Teasing the Korean

So tonight, after my usual 3-mile evening walk, I got in the shower and asked Alexa to play something. I chose Henry Mancini's version of Bobby Timmons's "Moanin'," with that badass harpsichord solo by John Williams. As you know, after you ask Alexa to play a song, she goes off in her own direction, sometimes reading your tastes correctly, sometimes not. Anyway, after "Moanin'" ended, this introspective solo piano piece that I've never heard comes on. It was an unknown (to me, at least) Gershwin piece called "Under the Cinnamon Tree," as interpreted by pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet.

iMONO!

Live and learn! 👍

Did you mean "nice" or "noise?" 😹

A bunch of Black Jazz CDs I got for $4.99 each from Real Gone Music.

Barry Gray - Stingray OST (Silva Screen)

Always loved the Bud Shank/Laurnindo Almeida take on Prelude #2. Incidentally, regardless of what anyone thinks of Levant or Rhapsody, this LP is well worth it for the cover art, if nothing else.

And as long as musicians struggle to make money or find an audience, some will write provocative essays as a side hustle.

👍 If the guy who did the Polynesian Percussion album on Dot thinks Rhapsody in Blue is worthwhile, then say no more!

So is your beef with Grofe/Gershwin/Whiteman, or is it with white audiences/the white classical establishment that elevated RIB to a stature beyond what you feel it deserves?

I consider a lot of what Paul Whiteman, Ferde Grofe, and George Gershwin did to be in its own category, almost like proto-space-age bachelor pad music, even though it wasn't the space age yet.

This. 👍

David Axelrod - Mass in F Minor and Release of an Oath. Both released under the name The Electric Prunes.

But Duke Ellington probably never commissioned a Raymond Scott arrangement.

Yes, Whiteman's name is the seal of approval for me. Whiteman also commissioned arrangements of a number of Raymond Scott tunes, and premiered Ferdi Grofe's "Trylon and Perisphere." So there you go! 👍

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/26/arts/music/george-gershwin-rhapsody-in-blue.html By Ethan Iverson

👍

Sophisticated Boom Boom. A sentiment we can all relate to.

Thanks, I'll see if I have any of these!

I have the album Soulero on Atlantic. I don't think I know anything else by this guy, unless he is sideman on something and I either forgot or didn't know to begin with.

The Beach Boys in "Fall Breaks and Back to Winter."

I also love in "Gone with the Wind" when he quotes "St. Thomas."

Not sure how "off the wall" it is, but I always loved in the Brubeck version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," midway through the bridge of one of Desmond's choruses, he quotes the Latin standard "Adios." Jazz artists were the first samplers!

Why don't we revive the listening parties via Zoom or whatever?