Thad Jones’ composition Three and One was recorded by The Czech National Symphony Orchestra as part of its “Trumpet Summit” program, with the St. Blaise’s Bigband. Featured soloists were Bobby Shew, Randy Brecker and Jan Hasenöhrl, as brass and reeds shook the usually classical foundations of the historic Municipal House in Prague. You might think of them as “The Three Tenors” of jazz … with trumpets!
Tony Bennett makes you want to slip on your galoshes and follow him into the snow with this rendition of Winter Wonderland. It features the Count Basie Orchestra and is certain to add Holiday spring to anyone’s step!
My Favorite Things is a classic song swung by a classic performer with a classic band. While the tune was written for a Broadway play, not as a Christmas song, the season wouldn’t be complete without it.
Roy Hargrove is known as one of the top trumpet players in jazz for the past quarter-century. As an incisive trumpeter, doubling on flugelhorn, Roy was discovered by Wynton Marsalis in the 1980s. He embodied the brightest promise of his jazz generation, both as a young steward of the hard bop tradition and a savvy bridge to both hip-hop and R&B. His assertive sound embodied a tone that could evoke either burnished steel or a soft, golden glow. Here we have both.
Angels (Above), features the quintet with Roy Hargrove on trumpet, Justin Robinson on alto sax, Tadataka Unno playing piano, Ameen Saleem on bass, and Quincy Phillips playing drums.
I Remember Clifford (Below) displays Hargrove’s softer side, with the flugelhorn as a contrast to his big band backing.
How High The Moon is the top video in more than one way. Besides the fabulous June Christy doing the vocal, two other legendary singers don’t utter a solitary note! Instead, Mel Torme is on drums and Nat ‘King’ Cole plays piano, which of course was his original musical calling. Lower left is June in her prime with That Old Feeling and on the lower right she is featured with the Stan Kenton Orchestra Just A-Sittin’ And A-Rockin’. Christy, of course, was the replacement chanteuse for the incredible Anita O’Day after she left the Kenton band … one of the few singers who could have filled O’Day’s stylish ‘pumps’ fronting that powerful, creative Orchestra.
While most often listed as a saxophonist, I prefer the sound of Frank Wess on the flute. Though the tune is nameless, Flauta Jazz uses the same chords as Ellington/Strayhorn Take The ‘A’ Train. Sound Familiar?
The Very Thought Of You is a jazz and pop standard, first recorded and published in 1934 with music and lyrics by Ray Noble. Frank Wess applies his own magic touch along with big band backing.
Cool Water is a supplement to this week’s initial Stan Kenton post. It is from the album Ritter made with Kenton’s Orchestra that convinced him it was time to move from Hollywood to Nashville. At the conclusion of the recording session, however, Tex received a standing ovation from the entire orchestra.. Overall this wasn’t the world’s worst idea but the public never bought it, and the album was removed from print. As a result, today it is a rarity.
Stan Kenton’s Artistry In Rhythm was first recorded and released in 1944. It is one of several songs closely associated with this prolific composer, arranger, bandleader and very underrated pianist.
Like Artistry, Tiare features the high powered Kenton Orchestra and is part of a 1972 London concert. Kenton preferred his bands to not swing, instead employing elements of the popular ballroom and classical concert hall.
This 1994 version of Down By The Riverside features Jimmy Smith together with Kenny Burrell and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. It is a live performance of his 1966 rendition on the album “Dynamic Duo” with Wes Montgomery doing the guitar chores.
“Peter And The Wolf” has always been one of my favorite Jimmy Smith Albums … and the Finale – Parade and Peter Plays Some Blues, for me, captures the essence of the other 5 movements. The album only recently made it to CD and download. I tried for several years to, at least, obtain the vinyl and finally discovered a single used copy in a little record shop in Detroit for the unheard of price of $3.72! I had even called Rudy Van Gelder at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey only to learn that the session tapes had been lost. I’m glad they found them!
The Thad Jones & Mel Lewis Big Band was formed in New York City in 1965, but performed in countries all around the world for decades, including The Soviet Union during The Cold War years. Come Sunday is a Duke Ellington composition written in 1942 as part of the first movement of a suite entitled Black, Brown and Beige. The Groove Merchant is a Jerome Richardson original written for the band’s Central Park North album.
Both tunes performed here are from a September 1969 concert in Soburg, Denmark. The personnel roster reads like a “Who’s Who” of jazz musicians, most of whom went on to individual greatness with their own bands. Featured are Thad Jones (flhrn); Snooky Young, Al Porcino, Richard Williams, Danny Moore (tp); Jimmy Knepper, Eddie Bert, Astley Fennell (tb); Cliff Heather (b-tb); Jerry Dodgion, Jerome Richardson (as); Eddie Daniels, Joe Henderson (ts); Pepper Adams (bars); Sir Roland Hanna (p); Richard Davis (b); Mel Lewis (d).
In The Mood is one of those songs that when you hear it, you naturally think of Glenn Miller. Here, it is in the forefront of “Sun Valley Serenade” a 1941 movie that was the first of only two motion pictures featuring the Glenn Miller Orchestra. The other was 1942’s “Orchestra Wives”.
Chattanooga Choo Choo is also from “Sun Valley Serenade” which, in addition to the Miller Band, features Sonja Henie, John Payne and MIlton Berle, You’ll also enjoy the harmonies of The Modernaires and a dazzling dance performance by The Nicholas Brothers.
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