GREAT MELODY, GREAT LYRIC, GREAT RENDITION

[Mark Blackburn]

 

CAROL KAYE -- Lady Bass Legend who recorded "10,000 sessions" 

“I was 13” recalls 'sessions legend' Carol Kaye “and this traveling salesman with a steel guitar said, 'For ten bucks you can buy this little steel and get two or three lessons' …. ”

 

From an inspired feature interview (by 'The Snapshots Foundation') with an 88 year old original member of Hollywood's “Wrecking Crew” – who each did recording sessions numbering in the thousands with so many important artists.

What a delight to hear Carol Kaye in her own words. Love the comments elicited by this great feature including this one from SARAH (2 years ago):

"Carol Kaye's story needs to be commemorated in a major feature film. She is a musical magician and should get the recognition she deserves. Her instrumental ingenuity permeates throughout American music for decades and yet people rarely even know her name. She's amazing and inspiring 🎸

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4JWqK6r6N4

 

Wikipedia:

According to the New York Times, she played on 10,000 recording sessions.^[12] She appeared on sessions by Frank Sinatra, Simon & Garfunkel, Stevie Wonder, Barbra Streisand, The Supremes, The Temptations, the Four Tops and The Monkees.^[13] She played electric bass on Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'", while Chuck Berghofer played double bass.^[14][15] She also came up with the introduction on fellow session player Glen Campbell's hit "Wichita Lineman".^[16] Kaye later said that during the 1960s, she would sometimes play three or four sessions per day, and was pleased that so many of them created hit records.^[15]

Through her work with Spector, Kaye caught the attention of The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson, who used her on several sessions, including the albums Beach Boys Today, Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!), Pet Sounds and Smile.^[2] Unlike other sessions, where she was free to work out her own bass lines, Wilson always came in with a very specific idea of what she should play.^[2] By Pet Sounds, Wilson was asking musicians such as Kaye to play far more takes than typical sessions, often running over ten passes of a song, with sessions stretching well into the night.^[17]

https://www.facebook.com/mark.blackburn.3910/

Edited April 24, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

JACK SHELDON – Here's That Rainy Day

 

Having posted here a thousand times, I realize that there are probably not enough hours left in my life to re-visit and savor “just once more” all my favorites:  The same poignant thought most of us have each time we look at our book shelves, or boxes of CDs gathering dust in the basement and realize:  There just ain't enough hours left to re-visit all “my favorite things.”  Unless .... we pick one or two that would still meet our  “play this at my funeral” criteria.  Like this one. 

Jack Sheldon left us three years ago – not long after I'd posted an appreciation at his Facebook page, and re-worked it here (40 pages ago). Hope it's still enjoyable!

 

“Earlier today I learned from a kindred spirit at Sinatra Family Forum of the passing of my all-time favorite trumpet virtuoso. Coincidentally (or not) this very day I had looked over a basement bookshelf and . . . there it was: my all time favorite music video: "JACK SHELDON – TRYING TO TO GET GOOD -- a Penny Peyser (Jack's daughter) film.” I pick it up and look at the cover: “Compelling and Highly Entertaining” – said Leonard Maltin ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT. "Featuring Chris Botti, Billy Crystal, Clint Eastwood, Tierney Sutton and many more.”

Just put the DVD into the dusty player and – immediately had to transcribe its interview with a songwriting hero of mine, Dave Frishberg:

 

“It was Los Angeles. I think the year may have been 1953 or 54. We are playing in the orchestra at Zardi's (sp?) It's a Sunday afternoon. The place is crowded. [The band] knew, in those days you wore a suit and tie – by the book: we ALL had suits and ties on and . . . “Jack comes in, with a big Hawaiian shirt, and swimming trunks. And like, thongs on the feet. He's come from the beach: his hair was practically bleached by the sun. He was like a Golden Surfer Boy. And he is carrying a trumpet. He came up on the bandstand and played with us. I'll never forget it. I said, Who IS that guy? Somebody said, 'That is Jack Sheldon.'

“My first gig with Jack: I don't remember who called me, but someone said: Jack Sheldon wants you to work with him. What I remember most was when the gig ended, when I discovered my car had been towed away. And impounded. It was a terrible hassle to get my car back. So yes, I'll never forget my first Jack Sheldon gig. And, as it turned out, it was quite representative of all the gigs that followed!”

----

May I repeat, this is my favorite such music special on DVD “The Jazz Odyssey of Jack Sheldon: You may remember him as Merv Griffin's trumpet-wielding sidekick, or the indelible voice on SCHOOL HOUSE ROCK . . . Trying to get Good takes a look deep inside the eternally-dissatisfied soul of an artist who's not only just trying to get good on the trumpet, but in his life as well.”

The film's opening words, set to the sound of Jack playing Stardust over early black & white home movies of Jack's Mom – teaching babies in the neighborhood to swim in the backyard pool. Jack says,

 

“To me Jazz is freedom – a live solo on stage, to me it becomes validating: I become a different person, and become really valuable on stage; I become natural there. Like I am doing something really worthwhile. Everything else is just preparing to go on stage.”

----

Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio introduced me to my favorite of Jack Sheldon's latter day recordings – with the tightest jazz band arrangement of HERE'S THAT RAINY DAY. His vocal is artless genius. You think, Heck I could sing like that. Oh no you can't.

Listen again to the solo that begins about a minute in. To paraphrase Sinatra (in the original That's Entertainment film, introducing Fred Astaire and Eleanor Powell's 8-minute spell-binding dance performance of Porter's 'Begin the Beguine') -- “You can wait around a hundred years and you'll never (hear) the likes of this again.”
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5dfRWyNQy4

 

Edited April 27, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

UAN RASEY – Love Theme from 'Chinatown'

 

After posting the above, I re-watched the Jack Sheldon documentary last night and was reminded that Jack had a teacher – a life-long coach actually, by the name of UAN RASEY. Who in old age (he died in 2011) provided this superb documentary with the most profound insights into Jack Sheldon's personal life as well what makes for great trumpet playing. Mr. Rasey should know. Hollywood's greatest musicians considered him, as Andre Previn put it simply, “The best trumpet player in Hollywood history.”

A 90^th birthday article (a month before his passing) noted that ...

 

Heard on the sound tracks of dozens of motion pictures, Rasey was acclaimed as one of the most gifted trumpet artists of the twentieth century. André Previn, who was Rasey’s colleague in the MGM studio orchestra in the 1940s and ’50s, offered a birthday accolade typical of those who knew and worked with him:

"He was not only the best trumpet player working at the film studios in Hollywood, but also a kind and good friend."

From 1949 through the first half of the 1970s Rasey was first trumpet of the nonpareil MGM studio orchestra. His teaching has inspired many of the leading studio and jazz trumpeters of the past sixty years, among them Fats Navarro, Pete Candoli, Arturo Sandoval and Jack Sheldon.

For a summary of Rasey’s career and to hear one of his most celebrated solos, go to this Rifftides piece posted on his birthday, when 40 trumpeters appeared outside Rasey’s house to serenade him with “Trumpeter’s Prayer.” His grandson, Tristan Verstraten, told me this evening that his grandfather died peacefully in his sleep at Woodland Hills Kaiser Hospital in Los Angeles, where he had been taken after his heart and kidney problems worsened. Three of his children were with him.

Recalling Rasey’s spirit and character, Mr. Verstraten told this story:

 

When he was 89 years old, he learned that his seven-year-old granddaughter Taylor had no way home from school because her mother had been delayed. Rather than let her wait, possibly for a long time, he called Access Paratransit. Blind and in his wheelchair, he got into the Access van and traveled three miles to the school. When he got there, he wheeled himself into the school, found Taylor and took her home in the van. Then, when they got to the house he fixed her a meal, and when Taylor’s mom got home, she found the two of them partying, having a great time.

 

There will be no funeral service, Mr. Verstraten said, but a celebration of life, “a shindig,” will be scheduled in a couple of weeks.

Known not for improvising but for the perfection of his technique and the purity of his sound, Rasey tells his students, “Roar softly,” and “Have reverence for every note.”

If you can’t quite bring his sound to mind, here he is playing Jerry Goldsmith’s love theme from Chinatown.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egga1aB05nA

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

JACK SHELDON – That Old Black Magic

 

I awoke today thinking of the great musicians, most of them no longer with us, who played with Doc Severinsen in Johnny Carson's Tonight Show orchestra – and trying to recall their longest-serving piano player – who at the end of his life recorded my favorite 'alone together' albums with trumpet great Jack Sheldon. Just the two of them.

The name came back to me – “Ross Tompkins” – just as I checked to see 'what's playing right this minute' on Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio: Sure enough (if I didn't know better I'd say What a coincidence!). For the third or fourth time in the past 24 hours, just for me, I like to think, channel 70 is playing Jack Sheldon and an uncredited Ross Tompkins and their delightful “New York Medley” – 8 or 9 minutes of musical joy (that features Vernon Duke's Autumn in New York, Rodgers & Hart's I'll Take Manhattan, and Kander & Ebb's New York, New York).

 

Never at YouTube, including today, but the first Jack Sheldon offering there is one I haven't seen before – a 'live' big band performance in New York almost 40 years ago; posted by a great trumpet-player and a great arranger in his own right, John LaBarbera (Wiki note below). He included a note that this performance of Johnny Mercer's OLD BLACK MAGIC combines “for all you Jack Sheldon fans, comedy and trumpet, plus a great chart by Bill Holman.” At New York's Beacon Theater, March 17, 1984.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH0OsStvspY&t=18s

 

John LaBarbera (born November 10, 1945) is a trumpeter and arranger who worked with the Buddy Rich Orchestra during the late 1960s.

LaBarbera joined Buddy Rich's band in 1968, but moved to Buddy DeFranco's Glenn Miller Band later that year, before rejoining Rich in 1971.[1] 

"In the 1980s and 1990s he worked principally as a composer and an arranger, supplying new scores for college and high-school big bands and fulfilling commissions for films, television, and commercials".[1] In the area of jazz education, he "directed jazz ensembles at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, from 1988 to 1991 and then joined the faculty in the jazz studies program at the University of Louisville".[1]

His On the Wild Side was nominated for a Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album Grammy award in 2004.

 

 

 

Edited April 29, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

ELIANE ELIAS – There Will Never Be Another You

 

My favorite song to play when trying out a new instrument at the guitar store is THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER YOU – from my second-favorite composer after Dick Rodgers – Harry (Salvatore Guaragna) Warren. So. It's quarter to three, and there's no one in the place except you and me, and Siriusly Sinatra is playing my new favorite jazz version – by Brazilian singer / pianist Eliane Elias.

Is it at YouTube? Even better: Eliane and the late great Chick Corea 'alone together' with Yamaha concert grand pianos – the best 'four-handed' rendition I could even imagine. Made all the more poignant because Chick Corea died that same year, 2021. Google to be reminded that he was the most decorated of all jazz pianists: he won 27 (correct) Grammy awards and was nominated more than 70 times.

Really, isn't this wonderful?

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZTq0siU3Ik

 

Wikipedia:

Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz composer, pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and occasional percussionist.^[2][3] His compositions "Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba", and "Windows" are widely considered jazz standards.^[4] As a member of Miles Davis's band in the late 1960s, he participated in the birth of jazz fusion. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever.^[3] Along with McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock, and Keith Jarrett, Corea is considered to have been one of the foremost jazz pianists of the post-John Coltrane era.^[5]

Corea continued to collaborate frequently while exploring different musical styles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He won 27 Grammy Awards and was nominated more than 70 times for the award.

Corea celebrated his 75th birthday in 2016 by playing with more than 20 different groups during a six-week stand at the Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village, New York City. "I pretty well ignore the numbers that make up 'age'. It seems to be the best way to go. I have always just concentrated on having the most fun I can with the adventure of music."^[20]

Corea died of a rare form of cancer shortly after his diagnosis. He died at his home near Tampa Bay, Florida on February 9, 2021, at the age of 79.^[2][33][34]

 

 

Edited April 30, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

GORDON LIGHTFOOT – If You Could Read My Mind

Gordon Lightfoot died yesterday at age 84. Canadian newspapers including our own Winnipeg Free Press were ready with front page notices (“See page 4”) and extensive obituaries. Those of us 'of an age' have our own favorite memories of a performer who was so admired by other singer-songwriters: Bob Dylan called him “a rare talent.” Among his best ballads was this one (singled out here about 40 pages and a thousand comments ago):

 

SONG FOR A WINTER'S NIGHT - Gordon Lightfoot

When I was 21 (it was a very good year) I got to see Gordon Lightfoot perform this lovely ballad at a high school auditorium in my hometown of Ottawa Canada. A sell out crowd of 600 (correct) where his previous performance at a coffee house had attracted 50 per night. His star was rising and his second album -- with SONG FOR A WINTER'S NIGHT (and Canadian Railroad Trilogy) had just been released. We called him GORD (as if we'd known him personally) and . . . oh, the magic of his live performances. We must have looked like this audience, faces almost sombre in solemn appreciation of the beauty unfolding before us. They categorized him as "folk" music but you listen to a ballad like this one (especially loved by guitar giant Jerry Reed) and you realize that Gord transcended musical categories.

A rare video from the early days of color TV in Canada. What a time capsule treat! Still gives me goose bumps, for reasons I can't put in words. Lightfoot's artless words remind us that there are "Tell me" song lyrics and "Show Me" -- the latter are rarer and usually better. Case in point.

“The fire is dying now, my lamp is growing dim / The shades of night are lifting / The mornin' light steals across my windowpane Where webs of snow are drifting / If I could only have you near, to breathe a sigh or two -- I would be happy just to hold the hands I love / On this winter's night with you”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfyDs6uXww0

https://www.facebook.com/mark.blackburn.3910?comment_id=Y29tbWVudDo3ODc1NTE3MTk0MDE5NDNfNTk0MTUzNzg5MzMzMTk5

 

 

 

Edited May 2, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

RICK BEATO – Reflections on Gordon Lightfoot

 

“There's a quote here,” says Rick Beato, “from Jimmy Buffett: 'So if you think you hear a LITTLE …. correction – a LOT – of Gordon Lightfoot in my songs? Congratulations! You are correct. He was the greatest that my mediocrity tried to imitate; Gordon was my guide through the musical woods. It's one of the unique and pretty cool parts of being successful: Inspiring others. Which is exactly what Gordon Lightfoot did for me'

– Jimmy Buffett.

 

This before Rick's spontaneous reflection on Canadian Railroad Trilogy. Which as David Watkins said (below) “51 minutes ago”: “The Canadian Railroad Trilogy is just an astonishing composition. Every verse, every bridge with minor alterations gives something new.” At around the 22:52 mark Rick Beato comments on 'Trilogy.'  Rick says his one big regret in life is not getting to see Gordon Lightfoot in concert:

 

“He played in Macon Georgia in 1996 and I tried to get some of my friends to go with me. And no one would go. And it's about an hour-and-a-half drive. For some reason I didn't go, so I never got to see him play. I don't know why I didn't just drive by myself .... And I regret that -- every day – that I lived my entire life without seeing Gordon perform.”

 

Loved Rick's closing thought: "Go on a Lightfoot binge for a month [if] you want to know how to write songs. He was Bob Dylan's favorite songwriter. And that's enough for me."

 

 

Edited May 4, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

DOYLE DYKES -- It is Well (with my soul) / "Sails"

Beginning around the 5:15 mark fingerstyle virtuoso Doyle Dykes plays the most beautiful rendition of IT IS WELL (with my soul) that I have ever heard.  Don't you love the look of peace that descends on his face when Doyle Dykes plays a favorite hymn on perhaps his favorite guitar.

 

 

Love that at around the 8:35 mark Doyle 'quotes' the refrain of an obscure but unforgettable melody Chet Atkins recorded in 1987 on one of his first albums for Columbia Records. A 70's song called SAILS – composed by a then- husband and wife songwriting team – John & Johanna Hall – for the group 'Orleans' (they had a major hit, “Dance With Me” – another song Chet loved). Steve Wariner recorded his version of Sails the summer of 1993 (and sang the song's poignant, seldom-heard lyric). Search for "Sails" and there are two of Doyle Dykes' good friends on a duet that I hadn't seen before. Really, is there anything you can't find at YouTube?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isWBCsDKx7Y

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

GORDON LIGHTFOOT – Song for a Winter's Night (live)

 

As if to say,  'Bet you never heard THIS arrangement' (no I hadn't) the intuitive genius that is YouTube circa 2023 just sent me a 'latter day' performance:  dare I say, "my new favorite." Taken at a slightly slower pace, with an unnamed 'Roland' keyboard synth player providing perfect 'orchestral' support.

Gord delights his huge concert hall audience with the reminder that "this song – all about snow and winter, and the romance thereof, was written …. during a thunderstorm in Cleveland Ohio.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVG2eF40hzE

 

[Mark Blackburn]

GORDON LIGHTFOOT – The Last Time I Saw Her

 

“And if time COULD 'heal the wounds'

I would tear the threads away.

That I might bleed some more …. ”

 

I don't know why but I'm crying – tears streaming down my face, as I listen for the first time in ages to yet another Gordon Lightfoot song that used to be “my favorite” – whose title I'd almost forgotten (his catalog is that large) but the best lines come back to me – words only he could have written.

“No, really -- THIS one is my favorite of his songs!” I find myself saying yet again, between the tears.

Just read the comments from kindred souls below the video. Wonder how many millions of us are feeling the same way?

 

Ronald Pokatiloff (2 years ago)

It sends the feeling of the hurt inside his mind better than any other song.

Maude Zelma (4 years ago)

"I would tear the threads away that I might bleed some more".....how beautifully gut-wrenching. I have loved this deeply so much so I've ached inside. Heart breaking.

Edward Lewek (8 days ago)

Good Lord, I am weeping as I listen to this song. This has to be one of the saddest songs I've ever heard. This man knows how to write and sing a song that just pulls your heart strings.

Laura Anne (2 days ago)

Sitting here, crying. Finding it difficult to think of a world without Gord's beautiful voice to sing his wonderful music. What a gift. All of Canada is tearing up tonight....

Leah Ghiradella (1 day ago)

Just read his obituary in The New York Times, and I, too, am crying.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWC4-haeE-k

 

 

 

Edited May 4, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

LIGHTFOOT – Get Together (from a '65 time capsule)

 

I tried today to imagine which great American 'jazz standards' Gordon Lightfoot might have admired – for their great lyrics and memorable tunes. I never heard him quoted on the subject. It's a question I would have asked him!

I spoke to Gordon on two occasions very early in his career;  the first, circa 1965, in a hallway at Le Hibou coffee house in Ottawa (seating for 50 patrons per set) and asked him how he tuned his bass strings to get that signature sound on 'Early Morning Rain': “Just tune your (big) E string down to D,” he said.

Five years later – before yet another high school auditorium performance (in London Ontario) I requested of him a song he'd played early in his career. “What was it called,” I said, reciting the refrain:

 

“We are but a moment's sunlight fading in the grass … Come on people now, smile on your brother, everybody get together, try and love one another – right now.”

 

“ Get Together” he said, “by Dino Valenti ... or Chet Powers.” He indicated that he wouldn't take requests for old favorites someone else had composed. I may have told him – that on that particular song, his faster than usual strumming (on his wonderful 12-string Gibson) "gave me goosebumps."

----

Google for it and – sure enough: there is an upload to YouTube from a live performance in Cleveland Ohio circa 1965 – same city (same time?) that he composed Song For a Winter's Night “during a thunderstorm.”

A flawed yet evocative video of mid-sixties images, with a lyrics scroll full of wrong words and misspellings – including 'thought' for 'though' in the closing stanza – but with Gord's voice at the peak of its power – hitting clean, upper register notes more tenor than baritone.

So. A song 'composed by someone else' that Gordon loved enough to perform on stage. I like to imagine his song-writing soul could still be stirred late-in-life by words like these:

 

“Love is but a song we sing

Fear's – the way we die

You can make the mountains ring,

or make the angels cry.

Though the bird is on the wing,

and you may not know why …

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyAHdpTQT5M

 

[Google to learn “What happened to Dino Valenti? (aka Chet Powers)]

He died unexpectedly at his home in Santa Rosa, California on November 16, 1994, although his younger sister mentioned on his website that Dino was getting bored with life around him and was ready for something new. “The night he died, he called a lot of people… some of whom he hadn't talked to in quite a while.Nov 14, 2015

[The song's listed composer “Chet Powers” and Dino Valenti, were one and the same.]

Chester William Powers, Jr. (October 7, 1937 – November 16, 1994) was an American singer-songwriter, and under the stage names Dino Valenti or Dino Valente, ...

Edited May 8, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

KENNY RANKIN – Pussywillows, Cattails, Soft Winds and Roses

 

When I awoke this morning (to borrow an opening line from another favorite Lightfoot song) I was thinking about the most beautifully 'impressionistic' song (both words & tune) that Gordon ever wrote: the one I thought most likely to be covered by jazz singers and instrumentalists:  Pussywillows, Cattails (Soft Winds and Roses)

Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio gives regular airplay to my alltime favorite jazz guitarist / singer Kenny Rankin. I believe they've played this 1974 recording -- featuring Kenny's own nylon-string guitar stylings plus a lovely string arrangement.

Combined with an inspired video and accurate lyrics scroll – this is such a treat, you may agree. Wonder if this was Gordon's own favorite 'jazz cover' of any of his songs? Kenny Rankin's rendition of 'Blackbird' was Paul McCartney's favorite (Wiki note below).

When 'home made' videos are this good, they tend to elicit heartfelt comments and this one posted a decade ago has accumulated 1.8 million 'views' and thoughts like these:

 

EARLE FROST (4 years ago)

“NICE!!!!! This is easily my favorite Gordon Lightfoot song, and this delightful artist does it justice. VERY lovely guitar playing in particular!!

LOVELY SO SWEET (3 years ago) “I used to blast this in my car, people stop me and ask me the name of this song!

MARILYN ALBERT (11 years ago) “My two daughters gave my husband and I goosebumps when they harmonized this together as children. I still love it!

MARIA XENIA ALLEN (11 years ago) “Excellent video!!! Love the photos and the quality of the sound recording is perfect (to my imperfect years.) Eternal memory, Mr. Kenny Rankin, who gave me many hours of enjoyment of his songs. "Silver Morning" is a perfect album; have loved it since the 1970s. Thanks for sharing!

 

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

 

Kenneth Joseph Rankin (February 10, 1940 – June 7, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter in the folk rock and singer-songwriter genres; he was influenced by jazz. Rankin would often sing notes in a high range to express emotion.

He was a guitarist on the album Bringing It All Back Home by Bob Dylan.[3] He appeared on The Tonight Show more than twenty times.[3] Late night TV host Johnny Carson wrote the liner notes to Rankin's 1967 debut album, Mind Dusters.

After recording the Beatles' song "Blackbird" for his album Silver Morning, he was asked by Paul McCartney to perform it when McCartney and John Lennon were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.[2]

When Rankin worked with Alan Broadbent, Mike Wofford, and Bill Watrous, his music got closer to jazz. His songs were performed by Peggy Lee, Mel Tormé and Carmen McRae; Stan Getz said his voice was like "a horn with a heartbeat".

Rankin befriended comedian George Carlin; both were signed to Little David Records. Starting in 1972 Rankin was often the opening act or musical guest for Carlin's live performances. Rankin sang at Carlin's memorial service in June 2008.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

DOYLE DYKES – On 60 Broadway

 

At Gordon Lightfoot's Facebook page I recalled a moment in 1965 when I spoke briefly with him at a coffee house (remember those?) in my hometown of Ottawa Canada when he was still largely unknown.  Alone with him in a hallway I asked how he tuned his bass strings to get that signature sound on Early Morning Rain. “Tune your (big) E string down to D,” he said.

Doyle Dykes does that here, for one of my favorite of his own compositions, titled “On 60 Broadway” – a tribute to Gretsch guitars' original NYC home – as well as to “honor Fred Gretsch” (who cherishes Doyle's music and friendship and has gifted him with guitars).

 

Doyle introduces us to his instrument: a “1955 Martin D-28, with Brazilian Rosewood.” (Coincidentally what Gordon Lightfoot always played when he wasn't playing his Gibson 12-string.)

At song's end, Doyle's adorable little Terrier intervenes “at the end of a hard day” to remind him “it's time for bed.”

----

Sent my way by the intuitive genius that is YouTube, as if to say: “You didn't see this first time around, did you?” (when posted 18 months ago). The entire eight minutes is a joy to hear ... but if you only have time for “60 Broadway” – pick it up halfway through at the 4:24 mark.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIRkJw86eGw

 

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

KENNY RANKIN – When Sunny Gets Blue / Peaceful

 

Like Gordon Lightfoot, Kenny Rankin started his career with live solo performances -- self-accompanied -- before small audiences in coffee houses:  ('Just me and my guitar' as James Taylor put it in a song of that title.) When I wasn't looking, someone shared to YouTube one such early performance – Kenny singing and playing his own composition “Peaceful” – a hit for Helen Reddy (see below).

I'm looking at an old 78 rpm record label – included in the Wiki entry for WHEN SUNNY GETS BLUE – reminding us who introduced this 50s jazz standard beloved by singers including Nat Cole (but not Sinatra) and virtuoso horn players like Chet Baker; as well as a host of 60s guitarists who were crazy about it – all of whose versions seem to have vanished like the wind since Johnny Mathis introduced the song in 1956 (B-side of his first hit “Wonderful, Wonderful” -- Wiki note below).

----

From his earliest days performing 'live' in coffee houses, before small audiences, Kenny Rankin would include this one with his own solo classical guitar (gut stringed) accompaniment.

Google for “Kenny Rankin at YouTube” and sure enough, the very first offering this day: “From the DVD The Jazz Channel Presents 2001”

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrt8Y-F3U14

 

Kenny Rankin with a very early solo performance one of his own compositions, 'Peaceful' (a hit for Helen Reddy).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=av21FvTeScE

 

According to Wikipedia

 

"When Sunny Gets Blue" is a song written by Marvin Fisher (music) and Jack Segal (lyrics), which has become a jazz standard.[1] The song was originally recorded in September 1956 by Johnny Mathis backed by Ray Conniff and his Orchestra, released in February 1957 as the B-side of Mathis's debut single "Wonderful! Wonderful!". The song was included on the compilation album Johnny's Greatest Hits, released in April 1958. The album was a smash hit, staying on the Billboard pop chart for 490 weeks, including 3 weeks at number 1, and 57 weeks in the Top Ten.[2]

The song was recorded in January 1957 by June Christy for her album Fair and Warmer!, released later that year.[2] Pete Rugolo arranged and conducted for Christy. Around the same time, Nat King Cole recorded it for his album Love Is the Thing, with this rendition praised by music critic Will Friedwald as displaying Cole's "tenderness, compassion and empathy".[3] Arranger Gordon Jenkins backed Cole.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

DIANA KRALL / JAMES TAYLOR – I've Grown Accustomed to (his/her) Face

 

At this moment Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio is playing Diana Krall's jazz cover of maybe the best song ever composed for Broadway;  many songwriters feel that way, including my compatriot Gene (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars) Lees -- lyricist and author who included an erudite analysis of its greatness, in one of his last books.

A 'guy song' -- until someone like Diana Krall sings it as,  “I've Grown Accustomed to HIS Face.” Her jazz cover was recorded in 2009. More recently James Taylor performed it -- with such definition you'd swear (if you didn't know better) that he wrote it – words and tune. (Not included on his Grammy-winning AMERICAN STANDARD album of 2020).

When he shared his 'official version' at YouTube, James Taylor included a thoughtful written introduction, complete with lyrics.

[JAMES wrote:]

 

"I've Grown Accustomed To Her face" was recorded during the sessions for "American Standard," but only released as a bonus track at certain outlets. [Including Target stores – which no longer exist in Canada. My copy was obtained and mailed to me by a dear friend -- “Bob in Boston.”]

“Written by Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner, for the 1956 musical 'My Fair Lady'."

“We cut more songs than would fit on the album, American Standard, which made the promotional department happy. They find uses for the extra tracks, usually as 'exclusive' material for the big box retailers. But I’ve regretted not giving these pieces the exposure I think they deserve.

“I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face is from one of my parents’ favorite records, the [Broadway] cast recording of Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady. '... damn, damn, damn, damn, damn... I’ve grown accustomed to her face...' Henry Higgins reluctantly realizes that he loves Liza Doolittle.”

James added that [one of Nashville's greatest living fiddlers] “Stuart Duncan plays a lovely tuned-down violin."

 

LYRICS

 

I've grown accustomed to her face

She almost makes the day begin

I've grown accustomed to the tune

She whistles night and noon

Her smiles, her frowns

Her ups, her downs

Are second nature to me now

Like breathing out and breathing in

 

I was serenely independent and content before we met

Surely I could always be that way again, and yet

I've grown accustomed to her look

Accustomed to her voice

Accustomed to her face

 

I guess I’m used to hear her say

Good morning everyday

Her joys, her woes

Her highs, her lows

 

They’re second nature to me now

Like breathing out and breathing in

I'm very grateful she's a woman

And so easy to forget

Rather like a habit

One can always break, and yet

I've grown accustomed to the trace

Of something in the air

Accustomed to her face

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHib412Eba8&t=1s

 

 

Diana Krall's 2009 recording was played this hour on Siriusly Sinatra: my “other favorite” jazz cover version.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75ZMaPM56kY

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

TONY BENNETT / STEVIE WONDER – For Once in My Life

“Stevie Wonder turned 73 today,” said my wife reading the paper aloud. Triggering memories of Stevie's greatest harmonica solos (rivaling Belgian-born Toots Thielemans as 'greatest-ever' on that instrument). No better solo than this one! (starting around the 2:04 mark).

My musical heroes recorded this, my favorite track on Tony's first DUETS album. A few months later they performed it 'live' at the Grammys – and won the award that night.

They had both introduced the song in the 60's – Stevie's was the hit version – of what became a life-long signature piece for both of them.

Love how Tony expresses (for all of us at song's end) the “wonder” of Stevie's playing.

That Grammy awards night video was promptly removed from YouTube for 'Grammy copyright' reasons. But someone's uploaded the audio of that performance – to one terrific photo of these geniuses at work.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQQzosJRtn8

 

Edited May 13, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

TONY BENNETT -- They Can't Take That Away from Me

 

On his Facebook page Tony Bennett shared a "portrait I painted of Frank Sinatra -- who died on this day in 1998."

 

[Compelled to respond:]

Like all 'master' painters Tony Bennett accomplishes so much in so few brush strokes! The REAL art of painting. Just look at the eyes! The deceptively simple application of a tiny bit of black paint and you wonder: how does he do that? And Sinatra's smile – that beaming smile – is one reserved for best friends like Tony.

The way your smile just beams . . .

The way you wear your hat . . .

Favorite lines from my favorite Gershwin tune. Hard to believe it's exactly 30 years since Tony Bennett and his great piano player Ralph Sharon (alone together) did the definitive recording of THEY CAN'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME. Definitive not least for including the first 50 seconds of the opening verse, which deserves to be heard, you may agree!
 

 

 

My friend (and all time favorite Amazon reviewer) Samuel Chell writes that Tony has "captured something very personal, intimate, subtle in the jawline and smile that makes him recognizable to anyone who had the luxury (as I did) of watching him in person multiple times and of course on film. It's not simply an expression of "selfish" pleasure but of a reassuring composure that projects itself onto the auditor(s). It's an expression that says 'That was marvelous! All is forgiven. Let's take it from the top and do it again. You go first this time. I'll have your back'."

 

Edited May 23, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

JANE MONHEIT / JOHN PIZZARELLI – They Can't Take That Away from Me

 

I was two years old when my parents acquired an album of 78 rpm records for a then- new Fred Astaire movie musical (The Barkleys of Broadway) featuring my very first “favorite song” --- the one about “The way you wear your hat ….”

After posting the above Tony Bennett version (and pronouncing it in some way “definitive”) YouTube sent me about 50 other versions! As if to say – Are you sure? What about these gems? Foremost among them a 'live' television performance of the best female jazz singer I've ever seen in concert here in Winnipeg – Jane Monheit, accompanied by John Pizzarelli (see below).

---

Just watched a replay of John's latest “5 o'clock somewhere” live-stream one hour show – hoping he would salute the song with a brand new version. Each time John plays it differently – another mark of a jazz virtuoso. And after playing three other Gershwin tunes, in medley, earlier in the show – and not this one – John suddenly says (at around the 21:29 mark) “Now – we're going back to Gershwin: 'The way you wear your hat' …. ”

At song's end an immediate transition to the best fast jazz samba version of the Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm that I have ever heard played and sung: at around 22:36 mark.

 

https://www.facebook.com/JohnPizzarelliOfficial/videos/181605601509890

 

 

My new (old) “favorite 'live' version by a female jazz singer” – sent my way today from YouTube: From most everyone's favorite jazz variety television show that was hosted by the late jazz piano great Ramsey Lewis – who left us last year at age 87.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNPBsuR--BM

 

 

Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis Jr. (May 27, 1935 – September 12, 2022) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and radio personality.[1] Lewis recorded over 80 albums and received five gold records and three Grammy Awards in his career. His album The In Crowd earned Lewis critical praise and the 1965 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Performance. His best known singles include "The 'In' Crowd", "Wade in the Water", and "Sun Goddess". Until 2009, he was the host of the Ramsey Lewis Morning Show on the Chicago radio station WNUA.

Lewis was also active in musical education in Chicago. He founded the Ramsey Lewis Foundation, established the Ravinia's Jazz Mentor Program, and served on the board of trustees for the Merit School of Music and The Chicago High School for the Arts.

Lewis died in his sleep at his home in Chicago, on September 12, 2022, at age 87.

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

WES MONTGOMERY – Down Here on the Ground

 

Not for the first time, I learned of the passing of a musical hero – arranger Don Sebesky – from my favorite jazz singer / guitarist John Pizzarelli: during his latest 'live-stream' “It's 5 o'clock somewhere” show John paused to say,

 

“Don Sebesky was a dear friend – and the reason I can play half of these chords to these songs, is because of him. He was just a darling man. And a genius. He made my life a lot easier with a lot of great charts, and things like that. Don Sabesky left this world at the age of 85 a couple of weeks ago (4/29/2023) and he is going to be sorely missed.”

Philadelphia radio station WRTI had (I think) the best online summing-up of Don's work:

 

Don Sebesky, whose dynamic flair as a composer and arranger left an indelible mark on the sound of modern jazz and pop orchestration, notably through a prolific association with the producer-executive Creed Taylor, died on April 29 at a senior living center in Maplewood, NJ. He was 85.

Sharing the news on social media, his son Ken Sebesky said he had died after a six-year struggle with post-stroke Parkinsonism.

For a generation or two of listeners, Sebesky’s arrangements are synonymous with worldly sophistication in a jazz-crossover lane. His work for Taylor’s CTI Records in the 1960s and ‘70s set the gold standard on albums like Freddie Hubbard’s First Light, Milt Jackson’s Sunflower, and Wes Montgomery’s Bumpin’ and A Day in the Life.

Sebesky was a perennial nominee at the Grammy Awards, and his three wins came in quick succession, all for his own recordings. He took best instrumental arrangement for a version of “Waltz For Debby” off the 1998 album I Remember Bill: The Tribute to Bill Evans. His next two were both for selections on Joyful Noise: A Tribute to Duke Ellington, which Sebesky often cited as the favorite among his albums. In addition to the arranging award for a take on “Chelsea Bridge,” he won best instrumental composition for “Joyful Noise Suite,” a three-part invention.

----

Turner Classic Movies TCM had “Cool Hand Luke” on two nights ago and it triggered a favorite musical memory – my favorite short solo by Wes Montgomery “arranged by Don Sebesky.”

The most viewed version (131K) at YouTube featured a review by my namesake "4 years ago":

 

Down Here on the Ground – Wes Montgomery

Ask any jazz guitarist where Wes Montgomery belongs on the list of guitar greats. They will, every single one of them say, “At the top.” I love it that Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio gives Wes almost daily air play.

My all-time favorite (short radio play) recording by Wes featured a very young Herbie Hancock at the Steinway. His obbligatos and fills are, to this day the very model of what the pianist should do in the presence of greatness. Bet you Wes complimented him during the playback of this recording!

The gorgeous melody, Down Here on the Ground, was composed by Lalo Schifrin. The mid-song improvisation by Wes remains my single favorite (short) jazz solo of all time. From the appropriately titled “Wes Montgomery's Finest Hour.” So it was. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-gaNU0d-Wk

 

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

PEGGY LEE – The Folks Who Live on the Hill

Google for The Folks Who Live On The Hill, and the first offering is “song by Peggy Lee” – which is fitting, because my favorite female singer 'owned' this one – playing right this minute on Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio with a graphic of a 2020 compilation album “Ultimate Peggy Lee.”

 

Peggy said it was her favorite of all of her recordings – not least because her good friend Frank Sinatra conducted the orchestra for the entire album.

It holds a special place in my heart: When I was 17 (a very good year) I played an instrumental recording of “Folks Who Live on the Hill” for my musical Mom – from a guitar album by Charlie Byrd. She promptly sang the entire lyric – by Oscar Hammerstein set to a perfect tune by the 'dean' of 20^th century composers Jerome Kern.

 

First version at YouTube this day – this one (with, I see, a review by my namesake “3 years ago”).

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcUG7LDenr0

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

TONY BENNETT – Sophisticated Lady

 

John Pizzarelli opened his latest live-stream show with a snippet of Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Lady. He didn't acknowledge it and I left him a note wondering “if any listeners caught it?” 

Google for “Sophisticated Lady” and the first offering this day at YouTube is also the most recent important recording – by Tony Bennett with solo piano accompaniment.

Comments from kindred spirits below the video speak for many of us – this one especially:

 

GSUSISBEAST

(1 year ago)

“Honestly one of the most beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. I am so attached to Tony’s version specifically. The way Tony ends the song is unforgettable.”

 

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

 

 

Google the question: “Who was Sophisticated Lady written for?

 

Answer: A good guess would be his mom, Daisy Kennedy Ellington. History tells us that she was a beautiful, intelligent, educated woman who doted on her son, Edward Kennedy Ellington (1899-1974).

----

Coincidentally I'd been looking at Tony Bennett's favorite of his many portrait paintings, one he said he “never could sell” and so it hung on a wall of his home for decades before he donated it to the National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian) which noted:

 

In honor of the 110th birthday of Duke Ellington, the National Portrait Gallery today unveiled a portrait of the composer by his friend and fellow musician Tony Bennett. 

The painting depicts Ellington with a bouquet of pink roses in the background. Bennett chose this motif to celebrate Ellington’s habit of sending the singer a dozen pink roses whenever Ellington composed a new song. In the first rank of American composers, Duke Ellington was “beyond category”: his more than 2,000 jazz compositions include “Satin Doll” and “Sophisticated Lady,” as well as Black, Brown and Beige and the later “Sacred Concerts.”

Legendary performer Tony Bennett (born Anthony Benedetto) here portrays the man he celebrated as his mentor. “When I worked on his portrait, I was inspired by the look of divine serenity on his face,” Bennett noted, and he inscribed the painting, “God Is Love.”

 

[Mark Blackburn]

TONY BENNETT – O Sole Mio

 

When I met Mr. Bennett outside Winnipeg's Fairmont Hotel and he inscribed my copy of his 1998 book The Good Life (“To Mark, Thank you very much!”) I told him how I was particularly affected by his recollections of his father: his "big hands, his strong arms," and that his Dad was so very musical and that, as Tony said, “He inspired my love for music.” Tony was only ten when his father died age 41 of congestive heart failure – something Tony says “could have been treated by modern medicine.”

Tony said that his Dad “derived tremendous pleasure from singing to anyone who would listen, just like he did himself, when he was a child. He had a beautiful voice. He used to sit on the front stoop of our house and sing a cappella to my brother and me, in the gentle sensitive voice that I can still hear.”

“My father was a very poetic, sensitive man, full of love and warmth, and I vividly recall being cradled in his giant arms until I fell asleep. I see the 'huge' man of my earliest memories. His arms were strong and his hands were big and his eyes were deep, dark and soulful. When I looked into those eyes I felt there wasn't a problem in the world that he couldn't solve.”

----

I'm guessing his Dad would have loved Tony's version of O Sole Mio recorded as a single in 1972; albeit a jazz arrangement (by Neal Hefti I believe) sung in the dialect of Naples in which it was originally composed. (Wiki note below).

A concert video from the time period attests to Tony's definitive rendition, you may agree. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fr2fKgMl7Cg&list=RDfr2fKgMl7Cg

Wikipedia

"'O sole mio" (Neapolitan pronunciation: [o ˈsoːlə ˈmiːə]) is a well-known Neapolitan song written in 1898. Its Neapolitan language lyrics were written by Giovanni Capurro and the music was composed by Eduardo di Capua (1865–1917) and Alfredo Mazzucchi (1878–1972).[2] The title translates literally as "my sun" or "my sunshine".[3] The lyrics have been translated to other languages.

 

English translation (first stanza)

What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!
The air is serene after a storm,
The air is so fresh that it already feels like a celebration.
What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!

Edited May 31, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

 

DR. DON SHIRLEY -- classical and boogie music at the Orange Bird jukejoint

 

Most everyone's favorite moment in “Green Book” – when Tony Lip tells the pretty bartender, “He's only the greatest piano player in the world.” And then to Don Shirley: “Go on, tell her!” “Don't tell me,” she says – “show me” – nodding in the direction of the piano: an upright (recently tuned) with the requisite 'glass left on one end of the piano' by “someone who should know better” -- as Doc jokes in a previous scene explaining to Tony why he couldn't perform classical music (only jazz standards and show tunes) for white audiences.

It's a moment at the end of their tour, and you realize that Tony has never heard his employer play a short virtuoso piece by a classical composer; neither has he any idea that Dr. Don Shirley is an admirer of boogie woogie piano stylings, and astonishes the appreciative blues band who join him on stage. Just as an aside:

Today I received my Amazon Prime “free shipping in 2 days” DVD copy (“disc made in Mexico”) – two days after I'd sent my musical sister in Toronto a “next day delivery” copy: “It took my breath away,” she said adding that “it's already one of my all-time favorite movies.”

She'd not heard of it before! I heard of it thanks to a daughter-in-law who predicted “you will enjoy this one.”

The subtleties in this scene! As when the cook emerges from the kitchen, an assistant in tow – to see for himself the source of this amazing music. The look on his face.

The casting of everyone in the 'Jukejoint' (not to mention the entire movie) is note perfect: Don't you love the beautiful 'bar maid'? – her joyful surprise the moment 'Dr. Don' plays those first, up-and-down-the-entire-keyboard arpeggios.

I'm 76 now, and believe this moment in film history will give me goosebumps at every replay. So if they're around when I shuffle off this mortal coil, I'll ask loved ones to play this four minutes of joy from “the Orange Bird” jukejoint.

 w

Edited June 2, 2023 by Mark Blackburn

[Mark Blackburn]

TONY BENNETT – All Mine

 

 

Tony Bennett's catalog is so vast that Siriusly Sinatra satellite radio keeps playing love songs of his I never heard before – like just this minute:

“The 24 hour home of the Great American Songbook,” says the unidentified voice of Channel 70 before playing ALL MINE – with a graphic of where to find this obscure but beautiful recording from Tony, with the refrain:

 

“From the moment of your birth, you were destined to be my love, always, all mine!”

 

Included on a 1997 Concord records compilation produced by Helen Keane (who produced Tony and Bill Evans' alone together recordings in the 70s). Arranger not specified in the otherwise informed note (below). At YouTube this day, a re-packaged version, posted by Tony himself two years ago.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgJXw6ZZBMk&t=27s

 

Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group All Mine · Tony Bennett Tony Bennett Sings For Lovers ℗ 1997 Concord Records Released on: 2006-03-03 Associated Performer, Vocals: Tony Bennett Associated Performer, Guitar: Wayne Wright Associated Performer, Upright Bass: John Giuffrida Associated Performer, Drums: Chuck Hughes Producer, Recording Producer: Helen Keane Studio Personnel, Mastering Engineer: Kirk Felton Composer Lyricist: Francis Hime Composer Lyricist: Jay Livingston Composer Lyricist: Ray Evans Composer Lyricist: Ruy Guerra

 

 

 

[Mark Blackburn]

CALABRIA FOTI – Just One of Those Things

 

I awoke this day (our hottest of the year so far) humming a Cole Porter tune – one of his best melodies and most memorable lyrics -- IT WAS JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS. Recalling in the shower one particular stanza. From memory imperfect . . .

 

If we thought a bit, to the end of it, when we started painting the town, we'd have been aware, that our love affair, was too hot, not to cool down . . .

So 'Goodbye Dear, and Amen' – here's hoping we'll meet now and then --  it was great fun, but it was just, one of those things.

 

Suddenly it is day's end, and guess what YouTube just sent my way? My favorite living jazz singer Calabria Foti and her most recent (2019) recording of same: made more memorable with a solo by my all-time favorite clarinet virtuoso Eddie Daniels who is now 81, and a jazz samba opening with nylon-stringed guitar played by another longtime hero of mine, Gene Bertoncini who turned 86 this year. Really, isn't this a delight?

From Calabria's all- Cole Porter album, 'In The Still of the Night.' If you purchase and don't love, I promise to pay for your copy. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YPxIw-ABek