The Annual Christmas Show

by | Dec 21, 2024 | Holiday, Lighter Side, Orchestral

Christmas is a very special time of year and therefore calls for something a little different from our usual presentation.  I have brought The Christmas Show forward from our Jazz Scene Podcast page … featuring songs for the season by Maynard Ferguson, Tony Bennett, The Swingle Singers, Mel Torme, Count Basie, The Gene Harris Quartet, Lou Rawls, The Manhattan Transfer, Kenny G, Billy Taylor, Carol Sloan, plus a few of my own thoughts about the magic of Christmas. May you enjoy every minute of this musical Christmas card and have the Merriest of all Christmases with the ones you love!

— Fred

The Annual Christmas Show

by Fred Masey | Podcast 017

Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!  Here’s a medley of tunes from the beloved Charlie Brown Christmas Special, with accompanying video sequences, and David Benoit’s magical Christmas fingers in solo performance! Below that, Kenny G performs Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, with scenes from five of the best traditional holiday movies ever made in the background.

Days Of Auld Lang Syne

by | Jan 1, 2024 | Holiday

Again, please forgive the long absence of new posts on our website.  Other obligations have caused me to temporarily divert my time and resources to a different endeavor, but I intend to resume regular music posts in the spring, with occasional random postings before that whenever possible. Meanwhile, continuing in the spirit of the season, and with gratitude for your continuing interest in the Mark Of Jazz, I have brought Days of Auld Lang Syne  forward from our Jazz Scene Podcast page … my way of wishing you a healthy and HAPPY NEW YEAR!  May 2024 bring you all the peace, joy, and success you could wish for.

Days Of Auld Lang Syne

by Fred Masey | Jazz Scene Podcast #018

Remembering Christmas Past

by | Dec 24, 2020 | Holiday, Vocal

Bing Crosby was always a hero of Michael Bublé.  At last in 2012, during Bublé’s Home For The Holidays Christmas Special, Michael got to realize his long standing dream of singing a duet with Bing. Through the miracle of modern technology they sing White Christmas together, and even exchange a bit of banter!

In 1963, Judy Garland hosted a live Christmas special and created a rare moment with Mel Torme and his now famous composition, The Christmas Song.  Mel’s tune became an instant Christmas standard … although it was actually written in July of 1945 during a blistering hot summer in an effort to “think cool!”

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!

What Are You Doing New Years Eve – Diana Krall & Seth MacFarlane

by | Dec 27, 2019 | Video, Vocal

When you find two people who ask the eternal question with such passion, with such tenderness and longing, is it fair to keep them apart?  Rather than posting two videos, I thought I would at least join them lyrically as best I could into one … and ask Diana Krall and Seth MacFarlane to convey my sincerest wishes for a most healthy, happy and prosperous New Year!  By the way, What Are You Doing New Years Eve?

Auld Lang Syne – Frank, Dean & Friends

by | Dec 29, 2018 | Lighter Side, Vocal

On New Years Eve everybody sings this tune but most people don’t know what it means.  Actually, it’s an old Scottish folk song and the phrase “Auld Lang Syne” roughly translates to “Times gone by”.  While no one seems to know who wrote it,  a Scotsman named Robert Burns was the first to put it on paper and so is most frequently credited with its composition.  Meanwhile Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and a few friends use it here to help us welcome in 2019 with this compilation of TV and movie scenes … and extend my wishes to you  for a very HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR!

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.  

What Are You Doing New Years Eve? – Diana Krall

by | Dec 29, 2017 | Big Band, Vocal

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, 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!

The Christmas Song – Nat ‘King’ Cole

by | Dec 15, 2017 | Orchestral, Vocal

“The Christmas Song” (Merry Christmas To You) is a true classic, written by Mel Tormé and Bob Wells in 1944.  It was first recorded by Nat Cole and the The King Cole Trio in 1946 … then recorded again in stereo with a full orchestra conducted by Ralph Carmichael, using the same arrangement for Nat King Cole’s Christmas Song album in 1961.  Since then it has been recorded more than 254 times by artists ranging from Frank Sinatra and Mel Tormé himself, to the likes of Christina Aguilera and Justin Bieber in more recent times!