“Jazz music is America’s past and its potential, summed up and sanctified and accessible to anybody who learns to listen to, feel, and understand it. The music can connect us to our earlier selves and to our better selves-to-come. It can remind us of where we fit on the time line of human achievement, an ultimate value of art.” ~ Wynton Marsalis
Can one beat Sinatra at the Sands for good weekend grooves…probably not!
“Where or When” is a show tune from the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical Babes in Arms. It was first performed by Ray Heatherton and Mitzi Green. That same year, Hal Kemp recorded a popular version. It also appeared in the movie of the same title two years later. Dion and the Belmonts also released a successful remake of the song, which reached number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1960. In 1963, The Lettermen released their version as a single, which peaked at number 98 on the Hot 100. The song was used for the 1992 biopic Sinatra, starring Philip Casnoff; Frank Sinatra performs the song on stage at the Paramount Theatre. via wikipedia.org
Frank Sinatra – Where Or When (Live at the Sands)
And then the classic, “Take Five” by Dave Brubeck:
“Take Five” is a jazz standard composed by Paul Desmond and originally recorded by the Dave Brubeck Quartet for its 1959 album Time Out. Made at Columbia Records‘ 30th Street Studio in New York City on July 1, 1959,[1] two years later it became an unlikely hit and the biggest-selling jazz single ever.[2][3] Revived since in numerous movie and television soundtracks, it still receives significant radio airplay. – via wikipedia.org
Dave Brubeck – Take Five
And finally, our favorite living composer/artist here at the Asylum – Wynton Marsalis
Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is a trumpeter, composer, teacher, music educator, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City, United States. Marsalis has promoted the appreciation of classical and jazz music often to young audiences. Marsalis has been awarded nine Grammys in both genres, and his Blood on the Fields was the first jazz composition to win the Pulitzer Prize for Music. Marsalis is the son of jazz musician Ellis Marsalis, Jr. (pianist), grandson of Ellis Marsalis, Sr., and brother of Branford (saxophonist), Delfeayo (trombonist), and Jason (drummer). Marsalis performed the national anthem at Super Bowl XX in 1986. – via wikipedia.org
Wynton Marsalis – Big Fat Hen – 8/13/2005 – Newport Jazz Festival
Happy weekend – hope it’s a good one!
Photo credit (front page): By feinsteinphotos (Flickr) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credit (Mr. Marsalis): By Yelkrokoyade (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credit (Mr. Sinatra): William P. Gottlieb [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credit (Mr. Brubeck): By The original uploader was aomarks at English Wikipedia Later versions were uploaded by Sperling at en.wikipedia. (Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons