Hundreds of versions exist of Bobby Troup’s song “[Get Your Kicks on] Route 66,” better known simply as “Route 66.” He wrote it during a cross-country trip on that highway after World War II … and In 1946 Nat King Cole had a huge hit with Troup’s best known song. Today it is a jazz standard.
James Moody was a jazz saxophonist and flutist from Newark, New Jersey, celebrated for his virtuosity, his versatility and his onstage ebullience. This is a gentle solo with strings, from Eastwood After Hours, recorded at Carnegie Hall in NYC on October 17, 1996.
Drum virtuoso Ed Shaughnessy adds an entirely new dimension to The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra with driving rhythms and a ride that’s not to be believed. The great ones make it seem so easy. Also look for solos from clarinetist Eddie Daniels and the trumpet of Doc Severinsen. 1988 was a very good year! Thanks to Drummerworld, where you’ll find performances of many masters of the skins.
Here’s Grappelli in a rare 1991 live appearance in Warsaw, Poland. It’s a surprising arrangement of How High The Moon. Stéphane Grappelli had something very few musicians have … although it’s hard to imagine, like fine wine he got even better with age!
When this recording of Fascinating Rhythm was made Grappelli had been playing with his trio for two years. Performed in Saratoga, California at the Paul Masson Winery on the 4th of July1982, musicians include the always amazing Stéphane Grappelli (v), Diz Disley (rhythm g), Martin Taylor (g), and Jack Sewing (b).
“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.
Andre Previn is a pianist, composer, conductor and arranger masterfully standing astride two musical genres … both classical music and jazz. Many fans don’t realize that he had one foot in jazz before his other became firmly planted as a classical musician. Here we sample a touch of his conducting, arranging and piano artistry with “Rhapsody In Blue” before stepping back a few years into a swinging performance of Lerner and Loewe’s “Get Me To The Church On Time.”
Wanna’ hear a guy play the hide off some drums? Bassist Gene Wright really got into his solo and apparently overstayed his welcome. Joe Morello seems to have become just a bit perturbed and, after providing some increasingly not so gentle hints, he launched into the most awesome drum solo never seen! This is some rare footage provided to Drummerworld from the archives of Andy Lüscher. Notice the one handed action early on and how easy Joe makes it all look.
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.
This performance of “Song For My Father” was recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark during the Fall of 1964. While the quintet was in transition at this point, I believe the personnel we are seeing here are Joe Henderson (ts), Carmell Jones (t), Teddy Smith (b), and Roger Humphries (d) … joining Horace Silver (p) in what is so instantly recognizable as the classic Blue Note sound of that era. The song, which was dedicated to Horace‘s father John Tavares Silva, and the ensuing 1965 album of the same name, were inspired by a trip the pianist made to Brazil earlier that year.
At age 91 Terry Gibbs has a few friends over to jam in the living room of his home, Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea. Lucky neighbors!
Back in 1987 Terry’s vibes and Buddy DeFranco’s clarinet take some Giant Steps, with John Campbell on piano, Todd Coolman on bass, and Gerry Gibbs playing drums.
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