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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 this program, I've included a couple of selections from different Duke Ellington Orchestras, the first being by the so-called Blanton-Webster band of 1940-41, and the second by the band that was recording in 1971 when Johnny Hodges died unexpectedly. We've also got a couple of tunes by piano great Art Tatum, both as the soloist he preferred playing as, and in a Tatum Group that included a couple of very well known sidemen. Plus some good vocals, and some lovely old standard tunes. Should be a good couple hours, so get comfortable, and get a drink!

The tune that I open these sets with, "The Greeting" is from a later McCoy Tyner album, called Things Ain't What They Used To Be.

#2 I've Got the World on a String

Art Tatum with a version of the 1933 standard by Harold Arlen with lyrics by Ted Koehler, from the compilation CD "The Art Tatum Solo Masterpieces Vol. 4."

#3 Krazy Kat

Frankie Trumbauer and His Orchestra [Frankie Trumbauer (C-melody sax), Bix Beiderbecke (cornet), Bobby Davis (alto sax), Adrian Rollini (bass sax), Bill Rank (trombone), Don Murray (clarinet & alto sax), Eddie Lang (banjo & guitar), Chauncy Moorhouse (drums)] in a February 27, 1927 recording in NYC of a tune by Trumbauer and Moorhouse. From the compilation CD "At the Jazz Band Ball."

#4 Muskrat Ramble

"Dr. Henry Levine's Barefoot Dixieland Philharmonic featuring Professor Sidney Bechet" with a November 11, 1940 recording in NYC of the popular tune by Edward "Kid" Ory, via the 1991 compilation CD "The Legendary Sidney Bechet."

#5 Love Me Or Leave Me

Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra (mostly members of Teddy Wilson's Orchestra) with a 1935 recording of the tune by Albert Hammond and Gus Kahn, from the 2000 Intersound compilation box set "The Best of Billie Holiday."

#6 Harlem Air-Shaft

Duke Ellington and His Orchestra from the excellent 2003 compilation CD box set "Never No Lament: The Blanton-Webster Band," with a July 22, 1940 recording from NYC of the well known Ellington tune. This includes solos from Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton on trombone (listen for his distinctive "wah-wah" plunger mute technique), then "Cootie" Williams on trumpet, then Barney Bigard on clarinet, then Williams again on trumpet, and finally Bigard again on clarinet (if that helps you follow along!).

#7 Rouge

Miles Davis with a tune by John Lewis from the CD re-issue of his 1957 release "Birth of the Cool" recorded April 22, 1949, with John Lewis on piano, Nelson Boyd on bass, Kenny Clarke on drums, Sandy Siegelstein on French horn, Lee Konitz on alto sax, Gerry Mulligan on baritone sax, Bill Barber on tuba, and J.J. Johnson on trombone.

#8 I´ll Never Be The Same

A Tatum Group comprised of Art Tatum (piano), Lionel Hampton (vibraphone) and Buddy Rich (drums) with a 1955 recording of the tune by Frank Signorelli, Matt Malneck and Gus Kahn, from the compilation CD "The Tatum Group Masterpieces Vol. 3."

FWIW, I got this 4 CD box set of Tatum's American Decca recordings (mostly in the 30's), issued in 2002, and it's one of the best CD sets I've bought in a while. Highly recommended!

#9 Nancy (With The Laughing Face)

The John Coltrane Quartet [John Coltrane (tenor sax), McCoy Tyner (piano), Elvin Jones (drums) and Jimmy Garrison (bass)] from the CD re-issue of the 1962 album "Ballads," with a 1944 tune by Jimmy Van Heusen and Phil Silvers (yep, "Sgt. Bilco" himself!), about Frank Sinatra's daughter, Nancy. If two grown men today wrote a tune about the child of a star, they'd be arrested, not sent royalty checks. And if 4 other guys put it on a record, they'd be boycotted.

#10 It's Getting Dark

Kenny Burrell (guitar) with Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax), Tommy Flanagan (piano), Major Holley (bass), Eddie Locke (drums), Ray Barretto (conga) from the CD re-issue of the 1963 album "Bluesy Burrell," doing a tune by Burrell.

#11 A Fine Romance

Ella Fitzgerald from the CD re-issue of the 1963 album "Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook," with a tune by Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern for the classic 1936 Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film "Swing Time."

#12 All The Things You Are

Joe Pass from the double CD re-issue of his 1974 solo album "Virtuoso," with the jazz standard by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, written originally for the 1939 Broadway musical "Very Warm for May."

#13 It Never Entered My Mind

Stan Getz with a tune by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, from the 1991 compilation CD box set "The Artistry of Stan Getz Vol. 1".

#14 Latino Suite

Pianist McCoy Tyner from his 1986 CD "Double Trios" in which he plays with both his standard "acoustic" trio, and an "electric" group featuring bassist Marcus Miller and drummer Jeff "Tain" Watts, here with a tune of his own, with his regular trio members Avery Sharpe on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums.

#15 Who's Got Rhythm?

From the CD re-issue of the 1959 album "Gerry Mulligan Meets Ben Webster," here are the two saxophone greats doing a Mulligan tune.

#16 Blues for New Orleans

From the CD re-issue of the Grammy Award winning 1971 album "New Orleans Suite," here are Duke Ellington and His Orchestra. Lending poignancy to this recording for Ellington band fans, this is the last recording Johnny Hodges ever made. From the album's liner notes:

" 'Blues for New Orleans' the opening selection, is in a sense a paying back of the debt jazz as a whole owed to New Orleans musicians and their instrumental versions of the blues, for it was they who had asserted the primacy of the blues and made the first really effective translations of an essential vocal idiom. But 'Blues for New Orleans' is no ordinary blues, because this is the last blues and the last recording of that great blues player, Johnny Hodges, who died shortly afterwards. Although this fact lends additional poignancy to the performance, it would in any case have been an intensely stirring one. Here Hodges has the kind of setting he loved, and which none could write so well for him as Ellington. He also had the support and stimulus of an old recording companion, Wild Bill Davis, at the organ. The leader [Duke Ellington] was in the studio - not in the control room - conducting, routining, dancing, clapping his hands, and miming his requirements as the arrangement unfolded. There occurred a last example of the complete and instant understanding that existed between him and the little giant who first joined the band in 1928: he made a quick gesture with his hand and Hodges, comprehending the significance immediately, stepped back from the microphone, and then moved in on it confidently with a telling held note. The power and vitality of the interpretation make the saxophonist's death even more of a tragedy. Ellington fully recognized its extent when he said in his eulogy, "Because of this great loss, our band will never sound the same."

#17 Like Someone In Love

From the 1996 compilation CD "Artist Choice: Highlights From Turn Out the Stars" here is the final Bill Evans Trio (with bassist Marc Johnson and drummer Joe LaBarbera), with a tune by Johnny Burke and Jimmy Van Huesen.

#18 Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless)

Alto saxophonist Paul Desmond from the CD re-issue of his 1975 CTI album "Pure Desmond" with a tune made famous by the television series, but written by Johnny Mandel, with lyrics by filmmaker Robert Altman's then 14 year old son Mike Altman.

#19 Never Let Me Go

Keith Jarrett and his long time "Standards Trio" colleagues Gary Peacock on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums, with a nice rendition of the tune by long time writing duo and partners Raymond Evans and Jay Livingston, from the 1985 CD "Standards Vol. 2".

#20 Windows

From their 1998 CD "Like Minds," here are Gary Burton (vibraphone), Chick Corea (piano), Pat Metheny (guitar) and Roy Haynes (drums), with an often recorded tune by Corea.

#21 Somewhere Soon

Ramsey Lewis and Dr. Billy Taylor from their 1988 CD "We Meet Again" with a tune by Taylor.

#22 The Road to Nefertiti / Nefertiti

The World Saxophone Quartet from their 1998 CD "Selim Sevad: A Tribute to Miles" with a tune by members of the WSQ (David Murray, Oliver Lake, Hamiet Bluiett, John Purcell), and Titos Sompa.

Ack. Tuning in at almost the end of the set! Oh well, look forward to next time!

#23 You Are the Sunshine of My Life

This one's for typewriter! You're welcome anytime!

Carmen McRae from the CD re-issue of the 1971 compilation album "Carmen McRae: The Jazz Collector Edition" with an interesting take on an old Stevie Wonder tune.

#24 I Will Say Goodbye

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 - I've Got the World on a String (3:56)
3. Beiderbecke, Bix - Krazy Kat (3:01)
4. Sidney Bechet - Muskrat Ramble / Dr. Henry Levine's Barefoot Dixieland Philharmonic (2:49)
5. Billie Holiday - Love Me Or Leave Me (3:21)
6. Duke Ellington - Harlem Air-Shaft (3:00)
7. Miles Davis - Rouge (3:17)
8. Art Tatum - I´ll Never Be The Same (6:38)
9. John Coltrane Quartet - Nancy (With The Laughing Face) (3:10)
10. Kenny Burrell (with Coleman Hawkins) - It's Getting Dark (6:56)
11. Ella Fitzgerald - A Fine Romance (3:37)
12. Joe Pass - All The Things You Are (4:01)
13. Stan Getz - It Never Entered My Mind (3:56)
14. McCoy Tyner - Latino Suite (8:45)
15. Gerry Mulligan - Who's Got Rhythm? (7:42)
16. Duke Ellington - Blues for New Orleans (7:49)
17. Bill Evans - Like Someone In Love (6:23)
18. Paul Desmond - Theme from M*A*S*H (Suicide Is Painless) (3:03)
19. Keith Jarrett - Gary Peacock - Jack DeJohnette - Never Let Me Go (7:52)
20. Gary Burton - Windows (6:16)
21. Ramsey Lewis/Billy Taylor - Somewhere Soon (5:40) (5:42)
22. World Saxophone Quartet - The Road to Nefertiti / Nefertiti (10:03)
23. Carmen McRae - You Are the Sunshine of My Life (3:09)
24. 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

Awesome! Thanks!