duaneiac

Last night, to mark the Brubeck Centennial, I decided to reach into my Brubeck shelves and grab a disc without looking. This was what I came up with -- so I listened to disc 2 of 2. I hadn't listened to this one in a long time. It's a 2004 concert recording from Frankfurt. Some rewarding music if you are into the "jazz meets the symphony" kind of thing.

Make that "Nobel prize winning" voice of a generation. It would have been so cool if Dylan had been willing to sell his entire catalog of work for this enormous sum of money -- all except for one song. He could pick the most obscure song, maybe one he himself forgot he even wrote, and just instruct his lawyers that this one song, and this one song only, was not for sale, no way no how, not for any amount of money! He would not have to give a reason why or an explanation. Perhaps he'd even take a bit of a financial hit because the buyer could not brag about owning the "complete" works of Bob Dylan. The mystique about this one song that Dyaln refused to sell, man, would grow enormously. . Musicians and academics would study it, seeking out the key which makes this song different from all other Dylan songs. People would claim how that one had always been their favorite Dyaln song all the time, the other songs are all played out, man. And it would all be just a big goof. That would have been so cool! Even cooler if that song had been titled, "Rosebud"!

Happy 100th Dave Brubeck!!!

Did you know there is even a third Lou Rawls Christmas Cd? This one is also worth having -- As for Ella, I'm a huge fan of hers and I love her Christmas album. Her singing in general, and on her Christmas album in particular, provides me with the seasonally appropriate "comfort and joy". I was in a grocery store just yesterday when an Ella Christmas song came on over the sound system. First time I'd heard one of her Christmas tunes this year. It felt like a cozy little treat. It really helped to hear this so-old-it's-amazingly-current-once-again lyric sung by Ella: Some day soon we all may be together If the fates allow Until then, we'll have to Muddle through somehow. Muddling through was almost this year's central theme. There may be more months of muddling still to come, but Ella, kindly and sweetly, reminds us that we can do this.

How about some Randy Newman to brighten up the holidays . . .

If that is supposed to be Bill Evans, I'm sure glad DSM never wanted to become a police sketch artist! Now playing:

Why is there an illustration of Dave Brubeck on this Bill Evans CD?

Did they include "Thriller" on the CD? That was the most memorable performance when I saw them performing that music in concert. Now playing: which contains three radio broadcasts: from Sardi's in Hollywood, 1956 (the announcer for this broadcast sounds like he attended the Ronald Colman Academy for High Class Elocution), and two from Brant Inn in Burlington, Ontario ("down the lakeshore from the steel city of Hamilton"), one in '59 and the last in '60.

When all else fails, this could be a means of personal transportation . . .

The cover photo only shows AF. I assume the BP are already aboard the jet.

onto Disc 4. Good Gravy Marie, how in the world was this not a monster hit? It's got a good beat, you can dance to it, catchy lyrics, easy to sing along to, an engaging performance by the vocalist and it should have been on the jukebox of every rib joint in the nation. Man, I wish Louis & His All Stars had had a hit with a cover of this instead of "Hello Dolly" back in '64!

Listening to a pretty crappy needle drop copy of this album included on an EU Hoodoo Records CD. Fortunately, the best track here, "All I Want For Christmas", was included in much better sound on the Christmas Party With Eddie G CD. I love that album and like you, I want to get the follow-up album too one day.

Sure there are some duds and more than a few dated references, but line for line, this has got to be the funniest movie ever. It's amazing that a joke such as "Well, art is art, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west, and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce, they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does." is still as funny -- and in Groucho's hands/mouth, just as fresh -- today as it was 90 years ago. Odd/sad that the version I watched on Peacock had a line edited from "Hooray For Captain Spaulding" song. Apparently "I think I'll try and make her" is beyond social acceptability now.

They avoid most of the usual seasonal repertoire here, opting for songs like "Pocketful of Miracles", "I Know Why And So Do You" and less frequently recorded holiday tunes like "The Christmas Blues", Carroll Coates' beautiful "A Song For Christmas", Dave Frishberg's "The Difficult Season" and Don Sebesky's title tune. Most tracks feature vocals by Rebecca Kilgore.