Shades Of Black – Duke Ellington

by | Feb 6, 2021 | Big Band

On Nov. 2, 1969 a legendary concert was held at Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark.  At that time, Duke Ellington was celebrating his 70th birthday and had been leading his orchestra for 44 years.  His band featured such jazz icons as  trumpeters Cootie Williams and Cat Anderson, trombonist Lawrence Brown, altoist Harry Carney, Paul Gonsalves on tenor and Rufus ‘Speedy’ Jones on drums.

Here are three of my favorites from that concert, celebrating the Duke’s African roots.  The uppermost video is a haunting, very Ellington piece called “La Plus Belle Africaine,” At the lower left is “Black Butterfly” with a tender Johnny Hodges solo that takes you soaring with the butterfly itself … lower right is “Black Swan” featuring a duel between Duke’s piano and Wild Bill Davis’ Hammond organ..

Baby It’s Cold Outside – Ray Charles & Betty Carter

by | Jan 1, 2021 | Big Band, Vocal

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is a popular song written by Frank Loesser in 1944 and introduced to the public in the 1949 film Neptune’s Daughter. While the lyrics make no mention of a holiday, it is popularly regarded as a Christmas song owing to its winter theme. The song was released in no fewer than eight recordings in 1949 and was originally an invitation to leave, not to stay. 

Baby It's Cold Outside

by Ray Charles & Betty Carter | Jazz After Midnight

Some on the fringe say the lyrics are ‘sexist’ … I say they seem near-perfect for welcoming in the New Year, especially in places like the bone-chilling northeast where January brings more than just cold and fireplaces are more than just atmospheric!

Christmas With Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra & Seal

by | Dec 19, 2020 | Big Band, Vocal

The earliest known recorded version of Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town was by banjoist Harry Reser and his band on October 24, 1934.  This 2017 version has British singer-song writer Seal performing a duet with Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, through the miracle of modern technology.  It’s seamless, it swings, it’s great!

It’s A Marshmallow World is an excerpt from Dean Martin’s star-studded 1968 Christmas Special, featuring Dean and a few of the fetchingly beautiful girls he likes to surround himself with … constantly.  While Deano is largely thought of as a pop crooner, he is a talented, versatile entertainer [a member of the ‘Rat Pack’] and a performer who definitely adds to the many colors of Christmas!

Stolen Moments / Milestones – Oliver Nelson

by | Oct 31, 2020 | Big Band

The Oliver Nelson standard Stolen Moments is from the 1961 Impulse album “The Blues And The Abstract Truth” …  a classic album that fully captures the feeling of that very prolific jazz era.  It features Oliver Nelson on tenor sax, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Eric Dolphy playing flute, George Barrow on baritone sax, Bill Evans at the piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Roy Haynes playing drums.  Kind of a ‘who’s who’ of the time.

The Miles Davis tune Milestones was recorded by Oliver Nelson with The Berlin Dream Band in 1970.  The band was comprised of several of the top jazz musicians from West Berlin’s underground music scene and, as this wild, up-tempo arrangement proves, European musicians can positively hold their own with their American counterparts!

Stolen Moments

by Oliver Nelson | The Blues And The Abstract Truth

Tribute To Benny Goodman

by | Oct 10, 2020 | Big Band, Orchestral

The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture.  In 1982, Lionel Hampton and Peggy Lee paid tribute to that year’s honoree Benny Goodman.  Lionel performed “Air Mail Special” and “Sing, Sing, Sing” while Peggy performed “Where or When” in a star-studded gala at the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, D.C.  Master of ceremonies Andre Previn introduces the segment.

Old Blue Eyes On Stage

by | Sep 11, 2020 | Big Band, Vocal

In 2003 a concert was held for Dismas House in St. Louis Missouri, the first halfway house in the country.  It featured The Rat Pack … Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. performing at their relaxed, professional finest!  The Count Basie Orchestra, led by Quincy Jones, provided much of the accompanying music.

I’ve chosen to highlight Sinatra in this video and selected Get Me To The Church On Time and Luck Be A Lady Tonight from the concert, because their performances are so very, very Sinatra.  Old Blue Eyes’ ability to make a song his own is one of the elements that makes him so appealing and these tunes so enjoyable.  Now … someone tell me that Frank is not actually jazz or that he doesn’t swing and I’ll be glad to send you some polka records!

Jumpin’ Blues / Greensleeves – Kenny Burrell

by | Aug 7, 2020 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet

Kenny Burrell and Jimmy Smith were a “dynamic duo” on many jazz recordings throughout the years, mostly albums headlined by Jimmy.  Jumpin’ Blues, recorded at NYC Town Hall in February of 1985, can be found on Smith’s blockbuster album Midnight Special.  It features Kenny Burrell on guitar, Jimmy Smith playing  the Hammond B-3, Grady Tate on drums and adds Stanley Turrentine on tenor sax to add yet another dimension to the already potent trio.

Greensleeves was recorded 20 years earlier in 1965 and netted Gil Evans a Grammy Award nomination in 1966 for Best Instrumental Arrangement.  The album itself was nominated for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance.  Burrell is on guitar, with Roger Kellaway on piano, Grady Tate at the drums, Willie Rodriguez on conga and Joe Benjamin playing double bass.  The tune starts out like a lamb, as you would expect, and morphs into a very swinging lion before all is said and done!

 

Greensleeves

by Kenny Burrell | Guitar Forms

Take The ‘A’ Train / Rosetta – Roy Eldridge

by | Jun 20, 2020 | Big Band

Take The ‘A’ Train to Jazz At The Philharmonic in Paris.  The year was 1960 and Roy Eldridge was featured with all stars like Benny Carter, Don Byas, Coleman Hawkins and Jo Jones, among others from the ‘who’s who’ of jazz.  An historic performance of the Ellington tune!

An Eldridge original, Rosetta, was performed just 5 years later in Paris at the Jazz festival à la Mutualité with notables such as Earl Hines, Stuff Smith, Ben Webster, Don Byas and Kenny Clarke, to name just a few of the all-stars on hand.

D-Day – Danny Boy

by | Jun 5, 2020 | Big Band, Video

On June 6th 1944, 76 years ago, a bunch of mostly American and Brit kids saved the world from Nazism and preserved the freedom we, now, seem so ready to relinquish. Danny Boy seemed the right mood and Glenn Miller the right orchestra for a salute to all those heroic members of The Greatest Generation who so willingly made the ultimate sacrifice for liberty and justice for all.