FMM #259 - Jacqueline du Pré

 

F. Mendelssohn - Song without words Op.109 

%%FirstName%%,  Jacqueline Mary du Pré was a British cellist, widely regarded as one of the prominent cellists of the 20th century. Du Pré was born in 1945 in England, and at the age of four du Pré is said to have heard the sound of the cello on the radio and asked her mother for "one of those". 

She began lessons at the age of five, and by the time she was 14 she was winning awards and began appearing at children's and young musicians' concerts. In March 1961, at the age of 16, du Pré made her formal début at Wigmore Hall, London. By the next year she was playing the Elgar Cello Concerto at The Proms in London. She went on to an illustrious career, with many people considering her the best cellist in the world during her short lifetime.

In 1971, du Pré's playing declined as she began to lose sensitivity in her fingers and other parts of her body. She was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in October 1973. Shortly after the diagnosis she stopped performing, and finally died in October 1987 at age 42.

There are many fantastic recordings and videos of du Pré performing concerti, and they are all worth watching.  Here is a short piece that shows her immense talent at a young age, the Song Without Words by Felix Mendelssohn.

Watch Here on YouTube

 

FMM: Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys

 Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys

Good Vibrations

 These last few weeks we lost two musical geniuses, both troubled souls but amazingly talented and visionary.

Sly Stone caused a revolution in soul music. Without him there would not be a Parliament/Funkadelics, or a Prince or Kool and the Gang.

Equally monumental is the fact that Brian Wilson (with the help of his musical family of angelic voices The Beach Boys) created a whole genre known as "surf music", and then moved on to create the most memorable 2-3 minute soundscapes in rock n roll.

He envisioned all the vocal parts and the arrangements, and came up with dozens of hits. For a sample of his brilliance, listen to this recording of "God Only Knows" with only the isolated vocal tracks, with brother Carl Wilson on lead vocal:

https://youtu.be/QSFDewh-eN4?si=i5RE_wJ7BxxseUUX

And here is some rare studio footage from the recording studio of "GOOD VIBRATIONS" being created.  That is Hal Blaine and The Wrecking Crew playing the instruments.

Brian Wilson, you brought the teenage angels to earth.  Thank you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVlSVkzbJDA

FMM: Benny Golson - Killer Joe

Benny Golson

Killer Joe

George,  Over a seven-decade career, Benny Golson exhibited a combination of grace, warmth and technical virtuosity influenced in part by his Philadelphia childhood friend John Coltrane. He was a prolific composer, creating jazz standards like Whisper Not, I Remember Clifford and Killer Joe. While living in Los Angeles, he wrote for TV shows including “Mannix,” “Mission: Impossible,” “Room 222” and “M.A.S.H.,” and he arranged music for singers as diverse as Peggy Lee, Lou Rawls and Dusty Springfield.

 

In 1959, after touring with Art Blakey for a year, Mr. Golson and trumpeter Art Farmer founded the Jazztet, one of the premier “hard bop” jazz groups of the era. He appeared in perhaps the most famous photograph of jazz musicians ever made, “A Great Day in Harlem,” taken by Art Kane in 1958, and was featured in an Oscar-nominated 1994 documentary about the photo, directed by Jean Bach. He was one of the last two surviving musicians among the 57 in the picture. (Sonny Rollins is now the last man standing). Benny died at the age of 95 this month.

If you have the time, here are a couple of great videos: A tribute to his compositions:

https://youtu.be/g9Frmzzdf1Q?si=HekxaHnsJ0Oy--Vp

The Jazztet live in 1982

https://youtu.be/rumaonfAMvo?si=ooks0UxVeEE7qbLP

and in 1995

https://youtu.be/I__tKDRFAM0?si=MZZX8-nB3zfhYXk4

and here is my favorite, "Killer Joe"

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kv1rgEJqLx8

Jazz & Blues Revue Holiday Soiree - YAY

 https://bit.ly/JnBHolidaySoiree

 

COME JOIN OUR KICKSTARTER! There are three weeks left to help us complete the album and get it ready for delivery in the fall. 11 Christmas and Chanukah tunes, PLUS All Blues! Click on this link: 

https://bit.ly/JnBHolidaySoiree

Jazz & Blues Revue

"All Blues / Shake Your Body"

As part of our Kickstarter campaign for our new album, we have just released our first video.

This was filmed live in the studio in January 2024 and it shows the band in action with all three singers (Courtney, Gina and Crystal) doing the three-part harmonies.

If you have ever seen the Jazz & Blues Revue live you know how exciting this number is, especially when we break into the Michael Jackson mash-up after the solos by Gina, Kris Bergh and Rob Kyle.

And for now, here is "All Blues / Shake Your Body"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENzXmXKC1Bw

Johnny Paycheck - Take This Job and Shove It

 Johnny Paycheck:

Take This Job And Shove It

In honor of Labor Day...

In honor of all the working folks out there, here is Johnny Paycheck singing what most of us are thinking.

The song rocketed to Number one for two weeks in 1977 and stayed on the charts for 18 weeks. Although it has not been verified, Johnny Paycheck claims that unemployment numbers skyrocketed after the song's release.

https://youtu.be/eIjEauGiRLo?si=QHL1K_Z_a8zuLeas

Otis Redding - Try a Little Tenderness

 Otis Redding

Try A Little Tenderness

Otis Redding released his first album in 1964.

By 1966 he was a bona fide star of the Soul and R+B charts.

 In June 1967, Redding performed at the influential Monterey Pop Festival as the closing act on Saturday night, the second day of the festival. He was invited through the efforts of promoter Jerry Wexler. Until that point, Redding was still performing mainly for black audiences. At the time, he "had not been considered a commercially viable player in the mainstream white American market." But after delivering one of the most electric performances of the night, and having been the act to most involve the audience, his performance at Monterey Pop moved him  from local to national acclaim.

In December 1967, the band was traveling to performances in Redding's Beechcraft H18 airplane. On December 9, they appeared on the Upbeat television show produced in Cleveland.

The next day, Sunday, December 10, they were to play at the Factory nightclub, near the University of Wisconsin.

Although the weather was poor, with heavy rain and fog, and despite warnings, the plane took off. Four miles from their destination at Truax Field in Madison, pilot Richard Fraser radioed for permission to land. Shortly thereafter, the plane crashed into Lake Monona.

Otis Redding and everyone on the plane except for one band member died in the crash.

The world lost one of the greatest soul singers of any generation.

Here is a video from the day before the crash, Otis Redding and the Bar-Kays, performing "Try A Little Tenderness"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqNc4XLBguI

Robbie Robertson

 Robbie Robertson:

The Weight

Robbie Robertson was born on the Six Nations Reserve outside of Toronto, Ontario, on July 5, 1943, his mother was of Mohawk and Cayuga heritage, and his biological father (who he never knew) was a professional gambler. He spent some time as a teenager working with traveling carnivals before he felt the pull of rock ’n’ roll. By the time he was 16 he was already the lead guitarist with Ronnie Hawkins and The Hawks, a popular Canadian bar band. “I was trying to do something with my playing that was like screaming at the sky,” he wrote in his autobiography “Testimony”.

The Hawks split from Ronnie Hawkins in 1964, and soon were known as The Band, and became Bob Dylan's backup band when Dylan "went electric" to the consternation of his folk fans.

The Band more or less created the style of music now called "Americana". Robertson wrote odes to Confederate soldiers, blacksmiths, medicine shows and whistle stops, his tall tales given weight and energy by the heft of The Band.

By 1976 Robbie had had enough of the touring and rock n roll life, and The Band played their last concert with him, "The Last Waltz". This was released 2 years later as a movie filmed and directed by Martin Scorsese , and it began his career as a music advisor to Scorsese which continued up through Scorsese's current movie, “Killers of the Flower Moon.”

Released from the shackles of Rock and Roll, Robertson continued to write songs and put out seven very eclectic albums as well as being involved with eighteen film soundtracks.

Here is a clip from "The Last Waltz", with Levon Helm singing lead on "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"

https://youtu.be/6dDbnwQlCek

and here is an amazing clip of The Band playing live in their studio in Woodstock NY,  "King Harvest (Has Surely Come)" sung by pianist Richard Manuel,

https://youtu.be/TaKD1Vdarnw

For the sheer joy of music, and the power of Robertson's songwriting, you can't beat this clip from PLAYING FOR CHANGE with Robertson on guitar and Ringo Starr on drums, with guest spots from Larkin Poe, Lucas Nelson (Willie's son) and countless others.

https://youtu.be/ph1GU1qQ1zQ  

 

 Robbie, the weight has been lifted, go in peace!

Dorothy Donegan - unheralded jazz pianist

 Dorothy Donegan:

Sensations of 1945

Dorothy Donegan, a jazz pianist who brashly mixed swing, boogie-woogie, vaudeville, pop, ragtime and Bach -- sometimes within a span of 10 minutes -- and who was known for an outrageous sense of humor, was born in 1922.

She started playing in bars at the age of 14 in her hometown of Chicago. In 1943, when she was 21, she gave a concert at Orchestra Hall in Chicago, the first black performer to do so. 

Hollywood soon came calling. Persuaded by her agent to turn down a five-year contract from MGM, she accepted a $3,000-a-week contract from United Artists for one picture, ''Sensations of 1945.'' This was the beginning and ending of her film career, but she continued to have a long career playing jazz clubs in the US and internationally.

Art Tatum called her "the only woman who can make me practice".

Donegan was outspoken about her view that sexism, along with her insistence on being paid the same rates as male musicians, had limited her career. In 1992, Donegan received an "American Jazz Master" fellowship from the NEA.

Ms. Donegan was better known as a performer than as a recording artist, and her flamboyance helped her find work in a field that was largely hostile to women. To a certain extent, it was also her downfall; her concerts were often criticized for having an excess of personality. Here is a RARE 1992 video from the Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood of Dorothy with Linda Hopkins - it gives you a feel for what her live shows were really like!

https://youtu.be/y7wXQnL2nPQ

Sit back and enjoy this AMAZING clip from the movie "SENSATIONS OF 1945" with Dorothy Donegan, Gene Rogers (another amazing stride pianist), Cab Calloway and his orchestra, and others

https://youtu.be/urAhDdgakSY

Jacob Collier - Somewhere

 Jacob Collier:

Somewhere

Last year, while I was playing with my jazz quartet at The Sound Room in Oakland (the show was fabulous, by the way), across the bay Jacob Collier was performing at SFJazz.

Unlike his usual performances which include a large band and lots of electronics, this show was just Jacob sitting at the piano playing songs, piano and voice.

His vocal ability? Astounding. His harmonic choices at the piano? Other-worldly.

I am not sure how long this video will stay up (it was recorded by an audience member) but check it out while you can!

https://youtu.be/MnMK1B7lFeQ

Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers

 Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers:

Atheists Don't Have No Songs

As anyone that has followed to career of Steve Martin knows, he is a multi-hyphenate talent:

comedian, magician, actor, director, musician, writer of skits, songs, novels, screenplays, Broadway shows, ...

Many people do not know that music (and playing the banjo in particular) was one of his first loves, and was an integral part of his early stand-up routines.

So in a way it was no surprise when in 2009 Steve Martin starting playing and performing with The Steep Canyon Rangers. They released 2 albums and toured together, and then in 2014 they released a live CD/DVD and PBS special that featured Martin's unique blend of comedy and bluegrass.

This song showcases his songwriting talent as well as his singing talent. My hat is off to anyone who can fit the word "existentialism" into a song and make it rhyme!

https://youtu.be/xmwAD7nHqaY

Will Brahm, fantastic guitarist

Will Brahm:

Viale Bramante

About once a year I have the pleasure of bringing my jazz quartet up to the Bay Area in Northern CA.  I was up there on SATURDAY JUNE 10, 2023 at The Sound Room in Oakland CA, and I'll be back again in April 2023!

The band features Will Brahm on guitar. (Will tours with Arturo Sandoval), Fred Randolph on Bass and Rob Rhodes on drums.

I am very excited to be working with Will. He is a talented young guitarist that can play in the style of Pat Metheny or Wes Montgomery - very versatile!  You have to check this guy out. Born and Raised in Portland Oregon, Will  moved to Los Angeles in 2007 where he received his bachelors of music in Jazz Guitar Studies at California State University Long Beach. He is a five time consecutive recipient of the “K-jazz” scholarship. 

This weeks Musical Moment is one of Will's compositions, "Viale Bramante"

https://youtu.be/cbZWaukQMI8

 

The Sound Room is aptly named. The focus is on the sound or the music. Unlike clubs where the performance may be peripheral to the experience, at the Sound Room the performance IS the experience.  It is an all-ages listening room. They exist to present great music and promote jazz as an art form. The ticket price pays the band, and they get by with Beer/wine and food sales at the club.

https://www.soundroom.org/events

Tina Turner: Proud Mary 1971

We lost another icon this week with the death of Tina Turner.

Tina was born in 1939 as Anna Mae Bullock in Nutbush, Tennessee. A powerhouse singer capable of squeezing every possible emotion out of songs such as “Proud Mary,” “River Deep, Mountain High” and “What’s Love Got to Do With It,”  The Grammy-winning vocalist overcame an abusive marriage and decades of adversity before being fully embraced as a rock ’n’ roll original who exuded a raw sensuality with her commanding yet soulful voice, million-dollar legs and iconic hair.

When she left her marriage from Ike Turner in 1974  (their popularity was peaking following a tour with the Rolling Stones), her career stumbled and she struggled for years. Then she mounted a stunning comeback in 1984 with the album “Private Dancer,” which sold more than 10 million copies and scored four Grammy Awards.

She went on to become an inspiration for millions, proof of female empowerment and the ability to overcome adversity. And all's well that ends well - Turner sold her music catalog to the German music corporation BMG for a reported $50 million in 2021.

Check out this clip from 1996, when Tina was 57 years old. AMAZING! I DARE you to be able to dance like this! https://youtu.be/CCM_JGrv8UI?t=131

Here is a clip of Ike and Tina Turner with the Ikettes, performing Proud Mary on Italian TV in 1971. And that band! TIGHT! and check out the bass player - I want those pants!!!!

https://youtu.be/nL1l0Fz5RlE

Jacob Collier - the Audience Choir

 Perhaps you have heard of Jacob Collier?

Jacob is a genre-busting 28-year old artist who sings incredibly complex harmonies and plays every instrument. He was born in England to musical parents, but that alone cannot explain his phenomenal talent. In just the last four years, Jacob has released four albums of music containing over 60 songs.  He is a great believer in the power of music. He also seems to attract a very talented and musical audience. Here is Jacob Collier conducting his "Audience Choir" live at O2 Academy, Brixton, London in June 2022. You have to hear it to believe it.

https://youtu.be/3KsF309XpJo

Ray Charles - Georgia (1976)

 

Did you ever get to see Ray Charles live? I saw him a couple of times at different festivals back in the '70s. Brother Ray was an incredible performer, and he ran a super-tight band from the piano even though he was blind from the age of 7 years old. His career spanned over 50 years. His final public appearance was on April 30, 2004, at the dedication of his music studio as a historic landmark in Los Angeles

This year at PATH JAZZ NIGHT there is a double treat. The Jazz & Blues Revue will do a Tribute to Ray Charles, and special guest vocalist Eric Benet will also perform.  The show is NEXT THURSDAY NOVEMBER 3 and there are a few seats left. Tickets are $200, and all proceeds go to PATH Ventures to help build supportive housing for LA's homeless.

BUY TICKETS HERE

 Ray Charles sings Georgia: There are MANY live versions of this song on YouTube, but I think this is my favorite, from Midnight Special in 1976. Check out the hairstyles! Ray breaks it down around 3:00 and then brings it home with a rousing finish. A classic performance!

https://youtu.be/glggureA_Kk

The Jazz & Blues Revue - All Blues

 Jazz & Blues Revue is back!

All Blues

The Jazz & Blues Revue has been entertaining Los Angeles audiences for over 15 years now. COVID caused a hiatus in live performances, but the band is gearing up for a show on  SUNDAY OCTOBER 23 at CATALINA JAZZ CLUB IN HOLLYWOOD!

If you like Pink Martini and Postmodern Jukebox, you will LOVE The Jazz & Blues Revue. The band features three singers: Courtney Lemmon, Crystal Starr and Gina Saputo, with musical director George Kahn. We perform everything from The Andrew Sisters to The Pointer Sisters, with some Etta James and Aretha thrown into the mix. This year we are featuring songs by Ray Charles!

ONE NIGHT ONLY - OCTOBER 23 - music starts at 7:30 PM

BUY TICKETS HERE

or

Call Manny at 323-466-2210 to reserve seats

Here is a live-in-studio performance of the band from 2020, doing Miles Davis' "ALL BLUES", recorded at The Village in West Los Angeles

 

https://youtu.be/Vx_5_oFx3Ug

Mike Lang - live at Zipper Hall

 One of the great unsung heroes of the piano, Mike Lang died earlier this month.

Mike spent several decades as one of the premier musical talents in Los Angeles. He was well versed in various music forms, including jazz, classical, pop and R&B. He was both a freelance jazz musician and sought-after studio artist, with a career spanning records, motion pictures and television.

Unlike many of the other top studio "piano guys" in Los Angeles, Mike could not only read whatever chart was put in front of him by Henry Mancini, Dave Grusin, Jerry Goldsmith, Hans Zimmer, or countless other film composers, he could also improvise and play in most any style, jazz, pop, R+B, you name it.

I had the pleasure of sitting in on a recording session with Mike back in the '70's, and the composer asked him to play some "source music" for a restaurant scene. Mike proceeded to play jazz piano, and each chorus was in the style of a different pianist: Errol Garner, Bill Evans, Fats Waller. It was amazing to witness.

Mike was a true "studio cat", avoiding the spotlight, and s there are very few videos of him playing. In the last few years he began to do concerts here is Los Angeles. Here is a clip from one show at Zipper Hall, with Darek Oles on bass and Peter Erskine on drums.  Stick around to the end when Mike starts trading 8s with the drums to really hear his brilliance.

SNARKY PUPPY

 Is Snarky Puppy a Jazz Band? Is it an improvisational rock band? Or is it something different? If you have not heard of them in the last 17 years since they began recoding, let me introduce you.

The band was formed as a 10-piece group by Michael League after his second year at the University of North Texas, in 2004, “Because I was so bad,” he claimed, “I didn't place into any of the school ensembles. So Snarky Puppy was my way of getting to play.” The group has grown into an international super-band made up of "...a wide-ranging assemblage of musicians known affectionately as 'The Fam'." In more than 17 years since its founding, about 40 players have performed in "The Fam" on guitar, bass, keyboards, woodwinds, brass, strings, drums, and percussion, but six of the 10 members on the first studio album The Only Constant remain on the regular roster. Many past and present band members were students at the University of North Texas.

Personally I find their music most reminiscent of Frank Zappa's instrumental pieces, which is a great compliment. In typical 21st Century style, they focus more on touring and live performance rather than CDs. Many of their videos are live "in studio" performances where the audience is all wearing headphones so they hear the full studio mix as the band lays down the tracks.

Check out the drummers in this band. Nate Werth does not get enough camera time! He is snarky puppy’s secret weapon. What an amazing percussionist! Especially at 5:21 both him and Larnell Lewis are playing 32nd notes in unison… crazyyy

https://youtu.be/kk0WRHV_vt8

Come Out and Play with me on FATHERS DAY JUNE 19

 George Kahn Quartet

Follow Your Heart

Greeting from the French countryside near Coutances.  Today we will go for a walk on the beach, and then go to The Sous Les Pommiers Jazz Festival to hear Tigran Hamasyan.

I get back in June, and I hope you can join me for a special FATHERS DAY JAZZ CONCERT ON JUNE 19 at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood. 

Invite your favorite father! Or fathers: invite your children to experience the excitement of live music IN PERSON AND NOT ON A VIDEO SCREEN!

Here is a live sample of what what we will play that night, a beautiful original ballad called Follow Your Heart.

https://youtu.be/s0nAGI6FS8M

 

Join me and THE GEORGE KAHN QUARTET for a special Fathers Day show on June 19th at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood featuring Pat Kelley on guitar, David Hughes on Bass and the amazing Clayton Cameron on drums.. Door open at 6:00 PM, music at 7:30 PM. RSVP by calling (323) 466-2210

OR: CLICK HERE to buy TICKETS

Musical Moments #114 - Stefon Harris

 Stefon Harris

I Fall In Love Too Easily

A great way to ease into the weekend is by listening to a jazz standard played by a master.

Stefon Harris carries on the jazz vibraphone tradition of Milt Jackson and Gary Burton. A native of Albany, New York, Harris intended to work for the New York Philharmonic until he heard the music of Charlie Parker.

He is one of a handful of "young" (as in under 50) players that have really connected with new jazz audiences, playing and recording with Charlie Hunter, Christian Scott, Diana Krall and many others.

https://youtu.be/vFFAqsV9JxQ 

And by the way, please join THE GEORGE KAHN QUARTET for a special Fathers Day show on June 19th at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood. Door open at 6:00 PM, music at 7:30 PM. RSVP by calling (323) 466-2210

More info: CLICK HERE to buy TICKETS

Musical Moments #113 - Esperanza Spalding

Exposure

Another favorite of the Grammys (although she did not win this year) is Esperanza Spalding. I am not a real fan of her music, but her talent and artistry is undeniable, and beyond category.

She was born in October 1984 in Portland, Oregon. She was playing piano and violin by the time she was five, and was concertmaster of  the Chamber Music Society of Oregon by the time she was 15.

Spalding picked up the bass when she entered high school at 15. By the age of 16 she had dropped out of high school, got her GED, and received a scholarship to Portland State University to study music. Her bass teacher there suggested she apply to the Berklee School of Music in Boston, and after her audition she received a full scholarship to the school. The day she graduated in 2005 she was hired as a professor at The Berklee School, the youngest ever. 

Spalding started broadcasting the writing, arranging, and recording of Exposure at 9am PST on September 12, 2017 via Facebook Live for 77 hours straight. The live stream took place at NRG Recording Studios and included breaks for sleep and sustenance, adding a layer of reality-TV voyeurism to the experiment. Spalding chose to do the experiment in 77 hours because she was once told by a reverend that "seven is a divine number. It’s the number of completion. It represents the earthly culmination of a divine thought", and she enjoyed that sentiment. She has stated that the premise of Exposure is that all the facets of creators only need the right environment to coalesce into completeness.

This video comes from that 77 hour "session". Esperanza plays bass, sings, and simultaneously walks the band through the complex composition, calling out changes and directions as part of her vocals. It is one of the most amazing examples of live creativity that I have ever seen.

https://youtu.be/966ZswEDkyw

and here is the link to the final recording:

https://youtu.be/vfhaXIIFFSA