We Need A Little Christmas

by | Dec 23, 2022 | Big Band, Vocal, Vocal Group

‘Tis the season to be snowy!  New York Voices is the Grammy Award winning vocal ensemble renowned for their excellence in jazz and the art of group singing. Like the great groups that came before, such as Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, Singers Unlimited, Manhattan Transfer and, of course, The Four Freshmen, they have learned from the best and taken their musical form to new levels.  I couldn’t resist adding some visuals to their marvelous rendition of the Sammy Cahn – Jule Styne tune, Let It Snow … written in July 1945!

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).

Finally, I have brought The Christmas Show forward from our Jazz Scene Podcast page.  May you enjoy every minute of this musical Christmas card and have the Merriest of all Christmases with the ones you love!

The Christmas Show

by Fred Masey | Jazz Scene Podcast

Sonny Rollins In Tokyo

by | Mar 7, 2022 | Sextet

On March 30, 1988 Sonny Rollins and a quintet consisting of Clifton Anderson (tb), Jerome Harris (g), Mark Soskin (p), Bob Cranshaw (b), Al Foster (d) gave a live concert in Tokyo that resulted in an album called Dancing In The Dark.  Here are two Rollins originals … the familiar Alfie’s Theme is the top video and Promise, the lower video, became part of that album.

NOTE: I’m sorry to say that this will be the last Mark Of Jazz weekly post until sometime around the middle of May. Thanks for being here and, please, don’t go away … we won’t!

Joseph Anthony Pass & Edward Kennedy Ellington

by | Feb 27, 2022 | Quartet/Quintet

Hearing Joe Pass and Duke Ellington together would normally be a rare treat in itself, but put them together in a small group setting and you have reason to celebrate!  Ellington was always an underrated piano player, probably because he is usually lost among 15 or 16 other incredibly talented musicians in his own band and you don’t really hear him.  After all, as the leader Duke is often buried in plain sight.  Now add bassist Ray Brown and drummer Louie Bellson to the mix, and what you have is the amazing quartet performing Cottontail in the video above and Love You Madly below on a cut from Duke’s 1974 “Big 4” album. Joe Pass?  Well, he sets fire to any group of fine musicians … large or small, slow or fast!

Love You Madly

by Joe Pass & Duke Elliington | Duke's Big 4

Delilah / Beautiful Old Ladies – Ellis Marsalis

by | Feb 19, 2022 | Quartet/Quintet

The Marsalis family’s musical gifts all flow from the “headwaters’ … an internationally renowned piano player named Ellis.   Sons Wynton, Branford, Delfaeyo and Jason have all become famous in their own right, with Wynton and Branford each standing with one foot in jazz and the other in classical music.  In the video, Ellis Marsalis is joined by Andrew Baham on trumpet, Derek Douget on sax, Gerald Watkins at the drums and Jason Stewart playing bass.  The tune is Delilah, recorded in New Orleans at The Jazz and Heritage Center December 15, 2018.  Below that is Beautiful Old Ladies, a tribute to older women from Ellis’s Whistle Stop album, featuring Branford Marsalis on soprano sax, Robert Hurst playing bass, Jeff Watts on drums and, of course, Ellis at the piano.

Beautiful Old Ladies

by Ellis Marsalis | Whistle Stop

Joe Williams and Count Basie Together

by | Feb 11, 2022 | Big Band, Vocal

On March 20, 1981 the great Joe Williams joined the Count Basie Orchestra for a star-studded concert in New York at Carnegie Hall, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Basie’s illustrious career.  Also on board were Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett and George Benson.  The concert later became a television special and eventually a performance DVD … Going To Chicago Blues is one of three songs Joe contributed to the performance that evening.  Posting the audio cut of Smack Dab In The Middle from his album The Greatest – Count Basie Plays, Joe Williams Sings Standards, was irresistible.  I double dog dare you to keep your feet still!

Smack Dab In The Middle

by Joe Williams & Count Basie | The Greatest

Lee Ritenour And Fourplay

by | Feb 5, 2022 | Quartet/Quintet

Above, Lee Ritenour, Dave Grusin & Andreas Varady, perform Oliver Nelson’s  “Stolen Moments” at the 47th Montreux Jazz Festival in 2013. Tom Kennedy played bass and Chris Coleman was on drums.  Below, Lee adds Eric Marienthal’s tenor to his quartet for an infectious “Night Rhythms” … a Ritenour original recorded in 1988. Lee started as a session player when he was just 16 years old, and recorded his first solo album, First Course, in 1976.  By the way, Fourplay was the ‘supergroup’ that Lee Ritenour formed and performed with during the Smooth Jazz ’90s.

Not Easy Being Green

by | Jan 29, 2022 | Trio

I had never really listened to Benny Green until I came across some old Art Blakey Jazz Messenger’s recordings and focused my ears past the drums.  It has been said that that “those who can’t do teach” … well, Benny Green teaches but is equally gifted as a performer, evidenced by the videos below.  Topmost, Tempus Fugit is an uptempo Bud Powell composition, recorded at New York’s Lincoln Center, that features a trio of Green at the piano, David Wong on bass and Aaron Kimmel playing drums.  Lower left is Me And My Baby.   Lower right something called Cupcake.  Both offer the trio of Benny playing piano, Ben Wolfe on bass and Carl Allen on drums.

This is Me And My Baby, a comfortably toe-tapping tune that takes Benny Green’s trio out of the concert hall and into a more relaxed clublike atmosphere.

Cupcake is a more laidback piece than the first two, keeping you in that same easy going setting.  It’s a clever arrangement that is sure to capture your attention.

Houston: A Person Worth Listening To

by | Jan 23, 2022 | Sextet

Silk and cement … that’s the way I would describe Houston Person’s tenor voice.  After more than half-a-century, he can still touch you or growl at you during the same musical passage and I’ve always liked what he had to say.  In 2017 Houston appeared in Spain at the San Javier International Jazz Festival with his sextet, Jim Rotondi (t), Dena DeRose (p), D.J. Foster (b) Marc Miralta (dr).  The two videos are from that performance:  The topmost cooks comfortably with the popular 1966 tune Sunny, while the video below it is a wonderfully soulful treatment of the familiar standard Since I Fell For You.  Finally, Person treats our ears and our hearts to the wonderfully gentle But Beautiful, audio from his album The Art And Soul Of Houston Person.

But Beautiful

by Houston Person | The Art And Soul Of Houston Person

C-Jam Blues – Ella Fitzgerald & Duke Ellington

by | Jan 14, 2022 | Big Band, Vocal

Sometimes referred to as “The First Lady of Song,” Ella Fitzgerald was the most popular female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century.  She first met Duke Ellington in the mid-1930’s, while she was performing at Harlem’s legendary Savoy Ballroom with Chick Webb and His Orchestra. The two would remain friends and collaborators for the rest of their lives.  Here, Duke and Ella team up to perform Ellington’s C-Jam Blues (also known as “Duke’s Place”) during their 1966 European tour.

The Genius Of Bill Evans

by | Jan 7, 2022 | Trio

The legendary pianist Bill Evans is a great way to begin any New Year!  “Re: Person I Knew” is an original composition, recorded at the Molde Jazz Festival in Norway during August 1980, and was Evans’ last performance before his passing only five weeks later. It was also his last trio, and consisted of Bill Evans (p) Marc Johnson (b) and Joe La Barbera (dr).

On March 19, 1965, a much earlier version of the Bill Evans Trio stopped by the BBC studios in London to play a couple of sets on Jazz 625, a popular TV program hosted by the British trumpeter Humphrey Lyttelton. From that performance, the second video features an obviously younger Evans along with Chuck Israels (b) and Larry Bunker (dr) playing the Victor Young standard “My Foolish Heart”.