Billie’s Blues

by | Jun 1, 2024 | Big Band, Vocal

The perfect musical storm descended upon at CBS Studio 58 in New York City, on December 8, 1957. The chemistry among the musicians––between each other and with the vocalist––radiated a rare magic that occurs only when the stars are in utopian alignment. And the incredible Billie Holiday was at her bluesy best!

She was backed by a band featuring such legends as Doc Cheatham, Roy Eldridge, and Joe Newman on trumpets; Bob Brookmeyer on trombone; Jimmy Giuffre playing clarinet; Earle Warren on alto; Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Lester Young playing tenors; Gerry Mulligan was on baritone; Freddie Green and Jim Hall played guitars; Count Basie, Thelonious Monk, Nat Pierce, and Mal Waldron played pianos for the session; Milt Hinton, was on bass; Papa Jo Jones and Osie Johnson alternated on drums.

Billie Holiday was Fine and Mellow (My Man Don’t Love Me).

Slow Freight – Junior Mance & Ray Bryant

by | Mar 19, 2021 | Quartet/Quintet

Very few things are as addictive as salted peanuts … betcha’ can’t eat just one!  That’s why they employed two pianos and twenty golden fingers to perform the super bluesy Ray Bryant composition, Slow Freight.  The tune was recorded in 1993 for a Japanese TV special and features both Junior Mance and Ray Bryant on pianos, Bob Cranshaw on bass and Alan Dawson playing drums.

Don’t Blame Me / Bolivar Blues – Thelonious Monk

by | Nov 14, 2020 | Quartet/Quintet, Solo/Duo

Thelonious Monk is something of an acquired taste.  As Monk himself has said, “The piano ain’t got no wrong notes” … but once that taste is acquired, the listening experience is singular and thoroughly enjoyable!  The impression is one of almost hitting the note by playing around it, implying the expected note by actually creating a new version of it.  Monk is the very definition of avant-garde … half pianist, half painter.  As for Charlie Rouse adding his tenor to the mix, Charlie rents space inside Monk’s head.  Together they are musical twins joined at the hip!

Recorded in 1966 in Denmark, Don’t Blame Me puts Monk’s quartet on hold for a solo performance of the time-tested classic.

Monk’s Bolivar Blues was recorded in Japan in 1963.  The quartet is Thelonious at the piano, Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone, Frankie Dunlop playing drums and Butch Warren on bass.

Chopin Meets The Blues

by | Sep 26, 2020 | Orchestral, Trio

The Peter Beets trio performs Waltz in C#m with the world famous Residentie Orkest The Hague (The Hague Philharmonic) at Paard (The Hague).  Jazz improvisations on Chopin music were arranged for trio and symphony orchestra by Rob Horsting and Marijn van Prooijen.  The trio consists of Peter on piano, Marius Beets playing double bass and Gijs Dijkhuizen on drums.

D&E Blues / Monterey Mist – Modern Jazz Quartet

by | Apr 4, 2020 | Quartet/Quintet

The Modern Jazz Quartet performed and recorded jazz, off and on, for some 45 years between 1952 and 1997.  As with any group of musicians there were occasional personnel changes but the core group remained for most of that time.  The personnel probably most frequently identified with MJQ are John Lewis at the piano, Milt Jackson on vibes, Percy Heath playing bass and Connie Kay on drums.  These are the artists on both D&E Blues, written by John Lewis and Monterey Mist, a Milt Jackson composition.

D&E Blues, the tune on top, offers the texture and tempo we have become accustomed to with this group … easy going, smooth and relaxing.  Monterey Mist, on the other hand, provides a seriously cooking contrast by MJQ that has the recipe to make even the casual jazz listener sit up and smile!

Blues On Sunday / Let It Be – Joshua Redman

by | Oct 5, 2019 | Quartet/Quintet

Blues On Sunday was recorded at the Philharmonic Hall in Munich during the Munich Piano Summer 1994.  Joshua Redman is on saxophone, Brad Mehldau at the piano, Christian McBride on bass and Brian Blade plays drums.

The 1970 Beatles tune Let It Be was performed by the Joshua Redman Quartet in 2013 at Jazz In Marciac.  It features Joshua Redman, saxophone; Aaron Goldberg, piano; Reuben Rogers, contrabass; and Gregory Hutchinson, drums.

That Ain’t Right – Fats Waller & Ada Brown

by | Sep 27, 2019 | Lighter Side, Vocal

In a scene from the 1943 film “Stormy Weather” Fats Waller and Ada Brown perform with legendary dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, drummer Zutty Singleton, bassist Slam Stewart, Trumpeter Benny Carter and singer Lena Horne, just to mention a few.  The film is considered one of the best Hollywood musicals with an African-American cast. It was viewed as a primary showcase of some of the top Black performers of the time, during an era when actors and singers of color rarely appeared in lead roles in mainstream movie productions,

Mary Lou Williams – Pianist’s Pianist

by | Aug 16, 2019 | Solo/Duo, Trio

Mary Lou Williams was one of the few female jazz pianists to achieve fame during the middle of the 20th Century.  She was also a much sought after composer, arranger and mentor. Mary Lou wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and LP versions). Williams wrote and arranged for such bandleaders as Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor, and teacher to Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and Dizzy Gillespie. Three of her compositions were scored for a Carnegie Hall concert played by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in 1946!

The top video, Willow Weep For Me, is a popular 1932 standard from The Mary Lou Williams Collection 1927-59 and features her trio. The bottom two offerings, The Man I Love (1978) on the left and Mary Lou Plays Some Blues (1980) on the right are live solo performances recorded toward the end of her fabulous career..

Blues In B-Flat – Barry Harris

by | Jul 20, 2019 | Trio

Blues in B-Flat was recorded by The Barry Harris Trio live at Dizzy’s in New York, during June of 2017.  At the age of 90 he is still going strong both performing and teaching.  When he is not on the road, Harris holds weekly music workshop sessions in New York City for vocalists, students of piano and other instruments.  Alongside Barry in the trio are bassist Ray Drummond, and drummer Leroy Williams.

Everyday I Have The Blues – Jimmy McGriff

by | Jul 12, 2019 | Quartet/Quintet

Everyday I Have The Blues is a blues song that has been recorded in a variety of styles over the years, with the two most familiar versions by the Count Basie Orchestra and B.B. King.  The McGriff/Crawford arrangement brings it back from a big band setting to it’s funkier roots, opening up with Jimmy uncharacteristically playing piano, along with the more familiar Hammond that is featured throughout.

The tune was recorded in San Diego California in 1989 with Jimmy at the organ, Hank Crawford on alto sax, Bob DeVos on guitar and Jimmy Smith at the drums. You can hear the B.B. King and Basie [with Joe Williams] recordings just below the video.

Everyday I Have The Blues

by B.B. King

Everyday I Have The Blues

by Count Basie/Joe Williams