“Poinciana” was written in 1936 by Nat Simon and Buddy Bernier, based on a Cuban folk song called “La canción del árbol”. Ahmad Jamal included a jazz cover version of the song in his album “Poinciana”, released in 1963, and it has since become associated with him to the extent that it might actually be considered his theme song. It is certainly his most requested song during personal appearances.
Bolivar Blues was recorded in 1963 in Japan just two days after the concert that produced the Columbia set Monk in Tokyo. This studio session was created for TV broadcast while Thelonious Monk was touring the country,
Evidence was part of that same studio session and featured Monk on piano, Frankie Dunlop drums, Butch Warren playing bass and the incomparable Charlie Rouse on sax. Charlie has the uncanny ability to match Thelonious’ unique style note for note!
This rendition of the Thad Jones standard A Child Is Born is from a French TV Broadcast, La Grande Parade du Jazz, from Nice on July 16, 1978. The great Bill Evans is at the piano with Marc Johnson on bass, Philly Joe Jones playing drums and the perennially underrated Pepper Adams delivering a memorable solo on baritone sax.
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!
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.
Moment’s Notice is a high-spirited tune written by John Coltrane and recorded by the great McCoy Tyner in 2002 at Jazz Baltica. He is joined by Bobby Hutcherson on vibes, Charnett Moffett on bass and Eric Harland cookin’ on drums.
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!
‘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 a few pictures to their marvelous rendition of this Sammy Cahn – Jule Styne tune … written in July 1945!
Red Cross is a Charlie Parker tune performed live by The Art Farmer Quartet at the Smithsonian in 1982. The group includes Art on flugelhorn, Fred Hersch on piano, Denis Irvin playing bass and Billy Hart is the drummer.
The Summer Knows is a beautiful, romantic song from the motion picture “Summer of ’42.” Here, Art Farmer does it gentle justice on his flugelhorn, along with Cedar Walton on piano, Sam Jones at the bass, and Billy Higgins on drums.
“Night In Tunisia”, a Dizzy Gillespie tune, was recorded in Holland in 1964. It features Dex on tenor sax, George Gruntz as the piano man, Guy Pedersen playing bass and Danaiel Humair at the drums. As for the song itself, “A Night in Tunisia” was one of the signature pieces of Gillespie’s bebop big band and has become a jazz classic in its own right.
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