Sad to learn that the death has occurred of Annie Ross, the singer - mostly known in Scotland as Jimmy Logan's sister, and mostly not known very much at all elsewhere. Annie was a class act - she joined the prestigious American vocal act Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, a move which was almost unknown for a British artist in those days.
Here's a link to (probably) their most famous record - Centrepiece, from 1958. Quality. Love this stuff. The trumpeter, by the way [nerd section], is probably the great Harry Edison, since he is credited as co-composer on the recording. [If the link doesn't play - which is happening to me a lot lately - just click on "Play in Youtube"]
'Niiice'
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, what a voice.
LH&R's "Centrepiece" and "Twisted" were both covered by Joni Mitchell (who must also be more than a bit passé now? - i.e. not trending) - Centrepiece was grafted into the middle of Joni's "Harry's House" (I think) - Hissing of Summer Lawns? - I forget - that was much nearer to 1958 than it is to now! Jon Hendricks is mostly known as the man who did the original version of Georgie Fame's "Yeh Yeh", which is also a very long time ago.
DeleteNone of these people would have got on the X Factor, so we're all OK. Jazz and Classical music are mostly famous because nobody likes them - it's reassuring to hear this repeated over and over. We tell millions of people every day, there's no demand for it.
After decades of being a teenage rocker ...I have delved into baroque classical in recent years; jazz has always sounded very interesting to me too...you may have tipped me onto something here.
DeleteWe should have an off-blog chat about this - we can probably both recommend things that the other would find interesting. Musically, I mean (of course!).
DeleteYou are and taste in music are pretty cool, Mr. Foy
ReplyDeleteHa ha! - we all like what we like - I've always been bad at musical arguments, because I like all sorts of stuff (I'm not even consistent!).
DeleteNot my cup of tea* but I agree on the voice. Talking of which I’ve just read that she did the voice of Britt Eklund in the Wicker Man (which is spooky because I’m watching the repeat of the witchcraft episode of New Tricks).
ReplyDelete* except Yeh Yeh, which just had me wanting to get up and twist
You are indisputably in the groove, Jackson.
DeleteA lovely track Tony...
ReplyDeleteSo cool it’s strait from the fridge...
It’s a curious thing that some people think it perfectly fine to say that Jazz is a load of rubbish without having really listened to any...
And when you ask them “ what crap are you listening to then “. They get all upset 😱
Ha! Well such is life...
All the best... Aly ( currently listening to a bit of Bud Powell )
Bud is gud, or maybe Bood is Good? Whatever, excellent stuff. I realise a lot of people don't like jazz (and lots of other things), it doesn't really bother me, and obviously I have to respect the fact. A lot of it is about attitudes - jazz and classical fans do not do anyone any favours by trying to affect some kind of intellectual coterie - real or imagined, and they put a lot of people's backs up. On the other hand, there are few things worse than inverted snobbery! I play with a drummer (lovely guy, by the way) who regularly tells me that no-one will listen to jazz, and yet together we include a few jazz pieces in the repertoire - the fact is they are just part of our usual book, and he doesn't realise they are jazz, though their origins with Miles Davis, Mose Allison, Wes Montgomery and similar might give a clue! Basically, he uses other people's stereotyping, and doesn't think about it much. It isn't a problem. Even the jazz fans like to split into camps, arguing about what is, or is not, "real" jazz - a argument which has killed off at least two British commercial jazz radio stations to date!
DeleteThe great joke in Edinburgh used to be the jazz correspondent of the Evening News, who used to turn up at concerts, tapping his foot out of time with the music! He knew who played 2nd tenor sax with Count Basie in 1938 though. It's like opera lovers - a lot of them are just name droppers - cheese & wine intellectuals.
I recon there are music snobs for every genre... it’s just as bad with the metal/death metal crowd... if it’s not Gothenburg melodic death it’s not worth listening to etc...
DeleteI’m to much of a butterfly to get fixated on one style of music... I like what I like 😁
I also like cheese and wine...
A death jazz metal cheese and wine party would be a hoot...😂
Absolutely - we rise above it all - butterflies are well equipped for this, too! My cousin (deceased, sadly) once attended a soirée at the Liverpool Baroque Society (where he was a member for a while - as ever, it developed into a soirée with a binge on top), and he got so fed up with some prat banging on about stuff he didn't understand (my cousin trained as a classical pianist, but had to give it up when he put his hand through a glass door, while drunk...) that he invented an entire composer - a little known Parisian gentleman - Alphonse Chimère - who was a big influence on Ravel and Fauré and their contemporaries (and, of course, never existed). The know-all got very wound up about this, and eventually declared that he knew all about Alphonse's work, didn't think it was up to much, and if my cousin thought that his Eb Nocturne was any good he must be an idiot. My cousin used to be good at that stuff - sadly missed.
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