In later life I also had the pleasure to work with the greatest jazz catalogue known to the genre at Sony Jazz in London and my thanks goes out to Marketing Director at the time Adam Sieff for bringing me onboard to be their online webmaster.
This show has a wide diversity of jazz sub-genres and like our marquee show STREETJAZZ, we feature Great Vocals, Brazilian Flavours but we also feature many of the pioneers who shaped the jazz genre. We include some of the modern day exponents who carry on the legacy of the music and try to find a new audience for this masterful and expressive artform.
Our Featured Artist is the highly underrated but hugely talented vocalist Nancy Kelly from New York City and we have two tracks from her wonderful set entitled ' Singin' And Swingin' ', don't miss her cover of 'Jeannine ' and the gentle ballad ' That's All '.
On a show of Great Vocals, we start it all off with Frank Sinatra and a cross-over bossa flavoured cut called ' Happy Madness ' influenced no doubt from his association with Brazilian maestro Antonio Carlos Jobim. Trumpeter and vocalist Chet Baker brings us ' Let's Get Lost ' from an album of the same name and Manhattan Transfer rock the boards with their four part harmony on ' Four Brothers ' from their ' Best Of ' collection.
Lovers of close harmonies like me will enjoy Singers Unlimited and a cover of a song made popular by Carmen Lundy called ' Invitation ' and gospel band Take 6 perform a cover of Ambrosia's smash hit ' Biggest Part Of Me '.
Andrea Bocelli sidesteps the classics on ' Besame Mucho ' which explores further Latin American rhythms on our show. Vibes man Cal Trader brings us ' Armando's Bossa ' and sax great Stan Getz plays one of the songs which heralded the start of the Bossa Nova movement in the early sixties outside of Brazil with ' Corcovado '. This is where the statue of Christ stands overlooking Rio and locals say ' protect the city ' from evil spirits. ( I am also pictured beside it on this page. )
Watch out for Ben Sidran and his classic cover of ' Solar ' a track which brings me back to my days living in London in the 80's listening to it on Solar Radio.
We have two tango tracks influenced from Argentina and their great ambassador to the jazz world, bandoneon maestro Astor Piazzolla, we hear ' Heavy Tango ' performed by former student of Piazzolla, French accordion player Richard Galliano and ' Amelitango ' featuring Russian accordionist Kobatyh Banepann.
For more traditional jazz lovers we have the softer side of Charlie Parker and a track featured in the Clint Eastwood blockbuster ' Bird ' with ' April In Paris ', Duke Ellington jumps onboard and invites us to ' Take The A Train ' whilst jazz touring and recording artists project Steps Ahead play the mainstream ' Pools ' for us. They were lead by vibraphone player Mike Manieri and also included Michael Brecker on sax, Eliane Elias on piano, bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Peter Erskine.
Bill Evans cannot be omitted in a show of outstanding jazz artist, we feature one of his greatest tracks ' Waltz For Debbie ' along with some further bossa flavours in the form of pianist and vibes player Victor Feldman who is ' Flying Down To Rio '.
Another movie tune pops up with Bobby McFerrin scatting on Herbie Hancock's masterpiece ' Chan's Song ' which was featured on the movie ' Round Midnight ' starring sax great Dexter Gordon. Don Braden keeps the modern day jazz scene alive with the title track from his noughties set ' Brighter Days ' and the sultry Diana Krall croons to ' East Of the Sun ' from her ' Live in Paris ' collection.
Other modern day icons of the jazz genre perform classics such as Weather Report and their anthem ' Birdland ', The Peddlers and ' Ebb Tide ' taken from their set ' Live At The Pickwick ' which was the vanguard for jazz clubs in London in the sixties and The Crusaders perform ' Snowflake ' featuring the incomparable Wilson Felder on sax, Joe Sample on keys and Six Hooper on drums.
Of course, no jazz show would be complete without one of the greatest names to emerge from the genre and cross-over to other musical genres, ie trumpeter extraordinaire Miles Davis, we feature the haunting cover of Michael Jackson's ' Human Nature '.
I hope you enjoy the music as much as I do, it has been a ' Labour Of Love ' with me for more years than I care to remember and it would be a great tragedy if this great musical genre was to disappear into oblivion.
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Please send us any songs or artists that you enjoy using the SHOUTBACK FORM on the Jazz A La Carte Widget Player
NOTE : from September 2011 we'll be giving away 5 Brand New CDs each month on our new STREETJAZZ QUIZ. Listen in to submit YOUR ENTRY.
Best wishes - Wes Gillespie, Producer and Host of JAZZ À LA CARTE.
