Search results for "Billy Strayhorn"

Joe Henderson: Lush Life (Rating: 99/100) posted in Music November 21, 08

Joe Henderson was not just a great composer and technician, he was also a fine interpreter of standards. You can find...

This track review is included in: THE DOZENS: ESSENTIAL JOE HENDERSON

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Joe Henderson: Isfahan (Rating: 89/100) posted in Music April 02, 08

In this Ellington/Strayhorn tune, purportedly inspired by the beauty of the Persian city of the same name, we he...

John Hicks: Lush Life (Rating: 97/100) posted in Music April 29, 08

Some believe that the only version of "Lush Life" they'll ever need is that of Johnny Hartman with John Coltrane. How...

Joe Henderson: Take the 'A' Train (Rating: 87/100) posted in Music April 06, 08

Joe Henderson's melodic tenor sax shines brilliantly in a duet setting. He has certainly performed several such over ...

Ben Webster & Billy Strayhorn: Chelsea Bridge (Rating: 91/100) posted in Music April 17, 08

In his autobiography, Music is My Mistress (1973), Duke Ellington fondly recalls that in 1933, London became the firs...

Duke Ellington & Billy Strayhorn: Tonk (Rating: 94/100) posted in Music February 14, 09

The word "tonk" is a slang contraction of honky-tonk, an 1890s term for a cheap, often tawdry nightclub or danceh...

Duke Ellington: Artistry in Rhythm (Rating: 98/100) posted in Music October 21, 08

I promise I'll never again complain about excess bonus tracks on a CD. Though most such tracks tend to be alternate t...

Duke Ellington: Flamingo (Rating: 94/100) posted in Music November 23, 07

In 1940, the star of such Westerns with a black hero as Bronze Buckaroo (1938) and Harlem Rides the Range (1939)...

This track review is included in: THE DOZENS: JAZZ FOR THE BIRDS

It's only fitting. Since birds inspire us with their songs, composers return the favor, dedicating music in every gen...

Duke Ellington (featuring Al Hibbler): Don't Get Around Much Anymore (Rating: 92/100) posted in Music September 16, 09

As most Ellington fans know, "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" was the pop song version of Duke's 1940 instrumental "Ne...

Duke Ellington: A Tone Parallel To Harlem (Rating: 100/100) posted in Music November 23, 07

Many fans back in the early 1950s thought that the arrival of the LP -- youngsters, that stands for "Long Playing" re...

This track review is included in: THE DOZENS: HARLEM

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Duke Ellington: Mood Indigo (1950) (Rating: 100/100) posted in Music November 23, 07

The advent of the long-playing record finally released Duke Ellington from the time constraints that had previously f...

Duke Ellington: The Tattooed Bride (Rating: 96/100) posted in Music November 24, 07

Ellington was ahead of his time, and not just for preferring his brides with tattoos. This extended piece, premiered...

Johnny Hodges: You Need To Rock (Rating: 90/100) posted in Music May 22, 08

Given its title and 1958 vintage, "You Need To Rock" might figure as an attempt by Swing Era stalwarts— all, except R...

Kevin Mahogany: Lush Life (Rating: 96/100) posted in Music January 23, 09

Billy Strayhorn's harmonically sophisticated and lyrically artsy "Lush Life" was first recorded by Nat King Cole in...

Stan Getz: Blood Count (1982 studio version) (Rating: 100/100) posted in Music August 05, 09

Billy Strayhorn wrote it; Duke Ellington recorded it; but make no mistake—Stan Getz owned this song. In the 1980s, G...

Frank Wess: Lush Life (Rating: 90/100) posted in Music March 13, 09

Tenor saxophonist/flutist Frank Wess is one of the few great Basie-ites active into the 21st century. In 2008—on the ...

Pete Christlieb & Bob Cooper: Passion Flower (Rating: 85/100) posted in Music November 02, 07

Duke Ellington’s celebrated alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges set the standard for the performance of Billy Strayhorn’s ...

Duke Ellington: Blood Count (Rating: 95/100) posted in Music November 07, 07

Billy Strayhorn wrote or co-composed with Duke Ellington some of the best-loved pieces in the Ellington band’s repert...

Duke Ellington: Take the 'A' Train (1941) – as heard in Woody Allen's Radio Days (1987) (Rating: 100/100) posted in Music November 18, 07

In 1941, Duke Ellington escaped the bondage of jungle music via an underground railway called the ‘A’ train. Duke's m...

This track review is included in: THE DOZENS: THE JAZZ SIDE OF WOODY ALLEN

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Brian Patneaude: Chelsea Bridge (Rating: 84/100) posted in Music March 04, 09

"Chelsea Bridge" isn't one of the easier ballads to play, if for no other reason than it's usually taken in D-flat, w...

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