Jazz for aficionados

Today's Listen:

Joe Henderson  --  LUSH LIFE: The Music of Billy Strayhorn

with Wynton Marsalis(trumpet), Christian McBride(bass), Gregory Hutchinson(drums) , Stephen Scott(piano)

Excellent Booklet includes a beautiful picture of Strayhorn.  Short history of each tune.


completed from his hospital bed.  1967
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-91w0TGooKo    

first recorded in Chicago June 26 1942
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozyztXo-MW0  

established as a pop standard by Nat Cole in 1949
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J2JdG7d9dY 

the piece Billy most enjoyed hearing Ellington play.  recorded1967
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrvDViujzNk   

Cheers

Try to listen to some McCoy Tyner today.

Where does music come from? It comes from musicians. Where do musicians come from, specifically jazz musicians, the likes of Roland Kirk, Bobby Timmons and Charles Mingus? They have stretched all the words pertaining to "creativity".


          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahsaan_Roland_Kirk


          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Timmons


          https://www.google.com/search?q=charles+mingus&rlz=1C1CHBD_enUS858US858&oq=charles+mingus&am...



These are the cuts that first brought Roland Kirk to my attention.


            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWPUKskCv7E


          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gp_YRl1qWTk.


I crown Bobby Timmons the King of jazz soul for his tune "Moanin"


        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNjRQo-zpKA


        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTMVmHUgzEs]


        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9azrAX45kY


Chales Mingus album "Mingus Ah UM Charles Mingus" has gone down in jazz history as a classic.



            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7hoX7golZI&list=PLiN-7mukU_REK9zBMvZoNERNvhovxnsE5


Before we examine the musicians themselves, let us examine their incredible music starting with "Rashan Roland Kirk". In each case, the music could be transformed into a short story, or a painting.


"Short story; "She did it, she did it; she made him fall madly in love like he never dreamed he could fall before".


Bobby Timmons "Moanin" is self explanatory. "So Tired"; a man looking for a job, and he's so tired, but he has to keep pushing until he finds one. Or, the myriad of other things that one can be in pursuit of that will not let one rest until it's found; it could be peace of mind.


Mingus's works are tone poems in themselves.



Let's go back to the original question "Where did they come from?". Since I gave a link to their biographies, you can draw your own conclusions and tell us your conclusions.

Seeing Glen Moore's name in o10's post about made me think of Oregon, which then led to this -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld9VEgOvjsI

frog, before dad married my mother he had a part time gig in a dance band playing a C melody sax.  As you might guess that was during the '30s when they were popular.  I'm not aware of many (any?) sax players using those today.  I imagine with the size of Dr. Cohen's collection he likely has one though.

Anyway, it was dad's love of jazz from the late '20s to the swing bands from WW 2 that gave me my history lessons in that music.  Admittedly that was subconscious at the time as I didn't care for much of it then.  But years later I grew to appreciate that foundation as I could hear the influences in what developed afterward.  Then too I discovered I really did love music from such as Louie Armstrong and Jack Teagarden, as I've confessed here before.