Today, May 14th, is the 10th Anniversary of the passing of Frank Sinatra, though many sources list it as May 15th. The Sinatra family website, however, says that it was May 14th, so May 14th it is.
Anyway, in tribute to his memory and in appreciation of his legendary contributions to jazz and The Great American Songbook, we play this signature song - accompanied by a photo history of a few stages in his life.
EDITOR'S NOTE: We just noticed that in the early stages of this beta, we neglected to post blog posts for some stories and instead chose a different form, actual blog pages. Technical mumbo jumbo aside, the problem with the latter is that blog pages do not allow for categories or tags and if you don't have categories or tags, you aren't making it easy for folks to find the post when they're doing a search.
So, we will re-introduce these stories, one at a time.
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JOHN PIZZARELLI
Here is an incredible video of John Pizzarelli on guitar & vocals, brother Martin Pizzarelli on stand-up bass, Joe Cacuzzo on drums and the great, the fabulous Tony Monte on piano, playing Route 66 as their Finale in South Korea. Just watch to the end, it's less than 7:30 long, but you'll enjoy it all, especially how John's showmanship wins him the crowd's standing ovation. Having had him as a guest on my old radio show in NYC no fewer than three times a year, having been a guest in his audience for many a performance both in New York and New Jersey, he is unquestionably just an outstanding LIVE performer. For those who might not know him, he's also the voice and face of the "Meet me at Foxwood's" commercial that airs predominantly in the Northeast. - Your Host/Head Geek
EDITOR'S NOTE: We just noticed that in the early stages of this beta, we neglected to post blog posts for some stories and instead chose a different form, actual blog pages. Technical mumbo jumbo aside, the problem with the latter is that blog pages do not allow for categories or tags and if you don't have categories or tags, you aren't making it easy for folks to find the post when they're doing a search.
So, we will re-introduce these stories, one at a time.
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Don't think there's any vocalist, jazz or otherwise, who is as skilled, whose voice, whose diction, whose sense of a song, what it means and how it was intended to be sung, is as virtually flawless as Ella Fitzgerald's. Sinatra, for one, admired and respected her immensely, as did virtually every musician and peer vocalist, who only wished they could have had an opportunity to work with the Great Lady of Song.
And in this 6:35 video from 1969 and recorded in B&W, Ella demonstrates those skills and then some. Check out the 3:00 minute mark, where the band stops playing and Ella's scat becomes not only an instrument of melody, but a boombox of rhythms, of sorts, that underscore her place as the Queen of Scat.
And watch how she absolutely mesmerizes her audience with what she decides to scat, including other songs besides One Note Samba - - - the one she began the set with by Tom Jobim and Newton Mendoç - - - until the band rejoins her at the end, when she says, That's All Folks.
Outstanding, incredible. And when you consider her voice in 1969 was not as clear and supple as it was in the late 1950s and early '60s, it's unbelievable.
EDITOR'S NOTE: We just noticed that in the early stages of this beta, we neglected to post blog posts for some stories and instead chose a different form, actual blog pages. Technical mumbo jumbo aside, the problem with the latter is that blog pages do not allow for categories or tags and if you don't have categories or tags, you aren't making it easy for folks to find the post when they're doing a search.
So, we will re-introduce these stories, one at a time.
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Had never seen this clip before today, and we're ecstatic to include it in our collection on [: neon :].
Ed Shaughnessy, longtime drummer for The Tonight Show Orchestra, is someone your Head Geek had the pleasure of working with back when we both worked at NBC Studios in Burbank. However, working together is not really accurate, since Yours Truly was a lowly Page, just out of College and embarking on his career, while Ed was an established drummer in the jazz world and on The Tonight Show. Our pay scales were quite different, I'd suspect as well.
Anyway, as Pages, we gave tours of the studios and were often assigned to certain shows and/or studios, but the great prize was when you were assigned to The Tonight Show, the plum of all assignments.
The members of the band were total cool to all of the Pages, and Ed was no exception. He, Tommy Newsome (outstanding arranger) and one-time member of Count Basie's Orchestra, jazz trumpet artist Mr. Eugene "Snooky" Young used to regularly eat in the infamous NBC Commissary with us and were always gracious and kind to all of the Pages. I later met Snooky again when I was doing my radio show in NYC and he was touring with The Carnegie Hall Jazz Band - - - and the man actually remembered some of the events that I recounted.
Class acts, all of them.
Anyway, returning to our main point, this video is of Ed Shaughnessy and Carson guest Buddy Rich doing a duet, or a battle, take your pick, between two of the jazz world's best drummers. Don't know how they did it without being distracted by the other, but Buddy proves himself to be the master in this set, with hands that were explosively popping everywhere, running Shaughnessy pretty gosh-darned ragged, it appeared.
Additionally, watch closely as Buddy goes under and over his own right arm as he played a challenge to Eddy, who came back with a few stick tricks of his own.
We hope you enjoy this 4:39 clip as much as we did finding it.
Head Geek here. There's no use hiding my love and respect for Ann Hampton Callaway, having worked with her many times when she was a guest on my old radio show in NYC a few years back and when Mrs. Head Geek and I went to any number of her gigs just to hear this grand lady sing.
For those of you who may not be that familiar with Ann, the Chicago-born native has been famous in the jazz concert circuit for nearly two decades, having also been tapped by Barbra Streisand to write some music for her along with television's Fran Drescher, where Ann wrote the theme to The Nanny.
But Ann has a vocal range so extraordinary, it's a gift that pays tribute to the likes of an Ella (Fitzgerald) or a Sarah (Vaughan) but also puts her in a class by herself, more than capable of scoring a movie or a book on Broadway.
Below is a video from 2001, where Lincoln Center in NYC had its annual Midsummer Night's Swing on the promenade at Lincoln Center, where Ann performed alongside a Big Band that allowed her to really do her thing, which is a wonderful thing to behold.
Pay particular attention at around the 3:00 minute mark when she starts to scat and then takes off from there. A must-see for any student of music.
Ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Ann Hampton Callaway, beauty, class and musical brilliance.
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