Playlist and Notes 31 October 2023

 

It is an all-Halloween Themed Show today!

 

Paul James Band – It’s Halloween (4:24)

1895 – Monster Mash (3:15)

Louis Armstrong – Heebie Jeebies (2:54)

Cab Calloway – The Ghost of Smokey Joe (2:44)

Joshua Redman – Ghost (3:39)

Shinji – The Guardian Angel (4:42)

Art Blakey & the Jazz Crusaders – The Witch Doctor (5:32)

David Sanborn – Spooky (3:58)

Philly Joe Jones – Blues for Dracula (8:18)

Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra – Ghost of Yesterday (2:37)

Dave Brubeck and Tony Bennett – That Old Black Magic (3:21)

Warren Zevon – Werewolves of London (3:21)

Stanley Jordan – Autumn Leaves (5:52)

 

Perhaps 1895’s version of “Monster Mash” is not the best, but it allows me to note that the BBC banned the playing of the original by Bobby “Boris” Pickett in 1962. The censors at the BBC determined that the lyrics of the song, such as “it was a graveyard smash,” was “too morbid” to air. [The ban would be lifted in 1973.][1]

Some more resources for Halloween-themed jazz and blues songs:

Jazz.FM 91 (Toronto): https://jazz.fm/halloween-jazz-playlist/

Playlist from SFJAZZ Magazine: https://www.sfjazz.org/onthecorner/halloween-playlist/

The Document Records Store (Ontario): https://thedocumentrecordsstore.com/product/halloween-playlist-best-50-scary-songs/

 


[1] Jeremy Allen, “8 songs banned by the BBC for the strangest of reasons,” BBC Music, 26 October 2017, https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/46f837da-9ffa-494d-94e7-c7ffb0781bea.

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