My Favorite Things – Joey Alexander, Encore!

by | Nov 21, 2018 | Solo/Duo

Do you realize there is no Thanksgiving jazz?  The only Thanksgiving song I could  even think of was “Over The River and Through the Woods” but I couldn’t find a jazz rendition.  The closest I could come was “My Favorite Things” but what a find it was, holiday or not.  None other than Joey Alexander, that kid prodigy from Indonesia, once again dazzles us with his piano prowess.

To have reached this level of technical proficiency and have such a sophisticated harmonic understanding at the tender age of 12 is nothing short of astonishing!  I couldn’t decide which of these performances to share and the contrast between the two is most outstanding when heard side-by-side.  So here are both … and Happy Thanksgiving.  What is going on inside this young man’s head is enough to make many established jazz pianists blush!.

Joey Alexander performs the title track from his debut album “My Favorite Things” in studio, along with the intricate bass work of Larry Grenadier.  

Joey plays jazz piano like old timer, but he’s only 11-years-old for this solo performance.  They say he started playing at six … then “got serious” at seven.  

Double Play – Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga

by | Oct 12, 2018 | Vocal

But Beautiful features the unlikely pairing of Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga.  It’s from their DVD “Cheek To Cheek – Live” and is, in fact, a beautiful stylistic blending of the old and the new into the traditional!

It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) is a lively performance of the classic Duke Ellington tune, also from the Cheek To Cheek video, featuring Tony Bennett and highlighting Lady Gaga’s surprising jazz virtuosity.

Satin Doll / Windsong – Mundell Lowe

by | Jan 5, 2018 | Orchestral, Solo/Duo

Mundell Lowe and Louis Stewart perform Satin Doll together with a string quartet.  It’s a unique treatment of the Ellington / Strayhorn classic, with the tender touch of one of jazz’s guitar icons.

Wind Song is a rhythmic, medium-up tempo tune featuring Mundell Lowe and Louis Stewart on guitars, Jim Doherty piano, Dave Gausden bass, Peter Ainscough on drums, augmented by a classical string quartet just to keep things interesting.

Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby & Dean Martin Christmas

by | Dec 22, 2017 | Solo/Duo, Vocal

In 1957, two giants of music paired up for a Christmas special guaranteed to put you in the Holiday mood.  Here are Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby, in their prime, singing “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” and “White Christmas”.

“Marshmallow World” may not be jazz, but it is definitely Christmas … and these two characters are definitely Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra (in a 1967 TV special).  You can’t rub them together without making sparks!

Oleo – Joe Pass & Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen

by | Mar 3, 2017 | Solo/Duo

Joe Pass was an American musician of Sicilian descent … arguably one of the greatest jazz guitarists of the 20th century. Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (often called NHOP) was a Danish upright bassist and composer known as The Great Dane with the Never-Ending Name. Together they speak fluent jazz!