Gettin’ Dizzy With Sonny Stitt

by | Mar 15, 2019 | Quartet/Quintet

Sunny Side of the Street is an easy, swinging piece recorded in Belgium in 1958, as were all three selections.  After solos by Sonny Stitt and Dizzy Gillespie, they cap it with a rare vocal duet … in fact, this may be a first!

Lover Man [Oh Where Can You Be] has become a standard.  Laid back and mellow, Sonny’s solo on this one shows why his playing has frequently been compared with Charlie Parker.

Blues Walk is an uptempo tune that seems to completely absorb Stitt.  Everyone is clearly having fun here … watch, particularly, the drummer’s face as Sonny soars and Dizzy patiently waits his turn!

The Several Sides of Sammy

by | Mar 8, 2019 | Big Band, Vocal

Sammy Davis Jr. shows his versatility on the old Ed Sullivan Show by playing drums and vibes with the big band.  Then two of my favorite Davis vocals, where he equals even Ol’ Blue Eyes’ ability to make a song his own.  Though not strictly a jazz musician, Sammy could swing!

In The Still Of The Night

by Sammy Davis, Jr. | At The Cocoanut Grove

Bye Bye Blackbird

by Sammy Davis Jr. | The Essentials

Shiny Stockings – Dee Dee Bridgewater & J.J. Johnson

by | Mar 1, 2019 | Big Band, Vocal

“Shiny Stockings”, one of the most enduring songs in jazz, was written by Frank Foster in 1955 while he was with the Count Basie Orchestra.  Not being very savvy about such things at the time, Frank gave away the rights and royalties to what has now become a jazz standard.

For years the tune was recorded by artist after artist with the revenues flowing to a company that collected on the publishing rights to songs it had acquired.  It wasn’t until the early 2000’s when a close examination of U.S. Copyright Laws finally enabled Foster to collect the royalties that were rightfully his.

Now listen to Dee Dee Bridgewater, J.J. Johnson and Kenny Burrell with the Carnegie Hall Jazz Band in a live performance of that swinging homage to hosiery!

Body and Soul / Cantabile – Michel Petrucciani

by | Feb 22, 2019 | Trio

Body and Soul is an old favorite with a new twist.  Michel’s arrangement is reverent but with serious chops.  Petrucciani is joined by bassist Miroslav Viteous and drummer Steve Gadd, two of the best in jazz.

Cantabile is an Italian word that means “singable” or “songlike”.  In instrumental music, it is a particular style of playing designed to imitate the human voice.  The trio recorded both tunes in Munich during July of 1997.

All That Jazz Is LeGrand!

by | Feb 15, 2019 | Quartet/Quintet, Septet/Octet

If you’re like most people, when you think of Michel LeGrand you think of film scores, orchestras and swirling strings.  Well fasten your seatbelt because he was one whale of a jazz pianist as well and swung with the best of them!  His pen and his baton will be sorely missed, Michel having passed away last month at the age of 87.

“You Must Believe In Spring” was recorded at the Festival International de Jazz in Montreal.  It features Michel Legrand (p), Phil Woods (as), Eric Lagace (b) and Ray Brinker (d).

“The Jitterbug Waltz” was recorded in 1958 in New York for the album “LeGrand Jazz”.  It’s an interesting mix of Michel with artists such as Herbie Mann, Barry Galbraith, Miles Davis, Phil Woods, Jerome Richardson, Eddie Costa, Paul Chambers and Kenny Dennis.  Listen for the silky smooth changes in tempo and subtle harp glissandos of Betty Giamann … not your everyday addition to a jazz combo.

The Jitterbug Waltz

by Michel LeGrand & Miles Davis | LeGrand Jazz

Nat & Natalie Cole – Piano and Duet

by | Feb 8, 2019 | Orchestral, Vocal

Natalie Cole is one of only a handful of performers whose apple didn’t fall very far from the tree.  In the top video she proves it by singing a duet with Nat that was cleverly constructed in 1991, by mixing his 1951 recording with Natalie’s live performance.  It’s Unforgettable … and it really is!  Like her dad, she was probably best known for her work in ‘pop’ music but, oh, she could swing!

As for Nat ‘King’ Cole, many who only knew him as a singer didn’t realize that he was one helluva piano player.  In fact, some might say he was a great piano player who just so happened to know how to sing.  In the bottom video, sample both the voice and fingers of ‘The Velvet Rasp’ himself.

Satin Doll – Joe Pass

by | Jan 25, 2019 | Trio

You know a musician is truly great when you can literally listen to him play all day long and still want more. Joe Pass was one of those musicians … arguably the finest jazz guitarist of the Twentieth Century and one of the best jazz guitarists of all time!  Even his imperfections were so enjoyable that nobody cared.  He was a most serious musician who felt deeply about his music but liked to have fun with it at the same time.  Here, he performs the Ellington-Strayhorn classic Satin Doll with Bob Magnusson on bass and Joe Porcaro playing drums.

Hear my interview with Joe on our Jazz Scene PODCAST page.

Maynard Ferguson ’69

by | Jan 18, 2019 | Big Band

The first time I heard Maynard Ferguson was at the Pinebrook Show Tent in New Jersey and it cost me all of a dollar for a seat on a long wooden bench.  I was a kid in my impressionable teens and the tent was only set up for that one summer, but I was in the front row every Friday night.  I’ll never forget it!  That buck bought around three hours of nearly nonstop jazz performed by the likes of Ahmad Jamal, Count Basie, Dave Brubeck, Lionel Hampton, Art Blakey, (Maynard of course) and so many others!  Sometimes I think the musicians had more fun than we did.

For my money, the band Ferguson had during the 60’s was his greatest ever.  It was before the days of “Theme From Rocky”, “Pagliacci”, and some of the disco tunes with which he experimented later on.  The three cuts below from 1969, to me, represent the sound of that incredible orchestra and the excellence that simmered just below the surface.

Maynard Ferguson and his Orchestra play “Somewhere” from Leonard Bernstein’s musical “West Side Story” on a 1969 TV show.  Whether or not you like show tunes, you’ve got to love this rendition by the original “Boss”.

Here is Maynard with his high flying treatment of “One O’Clock Jump”, a song usually associated with the Count Basie Band. Please excuse the time code in the middle of the screen, but the Orchestra was too tuned in to miss!

“Danny Boy” is a bit of a departure for the Ferguson Orchestra but is proof positive that this powerful band had a deeper third gear in addition to hot or mellow … sweet.  Brass, not pipes are callin’.

Hackensack – John Coltrane & Stan Getz

by | Jan 11, 2019 | Quartet/Quintet

John Coltrane and Stan Getz together is a rare find … especially when performing with a who’s who on the other instruments.  Recorded in Germany in 1960, here is just such a combo with Oscar Peterson on piano, Paul Chambers on bass and Jimmy Cobb rounding out the rhythm section on drums.  The tune Hackensack is a Thelonious Monk composition, as if you couldn’t tell from the note structure.