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Welcome to another 2 hours of jazz on Radio Mecha. As I generally do, I'll be posting some links, comments and credits as the set plays, which I hope are of interest to those listening, as well as to those who come to this thread later.
In the next two hours, we have a number of tunes so iconic to the artist that recorded them, that they are associated with that artist in the public mind, ever after. These included "Parker's Mood" by bebop legend and alto saxophonist extraordinaire Charlie Parker, and "West Coast Blues" by guitarist Wes Montgomery, which we'll hear in a bit. But we also have some wonderful treatments of well known "standards" tunes, like "Stella by Starlight" and "Tennessee Waltz" and "Sweet and Lovely" which are terrific, and fresh, because of being taken up anew, by musicians of fine sensibility and talent. You're in for a great couple of hours of memomorable melodies and interesting harmony, Jazz Babies, so let's get to it!
Hey paulsc! Just wanted to drop in and say what's up? I'm heading out in a bit for yoga class and maybe a run later if my friend doesn't bail on me, so I can't linger. Have a great evening! :)
Billie Holiday with a tune of her own, from the 1990 CD reissue of The Billie Holiday Songbook. Recorded September 3, 1954 in Los Angeles. With Harry "Sweets" Edison (trumpet), Willie Smith (alto sax), Bobby Tucker (piano), Barney Kessel (guitar), Red Callender (bass), and Chico Hamilton (drums). (For those coming to this thread later, here's a link to a Web based version of the tune.)
Charlie Parker All Stars [Charlie Parker (alto sax), John Lewis (piano), Curly Russell (bass) and Max Roach (drums)] in a take recorded September 18, 1948 at Harry Smith Studios in NYC, via the CD box set "Yardbird Suite."
Thelonious Monk with Charlie Rouse (sax), John Ore (bass), and Frankie Dunlop (drums), with the title tune from the 1963 album produced by Teo Macero, that made Thelonious Monk a household name.
John Coltrane with a tune of his own from the CD re-issue of his 1960 album "Giant Steps." With Tommy Flanagan (piano), Paul Chambers (bass) and Art Taylor (drums).
Bill Evans from the CD re-issue of his 1968 album "Alone," with a tune by Ben Raleigh (who also wrote "Tell Laura I Love Her" and one of my personal favorites "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?" and died in 1997 at the age of 83, after setting his robe on fire while cooking) and Joe Zawinul.
From his 1992 "world music" CD "Secret Story," here is Pat Metheny with his own composition. Traditional jazz fans, including myself, have sometimes wondered where Pat Metheny wandered, and while I think I'd be hard pressed to consider all of "Secret Story" jazz, even those tunes and elements which depart wholesale from jazz tradition are guided by a musical intelligence and a sense of exploration that make them worth considering, and listening to. As the extensive credits list would imply, there isn't much improvisation on this album, and I think the "modern" recording techniques of sound isolation, overdubbing, and re-mixing that were in use for this album work against that kind of musical group communication, although they allow one person to remain in conceptual control of a large musical effort. This tune is an example of that kind of dichotomy, contrasting a guitar part that is clearly jazz, with a synthetic orchestral setting that is cinematic. The result may or may not be jazz, depending on the elasticity of your musical boundaries, but it is certianly listenable.
From the 1986 CD "Standards Live" here is Keith Jarrett with his "Standards" trio mates Gary Peacock (bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums), with a lovely rendition of the Ned Washington/Victor Young jazz standard, recorded July 2, 1985 in Paris, in the Studio de la Grande Armée Palais des Congrès, with a live studio audience.
I don't normally think of Dionne Warwick as a jazz singer, but she has made some albums recording music often claimed in the jazz repetoire, including Cole Porter tunes with some large group arrangements, like this one, that harken towards the Kenny G end of the smooth jazz spectrum. But she doesn't make a big pretense of being a jazzer, and never strays far from her core competence of singing a straight melody with good phrasing and musicality. So here she is from her 1990 CD "Dionne Warwick Sings Cole Porter" (which freedb database has equal difficulty describing, finally putting it in as "Soul/R&B").
Once again, The Bill Evans Trio, with Eddie Gomez on bass and Eliot Zigmund on drums, takes us out with the title track from the 1977 album of the same name. To recap, in this set, we heard:
1. McCoy Tyner - The Greeting (2:27)
2. Art Tatum/Jo Jones/Red Callender - Love for Sale (5:30)
3. Benny Goodman - Moonglow (3:26)
4. Billie Holiday - Stormy Blues (3:26)
5. Charlie Parker - Parker's Mood (3:04)
6. Thelonious Monk Quartet - Monk's Dream (6:27)
7. Miles Davis - Godchild (3:12)
8. John Coltrane - Cousin Mary (5:49)
9. Ella Fitzgerald - Oh, Lady Be Good (4:03)
10. Bill Evans - Midnight Mood (5:20)
11. Gerry Mulligan & Stan Getz - Too Close For Comfort (6:58)
12. Ramsey Lewis Trio - Tennessee Waltz (5:02)
13. Wes Montgomery - West Coast Blues (7:26)
14. Wayne Shorter - Armageddon (6:53)
15. Pat Metheny - Tell Her You Saw Me (5:10)
16. Michael Brecker - Cost of Living (7:48)
17. Keith Jarrett - Gary Peacock - Jack DeJohnette - Stella By Starlight (11:15)
18. Dionne Warwick - Night and Day [Jazz Version] (4:12)
19. Gary Burton - Tears of Rain (6:33)
20. McCoy Tyner - Sweet and Lovely [*] (6:29)
21. Diana Krall - Maybe You'll Be There (5:47)
22. Bill Evans Trio - I Will Say Goodbye (3:30)
"Take a music bath once or twice a week for a few seasons, and you will find that it is to the soul what the water bath is to the body."
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes