Sing C’est La Vie

Red Hot Jazz: Frankie Trumbauer’s cool, intellectual style of playing was a major influence on Lester Young, and something of his style can be found in the Cool Jazz movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Trumbauer was unusual in that he played C-Melody saxophone.

Mel Martin : As both performer and teacher, Konitz has chosen to counter the rather mystical and potentially frightening challenges of improvisation with a set of organically derived back-to-basic techniques that are a direct outgrowth of his own very profound experience.

allmusic : Mary Lou Williams was the first to record a Herbie Nichols composition — “Stennell,” retitled “Opus Z,” in 1951; yet aside from the song he wrote for Billie Holiday, “Lady Sings the Blues,” none of Nichols’ work got enough attention to really catch on.

Fifty Years of Coca-Cola Television Advertisements : At his hotel, Backer immediately met with Billy Davis and Roger Cook, finding that they had completed one song and were working on a second as they prepared to meet the New Seekers’ musical arranger the next day. Backer told them he thought they should work through the night on an idea he had had: “I could see and hear a song that treated the whole world as if it were a person—a person the singer would like to help and get to know. I’m not sure how the lyric should start, but I know the last line.” With that he pulled out the paper napkin on which he had scribbled the line, “I’d like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company.”

Teresa Brewer Center : Jazz aficionado Nat Hentoff probably said it best: “Teresa Brewer is irrepressibly herself, constantly evolving, constantly enjoying the surprise of herself. The woman is a phenomenon. You think you know her style and, all of a sudden, she’s moved in a new direction. Teresa is uncategorizable, perennially surprising. She is, in sum, a marvelous performer!”

Hal McIntyre Orchestra : The Benny Goodman stint lasted just ten days, but it brought McIntyre to the attention of Miller, and in 1937 he joined the first incarnation of the Glenn Miller Orchestra, remaining with the group for four years.

Wikipedia : Freddie Roach is a soulful organist, certainly influenced by Jimmy Smith (musician), but with a distinct sound and a quite original concept, which is perhaps best heard on “Good Move” for Blue Note. His Blue Note albums are worth looking for.

George Gee : The only Chinese-American Swing big band leader, George Gee is unique in so many ways. The snap in his fingers, the shuffle in his step and that unbridled joy he radiates and spreads like ecstatic wildfire to all his world-class musicians make immediate and permanent impressions on audiences, musicians, and dancers – even seasoned press!

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