“Stormy Monday”, a Lou Rawls classic, is infused with an extra shot of funk from the boss tenor of Stanley Turrentine at a 1989 Blue Note concert in Japan. They are joined by Les McCann on piano, Curtis Robertson on bass and Curtis Alan Sharrod, Jr. at the drums.
This performance of Bye Bye Blackbird is a rare appearance of Carmen McRae with the Count Basie Orchestra. It’s from a Japanese broadcast in 1974 and Carmen was in her prime. Well, if you care to figure out which prime that was!
It’s Carmen McRae and Dizzy Gillespie live in concert … two jazz legends performing one classic standard. Dizzy’s gentle backing is second only to Carmen’s incredible phrasing of The End Of A Beautiful Friendship! Like fine wine, she just got better with age as her voice mellowed.
“Fever” was originally recorded by American R&B singer Little Willie John in 1956. Fast forward to May 1958 when chanteuse Peggy Lee got a hold of it and it soared to the top of the pop music charts. While Peggy was technically a jazz singer, a great deal of her work crossed over to the pop side, and in this case, “Fever” pretty much became her signature song. This is the original Capitol recorded version, to which I added a few visuals for those not quite as hooked on the music itself as I am … although I don’t see how that’s possible.
Sexy is, as the commercials say, “often imitated but never duplicated.” It’s not baring lots of skin or exhibiting a particular sort of behavior but, rather, it is a natural quality that shines even through a high-button housecoat. In other words, you either have it or you don’t. Julie London oozed it! Cry Me A River pretty much became her signature song and nobody ever did it better … it’s amazing how Julie’s simple but sexy rendition so completely outclasses modern ‘Divas’ with all their vocal gymnastics and glory notes! This cut is from the May 1964 laser disc The Julie London Show with the Bobby Troup Quintet.
When the bells all ring and the horns all blow, with new love also comes the New Year and a desire to welcome it with the object of her affection. Her plaintive cry is to embrace the dream of new possibilities together.
He loves me, he loves me not …
In 1957, two giants of music paired up for a Christmas special guaranteed to put you in the Holiday mood. Here are Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, in their prime, singing “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” and “White Christmas”.
“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). You can’t rub them together without making sparks!
“The Christmas Song” (Merry Christmas To You) is a true classic, written by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells in 1944. It was first recorded by Nat Cole and the The King Cole Trio in 1946 … then recorded again in stereo with a full orchestra conducted by Ralph Carmichael, using the same arrangement for Nat King Cole’s Christmas Song album in 1961. Since then it has been recorded more than 254 times by artists ranging from Frank Sinatra and Mel Tormé himself, to the likes of Christina Aguilera and Justin Bieber in more recent times!
Dianne Reeves was born into a musical family. Her father sang, her mother played trumpet, her uncle was a bassist and her cousin is George Duke. Although she was born in Detroit, she was raised in Denver … and in 1971, Dianne started singing and playing piano. She signed with Blue Note Records in 1987, staying with the label until 2009 when she moved over to Concord. Performance here is at the JazzBaltica Jazz Festival in 2004.
Here are three classic musical performances by Lady Day and Satchmo Armstrong from the 1947 motion picture “New Orleans”. The film is a tribute to the birth of jazz, and also features Woody Herman along with some of music’s greatest legends. The video at the top is The Blues Are Brewin’ with Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans at the lower left and Dixie Music Man on the lower right.
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