Playlist and Notes: 21 March 2023

On today’s show we celebrate some March Birthdays and then part one of our exploration of the music of jazz and blues artists who are associated with Pennsylvania.

 

Playlist

Quincy Jones and his Orchestra – Quintessence (4:22)

Norah Jones – Turn Me On (2:35)

Bix Beiderbecke with Hoagy Carmichael and his Orchestra – Rockin’ Chair (3:26)

Wes Montgomery – My Favorite Things (3:08)

Ahmad Jamal – Pittsburgh (7:02)

Kevin Eubanks – Blue in Green (3:13)

Jimmy Smith – The Cat (3:22)

John Coltrane – Impressions (Take 1) (4:07) (McCoy Tyner on piano)

Keith Jarrett – Country (5:01)

Paul Chambers – Dear Old Stockholm (6:44)

Sister Rosetta Tharpe – Up Above My Head (2:58)

Bessie Smith – Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out (2:57)

 

Reminder: At the Luhrs Center

The United States Army Field Band Jazz Ambassadors – Monday, 27 March 2023, 7PM

 

Notes: Some March Birthdays

Quincy Jones – 14 March

Norah Jones – 30 March

Bix Beiderbecke – 10 March 1903 (Davenport, IA) – Legendary jazz cornetist, who was spectacularly popular and influential during the 1920s but largely unknown by many today. He did not fit the mode of jazz musicians of the early days of jazz. Rather than emerging out of New Orleans, Bix was from a stern German immigrant family in Iowa. Louis Armstrong commented on Bix by saying, “Ain’t None of Them Play Like Him Yet.” Unfortunately, Beiderbecke died at the age of 28 from pneumonia complicated by alcoholism in 1931. There are films or him playing and recordings of him were nowhere close to modern standards. A brief listen confirms his genius.[1]

Wes Montgomery – 6 March

  • “My Favorite Things” from The Sound of Music by Hammerstein and Rodgers

 

Notes: Jazz and Blues artists associated with Pennsylvania (part 1)

Ahmad Jamal – b. 2 July 1930 (Pittsburgh, PA) [piano] – Currently 92-years-old. Quote: “Pittsburgh meant everything to me, and it still does.”[2] 

Kevin Eubanks – b. 15 November 1957 (Philadelphia) [guitar] – Leader of the Tonight Show Band (1995-2010).

  • “Blue in Green” written by Bill Evans and Miles Davis and appeared on Miles Davis’s 1959 album, Kind of Blue.

Jimmy Smith – b. 8 December 1925 (Norristown, PA); d. 8 February 2005 [organ, Hammond B-3]

  • “The Cat” title track from Smith’s 1964 album.

McCoy Tyner – b. 11 December 1938 (Philadelphia); d. 6 March 2020 [piano] – NEA Jazz Master; 5-time Grammy winner

  1. John Coltrane Impressions (Take 1) from Both Directions at Once, recorded in 1964. Tyner on piano, Coltrane (sax), Jimmy Garrison (double bass), and Elvin Jones (drums).

Keith Jarrett – b. 8 May 1945 (Allentown, PA) [piano] – Unfortunately, Keith suffered a series of strokes in 2018 and is no longer able to play the piano.[3]

Paul Chambers– b. 22 April 1935 (Pittsburgh); d. 4 January 1969 [bass] – A member of Miles Davis’s first great quintet. Died at the age of 33 from tuberculosis.  

Sister Rosetta Tharpe – b. 20 March 1915 (Cotton Plant, AR); d. 9 October 1973 (Philadelphia) [guitar, vocal] – She was an influence upon early rock stars such as Elvis and Johnny Cash, when asked about it she reportedly said: “Oh, those kids and rock and roll music – this is just sped up rhythm and blues. I’ve been doing that forever.”

 


[1] Gerald Gold, “Early Jazz Figures Toast Bix Beiderbecke,” New York Times, 10 August 1981, page C16, https://www.nytimes.com/1981/08/10/arts/early-jazz-figures-toast-bix-beiderbecke.html; Glenn Kenny, “’Bix’ Review: A Jazz Legend Fondly Remembered,” New York Times, 5 August 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/05/movies/bix-aint-none-of-them-play-like-him-yet-review.html.

[2] Gerald Early 2001: 75-81.

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