duaneiac

Drummer Randy Jones Pianist Derek Smith Singer Kay Starr The irreplaceable Dan Hicks Frequent Billy May collaborator Stan Freburg While not jazz, comedian Bob Elliott was a gifted improvisor, particularly in the early years of his partnership with Ray Goulding I want this shirt!!!

I am a Stan Kenton fan and this is one album I do not, nor ever will, own. Supposedly it was "suggested" by the higher-ups at Capitol to pair these two recording artists. Also supposedly, neither performer was at all thrilled with the idea of the results. How is it? Well, samples can be found on YouTube. Here's one (and it is probably sufficient).

Perhaps --

Storyville also put out this CD earlier this year -- I wonder if that will be part of this new set.

Tonight's double feature:

I'll confess, I had no idea he was still around. Is he still performing? Steve Lawrence might be another one, but again, I don't know if he is still performing. I guess Shirley Bassey and Petula Clark would qualify as Mr. Bennett's contemporaries from back in the day as well, although as much as I am a fan of hers, I don't think Ms. Clark's voice has aged as well.

Don't get your hopes up. He's not going to do anything to save Byas'd media!

That is true. I guess that gets to be the problem with a performer who is 90 -- not too many of his contemporaries are left and fewer still are actively performing. The only one of Tony Bennett's contemporaries going back to the 1950's, that I can think of, who is still regularly performing today (and still in good voice) is Johnny Mathis.

The mellophonium band was one of my favorite editions of the Kenton band. As far as Kenton bands go, I'd say that particular band was underbearing! There's no mellophoniums involved on the following, but it's a disc I got last year which intentionally covers most/all (I forget which) of the songs on the original Kenton Christmas in a Kenton style --

The Stan Kenton album is essential listening every Christmas for me. If you like big bands, this is another good one, if a bit obscure And some other recommendations: I don't know if this one ever made it to CD:

Happy 85th Bithday to the still un-dead Jack Sheldon!

based upon the albums you liked, I'd also recommend: Maybe or maybe not to your taste, but highly recommended: I'll probably have more ideas once I officially break out my boxes of Christmas CDs for the year.

Amazon currently has this set for sale at $44.70.

A really good movie with a performance deserving to be ranked among Humphrey Bogart's best. He portrays the editor of a big city newspaper, The Day, which is about to be sold to a competitor and put out of business. One of his reporters is beaten up because of his investigation into an organized crime boss. The editor is thus thrust into a fight to try to stop the sale and keep the paper alive while also getting his staff to investigate the crime boss further while he also attempts to win back the affection of his ex-wife. A strong and tightly edited script by Richard Brooks keeps things moving right along. Some great dialogue for all the actors gives even the minor characters a personality. It's a big love note to the concept of an independent press.

His website now confirms that Mose Allison passed away today. Another musical icon gone. I saw him perform a couple of times. With all the attention given to his songwriting and singing, people may overlook that he was also a really fine pianist. His version of "You Are My Sunshine" really brought home to me just how profoundly sad that song is. (Why do we teach little tykes to sing such a depressing song?) May he Rest In Peace.

So, I'm confused. The link to the article about the hoax notice of his passing said the claim was that he had passed on Nov. 13. The JazzTimes article says he passed on Nov. 15. So is the JazzTimes article correct?

This photo used on the Razor & Tie CD compilation appears to have come from the same photo session as the pic posted by GA Russell.

Surprisingly, Agent 99 is also 83 years old. Mrs. Emma Peel is now 78 and April Dancer is a mere 74.

I've never read the Jules Verne book, but I'm guessing this film had very little to do with that anyway. Beautifully filmed and with some good special effects for the era -- just don't waste your time trying to make much sense of the story. The performers are good, but the casting is questionable. Red Buttons has to portray the playboy/journalist/love interest to Barbara Eden. There are few screen performers more annoying than Red Buttons. "Five Weeks In a Balloon With Red Buttons" would be a chilling horror movie! Peter Lorre is cast as an Arabian (!?!?!) slave trader. His part is played for laughs, so we have a film where Peter Lorre is the funny guy and Red Buttons is the dramatic lead (?!?!?). Sir Cedric Hardwicke was near the end of his distinguished career and he gives a good performance here (although the only time he seems to try to remind the audience that his Prof. Fergusson character is Scottish is when he pronounces "about" as "aboot"). However, he is very stiff and not just the British "stiff upper lip" kind, but completely "stiff upper torso" kind. I don't know if he had some sort of physical problems in his later years, but he really should not have been cast in an action/adventure film when watching him only makes the audience fear that he may fall and break a hip at any moment. Needless to say, the Africans, whether Arabs or "natives", are portrayed as comic book stereotypes.

Very sad news. I guess I only really discovered his music maybe 20 years ago. I don't recall what was the first song of his I heard, but I was immediately intrigued and the more I heard the more hooked I became. I guess the only good that can come of this is perhaps now, in contrast to his lyrics for "Closing Time", Heaven will become a livelier place on a Saturday night now that he is there. RIP Mr. Cohen. Thank you for the beauty and inspiration you brought to the world. Namaste. And now you are the Angel Death And now the Paraclete; And now you are the Savior's Breath And now the Belsen heap. No turning from the threat of love, No transcendental leap - As witnessed here in time and blood A thousand kisses deep.

And the Sammy Davis Jr. boxed set: although the photo was taken in daylight, so the neon lights are not turned on . . .