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. 

Who Will Comfort Me?

"Who Will Comfort Me"

 Melody Gardot is a popluar American Jazz Singer-Songwriter. "Who Will Comfort Me" was released as the lead single for her second studio album My One and Only Thrill. Lyrically the song is very simple. Gardot emphasizes that her heart is bound while the world is free, she asks who will comfort her weary soul that is beaten down from her misery. Her home is a wreck and family drowned in flight and poverty. Everything around her is quenching her and her soul is weary. Musically this simple lyric is combined with finger snapping, scat singing and percussion. This song is has the same melodic pattern 4 times. Each time there is a variation with either snapping, additional lyrics, changed rhythms or scat singing. Each is an element that is layered in. Gardot starts simple then leans into a layering effect that truly enhances the song. The very first thing we hear is Melody's snapping. This is a perfect mood setter, it sets the rhythm and you are lulled into attention. Then the first layer or verse is straight paved with simple lyrics and light accompaniment . The second verse is then ornamentation and each verse following has a different flare, Gardot moves her voice like an instrument playing with the melodic line. She sings very much horizontally, leaning into the Gm scales. Using leading tones to add tension and resolve that grabs listeners attention.

Melody Gardot singing "Who Will Comfort Me" on David Letterman: 

My soul is a wearyMy soul is wearyMy soul is wearyI said my soul is weary
My soul is a weary and beaten down from all of my miseryOh Lord who will comfort meMy soul is a weary and beaten down from all of my miseryOh Lord who will comfort me
(scat)
Got a hold on my heart that keeps me boundWhen the whole wide world is freeOh Lord who will comfort meGot a hold on my heart that keeps me boundWhen the whole wide world is freeOh Lord who will comfort me
(scat)
My home is a wreckageA family drowned in flight and povertyOh Lord who will comfort meMy home is a wreckageA family drowned in flight and povertyOh Lord who will comfort meOh Lord who will comfort me (repeat).

Melody Gardot started music lessons at the age of 9 and began playing piano in the local hometown (Philadelphia) bars at the age of 16 on Fridays and Saturdays for four or more hours a night. Yet in 2003 Melody was cycling and was hit by a driver who ignored a red traffic light. In the accident she suffered serious head and spinal injuries as well as her pelvis was broken in two places. Because of the extent of her injuries she was confined to her hospital bed for a year and a half. Gardot had to re-learn walking, brushing her teeth and other simple motor skills. Yet it was in the hospital where she learned to play the guitar and truly began writing songs. She has been influenced by blues and jazz artists such as Judy Garland, Janis Joplin, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Stan Getz and George Gershwin. As well as Latin music artists such as Caetano Veloso. Overall her music has even been compared to that of Nina Simone. She is a great modern jazz artist to enjoy!

Good old Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald-Musical Perfection

In an interview with Bobbie Wygant (posted below) we find that Ella didn't truly plan to be a singer. Ella says "I always wanted to be a dancer." Ella never really found out she could sing until she made a bet with her girlfriends to audition at Apolo Theatre in Harlem. So at the age of 15 Ella entered the Apollo Theatre's amateur night naturally thinking she would be dancing. 

"There I was, nervous as can be, only 15 years old with the skinniest legs you've ever seen and I froze; got cold feet. The man in charge said that I had better do something up there, so I said I wanted to sing instead. The audience was laughing," she shares. Ella decided to sing a song from an album of her mothers by Connee Boswell, called "The Object of My Affection." 

Amazingly enough, the notoriously harsh audience at the Apollo stopped laughing, and soon began clapping for more. "Three encores later, the $25 prize was mine," says Fitzgerald. From then on Ella hasn't stopped singing. She was soon dubbed the "First Lady of Song," Fitzgerald has clearly earned her title, recording about 70 long playing albums and more than 2,000 different songs on the gramophone format. She worked with fellow legendary artists such as Duke Ellington, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman and even performed in a few movies, including "Ride 'Em Cowboy" starring Abbott and Costello. 

When Bobbie Wygant asks Ella if she would do it again, Ella shares some interesting advise. "I was told that you never want to be a part of something that goes up real fast because you meet the same people coming down. This type of career dosent happen overnight. If it happens too fast your not really prepared for it. Yo've got to work hard for it, its not easy.Its something you have to love and have patience, a good manager and people that love you and protect you. The love of the people is what makes you wana do what you wana do."  

Bobbie Wygant Interview with Ella Fitzgerald 

http://vimeo.com/27625402

Ella has a voice that is rare in its endurance and quality.  How High the Moon is a prime example. In the interview Ella shares her faith in God and says this is the way life was suppossed to be. She even tossed out the idea of going to Iran to sing "How High the Moon" just for the love of people. Well, she definitely ended up singing "How High the Moon for many adoring fans.

"How High the Moon" 

ABAB form. The song uses a descending chord progression in which the tonic turns to minor. It really follows voice leading which intensely helps a singer rely on their ear.

A-Starts with a simple melody and lyric line with light piano and drum accompaniment. 
B- Ella then jumps into improvisation on scat symbols with the initial vocal line. A quickened piano and drum accompaniment follows. 
A- Ella breaks into a scat and specific words from the initial melody integrated in her improvisations. She is never afraid to try something new in her performances. Even if that means making up words for fun.
B- The tempo then quickens and Ella takes the stage scatting with the descending chords being played underneath her. She uses scatting as a way to sound like an instrument. Ella also takes words from the original lyric line while the drums keep a steady beat underneath her and plays around with the chordal structure to her hearts content. 
The chords go from Maj7 to min7 frequently which allows improvisation and settles for an entertaining performance.

Frank Sinatra was right when he famously said, “If Ella were a musical instrument, she’d be the whole orchestra.”

Chet Baker

1929 in Yale Oklahoma Chet Baker was born. When the family decided to move Cher’s father decided to buy him a trombone. The 12 year old thought it was a little hard to handle and eventually switched over to trumpet. Chet Baker grew up to be one of the most interesting and mysterious performers of Jazz. A life full of talent, women, drugs, travel and all drenched in Jazz music.

Chet Baker was unschooled. He was a man who played by ear, quickly learning tunes and improvising understanding what worked and what didn’t yet Chet could never tell you what key he was in or what he had technically just played. When I had heard this it blew my mind! I am studying music at KSU and knowing the hours spent in Theory and Aural Skills to be a better musician is so helpful. That type of understanding is assumed wherever you go and to see Chet as someone who was such an in tune musician and couldn’t read music astounds me! In 1987 Herbie Hancock spoke about his recording of "Fair Weather": "I had forgotten that Chet didn't read music. I remember how fresh his first take was, he followed the chords as if he had known them all his life". No one in their right mind would have really been able to guess by listening that Chet was unschooled musically. 

Baker said in a 1987 interview with biographer J. de Valk; "Well, I can't read chord sequences. I can play a melody line that is written down for trumpet. But chord symbols tell me nothing. For a time I went to instrument training class in junior high school. That was the only instruction that I ever had."

This is a huge part of Bakers charm. Within the mysteriousness of Chet’s personal life on stage he always kept people guessing. Surprising audiences with each performance.

Chet Baker-"My Funny Valentine"
This is one of the most common standards of all time, and it seems to transcend jazz. What I’ve noticed is that there are quite a few interpretations of the chord changes on this particular tune, and it’s difficult to know what the “real” changes are. The tune is typically done in C minor, but the bridge goes the relative major, in Eb. The form is AABA. However, beyond this the various recordings are very different harmonically. Leaving excessive amounts of room for improvisation that jazz musicians love.

After a run as Charlie Parker’s trumpeter in the Quintet during the bebop giant’s stay in L.A., Baker joined the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. In 1952, the quartet cut four sides for the Fantasy label recorded live at San Francisco’s Blackhawk club. Along with two Mulligan originals, bassist Carson Smith suggested a ballad called “My Funny Valentine,” which no one in the group had ever heard before. “The song fascinated Baker. It captured all he aspired to as a musician … ‘Valentine’ became his favorite song; rarely would he do a show without it, or fail to find something new in its thirty-five bars.” Stated by James Gavin’s from Abiography, Deep in a Dream: The Long Night of Chet Baker. The instrumental version of the song clearly resonated with Baker. This first of many vocal versions of “My Funny Valentine” is a premonition of the pain to come in his heroin-addicted future—singing almost as if he was already on his deathbed. Though the singer addresses another person, it’s almost as if he’s singing to himself, about himself: lines like “my favorite work of art” and “your looks are … unphotographable” hint at the narcissism and selfishness that would come to dominate his life.

“Chettie was so gifted and so magical that what he gave out he could never, ever get back.”

My Funny Valentine

“My Funny Valentine”

My funny Valentine, sweet comic Valentine
You make me smile with my heart
Your looks are laughable, unphotographable
Yet, you’re my favorite work of art

Is your figure less than Greek?
Is your mouth a little weak?
When you open it to speak
Are you smart?

But don’t change your hair for me
Not if you care for me
Stay little Valentine, stay!
Each day is Valentines day

Written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart

Cited:

http://chetbakertribute.com/about.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOEIQKczRPY

http://www.americansongwriter.com/2012/01/chet-baker-my-funny-valentine/