Queen Latifah Jazz

by | Aug 3, 2018 | Audio, Vocal

A “Queen” of rap and hip-hop featured on a jazz website?  What’s wrong with this picture?  Not a thing if she really can sing … and not only has a voice but impeccable phrasing!  Whether soft or swinging, Queen Latifah is a pleasant surprise when she turns her attention toward more standard fare.  She is another wonderfully talented musician from that magical [Newark] New Jersey corridor of spectacular performers, and a shining example of tunes and talent crossing over between jazz and other musical genres.

Close Your Eyes

by Queen Latifah | The Dana Owens Album

Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars

by Queen Latifah | Trav'lin' Light

Baroque Jazz – Claude Bolling & Jean-Pierre Rampal

by | Jul 27, 2018 | Quartet/Quintet

On my “What About Dat?” page, I talk about the development of jazz and its shared influences with other types of music.  Pianist Claude Bolling and flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal provide classic — or should I say classical — examples of just such a blending of genres in these two ‘grab your socks’ pieces.  Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano was Rampal’s first non-classical recording, although he had been an avid jazz enthusiast for years. The two friends’ intricate performances raised a few eyebrows at CBS records at first, but the result was a popular album with universal appeal.

Baroque and Blue

by C. Bolling & J.P. Rampal | Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano

Fugace

by C. Bolling & J.P. Rampal | Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano

Johnny Hartman – The Last Balladeer?

by | Jul 6, 2018 | Quartet/Quintet, Vocal

A live performance of Body and Soul by Johnny Hartman, applying his own very personal touch to that old standard.  Though not widely known to the public, it’s easy to see why he was known as a singer’s singer.

Lush Life

by Johnny Hartman | John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman

Johnny Hartman performs the Duke Ellington classic Sophisticated Lady.  He spent most of his career recording solo albums but cemented his musical legacy with John Coltrane and their 1963 album “John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman”.

Joy Spring / Laura – Clifford Brown

by | Jun 29, 2018 | Orchestral, Quartet/Quintet

Clifford Brown, also known as “Brownie”, is often regarded as the finest jazz trumpet player to ever perform on the American music scene. Certainly he is the benchmark against whom all others are judged.  Brownie died tragically at the age of 25 in a car accident on a rainy night in Pennsylvania, leaving behind a recorded legacy that spans a mere four years. He profoundly influenced later jazz trumpeters including Booker Little, Freddie Hubbard, and the great Lee Morgan.  He was also a composer of note, with two of his compositions, “Joy Spring” and “Daahoud” becoming jazz standards.

Joy Spring

by Clifford Brown | Jazz Immortal

Laura

by Clifford Brown | Brown With Strings

Li’l Darlin’ – Count Basie / Lambert, Hendricks and Ross

by | Aug 18, 2017 | Audio, Big Band, Vocal Group

Listen carefully to “Li’l Darlin'” both by the Count Basie Orchestra, and by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross with Joe Williams.  The first thing that struck me when I heard these two versions of the song, is that you almost have to listen twice to tell which is the instrumental and which is the vocal.  That’s how precise LH&R’s style and phrasing was!  Here they are side-by-side.  What do you think?

Li'l Darlin'

by Count Basie Orchestra | Basie

Li'l Darlin'

by Lambert, Hendricks and Ross | Sing Along With Basie

Summertime – Sir Roland Hanna / Bob Brookmeyer

by | Jun 23, 2017 | Audio, Orchestral, Quartet/Quintet

To celebrate the arrival of summer, here are not one but two unique treatments of the Gershwin classic.  Summertime was originally an aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose and Dorothy Heyward, and Ira Gershwin. Through the years, the song has became a truly solid jazz standard.

Summertime

by Sir Roland Hanna | Quartet Plays Gershwin

Summertime

by Bob Brookmeyer | Out Of This World