.  While Deano is largely thought of as a pop crooner, he is a talented, versatile entertainer [a member of the ‘Rat Pack’] and a performer who definitely adds to the many colors of Christmas!

Stolen Moments / Milestones – Oliver Nelson

by | Oct 31, 2020 | Big Band

The Oliver Nelson standard Stolen Moments is from the 1961 Impulse album “The Blues And The Abstract Truth” …  a classic album that fully captures the feeling of that very prolific jazz era.  It features Oliver Nelson on tenor sax, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Eric Dolphy playing flute, George Barrow on baritone sax, Bill Evans at the piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Roy Haynes playing drums.  Kind of a ‘who’s who’ of the time.

The Miles Davis tune Milestones was recorded by Oliver Nelson with The Berlin Dream Band in 1970.  The band was comprised of several of the top jazz musicians from West Berlin’s underground music scene and, as this wild, up-tempo arrangement proves, European musicians can positively hold their own with their American counterparts!

Stolen Moments

by Oliver Nelson | The Blues And The Abstract Truth

Tribute To Benny Goodman

by | Oct 10, 2020 | Big Band, Orchestral

The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture.  In 1982, Lionel Hampton and Peggy Lee paid tribute to that year’s honoree Benny Goodman.  Lionel performed “Air Mail Special” and “Sing, Sing, Sing” while Peggy performed “Where or When” in a star-studded gala at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C.  Master of ceremonies Andre Previn introduces the segment.

Old Blue Eyes On Stage

by | Sep 11, 2020 | Big Band, Vocal

In 2003 a concert was held for Dismas House in St. Louis Missouri, the first halfway house in the country.  It featured The Rat Pack … Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. performing at their relaxed, professional finest!  The Count Basie Orchestra, led by Quincy Jones, provided much of the accompanying music.

I’ve chosen to highlight Sinatra in this video and selected Get Me To The Church On Time and Luck Be A Lady Tonight from the concert, because their performances are so very, very Sinatra.  Old Blue Eyes’ ability to make a song his own is one of the elements that makes him so appealing and these tunes so enjoyable.  Now … someone tell me that Frank is not actually jazz or that he doesn’t swing and I’ll be glad to send you some polka records!