The Annual Christmas Show

by | Dec 21, 2024 | Holiday, Lighter Side, Orchestral

Christmas is a very special time of year and therefore calls for something a little different from our usual presentation.  I have brought The Christmas Show forward from our Jazz Scene Podcast page … featuring songs for the season by Maynard Ferguson, Tony Bennett, The Swingle Singers, Mel Torme, Count Basie, The Gene Harris Quartet, Lou Rawls, The Manhattan Transfer, Kenny G, Billy Taylor, Carol Sloan, plus a few of my own thoughts about the magic of Christmas. May you enjoy every minute of this musical Christmas card and have the Merriest of all Christmases with the ones you love!

— Fred

The Annual Christmas Show

by Fred Masey | Podcast 017

Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!  Here’s a medley of tunes from the beloved Charlie Brown Christmas Special, with accompanying video sequences, and David Benoit’s magical Christmas fingers in solo performance! Below that, Kenny G performs Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, with scenes from five of the best traditional holiday movies ever made in the background.

Days Of Auld Lang Syne

by | Dec 31, 2021 | Holiday, Lighter Side

Since our first posts five years ago, Mark Of Jazz has treated entrance into the New Year nostalgically, even reverently.   With the current state of the world so uncertain and somewhat confusing, I thought we could all use a few lighter moments, maybe even a grin or two. 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?  Where did they come from?

The Peanuts Gang is always great fun and we launch into the New Year by partying with them, even though this performance doesn’t feature jazz.  Then, an a capella rendition of the tune by the original Straight No Chaser in a live 2009 concert at the Angel Orensanz Theatre in New York.  Finally I have brought my Days Of Auld Lang Syne podcast forward from our Jazz Scene Podcast page.  Yes … it IS jazz and answers the who, what when, where and why of the song that has played with people’s heads for generations and beyond.

Here’s wishing you a HAPPY, HEALTHY and PROSPEROUS 2022 … and hoping that you enjoy our little MOJ celebration!

Straight No Chaser was a group of college guys singing just for fun back in the 90s.  Their career skyrocked and, as often happens, personnel changed … but these are the 10 who started it all.

Days Of Auld Lang Syne

by Fred Masey | Jazz Scene Podcast

Minnie The Moocher – Cab Calloway & ‘Betty Boop’

by | Feb 1, 2020 | Lighter Side, Vocal

Cab Calloway was one of the most colorful and popular entertainers of the 30s and 40s.  Calloway hit the big time with “Minnie the Moocher” (1931) … a number one song that sold more than a million copies. The tune’s famous call-and-response “hi-de-hi-de-ho” chorus was first improvised when Cab couldn’t remember a lyric and it became his signature phrase for the rest of his career.  His abundant scat-singing was perfected with coaching from none other than Louis Armstrong, the master of non-lyric lyrics.

Move over Michael Jackson because Cab Calloway was more than just a singer and bandleader.  His ‘dance’ moves, including early moonwalking, were so popular with the crowd that he became a regular at Harlem’s Cotton Club.  Cab’s moves were accurately captured on film for a 1932 ‘Betty Boop’ cartoon, as demonstrated in the video below!  Michael J. may have popularized such gyrations during the 60s and 70s but Calloway came first!

That Ain’t Right – Fats Waller & Ada Brown

by | Sep 27, 2019 | Lighter Side, Vocal

In a scene from the 1943 film “Stormy Weather” Fats Waller and Ada Brown perform with legendary dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, drummer Zutty Singleton, bassist Slam Stewart, Trumpeter Benny Carter and singer Lena Horne, just to mention a few.  The film is considered one of the best Hollywood musicals with an African-American cast. It was viewed as a primary showcase of some of the top Black performers of the time, during an era when actors and singers of color rarely appeared in lead roles in mainstream movie productions,

WNEW Radio – A New York Institution

by | Jul 5, 2019 | Lighter Side, Stuff

Once upon a time there was a Pop-Jazz radio station in New York City.  It was the station that invented the music and news format as well as the very concept of “DJ” personalities.  This iconic station was called WNEW-AM.  During its 58 year history it developed a nearly cult-like following, becoming the radio home for millions of listeners, entertaining them with air talent that were the very essence of class and decorum … personalities who redefined the image of what a Disc Jockey was supposed to be.

I wish I could say that legacy WNEW went on to live happily ever after, but in 1992 the music died.  The station jingles below were only some that were used on a regular basis between 1958 and 1966 to reinforce the station sound.

Metropolitan Radio Jingle

In the style of Count Basie

In the style of Dave Brubeck

In the style of Charlie Barnet

In the style of Erroll Garner

In the style of Stan Kenton

Auld Lang Syne – Frank, Dean & Friends

by | Dec 29, 2018 | Lighter Side, Vocal

On New Years Eve everybody sings this tune but most people don’t know what it means.  Actually, it’s an old Scottish folk song and the phrase “Auld Lang Syne” roughly translates to “Times gone by”.  While no one seems to know who wrote it,  a Scotsman named Robert Burns was the first to put it on paper and so is most frequently credited with its composition.  Meanwhile Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and a few friends use it here to help us welcome in 2019 with this compilation of TV and movie scenes … and extend my wishes to you  for a very HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR!

Old Black Magic / Night Train – Louis Prima & Keely Smith

by | Jan 19, 2018 | Lighter Side, Vocal

The music of Louis Prima and Keely Smith, along with Sam Butera and the witnesses, was rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues.  They liked to have fun with their performances and frequently appeared in Las Vegas, as well as on numerous recordings.
While Louis and Keely clown, Sam Butera lays down what is probably THE definitive version of “Night Train”.  Sam’s solos were worth waiting for but he rarely got an entire tune to himself.

A Hollier, Jollier Christmas!

by | Dec 8, 2017 | Lighter Side, Stuff

Get Hammered with jazz great Charles Mingus’s Egg Nog recipe!

Jazz pioneer Charles Mingus (1922-1979) had a secret recipe for eggnog that by all accounts was delicious, and incredibly potent. He shared the recipe with biographer Janet Coleman who published it in her book Mingus/Mingus: Two Memoirs.  Maybe you’ll want to test drive this brew for the Holidays.  Starting right now, drink a few cups everyday until Christmas.  In case Santa decides to leave only coal in your stocking, you’re covered.  You won’t care, anyway!

The Summer – Salut Salon

by | Nov 17, 2017 | Lighter Side, Quartet/Quintet

Competitive Foursome

While this is technically chamber music, they do blow some jazz … and anyone who has even a glimmer of musical savvy will appreciate their performance.  The Salut Salon Quartet, from Hamburg Germany, is comprised of Angelika Bachmann (violin), Iris Siegfried (violin), Anne-Monika von Twardowski (piano) and Sonja Lena Schmid (cello). They have been called “the Harlem Globetrotters of string quartets.”  Here, “The Summer” composed by Antonio Vivaldi, becomes the stage for a musical competition with a special sense of humor and musical dexterity!