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Welcome to another 2 hours of jazz on Radio Mecha. As I generally do here on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. Eastern Time (Standard or Daylight, depending on the season), or as noted on the Radio Mecha Dibs page, which also lists upcoming shows by other Mechans who enjoy sharing music, 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. An index of past programs is available here.

LoudCity (the folks who handle the Radio Mecha streaming server) rules prevent taking requests, or doing some of the things you might expect of commercial broadcasters, but you can reach me with other ideas and requests, by posting in this thread, or, if you're a Mecha member (a "bunny" in common parlance), by e-mail.

In this program, our Thursday Spotlight Tune is Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" from the 1935 Broadway show "Jubilee," and we have 4 versions of the tune in the first part of the program. Plus, what one writer has called "a portrait of a day in the life of NYC" by Miles Davis, and something sweet from Keith Jarrett's Standards Trio. So, sit back, relax, and let's Begin the Beguine!

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 Begin the Beguine

Art Tatum with the first version of our Thursday Spotlight Tune for this week. From a Jan. 21, 1946 recording in Los Angeles for the wartime V-Discs label, from the 1988 Black Lion compilation CD, "Art Tatum - The V-Discs."

Woops! My bad on the order of play. Fixed now!

#3 When It's Sleepy Time Down South

Sidney Bechet and His New Orleans Feetwarmers [Gus Aiken (trumpet), Sandy Williams (trombone), Sidney Bechet (soprano sax), Lem Johnson (tenor sax), Cliff Jackson (piano), Wilson Myers (bass) and Arthur Herbert (drums)] in an April 28, 1941 recording from NYC, of a tune by Leon Rene - Clarence Muse - Otis Rene, via the 1991 compilation CD "The Legendary Sidney Bechet."

I love tunes written by a Muse!

#4 The Way You Look Tonight

Billie Holiday sings a tune by Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern, with a Teddy Wilson Orchestra that included an all star line up of Irving "Mouse" Randolph (trumpet), Vido Musso (clarinet), Ben Webster (tenor sax), Teddy Wilson (piano), Allen Reuss (guitar), Milt Hinton (bass), and Gene Krupa (drums). Recorded Oct. 21, 1936 in NYC for Brunswick, via the 1996 Sony Music Entertainment compilation CD "Billie Holiday Love Songs."

#5 Begin the Beguine

Erroll Garner (piano), Wyatt Ruther (bass), Eugene "Fats" Heard (drums), and Candido Camero (congas) with the second rendition of our Spotlight Tune recorded July 27, 1954 in Chicago. Via the 1987 compilation CD "Compact Jazz: Erroll Garner."

Woops #2! I moved a couple of music directories this afternoon, and forgot to update my playlist links. Sorry, folks. That really is the last of those issues, tonight, I think. We're usually a lot smoother around here!

#6 The Blues (Pt. 2)

Meade "Lux" Lewis with the second part of his four "part" composition (necessitated by the time limits of 78 RPM records), of which we heard the first part in a previous program, from the 1998 Topaz compilation CD "Boogies and Blues."

#7 All The Things You Are

Art Tatum (piano), Ben Webster (tenor sax), Red Callender (drums) and Bill Douglass (bass) with a tune by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, from the 1939 musical "Very Warm for May," recorded Sept. 11, 1956 in Los Angeles. Via the 1992 compilation CD "The Tatum Group Masterpieces, Vol. 8."

#8 Begin the Beguine

Dionne Warwick from her 1990 CD "Dionne Warwick Sings Cole Porter" with the third rendition of our Spotlight Tune for this program.

#9 Mi Cosa

Wes Montgomery from the CD re-issue of his 1965 album "Bumpin'" with a tune of his own.

#10 Gloria's Step

From the 1998 compilation CD "Jazz Showcase: Bill Evans," here's the Bill Evans Trio with Scott LeFaro (bass) and Paul Motian (drums) with a tune by LeFaro, recorded live at The Village Vanguard in NYC, June 25, 1961 for the album "Sunday at The Village Vanguard." LeFaro was killed in a car accident ten days after this recording was made.

#11 Begin the Beguine

Nashville based pianist and teacher Beegie Adair with her Trio, with Roger Spencer on bass and drummer Chris Brown, give us the last version of our Spotlight Tune for this program, from their 2001 CD "Dream Dancing: Songs of Cole Porter."

#12 Spanish Key

In lieu of anything I could write about this Miles Davis tune from the CD re-issue of "Bitches Brew," please read this. Please.

#13 Here's That Rainy Day

From the CD re-issue of their 1964 album "Getz Au Go Go Featuring Astrud Gilberto," with a Jimmy Van Heusen/Johnny Burke tune. This "New Stan Getz Quartet" featured a 19 year old Gary Burton on vibraphone, in place of any pianist, which gave the quartet a very "cool," open sound.

#14 Arabesque Cookie (Arabian Dance)

In 1960, Duke Ellington was looking for some commercial recording project to keep from drowning in the record buying public's rock and roll tide. The result was a joint project with his arranger Billy Strayhorn to reset 3 well known classical peices as "suites" for the Ellington Orchestra, issued as the album "Three Suites." Here from Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky's familiar, played-everywhere-as-a-ballet-at-Christmas "Nutcracker Suite" is a treatment of the Arabian Dance, like Tchaikovsky never imagined it.

#15 Kathy's Waltz

The Dave Brubeck Quartet from the CD re-issue of their 1959 album "Time Out", with a cool little "waltz" made cooler by the "dry martini" sound of alto saxophonist Paul Desmond. With Joe Morello on drums, and Eugene Wright on bass.

#16 I Was Doing All Right

Ella Fitzgerald from the 1990 Polygram 3 CD box set re-issue of her 1959 5 LP album set "Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Songbook" with a tune from the 1937 film "The Goldwyn Follies."

#17 The Triumph

Scott Cossu (piano & synthesizers), Van Manakas (electric classical guitar), and Tom Canning (synclavier) with a tune by Cossu from the 1987 CD "She Describes Infinity." With Sony BMG's reorganization, most of the Windham Hill label catalog they purchased is out of print, now, as is this CD, but there are still new and used copies floating around Amazon and other CD houses.

Do you have a female version of this?

Oops.

"Oops."
posted by ethylene 21 June

Yeah, there's a lot of that going around here, tonight. :-)

#18 House On The Hill

From the 1990 CD "Reunion" with Pat Metheny (guitar), Mitch Forman (keyboards), Will Lee (bass), Peter Erskine (drums), here is vibraphonist Gary Burton with a tune by Metheny, from yet another out of print CD.

"Do you have a female version of this?"
posted by ethylene 21 June

Can't say that I do.

#19 Heavy Feet

Acoustic guitar whiz Alex de Grassi with a tune of his own from his 1983 CD "Southern Exposure".

i only know of a Sarah Vaughn anyway.

#20 The Wrong Blues

The Keith Jarrett Standards Trio with Gary Peacock on bass, and Jack DeJohnette on drums from their 1987 CD "Standards Live" with a tune by William Engvick and Alec Wilder.

"i only know of a Sarah Vaughn anyway."
posted by ethylene 21 June

I have a lot of Sassy's stuff, but not that one, ethylene. Unless it's on one of the 14,000 or so uncatalogued, unripped recordings I'm slowly working down from the pile of stuff on my "to rip" list.

#21 Never Too Far Away

Pat Metheny (guitar), Dave Holland (bass), and Roy Haynes (drums) from their 1990 CD "Question and Answer" with a tune by Metheny.

May I interject to say "stay tuned after paulsc's always excellent jazz show for wendell's always questionable show of 52 years of pop music, comedy and random noises, with today's theme: SUMMER"... well, may I?

"...well, may I?"
posted by wendell 21 June

Just as long as you don't email us all about it.

#22 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 - Begin the Beguine (3:24)
3. Sidney Bechet - When It's Sleepy Time Down South / Sidney Bechet & His New Orleans Feetwarmers (3:03)
4. Billie Holiday - The Way You Look Tonight (3:04)
5. Erroll Garner - Begin the Beguine (4:42)
6. Meade 'Lux' Lewis - The Blues (Pt. 2) (4:04)
7. Art Tatum - All The Things You Are (7:16)
8. Dionne Warwick - Begin the Beguine (5:19)
9. Wes Montgomery - Mi Cosa (3:22)
10. Evans, Bill - Gloria's Step (6:11)
11. Adair, Beegie - Begin the Beguine (5:22)
12. Miles Davis - Spanish Key (17:29)
13. Stan Getz Quartet - Here's That Rainy Day (6:11)
14. Duke Ellington - Arabesque Cookie (Arabian Dance) (6:25)
15. The Dave Brubeck Quartet - Kathy's Waltz (4:50)
16. Ella Fitzgerald - I Was Doing All Right (3:29)
17. Scott Cossu - The Triumph (5:51)
18. Gary Burton - House On The Hill (5:41)
19. Alex deGrassi - Heavy Feet (4:45)
20. Keith Jarrett - Gary Peacock - Jack DeJohnette - The Wrong Blues (8:03)
21. Pat Metheny, Dave Holland, Roy Haynes - Never Too Far Away (5:54)
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

Is that why everybody says I'm all wet?