Thad Jones’ composition Three and One was recorded by The Czech National Symphony Orchestra as part of its “Trumpet Summit” program, with the St. Blaise’s Bigband. Featured soloists were Bobby Shew, Randy Brecker and Jan Hasenöhrl, as brass and reeds shook the usually classical foundations of the historic Municipal House in Prague. You might think of them as “The Three Tenors” of jazz … with trumpets!
I’ll Remember April was recorded in 2005 at the Marciac Jazz Festival in France. Phil Woods and his alto are joined by Ben Aronov (piano) Reginald Johnson (bass) Doug Sides (drums) and the lush strings of The Orchestre du Conservatoire National Regional de Toulouse.
Señor Blues is a Horace Silver composition that has become something of a jazz standard. This recording is from the Legends Of Jazz television series hosted by Ramsey Lewis on PBS in 2006. This arrangement adds the distinctive sound of David Sanborn to the already solid Phil Woods Quartet.
Frank Sinatra said Ella Fitzgerald was the best singer (male or female) he ever heard and the only one who made him nervous to sing with, because he had to be up to her standards. Two legends and only one word to describe them: Respect! Frank even lets Ella dominate their performances to showcase her greatness. He was always the gentleman. Talent like Frank and Ella are extinct now and nobody comes close to them … not then, not now.
It was 1967 and both singers were in their prime on That’s Why The Lady Is A Tramp! At one point they respectfully bow to each other, since hugging was not yet a public possibility … still they managed it, lyrically.
Frank may have met his match on Moonlight In Vermont and he knew it. You can tell by the way he looks at her while they’re singing. They sound so perfect, I wish they had made an album together.
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?
Harlem Nocturne was written in 1939 by Earle Hagen and Dick Rogers for the Ray Noble Orchestra, of which they were members at the time. It quickly became a jazz standard and has since been recorded by nearly 100 artists! Here are just 5 different versions, including the very first recording of the tune on Columbia Records by Ray Noble. Then there was a recording by The Viscounts that ran up the Billboard charts, not once but twice … in 1959 and again in1966. Lyrics were eventually added and in 1963 Mel Torme painted a lonely picture of nighttime in New York. While many of the others smack of a certain “stripperesque” quality, the fourth arrangement imparts a certain elegance we’ve learned to expect from Duke Ellington. Finally, a treatment of Harlem Nocturne by Illinois Jacquet that makes all the hairs on the back of my neck stand at full attention!
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!
SNOWFALL
A live performance of the arrangement from their best selling “The Christmas Album”. It’s a rich blend of mellow harmonies that smoothly combine all four voices into one as only The Manhattan Transfer can do.
SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN
A swingin’ start to the Christmas season that celebrates the upbeat mood, magic and merriment of the jolly old elf … as if he is just around the corner. Actually, he is!
But Beautiful features the unlikely pairing of Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. It’s from their DVD “Cheek To Cheek – Live” and is, in fact, a beautiful stylistic blending of the old and the new into the traditional!
It Don’t Mean A Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) is a lively performance of the classic Duke Ellington tune, also from the Cheek To Cheek video, featuring Tony Bennett and highlighting Lady Gaga’s surprising jazz virtuosity.
Clifford Brown, also known as “Brownie”, is often regarded as the finest jazz trumpet player to ever perform on the American music scene. Certainly he is the benchmark against whom all others are judged. Brownie died tragically at the age of 25 in a car accident on a rainy night in Pennsylvania, leaving behind a recorded legacy that spans a mere four years. He profoundly influenced later jazz trumpeters including Booker Little, Freddie Hubbard, and the great Lee Morgan. He was also a composer of note, with two of his compositions, “Joy Spring” and “Daahoud” becoming jazz standards.
Oscar Peterson performs “Body and Soul” with John Williams and The Boston Pops Orchestra. His ability to play ‘more notes per measure’ than nearly anyone else was one of the defining characteristics of his destinctive style.
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