Just wanted to share this documentary the focuses on 4 classic jazz albums that all came out in 1959:
Kind of Blue by Miles Davis
Time Out by Dave Brubeck
MIngus Ah Um by Charles Mingus
The Shape of Jazz to Come by Ornette Coleman
I'm always fascinated by where jazz went after the swing era and finding the throughlines that remain. And these are just great albums. If you have an hour sometime, check it out!
Hey gang I just saw this today and had to share with you. It is a really great little feature at the New York Times called "Five Minutes That Will Make You Love Duke Ellington". They've gotten a bunch of musicians, writers, & critics to pick one song from Duke's vast oeuvre that they think will "make you love Duke Elllington" (as if you don't already).
There is some great stuff on here though, 13 tracks in total - with a handy-dandy Spotify playlist at the bottom and I'll be delving into this myself in the coming days. I hope you are able to treat yourself to a bit of Duke as well!
Helen Humes was a fantastic singer with the Count Basie band, and here she shows that singing the Blues is absolutely no challenge for her. It makes sense since Basie was famous for swinging the blues. And really when you think of it, jazz comes out of the blues anyways. So in a way, no surprises here, but check out some masters at work in this amazing performance.
