Symphony In Black – Duke Ellington

by | Apr 5, 2024 | Big Band, Video

In September 1935, Paramount Pictures released a nine-minute movie that was particularly remarkable for the times … Symphony In Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life.  It was one of the earliest cinematic explorations of African-American culture made for a mass audience.  It features Duke Ellington and his orchestra performing ‘The Duke’s’ first extended composition, “A Rhapsody of Negro Life”.   Just as noteworthy, it stars Billie Holiday in her first filmed performance.

The film represents a landmark in musical, cultural, and entertainment history and is a member of the first generation of non-classically arranged orchestral scores.   Perhaps most significantly, Symphony In Black is one of the first films written by an African-American, describing African-American life, to achieve wide distribution.

3 Shades of Blue

by | Mar 29, 2024 | Audio, Stuff

3 Shades of Blue

by Dion Graham, Nar. | Book - Print and Audio

“3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool” is a superb book by renowned biographer James Kaplan. It chronicles the story of how jazz arrived at the pinnacle of American culture in 1959 … following the sometimes difficult paths of three legendary artists––Davis, Coltrane, and Evans––who came together to create the most iconic jazz album of all time, Kind of Blue.  It’s a book about music, business, the towns that gave jazz a place to call home, and the challenges faced during the journeys of three musical giants as they climbed to the mountaintop of 1959 and beyond.

Above is an excerpt from the “3 Shades of Blue” audio book. Below are a pair of tunes in their entirety, So What and All Blues, from the historic Kind of Blue Album … featuring Miles Davis (t), Cannonball Adderley (as), Paul Chambers (b), Jimmy Cobb (d), John Coltrane (ts), and Bill Evans (p) alternating with Wynton Kelly (p).

So What

by Miles Davis | Kind of Blue

All Blues

by Miles Davis | Kind of Blue

The Five Pennies

by | Mar 25, 2024 | Sextet, Soundtrack

I had forgotten what a completely enjoyable movie “The Five Pennies” can be, until I rediscovered it a few nights ago. It’s a semi-biographical 1959 musical, starring Danny Kay as jazz cornet player/bandleader Loring “Red” Nichols. “Red” is a determined musician who leaves his small town home in Ogden, Utah and moves to the big city, seeking fame and fortune. The story is funny, yet poignant, and supremely entertaining … with a soundtrack that will knock your musical socks off! The cast is topped off with icons like Louis Armstrong, Shelly Manne, Bob Crosby, Ray Anthony, and Johnnie Ray. While Danny Kaye practiced for months to accurately simulate playing the cornet, it was the real “Red” Nichols who provided all the cornet playing in the movie.

Below are a pair of musical scenes from “The Five Pennies.” Top most is a spirited interplay with Satchmo Armstrong on When The Saints Go Marching In (aka Battle Hymn of the Republic). Beneath that, Glory, Glory Hallelujah is a trumpet/cornet duet between Kaye and Armstrong. Finally, at the bottom is a performance of Maple Leaf Rag by the real “Red” Nichols.

“Red” Nichols and his Five Pennies playing Maple Leaf Rag on Lawrence Welk’s New Year’s Eve television show, December 29, 1956.

Kessel’s Chordal Cool

by | Mar 20, 2024 | Trio

The amazing Barney Kessel is generally ranked among the greatest jazz guitarists of all time … especially known for his knowledge of chords, inversions, and chord-based melodies. When playing chords, Kessel frequently used his fretting-hand thumb, something unorthodox for most jazz players of the day. In fact, he would regularly use it to fret both the 6th and 5th strings simultaneously, creating a type of voicing rare in jazz guitar.

Below left, Barney plays the familiar standard Autumn Leaves, with (what may be) Kenny Napper on bass and John Marshall playing drums. Below right, he joins bassist Stur Nordin and drummer Pelle Hulten on Swedish television in 1974, with Minor Mode.  At the bottom, also in 1974, Kessel swings along with the legendary pianist Oscar Peterson, and iconic bassist Niels-Henning Oersted Pedersen (NHOP) at Ronnie Scott’s Club in London, on Watch What Happens.  When you put these guys together … just watch what happens!

Fiddlin’ Around With Brown

by | Mar 9, 2024 | Quartet/Quintet

Regina Carter began taking piano lessons at the age of two but, as she grew, so did her need for broader expression.  She eventually switched to violin, because it was more conducive to her creativity.  At first she studied and played classical music … and as a teenager, played in the youth division of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. While still at school, she was able to take master classes from Itzhak Perlman and Yehudi Menuhin.  Regina was studying classical violin at the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston when she decided to switch to jazz. She has become a master of improvisational jazz violin, though her work draws upon a wide range of musical influences, including Motown, Afro-Cuban, Swing, Bebop and Folk.

Reets and I is an uptempo tune featuring Carter with the Ray Brown Trio –– Ray on Bass, Larry Fuller at the piano, and George Fludas playing drums.

As with the video above, Lady Be Good is from Ray Brown’s 75th birthday concert in 2001. Again, we hear The Trio with, of course, Regina Carter swinging easily on violin.

The Legendary Bob James

by | Mar 1, 2024 | Smooth Jazz, Trio

More than a fine jazz keyboardist, Bob James was a composer, arranger, and record producer who transcended any single style of music. In the early 90s, he founded the supergroup Fourplay … previously enjoying notoriety for his composition of “Angela”, the theme song for the TV show Taxi, for which he also performed the soundtrack.  It is generally accepted that music from his first seven albums has often been sampled, and is believed to have contributed to the formation of the musical genre hip hop.  Bob started playing piano at the tender age of four, and is said to have had perfect pitch from the very beginning!

In 1962, James was a twenty-two year old college student; his trio won the Collegiate Jazz Festival and recorded his first album, “Bold Conceptions,” as The Bob James Trio. Half-a-century later, he found himself the leader of another red, hot trio … this time featuring Billy Kilson on drums, and Michael Palazzolo on bass, the same musicians performing on both of these videos.  The one [above] is Angela –– also known as the Theme from Taxi –– originally written for a character in one of the TV episodes, but so well liked by the show’s producers that it became the program’s now instantly recognizable theme song.  The video [below] is Westchester Lady, another of Bob James’ most identifiable tunes.

For more Bob James, see MOJ posts on August 10, 2018 and October 24, 2020.

The Hot Sardines

by | Feb 23, 2024 | Septet/Octet, Vocal

The Hot Sardines is not a typical name for a serious jazz group so, even though they’ve been around since 2007, I’ve overlooked them until recently when a friend strongly suggested I check them out. My mistake. A bit glitzy, and more than a little offbeat, their main musical mission is to make old sounds new again … and whether recording on a moving New York City subway or adding a tap dancer to their rhythm section, they’re succeeding.

There have been several permutations of The Sardines, with band members too numerous to mention here, but their music remains timeless and their performances always a feast for your soul as well as your senses.  Take the topmost video rendition of Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen –– the group’s official video –– or the bottom-most video of After You’ve Gone as examples: refreshing and energetic in “let your hair down” settings, bound to bring together people with a common love for just plain good music!

With a hint of nostalgia and a touch of New Orleans jazz in their sound, The Hot Sardines add their own flavor to Duke Ellington’s 1936, Caravan … recorded at WFUV (Fordham Univ).

The sound is infectious, the tune is After You’ve Gone, recorded at The Shanghai Mermaid in Brooklyn, New York. It features Elizabeth Bougerol with vocals and Evan Palazzo on piano.

The Irresistible Peggy Lee – Pt. 2

by | Feb 16, 2024 | Big Band, Vocal

(Upper left) is an early Peggy Lee, in 1943 with the Benny Goodman Orchestra offering a classic rendition of Why Don’t You Do Right? She joined the Goodman band in August 1941 and made her first recording, singing “Elmer’s Tune.”  Peggy stayed with Benny for two years, having replaced Helen Forrest … she left in ’43 to become a housewife and mother, but fate and her talent told her the best was yet to come. (Upper right) finds Peggy Lee on the Frank Sinatra Show in 1957, singing a duet with Frank … Nice Work If You Can Get It. See if you notice a little ‘spark’ between them, just a touch beyond mere performance.

(Below) Peggy’s eventual trademark –– the original 1958 version of –– Fever.  I took the liberty of adding some video from several of her incarnations as a legendary performer … singer, songwriter, actress, and composer.

The Irresistible Peggy Lee – PT. 1

by | Feb 11, 2024 | Vocal

Born Norma Deloris Engstrom, Peggy Lee recorded over 1,100 masters and composed over 270 songs during her career, which spanned seven decades as a jazz and pop singer, songwriter, composer, and actress.  Once they’ve heard it, her gentle yet compelling voice and inimitable style, will forever be instantly recognizable to any music fan.

(Upper left) Peggy flexes her womanly muscles with I’m A Woman on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1962.  In 1973 (Upper right) she’s on a man-hunt with I’m Gonna Go Fishin’.  Finally (Below), she demonstrates a rather blasé attitude toward life’s rollercoaster in a captivating 1969 performance of Is That All There Is?

‘A’ Midnight Special – Michel Petrucciani

by | Feb 4, 2024 | Sextet, Solo/Duo

(Above) The classic Take the ‘A’ Train is given a highly kinetic treatment by Petrucciani at the 1998 Nice Jazz Festival. He is joined by Anthony Jackson (b), Steve Gadd (d), Stefano DiBattista (ts), Flavio Boltro (tr), & Denis Leloup (tb)

(Left) In 1993, Michel took the stage at the Stuttgart Jazz Festival and captured the audience with a powerful solo performance of Monk’s ‘Round Midnight.  He had everyone checking their watches … waiting for ‘last call!’