Vince Guaraldi

Like most so-called overnight successes, Vincent Anthony Guaraldi -- who forever described himself as "a reformed boogie-woogie piano player" -- worked hard for his big break.

The man eventually dubbed "Dr. Funk" by his compatriots was born in San Francisco on July 17, 1928; he graduated from Lincoln High School and then San Francisco State College. Guaraldi began performing while in college, haunting sessions at the Black Hawk and Jackson's Nook, sometimes with the Chubby Jackson/Bill Harris band, other times in combos with Sonny Criss and Bill Harris. He played weddings, high school concerts, and countless other small-potatoes gigs. His first serious booking came at the Black Hawk, when he worked as an intermission pianist filling in for the legendary Art Tatum. "It was more than scary", Guaraldi later recalled. "I came close to giving up the instrument, and I wouldn't have been the first after working with Tatum". Guaraldi's first recorded work can be heard on "Vibratharpe", a 1953 release by the Cal Tjader Trio. Guaraldi then avoided studios for the next few years, preferring to further hone his talents in the often unforgiving atmosphere of San Francisco's beatnik club scene. In 1955 he put together his own trio longtime friend Eddie Duran on guitar, Dean Reilly on bass and tackled North Beach's bohemian hungry i club. He also returned to studio work that year, making his recorded debut as group leader, although with different personnel: John Markham (drums), Eugene Wright (bass) and Jerry Dodgion (alto sax). What soon came to be recognized as the "Guaraldi sound", however, resulted from several recording sessions with his hungry i buddies. The original Vince Guaraldi Trio, with Duran and Reilly, can be heard on two releases: "The Vince Guaraldi Trio" and "A Flower is a Lonesome Thing".

O Tannenbaum

My Grandmother is obsessed with Snoopy and I grew up listening to Snoopy Christmas music as background for many family functions. With Christmas just around the corner I decided to look up Vince Guaraldi. I love this song and enjoy hearing how Vince plays piano so well in this piece. His tempo change from the original melody to a more upbeat and defined tempo is brilliant and has been remembered for years! 

And this man has an amazing mustache!

Charlie Parker

All the Things You Are- Charlie Parker

The main chorus has become a favorite for jazz musicians.The chorus is a 36-measure AA₂BA₃ form that features two twists on the usual 32-bar AABA song-form: A₂ transposes the initial A section down a fourth, while the final A₃ section adds an extra four bars.

The chords of the A₂ section precisely echo those of the initial eight measure A section, except the roots of each chord in the initial A section are lowered (transposed down) by a perfect 4th interval. So Fmi7 in A becomes Cmi7 in A ₂, Bbmi7 becomes Fmi7, Eb7 becomes Bb7, etc. In the same vein, the melody sung over A₂ is identical to the A section melody except every pitch of every melody note is also lowered by a perfect 4th interval.

The first 5 measures of A₃ are identical to the initial 8 measure long A and A₂ sections. In the 6th measure, A₃ takes a new path that does not come to an end until the 12 measure of the section.

The modulations in this song are very unusual for a pop song of the period, and present challenges to a singer or improviser, including a semitone modulation that ends each A section (these modulations start with measure 6 in the A and A₂ sections and measure 9 of the A₃ section), and a striking use of enharmonics substitution at the turnaround of the B section (last two measures of the B Section), where the G# melody note over a E major chord turns into an A-flat over the F minor 7th of measure 1 of section A₃. The result is a tune that in the space of every chorus manages to include at least one chord built on every note of the Western 12-tone scale.

Because of its combination of a strong melody and challenging but logical chord structure, "All the Things You Are" has become a popular jazz standard.

"Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don't live it, it won't come out your horn. They teach you there's a boundary line to music. But, man, there's no boundary line to art."-Charlie Parker

When Parker was still a child, his family moved to Kansas City, Missouri, where jazz, blues and gospel music were flourishing. His first contact with music came from school, where he played baritone horn with the school’s band. When he was 15, he showed a great interest in music and a love for the alto saxophone. Soon, Parker was playing with local bands until 1935, when he left school to pursue a music career.

From 1935 to 1939, Parker worked in Kansas City with several local jazz and blues bands from which he developed his art. In 1939, Parker visited New York for the first time, and he stayed for nearly a year working as a professional musician and often participating in jam sessions. The New York atmosphere greatly influenced Parker's musical style. 

Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra  is one of the most recognizable jazz singers in history. Ask anyone who is a jazz singer and you will most likely find that they know of or have heard Frank Sinatra. 

Sinatra's vocal style represented a significant departure from the "crooning" style of his idol, Bing Crosby. Sinatra's generation represented the first generation of children that had grown up in the era of the microphone, and the amplification of sound enabled singers to sing in a much softer, personal and nuanced style. However Sinatra, as he himself once noted, sang more, by which he meant that he introduced a bel canto sound to the tradition begun by Crosby. And, more importantly, he might be said to have brought the Crosby tradition to artistic completion, taking it to levels of intensity and depth of feeling that, because of the displacement of the Crosby – Sinatra tradition by rock and roll and subsequent genres, are unlikely to be achieved again.

Sinatra made a point of studying Tommy Dorsey's trombone playing as a means of cultivating a more free-flowing vocal style — he noticed that Dorsey used a tiny airhole at the side of his mouth to sneak breaths when playing. Sinatra would employ a similar technique, and so be able to hold notes for incredibly long durations. In addition to this, Sinatra started to jog and swim underwater to develop his lung capacity — which enabled him to continue a musical phrase through a stanza without pausing, or breaking the note, for breath. Sinatra's legato-style of singing/phrasing took pop singing in new directions when most singers of the 1940s were keen to emulate Bing Crosby.

As happens with many singers, Sinatra suffered at least one period of major vocal difficulty, which he remedied with the help of Metropolitan Opera baritone Robert Merrill.

As a song-stylist, Sinatra's jazz-infused approach to singing seemed to occur with the end of the "Big Band" era and ushering in of an era that favored the vocalist and made him/her the focus, not the bandleader and his band.

Sinatra also possessed an outstanding vocal range. According to music critic Henry Pleasants “The voice itself was a typical Italian light baritone with a two octave range from G to G, declining, as it darkened in later years, to F to F and with greater potential at the top than he was commonly disposed to exploit. He could and sometimes did depress the larynx and ‘cover’ as classical singers do, to sustain a full rounded tone in moving up the scale. On his recording ‘Day by Day,’ for example he gives out with full-voiced, admirably focused E flats and F’s and even lands a briefly held but confident high A flat just before the end.” [1] His early recordings found him singing in near-tenor range, hitting a high F on "All or Nothing At All" (1939) or "Where's My Bess", whilst being equally adept in the lower register, the low E on his 1962 recording of "Ol' Man River" being a prime example of such. His phrasing was also impeccable, getting to the heart of a song by emphasizing words and lines in ways that made a song more personal, whilst his ability to hold notes, sing above or behind the beat and rest on a note were hallmarks of a singer fully in command of his instrument.

What a guy. This is a young Sinatra.

As he grew he was known as an amazing singer yet he definitely had a temper that would get him into trouble. Frank is a smooth singer and jazz musician that many still try to emulate!

Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby. His voice makes me melt. 

When I was growing up he was legend in my house, still is. Most will know him best from the movie and signature song, "White Christmas". White Christmas became the bestselling single for more than 50 years movie that my family watches ever year at Christmas time. Bing Crosby kind of fell into the music world and won millions over with his smooth velvety voice. 

Background:

Bing Crosby was the fourth of seven children of Tacoma, Washington, brewery bookkeeper Harry Lowe Crosby and Kate Harrigan Crosby. He studied law at Gonzaga University in Spokane but was more interested in playing the drums and singing with a local band. In the early 1930s Bing's brother Everett sent a record of Bing singing "I Surrender, Dear" to the president of CBS. His live performances from New York were carried over the national radio network for 20 consecutive weeks in 1932. His radio success led Paramount Pictures to include him in The Big Broadcast (1932), a film featuring radio favorites. His songs about not needing a bundle of money to make life happy was the right message for the decade of the Great Depression. His relaxed, low-key style carried over into the series of "Road" comedies he made with pal Bob Hope. He won the best actor Oscar for playing an easygoing priest in Going My Way (1944). He showed that he was indeed an actor as well as a performer when he played an alcoholic actor down on his luck opposite Grace Kelly in The Country Girl (1954).

As a Jazz Singer:

Bing Crosby became a movie and TV icon, he was a singer, one of the most popular America has ever known. A large portion of Bing’s song output was jazz, recorded with some of the very best jazz musicians of the era. Crosby's jazz-inspired phrasing and laid-back rascality were an inspiration to Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and even rhythm-&-blues singer Roy Brown, among many others.

Crosby has had numerous jazz affiliations including with his first vocal group, The Rhythm Boys, but is normally classified as a pop music figure. Be that as it may, he remains associated with jazz through his many appearances with jazz greats, through his love for the music of jazz, and through his singing on several swinging jazz sides and albums. Crosby never studied music seriously. He was blessed with a naturally warm, deep, resonant, and appealing voice and learned how to phrase with it almost by osmosis. In the early 30’s Crosby’s chumming around with the jazz greats of the day helped him pick up on jazz phrasing. He claimed, "I used to hang around The Dorseys and Bix and Bunny Berigan and Glenn Miller and Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang - all the musicians I admired - and I was having a helluva good time. I really had no idea that I was learning anything. But I certainly was."

There Ain't No Sweet Man Worth The Salt of My 

with Bix Biderbecke

Bing comes in after about a minute of instrumental they scat and have very tight harmonies. 

This is one of my favorite collaborations Bing Crosby does with Louis Armstrong. Its so fun to hear Bing's voice and Louis bantering back and forth adding flare, its so laid back and fun to listen to. Scatting sharing the melody and speak singing. Where its like an endless seam of a conversation back and forth between speech and the jazzy vocal line. Its so genuine and believable. ABA and the background staying constant with a mellow rhythmic beat then Bing and Louis improvising above above the foundational percussion. 

Enjoy the recordings! 

Airto Moreira

Airto Moreira was born in Itaiópolis, Brazil, into a family of folk healers, and raised in Curitiba and São Paulo. Moreira showed talent for music at a young age and became a professional musician at age 13! He was noticed first as a member of the samba jazz pioneers Sambalanço Trio and for his landmark recording was Quarteto Novo with Hermeto Pascoal in 1967. Shortly after, he followed his wife Flora Purim (jazz singer) to the United States. Their daughter Diana Moreira is also a singer and now they reside in Los Angeles.

Airto is the most high-profile percussionist of the 1970s and still among the most famous, Airto Moreira helped make percussion an essential part of many modern jazz groups; his tambourine solos can border on the amazing. Airto originally studied guitar and piano before becoming a percussionist. He played locally in Brazil, collected and studied over 120 different percussion instruments.

After moving to the USA, Airto began playing regularly with jazz musicians in New York, including the bassist Walter Booker. Through Booker, Airto began playing with Joe Zawinul, who in turn introduced him to Miles Davis. At this time Miles was experimenting with electronic instruments and rock and funk rhythms, a form which would soon come to be called jazz fusion. Airto was to participate in several of the most important projects of this emerging musical form. Airto stayed with Miles for about two years, touring and participating in the creation of the seminal fusion recording Bitches Brew (1970).

 Airto Moreira is the percussionist in this recording:

•   Miles Davis – trumpet

•   Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone

•   Bennie Maupin – bass clarinet

•   Joe Zawinul – electric piano – Left

•   Chick Corea – electric piano – Right

•   John McLaughlin – electric guitar

•   Dave Holland – electric bass

•   Billy Cobham – drum set – Left

•   Jack DeJohnette – drum set – Right

Airto Moreira – percussion and cuica

Despite its kinetic electric drive, "Pharaoh's Dance" is primitive in nature. The scales used bring to mind Africa more than Egypt. The tune is jungle-like, in fact. Each individual voice becomes lost in the dense underbrush of rhythmic activity. The traditional solo sections are eschewed. When a musician is briefly featured he stays within the borders of the camp. In an ensemble creation such as this, it is difficult to say who is playing off whom. It just becomes a huge organic creation. Even though no one stands out, it is obvious that a repetoire is being developed. This collective creation is the sonic equivalent of trying to put a square peg into a round hole. You just try to squeeze it in even though you know you can't. It is that conundrum that makes it all so exciting.