Just Desserts show for July 22

For this show, I began by picking songs that I was surprised to discover that I hadn't played on previous shows. No theme, in other words. But what emerged were groups of songs, often pairs, but a group of four (King Porter Stomp) and another of three (Joy Spring). It was a fun show to do, and there were several appreciative calls. Always nice to get. Questions and comments can be left here or sent directly to jazz@ukiahguy.com Name Artist Album Between Sets Billy Kyle Smithsonian Collection: Jazz Piano (Disc 1) Finishing Up A Date Billy Kyle Handful Of Keys Smoke Gets in your Eyes Bob Brookmeyer Blues Hot and Cold -- vinyl Smoke Gets In Your Eyes Jay McShann Some Blues When I Grow Too Old To Dream Arnett Cobb Arnett Bows For 1300 One For Prez Wardell Gray The Wardell Gray Story, Vol. 1 I Must Have That Man Bobby Hackett A String Of Pearls title undetermined -- mislabeled on CD Bobby Hackett Teagarden Coast Concert St. James Infirmary Jack Teagarden The Bluebird Sampler 1990 Moten Swing Count Basie Count Basie Harvard Blues Moten Swing Buck Clayton Legendary Jam Sessions  Love Jumped Out Count Basie Essential Count Basie (Vol. 3) Margie Jimmie Lunceford Lunceford: Disc 3: For Dancers Only Hi Spook Jimmy Lunceford Lunceford Blues In The Night King Porter Stomp Benny Goodman Selection Of Swing Era (Disc 1) King Porter Stomp Benny Goodman A Night Out with Verve (Dancing) Stomp Of King Porter The Manhattan Transfer Swing King Porter Stomp Gil Evans New Bottle Old Wine Sand In My Shoes Bobby Short 50 By Bobby Short (Disc 1) I've Got Five Dollars Bobby Short 50 By Bobby Short (Disc 1) In A Mist (Bixology) Bix Beiderbecke Bix Beiderbecke In The Dark / Flashes Jess Stacy Handful Of Keys Barrelhouse Jess Stacy Handful Of Keys Joy Spring Clifford Brown Bebop's Greatest Hits Joy Spring Tierney Sutton Unsung Heroes Joy spring Gil Evans Great Jazz Standards On Revival Day -- partial Swing Legacy Even the Chickens Are Dancing

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Posted by Benj Thomas at 7/25/2007 5:01 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)

playlist for Hot and Cool Show July 15

The theme was Hot and Cool -- see titles and/or name of group. -- comments or questions can be left here or sent to me at jazz @ ukiahguy.com Hot and Cold Blues Bob Brookmeyer homemade Black Bottom Stomp Jelly Roll Morton's Red Hot Peppers The Engine Room - Disk 1 I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate New Orleans Footwarmers From Spirituals To Swing - Carnegie Hall Concerts 1938-1939 Red Hot Pepper Stomp Jelly Roll Morton The Pearls Warmin' Up Teddy Wilson Warmin' Up Warm Valley Duke Ellington Blanton-Webster Band (Disc 2) The Summer Wind Madeleine Peyroux homemade Summertime Clark Terry Porgy & Bess Summertime Zoot Sims Zoot Sims And The Gershwin Brothers In Summer Jon Hendricks Freddie Freeloader Summer (Estate) Claire Martin Make This City Ours Hot House Dizzy Gillespie Groovin' High Hot House Howard McGhee Sextet The Wardell Gray Story, Vol. 1:  I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra Billie Holiday, Vol. 3 Indian Summer [1919] Count Basie Live! or One O' Clock Jump.  Oh! Sister Ain't That Hot Eddie Condon Ballin' The Jack Le Jazz Hot Jimmie Lunceford Strictly Lunceford: Disc 3 Hotter Than That Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong V. 2 1927 Hot Mallets Lionel Hampton Lionel Hampton Hot Mallets Sahara Heat Illinois Jacquet The Illinois Jacquet Story [Disc 3]  Breakin' the Ice Fats Waller You Rascal You! Jeru Miles Davis The Complete Birth Of The Cool Hear Comes Your Iceman Big Joe Turner Big Joe Rides Again Cool Blues - Charlie Parker Charlie Parker Lazy Afternoon Jazz (Disc 2) Stay Cool Count Basie Blues By Basie-One O'Clock Jumb Baby, It's Cold Outside Ray Charles homemade Something Cool Tierney Sutton Something Cool

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Posted by Benj Thomas at 7/17/2007 12:29 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)

bluegrass show May 26

Getting to sit in two weeks in a row for Diane Hering was fun. The show went well, with some welcome calls of appreciation. Playing three versions of Hard Times in a row was, according to calls, really welcome (those whom it drove crazy didn't call...) and, as it happened, really moving for me, as I was thinking about the hard times we are experiencing as a nation. I was noting as I went through the show that the songs and songwriters were worthy of note. I think in all genres of music except classical we don't pay enough attention to the composers. One of my earlier jazz shows was devoted in large part to the tunes composed by Edgar Sampson -- see below. I also have shows tentatively planned that will feature Gershwin, Cole Porter and maybe some others. So here's the playlist. The wild card, if there is one, is Cheryl Wheeler's Arrow, a lovely song with really good lyrics (she writes both), not bluegrass in style, but not totally out of place. Particularly good lyrics are also to be found on the songs marked with an *. Comments and questions can be added here or sent directly to jazz@ukiahguy.com Name Artist Album *C-Biscuit Jerry Douglas Everything Is Gonna Work Out Fine Another Lonesome Day The Seldom Scene The Best of The Seldom Scene Another Lonesome Day The Whites Bluegrass Vinyl Forget About It Alison Krauss Forget About It *Who Do You Know Claire Lynch Friends for a Lifetime *Brand New Tennessee Waltz The Nashville Bluegrass Band Idle Time Shady Grove Chesapeake Rising Tide Indian Hills New Grass Revival On the Boulevard Shine Dolly Parton Little Sparrow Sally Ann Jimmy Arnold Bluegrass Vinyl Waiting On Vassar David Grisman David Grisman Rounder Compact Disc Who's That Knocking At My Door Dreadful Snakes Snakes Alive *Church Street Blues Tony Rice Sugar Hill Records: A Retrospective Arrow Cheryl Wheeler Different Stripe *Pushover Jesse Winchester Humour Me *Souvenir Bottles New Grass Revival Barren County We Hide & Seek Alison Krauss & Union Station Live [Disc 2] Sign Your Name Mollie O'Brien Tell It True... Cat In The Bag Mark O'Connor The New Nashville Cats Hard Times, Come Again No More Jennifer Warnes Shot Through The Heart Hard Times Front Porch String Band Lines & Traces Hard Times The Nashville Bluegrass Band The Boys Are Back In Town The Lights of Home Béla Fleck Drive *The Lights Of Home Chesapeake Full Sail *Penny To My Name Eva Cassidy Time After Time

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Posted by Benj Thomas at 5/27/2007 9:18 AM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)

pickup groups on May 20

all recordings made featuring musicians that did not ordinarily play together, which yielded some good synergy on many of these songs. comments or questions welcomed at jazz@ukiahguy.com Name Artist Album Year approx Oh No! Pee Wee Russell Portrait 1958 Why Was I Born? Billie Holiday Billie Holiday, Vol. 3 1937 On Green Dolphin Street Milt Jackson Very Tall 1972 Just The Two Of Us Stephane Grappelli & Toots Thielemans Bringing It Together 1995 Have You Met Miss Jones? Illinois Jacquet Flying Home Honeysuckle Rose Mark O'Connor Trio In Full Swing 2003 The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise Benny Goodman Stormy Weather Jazz (Disc 2) 1945 Roll 'Em Pete Jimmy Witherspoon The 'Spoon Concerts 1959 Baby Dear Mary Lou Williams Chronogical Mary Lou Williams 1927-40 1940 Me, Myself And I Billie Holiday Lester Young 1937 Off Minor (Take 4) Thelonious Monk From vinyl or iTunes 1954 Honey Hush Big Joe Turner The Bosses 1994 Rock Hill Special Lionel Hampton Lionel Hampton-Volume 2 1940 Brownskin Gal Ella Fitzgerald Ella at Duke's Place 1961 Chelsea Bridge Gerry Mulligan Gerry Mulligan Meets The Saxophonists 1960 [title unknown] Jimmy Mundy From vinyl or iTunes 1954 I Must Have That Man Bobby Hackett A String Of Pearls 1940 Years Apart Stéphane Grappelli Celebrating Grappelli 1998 Russian Lullaby Vic Dickenson The Essential Vic Dickenson 1954 I Want A Little Girl Big Joe Turner The Boss Of The Blues 1956 You're Some Pretty Doll Eddie Condon Ballin' The Jack 1940 Pocatello Joe Thomas Roy Eldridge & The Swing Trumpets [Disc 2] 1944

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Posted by Benj Thomas at 5/22/2007 9:56 AM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)

bluegrass show on may 19

sitting in again for Diane Hering. playing bluegrass and new acoustic music. straying too far with the Mollie O'Brien into rock. comments or questions welcomed at jazz.ukiahguy.com Name Artist Album Lady's Fancy Dan Crary Telluride Festival Tapes Blackjack Davey Chesapeake Rising Tide Before The Heartache Rolls In New Grass Revival Hold To A Dream Poe's Pickin' Party Alison Brown Fair Weather Out Among the Stars The Seldom Scene from vinyl or online Hummingbird Alison Brown Fair Weather Feel Like My Time Ain't Gone Country Gentlemen from vinyl or online Silver Dagger Dolly Parton The Grass Is Blue Travelin' Down The Lonesome Road Dreadful Snakes Snakes Alive Blue Ridge Jonathan Edwards & SS Blue Ridge Cannonball Rag Merle Travis Roy Huskey Will The Circle Be Unbroken (Disc 2) Cannonball Blues Jerry Douglas & Peter Rowan Yonder Friend of the Devil Knoxville Bluegrass Band from vinyl or online Old Devil's Dream The Nashville Bluegrass Band Idle Time Sunburst Grazz Matazz from vinyl or online Moonlight Ain't No Use to Me Mollie O'Brien Tell It True... Wild Horses Old & In The Way Old And In The Way Sweet Baby James The Seldom Scene The Best of The Seldom Scene Jubilee Alison Krauss from vinyl or online See Rock City Béla Fleck Drive Singing The Blues New Grass Revival Grass Roots: The Best Of New Grass Revival The Scholar Maura O'Connell Just In Time I Like The Way You Cook Tim O'Brien When No One's Around Millworker Emmylou Harris from vinyl or online Trail Of Tears Peter Rowan & NBB Sugar Hill Records: A Retrospective This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) Shawn Colvin from vinyl or online Rainbow Ride Jimmy Arnold from vinyl or online

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Posted by Benj Thomas at 5/22/2007 9:52 AM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)

Live Jazz show May 13

this show was jazz recorded live before an audience, presented in mostly chronological order. I liked the mix of raucous and refined, and when it was both (Here's That Rainy Day) and three VERY different versions of How High the Moon. And two really spectacular versions of Cheek to Cheek. Name Artist Album 1 Blues for Helen Basie Small Group From Spirituals To Swing 2 Weary Blues New Orleans Footwarmers From Spirituals To Swing 3 Blues With Lips Count Basie Orchestra With Hot Lips Page From Spirituals To Swing 4 Good Morning Blues The Kansas City Six From Spirituals To Swing 5 Topsy (Swing To Bop) Charlie Christian, Joe Guy, Kenny Clark, Kenny Kersey & Nick Fenton from iTunes 6 Stars Fell On Alabama Louis Armstrong Louis Armstrong And The All Stars At Symphony Hall 7 How High The Moon Wardell Gray The Wardell Gray Story, Vol. 2: The Chase 8 How High The Moon Dave Brubeck Jazz at Oberlin 9 Song Is You Dave Brubeck, The Dave Brubeck Quartet Jazz Goes To College 10 I May Be Wrong Gerry Mulligan In Paris-Vol. 1 11 Laura Gerry Mulligan in Paris Vol 2 12 I Loves You Porgy Ella Fitzgerald from iTunes 13 World Of Trouble Lou Rawls Lou Rawls - Anthology 14 C.C. Rider Jimmy Witherspoon The 'Spoon Concerts 15 How High The Moon Modern Jazz Quartet from iTunes 16 Bags' New Groove Paul Desmond & The Modern Jazz Quartet from iTunes 17 Here's That Rainy Day Oscar Peterson At Montreux 18 Liza Ruby Braff Live At The New School-Complet 19 Cheek To Cheek Eva Cassidy Live At Blues Alley 20 Cheek to Cheek Tierney Sutton I'm With the Band

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Posted by Benj Thomas at 5/15/2007 1:55 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)

playlist for april 15

The theme was Food and (a little) Drink -- songs about food, see titles. Kind of fun, and some good music. I think I went to far with the theme, with the result that some songs were less wonderful than others. A note about the source of two of the songs -- Swing Legacy's Even the Chickens Are Dancing, available from their website -- swinglegacy.com and well worth it. the album is just released. this group deserves its name. anyone who wants to suggest a theme for future shows, please do. as always, comments and questions can be left here or sent directly to jazz@ukiahguy.com many thanks for listening. Name Artist Album Days Of Wine And Roses Ruby Braff Volume 1 Something Cool Tierney Sutton Something Cool mystery song Clifford Brown Memorial Album Gimme A Pigfoot Bessie Smith The Collection Pig Foot Sonata Lionel Hampton Lionel Hampton Fishermen, Strawberry And Devil Crab Miles Davis Porgy And Bess Fisherman, Strawberry And Devil Crab Clark Terry Porgy & Bess Fish for Supper Swing Legacy Even the Chickens Are Dancing Hold Tight Fats Waller homemade Ribs And Hot Sauce Lionel Hampton The Lionel Hampton Story Steak Face Louis Armstrong  At Symphony Hall All That Meat And No Potatoes Fats Waller The Bluebird Sampler 1990 All That Meat And No Potatoes Louis Armstrong & All Stars Satch Plays Fats Ain't She Sweet? Jimmie Lunceford Jimmie Lunceford Stockholm Sweetnin' Clifford Brown Clifford Brown Memorial Sugar Count Basie Basie's Basement Sugar Louis Armstrong & His Hot 7 Complete RCA Victor (Disc 3) Pound Cake Count Basie The Essential Count Basie Candy Don Byas The Savoy Story (Disc 1) Candy The Manhattan Transfer Anthology:[Disc 2] Chocolate Shake Duke Ellington Wicked Swing I Never Knew Chocolate Dandies Jazz On The Road 2 Fine Dinner Coleman Hawkins homemade Dinner for One Please, James Branford Marsalis Quartet homemade After Supper Count Basie The Complete Atomic Basie Empty Glass Lionel Hampton Lionel Hampton Story 3 Black Coffee Sarah Vaughan homemade Black Coffee -- partial Swing Legacy Even the Chickens Are Dancing

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Posted by Benj Thomas at 4/15/2007 10:21 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)

playlist for April 8

the theme for the week was Spring, as the titles will tell you. This might have led to a lot of dreamy soft music, but it didn't in this case. Basie's April in Paris, Mulligan's Spring is Sprung, and Clifford Brown and Max Roach's Spring Is Here are all high intensity pieces. And I ended up with a non-spring All the Cats Join In, which is decidedly up tempo and up energy. All of it good fun. comments and questions can be added here, or you can email me at jazz@ukiahguy.com Name Artist Album Jump The Blues Away Count Basie Essential Count Basie Jumping Into Spring Suzy Bogguss Swing Spring Is Here Count Basie Corner Pocket Spring Is Here Bill Evans Trio Portrait in Jazz Midnight Sun Lionel Hampton Lionel Hampton Story 4:  Midnight Sun June Christy Something Cool  Some Other Spring Swing Legacy Dancing On A Blue Moon When You're Smiling Ruby Braff Best Of Braff Spring Is Sprung Gerry Mulligan Compact Jazz There'll Be Another Spring Dianne Reeves Good Night and Good Luck April In Paris Stephane Grapelli Menuhin And Grappelli Play "Jealousy"  April in Paris Count Basie homemade Echoes of Spring Willie "The Lion" Smith Echoes of Spring Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most June Christy Blue Vocals Vol.2 Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most Jane Monheit Come Dream With Me It Might As Well Be Spring Astrud Gilberto A Night Out with Verve (Dining) The Waters Of March Susannah McCorkle From Bessie To Brazil I'll Remember April Stephane Grapelli Menuhin And Grappelli Play "Jealousy"  I'll Remember April Tal Farlow  [Disc 1] I'll Remember April Clifford Brown & Max Roach More Study in Brown April Skies Wardell Gray w/Art Farmer The Wardell Gray Story, Vol. 4: Farmer's Market Spring Is Here Charlie Byrd The Savoy Story (Disc 3) Spring Is Here Tierney Sutton Unsung Heroes All The Cats Join In Buck Clayton Jam Sessions From The Vault

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Posted by Benj Thomas at 4/9/2007 10:26 AM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)

playlist for Feb 25 -- Weather

the theme, such as it was, was weather. see titles. mislabelling led to my playing Joe Turner's Until the Real Thing Comes Along, and it should have been Turner's I Get the Blues When It Rains, which would have been more appropriate and better music. comments from many listeners saying how much they like hearing multiple versions of the same song -- i like it myself and will continue comments and questions can be attached and will be forwarded to me automatically. or you can just write me at jazz@ukiahguy.com suggestions for themes or specific musicians would also be really welcome. here's the play list - homemade means it came from vinyl or was bought online as a single song Name Artist Album Jump The Blues Away Count Basie Essential Count Basie (Vol. 3) -- theme song Lovely Weather We're Having Louis Armstrong The 1940's Small-Band Sides It'S Easy To Blame The Weather Ruby Braff Best Of Braff -- great album Let It Snow Bud Shank Quartet homemade Snowball Louis Armstrong Complete RCA recordings [Disc 1] Gone with "What" Wind Count Basie The Count Basie Story: Jive At Five Stormy Weather Ella Fitzgerald The Harold Arlen Songbook Volume 1 Stormy Weather Art Tatum Handful Of Keys Blowin Up A Storm Woody Herman Big Band Boogie Come Rain Or Come Shine Dinah Washington homemade Come Rain Or Come Shine Will Siegel And The Rags To Rhythm Revue Will Siegel And The Rags To Rhythm Revue Snowy Morning Blues James P. Johnson Smithsonian Collection: Jazz Piano Until the Real Thing Comes Along Big Joe Turner Big Joe Rides Again -- a sequel to his classic Boss of the Blues The Gentle Rain Toots Thielemans The Best! Toots Thielemans Blowing The Blues Away Billy Eckstine And His Orchestra Birth Of Be-Bop anthology Clouds in My Heart Barney Bigard & His Jazzopators Duke Ellington: Back Room Romp -- marvelous small group sides Stormy Monday Eva Cassidy Live At Blues Alley -- the best album by as good a singer as ever was (They Call It) Stormy Monday Lou Rawls Lou Rawls - Anthology Ill Wind Scott Hamilton Scott Hamilton Is A Good Wind -- early work by him and an homage to MANY earlier tenor saxophonists Ill Wind Ella Fitzgerald The Harold Arlen Songbook Volume 1 Rainy Weather Blues Big Joe Turner homemade Winter Moon Stan Getz homemade Misty Mark O'Connor Trio w/Jane Monheit In Full Swing Misty Bob Brookmeyer Bob Brookmeyer and Friends Rainy Day Blues Big Joe Turner Volume 1: I've Been To Kansas City Soft Winds Dick Hyman From the Age of Swing -- one of my new favorite disks Night Wind Johnny Hodges Art Of The Saxophone Ballad On The Sunny Side Of The Street Lionel Hampton Lionel Hampton Story 1: Hot Mallets

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Posted by Benj Thomas at 2/27/2007 12:02 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)

playlist for February 18

The theme here was unordinary instruments -- many of the records featured instruments you don't often hear in jazz or at least not played that way. there was also an emphasis on singers less often played. and as usual, multiple versions of the same song. comments and questions may be posted here or sent to jazz@ukiahguy.com playlist below title, artist, album (if available), other notes Jump The Blues Away, Count Basie, Essential Count Basie (Vol. 3), don byas ts (Ad Lib) Medium Dance, Fred Astaire, A Night Out with Verve (Dancing), oscar peterson Jazz Me Blues, Bix Beiderbecke, The Ultimate Jazz Archive - Bix Beiderbecke, adrian rollini bass sax Singin' The Blues, Bix Beiderbecke, The Ultimate Jazz Archive - Bix Beiderbecke, frankie trumbauer c melody sax I Got It Bad, Hinda Hoffman, Moon And Sand I Got It Bad, Lou Rawls, Live from an LP Struttin' With Some Barbecue, Louis Armstrong, Louis Armstrong From The Original Okeh's V. 2 1927 Struttin' With Some Barbecue, Gil Evans, New Bottle Old Wine -- fabulous album, as is a companion disk, Great Jazz Standards, now both available on one CD Hello Lola, Coleman Hawkins, Three Great Swing Saxophones, Red McKenzie kazoo, Peewee Russell cl, Coleman Hawkins ts, Glenn Miller tb, Gene Krupa d I Found A New Baby, Lionel Hampton, Wicked Swing, hampton playing piano mallet style, oscat moore g, wesley prince b I Found a New Baby, Swedish group, no album, hot lips page t, catlett d, clyde hart p If I Had You, Dick Hyman, Swing Is Here Laura, Stephane Grapelli, Menuhin And Grappelli Play "Jealousy" And Other Great Standards (Remaster) Laura, Woody Herman, The Essence Of Woody Herman, Woody vocal, Bill Harris tb Profoundly Blue, Charlie Christian, Hittin' On All Six, Volume #2: The Charlie Christian Revolution, Edmund Hall cl, Meade Lux Lewis celeste Who Knows?, Duke Ellington, Piano Reflections, Wendell Marshall b, Butch Ballard d Mumbles, Oscar Peterson Trio, Oscar Peterson Trio +1 Clark Terry Incoherent Blues, Oscar Peterson Trio, Oscar Peterson Trio +1 Clark Terry Slam Slam Blues, Red Norvo And His Selected Sextet, Birth Of Be-Bop, Dizzy, Bird, Flip Phillips, Slam Steward b Audition, Shelly Manne, Man with the Golden Arm, Shorty Rogers flugelhorn, Milt Bernhart tb Sweetheart (Waitress in a Donut Shop), Suzy Bogguss, Swing Taking A Chance On Love, Wardell Gray Quintet, The Wardell Gray Story, Vol. 4: Farmer's Market, Shelly Manne d, Hampton Hawes p -- from a Proper Box Set of Wardell's stuff -- excellent collection, great price Taking A Chance On Love, Renee Olstead, Renee Olstead If I Had You, Ike Quebec, The Blue Note Swingtets Early Autumn, Woody Herman, The Essence of WH, woody cl, stan getz ts Early Autumn, Johnny Frigo, self-titled album Early Autumn, Jo Stafford, You Belong to Me, bought on line Flying Home, Illinois Jacquet, Flying Home

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Posted by Benj Thomas at 2/20/2007 12:42 PM | View Comments (0) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (0)