Jazz Rambling & Other Idle Thoughts

I often say that my show is a reflection of whatever mood I was in at the time that I planned it, which frequently is not the same mood that I'm in at airtime.

That will most definitely be the case tomorrow. I happened to have a free hour yesterday, so I wrote the Playlist and packed the CDs. Later that night, I learned that a great and true friend, John J. Zeock, had passed away.

John was the guy who introduced me to the Musical Heritage Society, an offshoot of which, Jazz Heritage, started me on this warped addiction to buying Jazz CDs that I enjoy to this day. So I suppose John is the spiritual Godfather of my little radio show.

He was probably the smartest, and certainly the most erudite person I ever knew well. A lot of the excellent (and strange) books and off-the-wall CDs in my library came from him.

I don't want his passing to go unremarked, and although I don't have even a shadow of his writing talent, his love of the arts has, for the longest time, inspired my own. I hope my show and this modest blog can be a tribute to a lost friend.

"I'll Be Seeing You..."

March 25 - Playlist

Happy 7th Birthday to Angela (My Granddaughter!)

1) Paul Chambers - You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To (Bass On Top)
2) John Coltrane - The Inch Worm (Standards)

FEATURE ARTIST

3) Eddie Daniels - 34 Skidoo (...This Is Now)
4) Eddie Daniels And Gary Burton - Airmail Special (Benny Rides Again)
5) Eddie Daniels with Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band - Under The Wire (The Phat Pack)
6) BeatleJazz - The Night Before (All You Need)
7) Miles Davis - Rocker (Birth Of The Cool)
8) Nigel Kennedy - Midnight Blue (Blue Note Sessions)
9) Stan Getz - Joanne Julia (Bossas And Ballads: The Lost Sessions)
10) Simone - Love Me Or Leave Me (Simone On Simone)
11) Thelonious Monk - Caravan (Thelonious Monk Plays Duke Ellington)
12) Mark Whitfield - David's Theme (Patrice)

THE R & B CORNER

13) Les Paul & Friends - I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know (American Made, World Played)
14) Angeline Ball - I Can't Stand The Rain (The Commitments)
15) Booker T. & The MGs - Time Is Tight (Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration)
16) Dexter Gordon - Secret Love (Manhattan Symphonie)
17) Dave Brubeck - Benjamin (A History Of Jazz)
18) Juliet Annerino - Crush (Crushed Velvet)
19) John Pizzarelli - Coquette (After Hours)
20) Diana Krall - Every Time We Say Goodbye (Quiet Nights)
21) Frank Sinatra - You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To (A Swingin' Affair!)

March 18 - Playlist

1) Sonny Stitt And Paul Gonsalves - S'Posin' (Salt And Pepper)
2) Keith Jarrett - Treasure Island (The Impulse Story)
3) "Del Paxton" - Time To Blow (That Thing You Do)

FEATURE ARTIST

4) Nat King Cole - Just You, Just Me (After Midnight)
5) Nat King Cole - Pick Yourself Up (Nat King Cole Sings/George Shearer Plays)
6) Lester Young with Nat King Cole & Buddy Rich - Back To The Land (The Jazz Scene)
7) Nat King Cole - Almost Like Being In Love (The World Of Nat King Cole)
8) Lee Morgan - Gary's Note Book (The Sidewinder)

9) Nick Hempton Band - The Times (Nick Hempton Band)
10) Art Tatum - The Kerry Dance (Piano Starts Here)

11) Tony Bennett with Stan Getz - Danny Boy (Jazz)

12) Sonny Rollins - How Are Things In Glocca Mora? (Ballads)

13) Dave Brubeck Trio with Gerry Mulligan - Things Ain't What They Used To Be (Live At The Berlin Philharmonie)

THE R&B CORNER

14) Van Morrison - Jackie Wilson Said [I'm In Heaven When You Smile] (At The Movies)

15) Herbie Hancock - Watermelon Man (Head Hunters)

16) Roy Hargrove Presents The RH Factor - Out Of Town (Hard Groove)

17) Serge Forte Trio - Rock Of Ages (Oscar, A Tribute)#

18) Oliver Nelson's Big Band - Milestones (Live From Los Angeles)

19) Jon & Lynn - If I Only Had A Heart (Jon & Lynn)#*

20) Michael Brecker with James Taylor - Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight (The Nearness Of You: The Ballad Book)

21) Frank Sinatra - S'Posin' (Swingin' Session!!!)

# indicates Jazz Network Worldwide member (see link at bottom of this Blog)

* indicates Recent Release

Jazz Rambling & Other Idle Thoughts

My pal Jon Burr, noted New York Bassist, Composer and Bandleader, was kind enough to send me his latest release, a very intriguing duo project known as Jon & Lynn. I can't recall another example of two such voicings: Jon is a virtuoso on Bass, Lynn Stein is a stunning singer. With a tone as clear as a bell, and very precise diction, she brings new life to a wide array of old chestnuts (and two Burr originals) backed by a sometimes witty, sometimes melodic, sometimes minimalist but always steady upright bass. This works, folks! Bass and Girl Singer! You don't think it should, but sometimes sheer talent carries the day. I never imagined I'd hear a cover of the old Shondells tune I Think We're Alone Now, and If I Only Had A Heart is an especially fresh surprise, which then got me thinking about doing an Oz medley for an upcoming show (maybe this week). Anyway, thanks Jon & Lynn for the joy. PS - You can check out Jon & Lynn yourself at their website; see my Links of Interest at the bottom of this Blog!

Another nice new CD arrival is The Nick Hempton Band. The talented Mr. Hempton clearly listened to his Coltrane coming up; his alto is reminiscent of Trane's tenor (if that makes any sense) if not as dense. He also exhibits good composing chops, and by the way, the rest of the quartet can play too. This is a tight group and this is good jazz. I suspect we'll be getting to him again soon. Thank you, Nick, for the amusing liner notes! They'll be playing at Chris' Jazz Cafe in Philly April 15th (naturally, I'll be on the air, darn).

See you Thursday.

March 11 - Playlist

1) Tina Brooks - Everything Happens To Me (Minor Move)
2) Roy Hargrove Quartet - Starmaker (Earfood)

FEATURE ARTIST

3) Modern Jazz Quartet - The Golden Striker (No Sun In Venice)
4) Modern Jazz Quartet with Bobby McFerrin & Take 6 - Bags' Groove (MJQ & Friends)
5) Modern Jazz Quartet - Blues In B Flat (Blues On Bach)
6) Stan Getz - Coba (Apasionado)
7) Dave Grusin - Mountain Dance (Priceless Jazz 4)
8) Stanley Turrentine - You'll Never Get Away From Me (Never Let Me Go)
9) Sonny Rollins - Silk 'N' Satin (The Misc. Disc)
10) Benny Goodman - Cherry (Clarinet A La King)
11) Jon Burr Quartet - Blear (In My Own Words)
12) Joe Lovano & Greg Osby - Broad Way Blues (Friendly Fire)

THE R&B CORNER

13) Lionel Richie - All Night Long (Can't Slow Down)^
14) Tom Timko And The Horn Dogs - Breakfast At Nats (Tom Timko And The Horn Dogs)
15) Sade - Your Love Is King (Diamond Life)^
16-18) Louie Bellson And His Jazz Orchestra - The East Side Suite (The East Side Suite)
- Park Ave. Strut
- Tiffany's Corner
- Village Hangout
19) Carmen McRae - I Hear Music (Any Old Time)
20) Roberta Gambarini - This Is Always (So In Love)
21) Frank Sinatra - Everything Happens To Me (The Complete Reprise)

^ indicates the Vinyl Archive

March 4 - Playlist

1) John Coltrane - All Or Nothing At All (Standards)
2) Horace Silver - The African Queen (The Cape Verdean Blues)

FEATURE ARTIST

3) Louis Armstrong & Duke Ellington - In A Mellow Tone (The Complete Roulette Sessions)
4) Louis Armstrong - Blues In The Night (Meets Oscar Peterson)
5) Louis Armstrong - Atlanta Blues (Plays W. C. Handy)
6) Juliet Annerino - Wake Up With You [WuWu] (MP3 Single)*
7) Cannonball Adderley - Money In The Pocket (Cannonball Plays Zawinul)
8) Nick Hempton Band - Get This... (Nick Hempton Band)
9) Ramsey Lewis Trio - One, Two, Three (Finest Hour)
10) Count Basie - Big Brother (Basie Land)
11) Stan Getz - Nica's Dream (Cool Velvet)
12) James Moody - Daahoud (Priceless Jazz 5)
13) Gerry Mulligan - Black Nightgown (Concert Jazz Band)

THE R&B CORNER

14) Eric Clapton - I Want A Little Girl (One More Car, One More Rider)
15) Grover Washington, Jr. - Where Is The Love (All The King's Horses)
16) Mable John - Your Good Thing [Is About To End] (Stax 50th Anniversary Celebration)
17) Dave Brubeck Quartet - Take Five (25th Anniversary Reunion)
18) Michel Camilo - Hurry Up And Wait (Spirit Of The Moment)
19) Nat King Cole - Candy (After Midnight)
20) Dinah Washington - Blue Gardenia (The Definitive)
21) Frank Sinatra - All Or Nothing At All (The Complete Reprise)

* indicates Recent Release

Jazz Rambling & Other Idle Thoughts

On the off-chance that someone may be reading this blog (or willing to) for something other than Playlists (and with some idle time due to inclement weather), I figured I would jot down a few (jazz-related) items:

Thanks to that above-mentioned weather, I had the time to view two Jazz films; Straight, No Chaser, the Thelonious Monk documentary produced by Clint Eastwood (who is a separate jazz story) and Improvisation, the Norman Granz produced film. Seeing Monk was an education; he was certainly a character, from his spinning/dancing on stage to his flat-fingered keyboard playing. Undeniably a jazz pioneer, especially as a composer, Monk nevertheless exemplifies the hard life and relative lack of mainstream recognition of the Be-bop era musicians. But he was on the cover of Time magazine.

The critic Nat Hentoff makes the point, in the bonus feature about Norman Granz on Improvisation, that no non-musician had more impact on the development and proliferation of recorded jazz than Mr. Granz. This film gives you a sense of that, not to mention the outstanding recordings on film of a host of Hall-of-Fame performers. The piano players alone include Duke, Count and Hank Jones (still with us, and God bless him). But watching Oscar Peterson on this film (a segment recorded in Montreux c. 1977) instead of just listening reminded me once again that he was the greatest jazz piano player...ever! Other observations about this film...it seems like Ray Brown at one time or another played with everybody, and always did it well...Buddy Rich could probably play in his sleep...Diz with his cheeks puffed out looks really bizarre on film...Coleman Hawkins does a fine solo as an appreciative Charlie Parker watches, then Bird follows with his own solo in triple time; I can only wonder what Bean was thinking...I've said all along that Ella was the best female singer ever (jazz or no). In fact, the best live show I ever saw was at the Philadelphia Spectrum, and Ella was the opening act, performing with Basie and his Orchestra (you'll be able to guess who the headliner was).

From the Bargain Bin: I was in Barnes & Noble the other day, looking to burn off $35 worth of gift cards. I briefly considered Season 1 of Ally McBeal, but opted instead to check out the $7.99 CD selection, where I found a few gems: Ramsey Lewis Finest Hour, The Definitive Dinah Washington, John Coltrane Standards, Oscar Peterson Trio (Ray Brown [see] and Herb Ellis) At the Stratford Shakespearean Festival, and a nice Best of Gershwin from Columbia. Two points about that last one: it's classical, but is has the definitive version of Rhapsody in Blue with the original instrumentation from Ferde Grofe's arrangement for the Paul Whiteman premier of the piece, and with the composer himself playing the piano (captured from piano rolls); and it in Sony's nifty new "Green" cardboard package.

I've now missed two weeks, so I'll be chomping at the bit for next Thursday's show. LA singer Juliet Annerino very graciously recorded a station ID for me, which you will hear then. She also sent some CDs (her newest: Scenes From A Life On Fire) and T-shirts, which I'll be giving away on the air sometime soon. Many thanks, Juliet!