100 Jazz Tunes Everyone Should Hear (#5) Louis Armstrong Dinah Live 1933

#5 - Louis Armstrong * 'Dinah' * Live in Copenhagen, 1933


Originality, virtuosity, invention, quotation, innovation: in short, the complete musician, all bursting with a joy you cannot get from any other music. God's gift to America: Louis Armstrong.

[ This is not a comprehensive list, nor is it representative of the "most important" or "best." Instead, following Duke Ellington's adage that the greatest music and musicians are "beyond category", I'm starting 2020 by sharing 100 jazz tunes I feel everyone should have the chance to hear--really just tunes and performances that I love. ]

Conn or Buescher? The Question of Sidney Bechet's Soprano Sax

Conventional wisdom and several websites suggest that Sidney Bechet played a Buescher True Tone Soprano Sax from the 1920s throughout his later career. I'm pretty sure I've seen plenty of footage and photographs of him with that Buescher, so this video surprised me. In it, he seems to be playing not a Buescher but a Conn, with the distinctive right hand thumb ring clearly displayed in the first number on this video ("Buddy Bolden's Stomp").

If anyone knows about this and Bechet's use of a Conn Soprano Sax, please let me know! It would be interesting to find out if there is any documentation of when he played this other than the video.

100 Jazz Tunes Everyone Should Hear (#4) Artie Shaw Live in 1939

#4 - Artie Shaw * 'The Carioca' * Live in 1939


The unity of Artie Shaw's whole concept--from his expressive development of the altissimo register of the clarinet, to the clear band arrangements, slotting the instruments perfectly and giving space for his counterpoint--is on display from this 1939 air check. Add to that an all star crew that included a young Buddy Rich drumming and chirping the band on, and you've got one of the jazz tunes everyone should hear...

[ This is not a comprehensive list, nor is it representative of the "most important" or "best." Instead, following Duke Ellington's adage that the greatest music and musicians are "beyond category", I'm starting 2020 by sharing 100 jazz tunes I feel everyone should have the chance to hear--really just tunes and performances that I love. ]

100 Jazz Tunes Everyone Should Hear (#3) Pete Fountain Live in Santa Monica 1961

#3 - Pete Fountain 'Tin Roof Blues' Live in Santa Monica 1961

As I wrote in an album review a couple of years back, this performance of 'Tin Roof Blues' is something special:

One of several high points in the album is the 4 minute 46 second masterpiece that is 'Tin Roof Blues.' Jack Sperling's swung triplet blues pattern on drums and Stan Wrightsman's piano soul set the table for Pete's slow, unfolding blues--one of the finest captured on record, in my opinion. Like Bechet on 'Blue Horizon', Pete begins in the chalumeau and patiently climbs, singing sweetly, letting the band push, then pushing himself, the discussion between the musicians leading to an full, insistent, even piercing altissimo climax that perfectly utilizes the unique expressive power of the clarinet. This is one of those recordings that truly demonstrates the capacity of clarinet among other blues instruments.

[ This is not a comprehensive list, nor is it representative of the "most important" or "best." Instead, following Duke Ellington's adage that the greatest music and musicians are "beyond category", I'm starting 2020 by sharing 100 jazz tunes I feel everyone should have the chance to hear--really just tunes and performances that I love. ]

National Bobblehead Day

Apparently January 7th is designated "National Bobblehead Day" by whatever authority is capable of proclaiming it. All over social media, those of us who have bobbleheads are supposed to share our favorites. Well I don't own many, but of the ones I have, this is clearly the favorite!

Pete Fountain Bobblehead
Eric Seddon Collection

100 Jazz Tunes Everyone Should Hear (#2)

#2 - Bootie's Blues, Count Basie 'On the Road' live at Montreux 1979

Released on a relatively obscure live album by Count Basie late in his career, "Bootie's Blues" features journeyman trombone man and plunger-master Mitchell "Bootie" Wood. A native of Dayton, OH, Wood was in and out of the jazz business from the 1930s until his death in 1987. Over the course of those years he performed and recorded with many great bands, but most notably Ellington and Basie. 

This performance features Wood's plunger and blues mastery. Particularly invigorating is his intensity ramping up to the big brass climax of the number. 

Footnote: throughout this series, I'm going to try to prioritize live recordings that are not necessarily well known. Of course I'll throw in some war horses now and then (because they're great or they wouldn't be war horses) but I'd like a tune like "Bootie's Blues" to be typical--just a great number that many might have missed. I've also always thought that live jazz is the best. Despite the many great studio recordings out there, jazz is ultimately a communal and interactive art form--not just between musicians, but with the audience as well. The intensity Wood generates on this number wouldn't have been possible without the audience.    

[ This is not a comprehensive list, nor is it representative of the "most important" or "best." Instead, following Duke Ellington's adage that the greatest music and musicians are "beyond category", I'm starting 2020 by sharing 100 jazz tunes I feel everyone should have the chance to hear--really just tunes and performances that I love. ]

100 Jazz Tunes Everyone Should Hear (#1)

This isn't a comprehensive list, nor do I claim these are the "most important" or "best", but following Duke Ellington's adage that the greatest are "beyond category", I'm going to start 2020 by sharing 100 jazz tunes that I love, and feel everyone should have the chance to hear.

Since Duke has been a guiding light to the idea, let's start with his live version of 'Take the A Train' in 1957. Though the studio version is excellent, and a must-listen in itself, this particular live version has such verve and meaning -- I particularly love how Harry Carney's baritone sax comes through, almost like he's leading from the bottom. It also gives a snapshot of the Ellington band on an average night in the late 50s; an era when it was difficult to keep a Big Band on the road or together at all. The commitment of the musicians shines through.