2021 Jazz Masters Virtual Concert

by | Apr 25, 2021 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet, Vocal

On April 22, 2021, the National Endowment for the Arts, in collaboration with SFJAZZ, presented a virtual tribute concert celebrating the 2021 NEA Jazz Masters. Topsy, originally written for the Country Basie Orchestra is performed in the top video. It featured Wynton Marsalis on trumpet, Dan Nimmer playing piano, Vince Giordano on both guitar and bass, and Jason Marsalis playing drums.  For more background and the complete concert, click the link above.

Below is the Irving Berlin standard Cheek To Cheek, swung by Dee Dee Bridgewater, backed by the SFJAZZ High School All Stars Big Band. Yes, High School!

Steps – Chick Corea Freedom Band – Pt. 1

by | Mar 27, 2021 | Quartet/Quintet

Christian McBride’s amazing opening bass solo flows into Chick Corea’s unmatched piano prowess on the tune called Steps.  Not to be outdone, Keith Jarrett’s sax soliloquy communicates the passion personified by drummer Roy Haynes, much to the delight of their audience and fellow musicians.  I’ve never been a particularly huge fan of jazz fusion but Chick and this 2010 concert in Marciac, France have captured enough of my attention to inspire a deeper dive into that genre.  Although Chick Corea left us in February (2021), his musical legacy has made an indelible mark on the international jazz scene.

Slow Freight – Junior Mance & Ray Bryant

by | Mar 19, 2021 | Quartet/Quintet

Very few things are as addictive as salted peanuts … betcha’ can’t eat just one!  That’s why they employed two pianos and twenty golden fingers to perform the super bluesy Ray Bryant composition, Slow Freight.  The tune was recorded in 1993 for a Japanese TV special and features both Junior Mance and Ray Bryant on pianos, Bob Cranshaw on bass and Alan Dawson playing drums.

Oscar, Carmen and Dex

by | Jan 16, 2021 | Quartet/Quintet, Vocal

When it comes to sharing the spotlight, Oscar Peterson is the poster boy.  For example, at the Bern Jazz Festival in 1988 Oscar added several numbers by the incredible Carmen McRae … such as “Sometimes I’m Happy”.  Peterson played piano, naturally, while Dave Young was on bass and Martin Drew on drums to round out the trio.  In a more intimate setting back in 1969, the trio had Sam Jones playing drums and Bobby Durham on bass, and shared the spotlight with yet another superstar in the person of Dexter Gordon.  The tune is an uptempo arrangement of “You Stepped Out Of A Dream”.

Just Call Her Deedles

by | Dec 4, 2020 | Quartet/Quintet, Vocal

You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To is from a live 2005 Seattle (DVD) concert entitled “Deedles Is My Name”.  Diane Schuur is backed by Maynard Ferguson and his powerful Big Bop Nouveau Band, although many of the songs feature the more intimate setting of a quartet.  It’s fascinating to hear Diane trade riffs with Maynard, mimicking his exuberant, high-flying sound.

Billy Joel’s New York State Of Mind, featuring Diane together with the sensuous sax of Stan Getz, was first released as a 45 RPM single and on her “Deedles” album with Dave Grusin in 1984… then again on her “Best Of” album in 1995.  Below you’ll hear the original 45 release, nostalgic clicks, pops and all.  By the way if you ever wondered where Diane Schuur’s nickname “Deedles” came from, it was an affectionate name her mother called her as a child and it just sort of stuck!

New York State Of Mind

by Diane Schuur | Original 45 RPM Single

Moonglow And Theme From Picnic – (Soundtrack)

by | Nov 28, 2020 | Orchestral, Soundtrack

Take the 1933 song “Moonglow”, popularized by The Benny Goodman Quartet, blend it carefully with the theme from a 1955 Academy Award winning movie … then add Kim Novak and William Holden, and you have the recipe for a genuine box office blockbuster!  This is the famous dance scene from “Picnic” that was considered so daring and erotic for a movie of that day.

While not strictly a jazz tune, the music [written by George Dunning and scored by Morris Stoloff] became highly popular, and to this day remains one of my favorite songs … and the movie one of my favorite films.. By merging the two songs a truly unique sound was achieved and the combination was successfully recorded by a variety of artists from both the pop and jazz idioms.

Don’t Blame Me / Bolivar Blues – Thelonious Monk

by | Nov 14, 2020 | Quartet/Quintet, Solo/Duo

Thelonious Monk is something of an acquired taste.  As Monk himself has said, “The piano ain’t got no wrong notes” … but once that taste is acquired, the listening experience is singular and thoroughly enjoyable!  The impression is one of almost hitting the note by playing around it, implying the expected note by actually creating a new version of it.  Monk is the very definition of avant-garde … half pianist, half painter.  As for Charlie Rouse adding his tenor to the mix, Charlie rents space inside Monk’s head.  Together they are musical twins joined at the hip!

Recorded in 1966 in Denmark, Don’t Blame Me puts Monk’s quartet on hold for a solo performance of the time-tested classic.

Monk’s Bolivar Blues was recorded in Japan in 1963.  The quartet is Thelonious at the piano, Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone, Frankie Dunlop playing drums and Butch Warren on bass.

In A Mellow Mood – Dianne Reeves

by | Sep 18, 2020 | Quartet/Quintet, Vocal

Through the years, the definitive version of One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) has been associated with Frank Sinatra … but Dianne Reeves gives ‘Old Blue Eyes’ a run for his money on this one.  It’s from her 2008 appearance at the Jazzopen Music Festival in Stuttgart, Germany.  Her band is comprised of Peter Martin on piano, Peter Sprague playing guitar, James Genus on bass, and Kendrick Scott on drums.  Even with all of the energy Reeves typically puts into her performances, she has a lower, slower gear … and I’ve selected two of my more mellow favorites from her live concerts.

Stormy Weather was taken from Dianne’s 2012 performance at Jazzwoche Burghausen, also Germany.  It’s a jazz/pop standard that she infuses with anything but a standard feeling … featuring Peter Martin at the piano, Romero Lubambo on guitar, Reginald Veal on bass, and Terreon Gully playing drums behind the vocal instrumentation of Ms. Reeves.

Bird’s Centennial: Celebration Pt. 1

by | Aug 29, 2020 | Quartet/Quintet

In celebration of “Bird’s” Centennial”, August 29, 2020, here are a couple of tunes from, perhaps, the greatest recording session of all time at the WOR Studios in New York on November 26,1945.  In addition, the video features the original Charlie Parker Quintet playing Out Of Nowhere, also recorded at the WOR Studios a few years later in1947 … with Miles Davis (trumpet), Charlie Parker (alto sax), Duke Jordan (piano), Tommy Potter(bass), Max Roach (drums).

Ko-Ko, which sort of became Bird’s theme song, and Billie’s Bounce are both from the 1945 session.  It was the first session in two years due to a ban on such recording to save on shellac as part of the war rationing effort.  The dream date called for Parker, of course, Miles Davis on trumpet, Bud Powell on piano, Curly Russell on bass, and Max Roach on drums. However, Bud Powell couldn’t make the date and Dizzy Gillespie ended up playing piano, as well as sitting in for Miles on a few sets!

Ko-Ko

by Charlie Parker | The Charlie Parker Story

Billie's Bounce

by Charlie Parker | The Charlie Parker Story

Next week Bird’s Centennial Celebration Part 2 features the only two existing pieces of footage showing Charlie Parker in performance.