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.
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.
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.
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 …
Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford and The Pied Pipers with The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in a scene from the 1941 film, “Las Vegas Nights”. This was Sinatra’s first screen appearance in the movies. Unfortunately, His one song was interrupted by a stream of trivial dialogue, which I took the liberty of editing out. Frank went on to establish one of the greatest film careers of all time, featured in both singing and non-singing roles.
This is a compilation of dance scenes from the 1935 movie “Roberta” and other films featuring the incredible Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Their timeless steps are set to the classic “Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing)” performed by the Benny Goodman Orchestra, with the legendary Gene Krupa keeping a driving beat on the drums. The song and its lyrics were written by Louis Prima in 1936 who originally recorded it with The New Orleans Gang. The more popular 1937 Goodman recording lasted 8 minutes 43 seconds and took up both sides of a 78RPM record!
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?
Chris Connor didn’t just sing a song, she owned it! Born in Kansas City to a musical family, she was originally trained on the clarinet but made her first on stage appearance as a singer … and a singer she remained forever more. Her easy going manner and distinctive ability to get ‘inside’ a lyric became her trademark. Although she performed with big name big bands, including the Stan Kenton Orchestra, Chris preferred smaller groups and established her lasting reputation touring internationally as a solo performer leading her own trio. She was one of only a handful of white vocalists considered to be, incontestably, pure jazz singers.
Frank Wess, Jon Faddis and The Barcelona Jazz Orquestra play John Birks Gillespie’s classic composition. “Birks Works” has been recorded by many of the greatest in jazz … and “Birks”? Well, that refers to Dizzy’s middle name! Jazz At Lincoln Center, 11/2012.
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