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.

Manhattan Transfer Christmas II

by | Dec 14, 2024 | Holiday, Orchestral, Vocal Group

In 1969, Tim Hauser formed a vocal group in New York City called The Manhattan Transfer. The videos below feature the fourth edition of the group, consisting of Tim Hauser, Alan Paul, Janis Siegel, and Cheryl Bentyne, who performed mostly cool and smooth jazz, tinged with pop, soul, funk, and even acappella. These cuts are from The Transfer’s 2005 DVD, “The Christmas Concert.” (For more Manhattan Transfer Christmas, see our MOJ post of December 21,2018)

A special MHT arrangement of Mel Torme’s The Christmas Song.  Listen to the rich blend of mellow harmonies, smoothly combining all four voices into one.

Happy Holidays adds some upbeat flavor to the Christmas season that celebrates all the magic and merriment of the jolly old elf himself … and it’s all just ’round the corner!

The foursome captures the warmth of a cozy fire against the backdrop of a cold wintry night with their uniquely gentle version of Let It Snow. Oh … the song was written during a California heatwave!

Fred

by | Dec 6, 2024 | Big Band, Stuff

Although not a jazz musician himself, jazz musicians dug Fred Astaire and the feeling was mutual.  His instruments were his feet and his voice … and his performances encompassed every type of music, from Vivaldi to Fats Waller. During his seven decades as dancer, actor, singer, musician, and choreographer, Fred was everything people wanted to be: smooth, suave, dapper, debonair, intelligent, witty, and wise. He worked with jazz bands whenever he could; with this mutual love affair in mind, plus his limitless talent and creativity, we felt Fred Astaire had to be included among the greats at Mark of Jazz.

For openers, here he is in 1940 with Eleanor Powell, one of his many dance partners during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

From the 1951 movie “Royal Wedding” here is Astaire dancing with a hat rack! It’s amazing how this great dancer can take the simplest prop and do something magical with it. Well before that, in 1937, he dazzled movie goers with his drum scene in “A Damsel in Distress.”

Finally, one of the more fun-loving routines called Too Hot To Handle … with his most frequent dance partner, Ginger Rogers. This is Fred and Ginger flirting a bit as they grace the stage in the 1935 film “Roberta.”

Four Songs – Four Freshmen II

by | Nov 30, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet, Vocal Group

In 1948, four young men, at Butler University in Indianapolis, created a sound that forever changed the way vocal harmony was sung. Their style embraced the Barbershop Quartet tradition, but took it a giant step further, adding Jazz influences and ultimately even exerting an influence on Rock and Roll. Known as The Four Freshmen, the group started with two brothers … Don and Ross Barbour, their cousin Bob Flanigan, and friend Hal Kratzsch.  With a soaring, true tenor in Bob Flanigan, the group created a sound that has endured for over 6 decades.  This is the second iteration of The Freshmen, circa 1956 through 1972.  Performing are Bob Flanigan, Ross Barbour, Don Barbour and Ken Albers, who replaced Hal.

(See MOJ Post of October 26, 2017 for more Four Freshmen)

Day In Day Out was originally recorded by The Four Freshmen on the 1972 Stan Kenton “Live At Butler University” LP. This version, also a live performance, may actually be even better than the original!

Shangrila is a love song from their 1962 Capitol LP “Stars in Our Eyes” … an album tip of the cap to other vocal groups. The Four Coins had the original hit on this tune, but nobody does it quite like The Freshman!

You Stepped Out Of A Dream was a television spoof, with the foursome in a “Let me take you away from all this” mode. The Stan Kenton Orchestra backs their efforts, creating the classic Kenton-Freshman sound!

Angel Eyes was recorded on their 1964 tour in Japan. As with the other videos in this group, visual quality is not the best … but the audio and the Freshmen’s sound are second to none. (Bill Comstock replaced Don Barbour here).

The Taylor Touch

by | Nov 22, 2024 | Sextet

Billy Taylor did it all … pianist, composer, educator, broadcaster, and worldwide ambassador for America’s Classical Music. More than just an avid spokesman for the jazz idiom, he fought for the recognition of Black musicians as key contributors to the American music scene, promoting jazz as a commentary against racial prejudice. For his performances and professional activities, Taylor (Dr. Taylor, actually) received two Peabody Awards, an Emmy, a Grammy, and a place in the Hall of Fame for the International Association of Jazz Educators.

His composition and radio theme, It’s a Grand Night For Swinging (top) features Ingrid Jensen on trumpet, Frank Wess on tenor, Russell Malone playing guitar, Chip Jackson at the bass, and Winard Harper on drums. The video is from “An Evening with Billy Taylor” at the Manchester Craftsman’s Guild. Billy’s All Alone (bottom) is also an original composition from the same performance in September of 2006.

The Grasso’s Always Greener

by | Nov 9, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet, Trio, Vocal

Pasquale Grasso is an Italian-born jazz guitarist now based in New York City. He is known for a pianistic approach to jazz guitar, largely influenced by Bud Powell’s style; he has somehow managed to transfer the essence of piano language onto guitar. Grasso’s innovative blend of classical-guitar and bebop influences have helped him create a sound that’s completely his own, setting him apart as a one-of-a-kind jazz guitarist … in 2016 Pat Metheny told Vintage Guitar magazine that Grasso was “the best guitar player I’ve heard in maybe my entire life.” Recently, he has been getting more public exposure with several of his own recordings released by Sony Masterworks, and teaming up with super-vocalist Samara Joy on two of her recent hit albums.

(Below upper left) Pasquale Grasso adds his personal touch to the American Songbook Standard, Just One of Those Things, live at The Cutting Room in NYC. Pasquale is on guitar, Phil Stewart plays drums, and Ari Roland is on double bass. Charlie Christian’s Seven Come Eleven (Below upper right) was recorded at Birdland,also in NYC, and features the guitars of Pasquale Grasso, Frank Vignola, and Olli Soikkeli … with Gary Mazzaroppi on bass, and Vince Cherico playing drums. Finally a video (Bottom) with Grasso’s guitar and Samara Joy singing Ellington’s In My Solitude, from his Pasquale Plays Duke album.

Another Side of Art

by | Nov 2, 2024 | Sextet

Art Blakey has always been known as an energetic drummer, and The Jazz Messengers recognized as a potent force in jazz. There have been several permutations of The Messengers since 1954, when Horace Silver led the original group. It passed to Blakey after only one year and Art led it for the rest of his life. From 1961 to 1964, he expanded it to include trombonist Curtis Fuller. With Lee Morgan’s untimely demise, Freddie Hubbard became the trumpet player, Cedar Walton took over at piano, and Reggie Workman played bass. Wayne Shorter remained on tenor sax. That’s the group (including Art, of course) that you’ll hear on these selections from the 1963 San Remo Jazz Festival in Italy.

The nostalgic 1937 tune That Old Feeling (above) is a swinging, bop-centric arrangement that’s a bit easier going than the typical Jazz Messenger sound. For all intents and purposes, Blakey reduces the players to a trio, and features Cedar Walton at the piano. Skylark (below), originally from 1941, underwent a resurgence in 1997 with the movie “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” It features Freddie Hubbard, and also shows a softer side of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers.

 

Cobb Salad

by | Oct 26, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet

Arnett Cobb was a stompin’ Texas tenor player, in the tradition of Illinois Jacquet … robust and sometimes raw.  He mixed the musical vocabularies of swing, bebop, blues and R&B, and originated the “Open Prairie” tone and “Southern Preacher” style of playing. There was always excitement in Cobb’s uninhibited, blaring style, which earned him the label “Wild Man of the Tenor Sax.” His rendition of Deep Purple (above), as well as the two tunes (below) are typical examples of the sound-salad that made him so popular, even with other jazz musicians.

Just Like That was recorded at the Grand Théâtre de Limoges, in France during March of 1980. It features Arnett Cobb on tenor, Roland Hanna playing piano, Eddie Locke drums, and Jimmy Woode on bass.

In 1987,  Arnett Cobb recorded this video of The Nearness of You … once again proving how a simple ballad can be turned into a masterpiece through the gift of improvisation and soulful sensitivity.

Precision Piano By Drew

by | Oct 20, 2024 | Trio

America’s loss was Europe’s gain. Kenny Drew’s move to Paris in 1961, and then to Copenhagen in 1964 proved to be permanent. Although he sacrificed much of the interest of an American jazz audience, he gained a wide following across Europe. Drew was a well-known figure on the Copenhagen jazz scene, but always remained somewhat underrated as a jazz pianist in the USA because of his absence.

His touch was described in the Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz as “precise,” and his playing as “a combination of bebop-influenced melodic improvisation and block chords, that included refreshingly subtle harmonizations”. You’ll hear typical examples of this (below) in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s It Might As Well Be Spring and (below that) in Sonny Rollins’ St. Thomas. Both were recorded in 1992 at the Brewhouse Theater in the UK. Kenny’s trio includes Alvin Queen on drums and Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen (NHOP) playing the double bass.

 

Byrd In Hand

by | Oct 12, 2024 | Septet/Octet, Tentet, Vocal Group

Cristo Redentor

by Donald Byrd | A New Perspective

Donald Byrd was considered one of the finest hard bop trumpeters of the post-Clifford Brown era. He recorded prolifically as both a leader and sideman from the mid-’50s into the mid-’60s and established a reputation as a solid stylist, with a clean tone and clear articulation. Toward the end of the 1960s, Byrd experimented with funk, fusion, and even dipped a toe into the waters of gospel. Jazz purists utterly despised it, but enraptured fans regard it as some of the most innovative, enduring work of its kind.

Cristo Redentor is reflective of his father’s ministerial influence, and features Byrd on trumpet, Hank Mobley on tenor sax, Herbie Hancock playing piano, Lex Humphries at the drums, Butch Warren on bass, Donald Best on vibes, and Kenny Burrell playing guitar –– talk about a stellar lineup!  (Below) the video is Stevie Wonder’s You’ve Got It Bad Girl, with Donald Byrd playing flugelhorn and trumpet; Fonce Mizell, trumpet; Allan Barnes, tenor and flute; Nathan Davis, soprano sax; Kevin Toney, electric piano; Larry Mizell, synthesizers; Barney Perry, electric guitar; Henry Franklin, electric bass; Keith Killgo, drums, and Ray Armando, congas and percussion –– all recorded live at Montreux on July 5th, 1973.