Three Great Guitars – Burrell, Kessel & Green

by | Nov 12, 2018 | Quartet/Quintet

Here’s some rare footage of 3 of the top jazz guitarists of all time, Kenny Burrell, Barney Kessel and Grant Green.  The videos were recorded in 1969 for a French TV show that never aired … along with Burrell, Kessel and Green, are Larry Ridley on bass and Don Lamond on drums.  The video TO THE RIGHT features all 3 guitarists with an easy swinging tune of “Rhythm Changes”.  

BELOW on the upper left all 3 men again collaborate on the familiar blues theme “Blue Mist”.  Although the performance is incomplete, I included it because of some great guitar licks that’ll make you glad you have ears!  Upper right Kenny steps forward with “Imagination.”  Lower left offers Barney with “I’m Glad There Is You”, while at the lower right Grant dazzles with his virtuosity on “I Wish You Love.”

Swingin’ Day In The Neighborhood

by | Sep 28, 2018 | Quartet/Quintet

It’s always a beautiful day in this neighborhood when Wynton Marsalis is in town.  A young Wynton lends his trumpet to the mix as he joins the great jazz pianist Johnny Costa, guitarist Joe Negri and drummer Bobby Rawsthone for a memorable rendition of a Mister Rogers classic tune, “Its You I Like,” plus a straight ahead trumpet rendition of “Blue Monk”.  Few people realize that Fred Rogers was a hard core jazz buff, composer and actually played the drums quite well!

Have You Met Mr. Jones?

by | Sep 21, 2018 | Quartet/Quintet

Henry Jones Jr.(You probably know him as Hank) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer. He has been described by critics and musicians alike as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. Hank recorded more than 60 albums under his own name and countless others as a sideman. Few realize that he was the pianist on May 19, 1962 who played as actress Marilyn Monroe sang her famous “Happy Birthday, Mr. President“ song to President John F. Kennedy.

At the Tokyo Jazz Festival in 2006, he featured fantastic live performances of both old and new stars, including Sadao Watanabe, Chick Corea, Hiromi Uehara, and Austin Peralta, who joined Hank’s trio in a ‘perfect storm’ of past, present and potential future legends of jazz.

On Some Day My Prince Will Come, The Hank Jones Trio consists of John Patitucci on bass and Omar Hakim on drums, with Hank, of course, coaxing the warmth of the piano’s tones from the keyboard.

The addition of Hiromi Uehara, Austin Peralta, Chick Corea and Sadao Watanabe provides a new dimension to Blue Monk, one of Thelonious Monk’s most popular and enduring tunes.

A Dynamic Duo from Charles Mingus

by | Sep 14, 2018 | Big Band, Quartet/Quintet

Charles Mingus was an American jazz double bassist, pianist, composer and bandleader, and truly one of the most creative musicians in the business, right down to the titles of his tunes!  Who else could have come up with names like “Don’t Be Afraid, The Clown’s Afraid Too” or “The Shoes of the Fisherman’s Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers”?  The latter composition is featured in this post.  A major proponent of collective improvisation, Mingus was a man ahead of his time.  Whether big band or small, one listen to his orchestrations and arrangements is all the proof anyone needs.

Celia is a Mingus original from his quintet’s live 1972 performance in Berlin.  It features Charles Mingus on bass, Joe Gardner on trumpet, Hamiet Bluiett playing barry, John Foster at the piano, and Roy Brooks on drums.

The Shoes of the Fisherman's Wife Are Some Jive Ass Slippers

by Charles Mingus | Let My Children Hear Music

Fantan – Shelly Manne and His Men

by | Jul 20, 2018 | Quartet/Quintet, Video

Fantan is a Russ Freeman composition … light ‘n easy bebop for lovers of “The West Coast Sound” during the1950s and early 60s. When talking about creative drummers, you have to put Shelly Manne at the top of the list. He was born in New York but after honing his chops with jazz giants from Stan Kenton to Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, in 1952 Shelly left the New York scene for Los Angeles. It was there that he really came into his own, as a pioneer and lynchpin of the West Coast “cool jazz” sound. Here he is featured with Russ Freeman on piano, Conte Candoli on trumpet, Ritchie Kamuca doing tenor sax duty and Monte Budwig keeping time on bass.

I Remember Clifford – Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers

by | Jul 3, 2018 | Quartet/Quintet

When it comes to talent, it just doesn’t get any better than this.  Recorded in Belgium in 1958, this Benny Golson tribute to Clifford Brown features Lee Morgan (trumpet), Benny Golson (tenor sax), Bobby Timmons (piano), Jymie Merritt (bass), and of course Art Blakey (drums).  It was almost prophetic that Lee Morgan would perish only four years later at a very young age, like Brownie, with a dazzling career cut all too short by tragedy.  Still, both men left behind musical legacies that will live forever in the annals of jazz history.

Bird & The Hawk Just Fakin’ It

by | May 25, 2018 | Quartet/Quintet

One of only two existing pieces of footage of Charlie Parker (alto) in performance. Here he is joined by Coleman Hawkins (tenor), Hank Jones (piano), Ray Brown (bass) and Buddy Rich (drums). This session was recorded in October 1950 in an effort to add video to some previously recorded audio tracks. Bird was smiling because Hawkins, Rich and company were trying to mime their own improvised solos and it wasn’t working out so well. Bird had a good time with it until he got into “trouble” with the producer for laughing at Hawkins.

Route 66 – Natalie Cole & Diana Krall

by | May 18, 2018 | Quartet/Quintet, Vocal

Hundreds of versions exist of Bobby Troup’s song “[Get Your Kicks on] Route 66,” better known simply as “Route 66.”  He wrote it during a cross-country trip on that highway after World War II … and In 1946 Nat King Cole had a huge hit with Troup’s best known song.  Today it is a jazz standard.

Song For My Father – Horace Silver Quintet

by | Mar 23, 2018 | Quartet/Quintet

This performance of “Song For My Father” was recorded in Copenhagen, Denmark during the Fall of 1964.   While the quintet was in transition at this point, I believe the personnel we are seeing here are Joe Henderson (ts), Carmell Jones (t), Teddy Smith (b), and Roger Humphries (d) … joining Horace Silver (p) in what is so instantly recognizable as the classic Blue Note sound of that era.  The song, which was dedicated to Horace‘s father John Tavares Silva, and the ensuing 1965 album of the same name, were inspired by a trip the pianist made to Brazil earlier that year.