Jazz In the Morning! (first edition)

Jazz in the morning!

Here is an interesting medley by Dick Hyman, who we normally hear on the piano but here he is using the organ.

‘Satin Doll’ – some recognizable movie themes…good music to vacuum by.

But not for icing cakes, I think.

#Jazz

“Fly Me to the Moon”

Today’s musical interlude features Mr. Cool and Smooth Nat King Cole bio in a recording from later in his career.

The song is Fly Me to the Moon. The song was written in 1954 by Bart Howard and was originally titled “In Other Words.” Howard said he wrote songs with his idol, Cole Porter, in mind, but had been performing and writing for nearly twenty years without a singular success.

First recorded by Kaye Ballard, the song became popular and was recorded and released by numerous artists. Lovely, smoky Peggy Lee had one of the most successful releases and it was Peggy who convinced Howard to make the name change to Fly Me to the Moon a formality.

 

Esperanza Spalding Feature in Newsweek

Esperanza Spalding! I have made my admiration for this beautiful, talented lady a recurrent theme here on thejazzmonger blog. Now, I am pleased to report that she is the subject of an excellent article in Newsweek and it’s affiliate The Daily Beast.

Abigail Pesta’s piece begins, as most Spalding features do, with the singular nature of her talent and intelligence:

 As a 5-year-old, she began playing in a community band; by the time she was 15, she was the concertmaster for an Oregon youth orchestra, with a scholarship to a private arts high school. At 20, she graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

Pesta doesn’t mention it, but Spalding was, by age 19, not only a student at Berklee but also on the faculty.

Jazz Talent Esperanza Spalding

The hard-working credential is well-earned, many times over. Beginning in childhood, she learned to play the piano, clarinet and oboe before discovering the stand-up bass in high school. When asked why she now plays bass, almost exclusively, Esperanza says that the instrument “just resonates” with her.

Pesta goes on to highlight the difficult circumstances in which Spalding lived as a child. She grew up in the King neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Esperanza has described it as “a ghetto” and “pretty scary.” She and her brother were raised by her mother as a single parent. And yet, Pesta tells us:

She downplays her gritty childhood. Growing up poor isn’t a “special” story, she says, but an American one. “Where I’m from is a really mild example. I mean, I’m sure my whole life we were under the poverty line, you know, but I still felt rich. I had a rich upbringing, rich in the sense of a lot of love, a lot of education, nature, music and art, and laughing.” She adds, “It’s not just about the income you make.”

Listen to that last part again, if you will indulge me, because it is the point of today’s visit to the keyboard:

“I had a rich upbringing, rich in the sense of a lot of love, a lot of education, nature, music and art, and laughing.” She adds, “It’s not just about the income you make.”

Esperanza Spalding