The Fabulous Baker Boys

by | Dec 6, 2019 | Solo/Duo, Vocal

The Fabulous Baker Boys is a movie about two guys and a girl, that play against one incredible jazz-based soundtrack!  Toss in some sibling rivalry and you have a motion picture that feels good no matter how many times you see it.

Michelle Pfeiffer does all of her own singing … and is quite a nice surprise, considering we previously only knew her as a most enjoyable actress.   Jeff and Beau Bridges play some of their own piano, although Dave Grusin does most of the keyboard work with the Bridges brothers very convincingly miming it.

Music flows from one end of the story to the other and the plot is a sound one, especially if you happen to have grown up with an obverse brother or sister … or just had a really close best friend.  Here’s a small sample.

Like Someone In Love / Red Suede Shoes – Chuck Loeb

by | Nov 29, 2019 | Quartet/Quintet, Solo/Duo

Like Someone In Love is a jazz standard.  Chuck Loeb was a guitarist with one foot anchored in traditional jazz and the other tap dancing its way around the [so called] smooth jazz genre. John Patitucci is an award winning bassist and composer, who was inspired by the likes of Ray Brown and Ron Carter … but who frequently likes to dance to the beat of his own drummer.  Put all three together and you have a couple of old friends just noodling on a familiar tune that makes everyone within earshot feel like “dis must be da place!”

As a sort of bonus, I’m including Red Suede Shoes as a sample of Chuck’s smooth jazz virtuosity.  Notice the orchestration reaches beyond the usual “death by saxophone” or “death by guitar” sound that seems to dominate the genre.

Red Suede Shoes

by Chuck Loeb | Plain 'n Simple

Diana Ross Sings Billie Holiday

by | Nov 22, 2019 | Vocal

Her true versatility is on full display as Diana Ross moves seamlessly from R&B to jazz in the 1972 motion picture Lady Sings The Blues … the life story of the legendary Billie Holiday. My Man is one of the featured songs.

Riding atop the power of a big band, with All Of Me Diana shows she can swing with the best of them, in addition to melting your heart with her poignant approach to a ballad.

Give Me A Pig Foot And A Bottle Of Beer is a familiar Billie Holiday song that unquestionably distances Diana Ross far from her original Motown days with The Supremes.

God Bless The Child (That’s Got His Own) has been recorded by several top artists but NOBODY ever did it like Billie Holiday … although Diana comes pretty darn close.  Another tune featured in Lady Sings The Blues.

Wesbound – Lee Ritenour

by | Nov 15, 2019 | Quartet/Quintet

Wesbound was written by Lee Ritenour as a tribute to the late, great guitarist Wes Montgomery.  Lee is joined in this video by the very versatile Patrice Rushen playing keyboards and Terry Crews delivering a driving bass.

Ritenour’s guitar stylings are usually considered to be acid or club jazz, which for the uninitiated is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, soul, funk, and even a smattering of disco.  While it is a bit of a departure from our emphasis on more traditional, straight ahead jazz, I think you’re gonna like what you hear.  Listen for an ear-popping solo by Patrice!

Body and Soul – Billy Taylor

by | Nov 9, 2019 | Trio

On March 2nd 2000, The Billy Taylor Trio played this soulful but swinging arrangement of “Body and Soul” live at the Manchester Craftsman’s Guild in Pittsurgh, Pennsylvania.  Featured on piano was the great Dr. Billy Taylor, Chip Jackson was on bass and the amazing Winard Harper played drums. Dr. Taylor became the most prominent spokesman for the virtues of jazz and was the first to describe it as “America’s Classical Music”.

S’ Wonderful – Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis

by | Nov 1, 2019 | Quartet/Quintet

From virtually the beginning of his career, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis achieved one of the main goals of all jazz musicians: to have his own sound. One can always identify “Jaws” within two or three notes. Was he a bop, swing, hard bop or early R&B improviser? Duke Ellington’s phrase of “beyond category” perfectly fit “Jaws” because his highly individual voice always stood apart from everyone else.

S’ Wonderful was recorded in Copenhagen, 1985 with Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis (TS), Niels Jorgen Steen (P), Jesper Lundgaard (b) and Ed Thigpin (d).

The Sidewinder

by | Oct 25, 2019 | Audio, Quartet/Quintet

The Sidewinder is a tune born in minutes, destined to last a lifetime!  It became one of the defining recordings of the soul jazz genre … a jazz standard that set the tone for an entirely new style of funky jazz that is a driving force even today.

The session was being recorded at Rudy Van Gelder’s famous Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey studio.  Although the album was essentially finished, the musicians felt they needed one more song.  Lee Morgan suddenly disappeared into the washroom and emerged about twenty minutes later, passing around a sheet of music with notes on it that turned out to be Sidewinder!

That original date included Lee Morgan playing trumpet, Joe Henderson on sax, Barry Harris at the piano, Bob Crenshaw on bass, and Billy Higgins playing drums.  The album they recorded that day became Blue Note’s best-selling record ever, breaking the previous sales records roughly ten times over!  In addition to the original, two other compelling arrangements of the title tune are presented here by Gene Harris and The Turtle Island String Quartet.

The Sidewinder

by Lee Morgan | The Sidewinder

The Sidewinder

by Gene Harris | Brotherhood

The Sidewinder

by Turtle Island Quartet | Metropolis

String Along With Turtle Island

by | Oct 18, 2019 | Quartet/Quintet

The Turtle Island String Quartet is an unconventional musical ensemble which plays jazz standards and original compositions that cross several styles, including blues, classical, jazz, and world music. Violinist David Balakrishnan got the idea for a jazz string quartet in 1985.

As a child, David was inspired by Jimi Hendrix and later discovered jazz through the music of the David Grisman Quartet.  The group has performed with the likes of Billy Taylor, Manhattan Transfer, Modern Jazz Quartet, and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and many others.  Since its founding, TIQ has had many members come and go, but their uniqueness, intensity and musical integrity has always remained.

Blue Rondo A La Turk is a jazz composition in 9/8 time written by Dave Brubeck. It first appeared on his classic Time Out album in 1959.  His choice of rhythm was inspired by the Turkish aksak time signatures.

Moment’s Notice, a John Coltrane composition, was recorded live in Brussels featuring David Balakrishnan playing violin, Mark Summer on cello,  Mateusz Smoczynski also on violin and Benjamin von Gutzeit on viola.

Angels / I Remember Clifford – Roy Hargrove

by | Oct 11, 2019 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet

Roy Hargrove is known as one of the top trumpet players in jazz for the past quarter-century.  As an incisive trumpeter, doubling on flugelhorn, Roy was discovered by Wynton Marsalis in the 1980s.  He embodied the brightest promise of his jazz generation, both as a young steward of the hard bop tradition and a savvy bridge to both hip-hop and R&B.  His assertive sound embodied a tone that could evoke either burnished steel or a soft, golden glow.  Here we have both.

 

Angels (Above), features the quintet with Roy Hargrove on trumpet, Justin Robinson on alto sax,  Tadataka Unno playing piano,  Ameen Saleem on bass, and Quincy Phillips playing drums.

I Remember Clifford (Below) displays Hargrove’s softer side, with the flugelhorn as a contrast to his big band backing.

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.