Big Bands, Big Sound – Jimmy Smith

by | Aug 23, 2019 | Audio, Big Band

This 1994 version of Down By The Riverside features Jimmy Smith together with Kenny Burrell and the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band. It is a live performance of his 1966 rendition on the album “Dynamic Duo” with Wes Montgomery doing the guitar chores.

“Peter And The Wolf” has always been one of my favorite Jimmy Smith Albums … and the Finale – Parade and Peter Plays Some Blues, for me, captures the essence of the other 5 movements.  The album only recently made it to CD and download.  I tried for several years to, at least, obtain the vinyl and finally discovered a single used copy in a little record shop in Detroit for the unheard of price of $3.72!  I had even called Rudy Van Gelder at Van Gelder Studios in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey only to learn that the session tapes had been lost.  I’m glad they found them!

Down By The Riverside

by Jimmy Smith & Kenny Burrell | The Jazz Masters

Finale - Parade / Peter Plays Some Blues

by Jimmy Smith & Oliver Nelson | Peter And The Wolf

My Man / Fine and Mellow – Billie Holiday

by | Jul 26, 2019 | Vocal

My Man is another intoxicating performance by Billie Holiday, assisted by Jimmy Rowles at the piano. Her message is delivered with all of the raw honesty that made her so beloved.  As nearly as I can determine, this rendition was recorded in the late 50s or early 60s.

Fine and Mellow was recorded in 1957 together with Billie’s All Star Big Band.  While a big band doesn’t generally lend itself to a feeling of intimacy, there is no denying Holiday’s ability to rise above the power of all those instruments and pull you up close.

Thad Jones & Mel Lewis Big Band

by | Jun 15, 2019 | Big Band

The Thad Jones & Mel Lewis Big Band was formed in New York City in 1965, but performed in countries all around the world for decades, including The Soviet Union during The Cold War years.  Come Sunday is a Duke Ellington composition written in 1942 as part of the first movement of a suite entitled Black, Brown and Beige.  The Groove Merchant is a Jerome Richardson original written for the band’s Central Park North album.

Both tunes performed here are from a September 1969 concert in Soburg, Denmark.  The personnel roster reads like a “Who’s Who” of jazz musicians, most of whom went on to individual greatness with their own bands.  Featured are Thad Jones (flhrn); Snooky Young, Al Porcino, Richard Williams, Danny Moore (tp); Jimmy Knepper, Eddie Bert, Astley Fennell (tb); Cliff Heather (b-tb); Jerry Dodgion, Jerome Richardson (as); Eddie Daniels, Joe Henderson (ts); Pepper Adams (bars); Sir Roland Hanna (p); Richard Davis (b); Mel Lewis (d).

Makin’ Whoopee – Dr. John & Ricki Lee Jones

by | Apr 12, 2019 | Video, Vocal

Combine some blues with pop, add a dash of jazz, stir in a bit of boogie woogie with a smattering of rock and roll — not to mention the occasional touch of Louisiana voodoo — and you have the recipe for Dr. John!  His music is a perfect example of the influence and integration of jazz with other musical styles, or the other way around if you like.  Serve up Ricki Lee Jones as a delicious side dish to provide the Good Doctor with a gentle counterpoint, and it is impossible to keep your feet still whether you usually prefer Led Zeppelin or Miles Davis!

Sun Valley Serenade – Glenn Miller

by | Mar 29, 2019 | Big Band, Stuff

In The Mood is one of those songs that when you hear it, you naturally think of Glenn Miller. Here, it is in the forefront of “Sun Valley Serenade” a 1941 movie that was the first of only two motion pictures featuring the Glenn Miller Orchestra.  The other was 1942’s “Orchestra Wives”.

Chattanooga Choo Choo is also from “Sun Valley Serenade” which, in addition to the Miller Band, features Sonja Henie, John Payne and MIlton Berle,  You’ll also enjoy the harmonies of The Modernaires and a dazzling dance performance by The Nicholas Brothers.

Five Faces Of Harlem Nocturne

by | Mar 22, 2019 | Big Band, Orchestral

Harlem Nocturne was written in 1939 by Earle Hagen and Dick Rogers for the Ray Noble Orchestra, of which they were members at the time.  It quickly became a jazz standard and has since been recorded by nearly 100 artists!  Here are just 5 different versions, including the very first recording of the tune on Columbia Records by Ray Noble.  Then there was a recording by The Viscounts that ran up the Billboard charts, not once but twice … in 1959 and again in1966.  Lyrics were eventually added and in 1963 Mel Torme painted a lonely picture of nighttime in New York.  While many of the others smack of a certain “stripperesque” quality, the fourth arrangement imparts a certain elegance we’ve learned to expect from Duke Ellington.  Finally, a treatment of Harlem Nocturne by Illinois Jacquet that makes all the hairs on the back of my neck stand at full attention!

Harlem Nocturne

by The Viscounts | Harlem Nocturne

Harlem Nocturne

by Mel Torme | Songs Of New York

Harlem Nocturne

by Duke Ellington | Blues

Harlem Nocturne

by Illinois Jacquet | Swing's The Thing

The Several Sides of Sammy

by | Mar 8, 2019 | Big Band, Vocal

Sammy Davis Jr. shows his versatility on the old Ed Sullivan Show by playing drums and vibes with the big band.  Then two of my favorite Davis vocals, where he equals even Ol’ Blue Eyes’ ability to make a song his own.  Though not strictly a jazz musician, Sammy could swing!

In The Still Of The Night

by Sammy Davis, Jr. | At The Cocoanut Grove

Bye Bye Blackbird

by Sammy Davis Jr. | The Essentials

Shiny Stockings – Dee Dee Bridgewater & J.J. Johnson

by | Mar 1, 2019 | Big Band, Vocal

“Shiny Stockings”, one of the most enduring songs in jazz, was written by Frank Foster in 1955 while he was with the Count Basie Orchestra.  Not being very savvy about such things at the time, Frank gave away the rights and royalties to what has now become a jazz standard.

For years the tune was recorded by artist after artist with the revenues flowing to a company that collected on the publishing rights to songs it had acquired.  It wasn’t until the early 2000’s when a close examination of U.S. Copyright Laws finally enabled Foster to collect the royalties that were rightfully his.

Now listen to Dee Dee Bridgewater, J.J. Johnson and Kenny Burrell with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band in a live performance of that swinging homage to hosiery!

Maynard Ferguson ’69

by | Jan 18, 2019 | Big Band

The first time I heard Maynard Ferguson was at the Pinebrook Show Tent in New Jersey and it cost me all of a dollar for a seat on a long wooden bench.  I was a kid in my impressionable teens and the tent was only set up for that one summer, but I was in the front row every Friday night.  I’ll never forget it!  That buck bought around three hours of nearly nonstop jazz performed by the likes of Ahmad Jamal, Count Basie, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, Art Blakey, (Maynard of course) and so many others!  Sometimes I think the musicians had more fun than we did.

For my money, the band Ferguson had during the 60’s was his greatest ever.  It was before the days of “Theme From Rocky”, “Pagliacci”, and some of the disco tunes with which he experimented later on.  The three cuts below from 1969, to me, represent the sound of that incredible orchestra and the excellence that simmered just below the surface.

Maynard Ferguson and his Orchestra play “Somewhere” from Leonard Bernstein’s musical “West Side Story” on a 1969 TV show.  Whether or not you like show tunes, you’ve got to love this rendition by the original “Boss”.

Here is Maynard with his high flying treatment of “One O’Clock Jump”, a song usually associated with the Count Basie Band. Please excuse the time code in the middle of the screen, but the Orchestra was too tuned in to miss!

“Danny Boy” is a bit of a departure for the Ferguson Orchestra but is proof positive that this powerful band had a deeper third gear in addition to hot or mellow … sweet.  Brass, not pipes are callin’.

Sunny Side Of The Street / Begin The Beguine – Arnett Cobb & Lionel Hampton

by | Jan 4, 2019 | Big Band

Sunny Side Of The Street was recorded July 16, 1978 in Nice, France.  They put on quite a show, with Arnett sounding particularly bright on tenor and Lionel singing and playing drums.  Neither is an everyday sight!

Begin The Beguine, also recorded in Nice in ’78, was practically Artie Shaw’s theme song, once upon a time.  Here it gets quite a different treatment between the tenor of Arnett Cobb and the vibe virtuosity of Lionel Hampton.