To end my day at work and to carry me off to bed, here’s the great Thelonius Monk performing ‘Round Midnight at Norway in 1966. His magic on the piano is made even more spectacular with Charlie Rouse joining him on the tenor sax, Larry Gales on bass and Ben Riley on the drums.
‘Round Midnight is my personal favorite of Monk’s among his other works, but of course, I’m sure almost everyone of us loves this piece for all its quiet beauty. I’ve always enjoyed Monk’s way of playing the piano, with his body (and that foot) moving together with his fingers. Really, really mad wicked.
‘Round Midnight is a 1944 jazz standard by jazz musician Thelonious Monk. It is thought that Monk originally composed it sometime between 1940 and 1941, however Harry Colomby claims that Monk may have written an early version around 1936 (at the age of 19) with the title, Grand Finale. ‘Round Midnight has been recorded in greater frequency than any other jazz standard composed by a jazz musician.
With a voice like velvet, here is Sarah Vaughan singing Once in A While while playing the piano, at a concert in Prague. With humor and tenderness, she slips into song as gracefully as only Sarah Vaughan can.
***
Once in a while
Will you try to give one little thought to me
Think of me once in a while
Once in a while
Will you dream of the moments I shared with you,
Moments before we two drifted apart
In love’s smoldering ember, just one spark may remain,
But if love still can remember, that spark may burn again
I know that I’ll be contented with yesterday’s memory,
Knowing you think of me once in a while
This is Dizzy Gillespie in a rare performance of Once in A While at the 1997 Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. He is joined by Milton Jackson in a beautiful ballad medley, playing another song on the jazz vibraphone, But Beautiful. Monty Alexander on piano, Ray Brown on bass, Jimmie Smith on drums.
He was discovered by Dizzy Gillespie, who hired him for his sextet in 1946. He quickly acquired experience working with the most important figures in jazz of the era, including John Coltrane, Woody Herman, Howard McGhee, Thelonious Monk, and Charlie Parker. In the Gillespie big band one of his jobs was to play in a quartet with John Lewis, Percy Heath, and Kenny Clarke while the horn section took a break from the demanding high-register horn parts. This group, known around 1950 as the Milt Jackson Quartet, eventually became the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) by around 1952, and had a long independent career of some 20 years.
Just had to post this because it makes me smile, and a week’s worth of hard work is worth a smile and tapping of toes! Here’s Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong pulling out all the stops for Umbrella Man. Shame that no one seems to know what year this came out, anyway, have a happy Friday!
Wow! What a great performance! Almost like musical family coming together. It is great to see Louis non-verbally, but overtly, acknowledge the musicianship in Be-Bop and of Dizzy, and it’s great to see Dizzy so empathic toward Louis’s and Jazz’s New Orleans roots.
I saw this great blog that talks about Herbie Hancock’s recent Grammy win, and I found through it a video of Herbie talking about jazz and what the win meant for him not only as a musician but also as a fellow lover of jazz.
Herbie Hancock’s win of the Best Album Grammy for River: The Joni Letters was more than just another Grammy for Herbie, who has a few of them already. It was only the second time in 50 years that a jazz album had won that award. In a recent interview with Tavis Smiley on PBS, Hancock riffed on that subject, saying:
. . .if I were to win this award, this would be a win for jazz, which is not only just the music that I personally love, but it’s the music that represents the heart of America. And really, I believe the heart of the spirit of the human being because the music contains characteristics that are the best of what a human being has to offer, which is that it’s nonjudgmental, that it’s about sharing, not about competition. That it’s about being in the moment, and it’s totally creative, and also the music is eclectic, and it borrows from other genres of music, and it lends itself to other genres of music. And there are just so many characteristics that really talk about the human spirit. So I wanted to win so that people would begin to pay attention to this music, which I think is a great music.
***
In another discussion, this blog talks about Joni Mitchell’s foray into jazz, which I heartily believe too, is Joni’s authentic and honest project to connect with such great music. I’ve always been a fan of Joni Mitchell, and her discipline and sensibility fits perfectly into jazz. And now to have an album dedicated in creating that right tone that is Joni is a beautiful experiment, and for Herbie Hancock to deliver this to us with a flourish is a treat any jazz fan will love.
Do I think that Herbie winning a Grammy just might open doors to the world to go back to jazz? It is an ambitious goal but it’s not impossible. I don’t see why there need be a debate about this win; whether or not it looked like the Grammys just wanted a “safe” choice, to not have to choose over Winehouse or West is not the question, nor the answer — the fact still remains that this album was created with sincerity and heart that is deeply rooted in jazz, and if this will make people stop to listen and feel, then all the better.
Here is a video that gives preview to Herbie Hancock’s new album. Enjoy
Here is Herbie Hancock in a most delicious performance of Cantaloupe Island. Together with Wayne Shorter, Dave Holland and Brian Blade at Jazz a Vienne in 2004, this is one of the most powerful performances I’ve seen yet.
Cantaloupe Island has always been a favorite, and in this video, just the introduction is killer. This is pure talent, and I’m sorry I can’t stop gushing, but it is, it is! At point 1:14 in the video you will simply enter another world, the world where Herbie Hancock is blood, rushing to your head. The moment in his life when he wrote those notes into this piece of music was his gift to the world.
Cantaloupe Island is a jazz standard composed by Herbie Hancock. It was first recorded on his 1964 album Empyrean Isles. It was one of the first examples of a modal jazz composition set to a funky beat.
It was sampled by the group Us3 on their song ‘Cantaloop‘, and furthermore has been used as bumper music (or button) on National Public Radio.
Version have been recorded by many artists, including Pat Metheny.
And maybe because it’s February again; my heart is clenching and unclenching in the most odd moments. Alone with bittersweet memories most nights, there’s no one more fitting to listen to than Billie Holiday. Always that sweet Muse who gives voice to my exquisite pain, here’s Fine and Mellow, sung 1957.
Reunited after many years with tenor saxophonist Lester Young, Billie’s visual reaction to his moving solo remains as eloquent as anything she ever sang; a touching finale to their historic musical partnership. Introduced by Robert Herridge (producer/host of CBS’ “The Sound of Jazz”), this is perhaps the single most famous “live jazz” performance in TV history. Other members of the all-star band seen here: Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Gerry Mulligan, Roy Eldridge, Doc Cheatham, Vic Dickenson, Danny Barker, Milt Hinton, Mal Waldron…”We shall not see their likes again.”
***
My man don’t love me
He treats me oh so mean
My man he don’t love me
He treats me awful mean
He’s the lowest man
That I’ve ever seen
He wears high-draped pants
Stripes are really yellow
He wears high-draped pants
Stripes are really yellow
But when he starts to love me
He’s so fine and mellow
In just a few months, this blog has reached a big number of viewers (currently at 10,271 at the time of this post!) and I couldn’t be happier. My heart is full with your support and enthusiasm, and as this place has been one of the things that is closest to me right now, I want to make it better and make it more fun for you guys.
Which is why I’d like to ask a little bit of your time to answer the poll below; it would help me greatly as to what steps I could take to make this blog a much more wonderful Cafe Jazz. Currently I have lots of ideas brewing in my head, and I’d like to have some direction, if you will. Seeing the numbers shoot up this past couple of months made me think that I could actually do this, you know, write about something I know and love with a passion, and not just blog in general about my life, because, well, who wants to read about that, right?
And since I’d like to keep it short, click below for the item of your choice:
Thelonius Monk performing ‘Round Midnight at Norway in 1966. His magic on the piano is made even more spectacular with Charlie Rouse joining him on the tenor sax, Larry Gales on bass and Ben Riley on the drums.
Sarah Vaughan
Dizzy Gillespie
Milton Jackson
Louis Armstrong
Herbie Hancock
Joni Mitchell
Pat Metheny
Billie Holiday
Lester Young
