Paul Whiteman was one of the biggest selling artists of the 1920s, and led one of the best-loved sweet bands of all time. Sweet bands were society or café orchestras. They played music for listening and as a background for dining and conversing, as opposed to swing bands whose music was the main attraction and […]
Song Of The Day – “Seven Come Eleven” by Charlie Christian w/ The Benny Goodman Sextet
The world of music is scattered with “what ifs,” such as “What if Waylon Jennings didn’t give his seat up to Buddy Holly on the ill-fated flight that took his life?,” or “What if John Lennon hadn’t been murdered…would there have been a Beatles reunion?” One of the more intriguing what-ifs in my book is […]
Song Of The Day– “Hymn Of The Seventh Galaxy” by Chick Corea and Return To Forever
Pianist extraordinaire, Chick Corea, got his professional start playing with the likes of Cab Calloway, Blue Mitchell, Herbie Mann, Willie Bobo and Mongo Santamaria. He went on to replace Herbie Hancock in Miles Davis’ band, and played with him from 1968 through 1971 during a crucial time when Miles was moving away from straight-ahead jazz, […]
Song Of The Day – “Freeway” by Gerry Mulligan Quartet
Here is some of the greatest the West Coast had to offer, from the very first release by Pacific Jazz Records! I scored an original 1952 10” pressing of this one (Pacific Jazz catalog number PJLP-1) on heavy microgroove vinyl in a garage sale many years ago! Not only did this record signal a bright […]
Song Of The Day – “Haunts Of Ancient Peace” by Van Morrison
Here we have one of Van Morrison’s most soulful pieces of music, originally from one of his most underrated albums. Common One was released in 1980 and features six deeply moving extended jazz meditations that hawked back to Morrison’s classic Astral Weeks album in sound and texture. However, unlike Astral Weeks, this record’s release was […]
Song Of The Day – “Rex Rhumba” by The Nat Cole Trio
Sure we all know Nat “King” Cole could sing…and lord knows he surely could play piano too. This Cole original highlights the guitarist in the trio, the great Oscar Moore, on a track from the essential 3-CD The Capitol Transcriptions recorded on March 20, 1946. Rounding out the trio was Johnny Miller on bass.
Song Of The Day – “That Old Black Magic” by Tony Bennett with The Dave Brubeck Trio
Every so often the reissue gods bestow upon us a truly special recording that music fans never knew existed. Recently, one such recording was unleashed upon an unsuspecting public by our friends at Sony Legacy, featuring a musical summit that took place between Tony Bennett and Dave Brubeck on August 28, 1962 at The White […]
Song Of The Day – “Our Man Higgins” by Lee Morgan
When an edited version of trumpeter Lee Morgan’s signature song, “The Sidewinder” was released as a single in 1964, it became the song that resuscitated Blue Note Records, literally saving the company from bankruptcy. As a result, Blue Note hounded Morgan to come up with another song that could do the trick again. The soul-jazz […]
Song Of The Day – “Harry’s House/Centerpiece” by Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell was coming off of Court And Spark, her most commercially successful studio recording to date, sporting several hit singles including “Free Man In Paris,” “Raised On Robbery” and “Help Me.” So by 1975 interest was very high as critics and fans alike awaited her next record which was believed to be the one […]
Song Of The Day – “Aire” by Chicago
By the time of the sessions for their sixth studio album (and seventh overall), Chicago had dozens of hits behind them and had grown restless and unhappy with the concise nature of their previous two records. Sure the albums established the group as a hit making machine, but the band began to feel that their […]
