Teasing the Korean

Don't know this!!!

Is this a good thread to point out the subtle distinctions between mall jazz and Weather Channel jazz? It really angers me when people confuse the two.

That makes sense. I used to stay on 206N longer, and then get on 287 in North Jersey.

Was it a nice drive? When I used to drive it, I would pass through small towns with farms between.

Did you drive up 206N?

I have a dummy FB login that I use only to participate in some groups. I don't maintain a page with posts.

!!!

Correct, but considering all the schtick I've encountered, I no longer have the patience to find out.

You know that every time a jazz soloist chooses a note to play, 11 new universes are created for each of the other 11 notes (s)he may have played instead? And this process repeats itself, forming new universes exponentially. If I see a new jazz album consisting entirely of standards, I'm very skeptical. If I see a new jazz album consisting of covers of, say, Radiohead or Taylor Swift, I'm equally skeptical.

There is one musical universe. Our respective fixed stars vary, not the universe itself.

So it's a singer-not-the-song question? I think the material and the interpreter are equally important toward the final result. I am aware that jazz has moved far from that era and aesthetic - some jazz has, not all. But most of my jazz accumulation consists of vinyl from the 1950s and 60s, albums that I lugged home in the 1990s and early 2000s for low dough. So the GAS is very well represented on the shelves of my rekkid room. And for better or worse, the GAS is pretty much the center of my musical universe, not necessarily by choice, but because of what I was exposed to in my formative years. I go for long stretches where I don't listen to this stuff much at all, but I always come back at some point. Tony Bennett's exit was my most recent catalyst. Well, there are standards that are not part of the Great American Songbook - Legrand, Mancini, etc. And there are Great American Songbook tunes that never became standards, e.g., lots of forgotten tunes by Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Gershwin's, etc. So if you draw a Venn diagram, you would have two big circles partially overlapping.

Oh, understood. My point was there was a crossover for several decades between jazz, pop, big band, and the GAS. So I was really discussing singers of this style and era, in response to what @gmonahan had written above (in March).

I don't have any records by them. If this was in response to my post, I don't catch your drift.

If we are talking about jazz singers of the Great American Songbook and similar, I think we would have to define improvisation in this context. A singer's main job when singing this kind of jazz is to deliver the melody and lyric and in a compelling fashion. This will include a singing with a sense of swing, interesting phrasing, tasteful melodic embellishment, and responding to the instrumental setting. All of these collectively add up to what I would consider improvisation, but not necessarily at the level of improvisation that you typically hear from an instrumental soloist. In my opinion, this is not the singer's job in this context. Some singers can do it - Ella, for example - but there are probably a dozen reasons why I consider her to be a jazz singer aside from her ability to scat, the latter of which barely factors into my assessments of jazz singing. Now if we are looking at jazz singers outside the realm of standards, such as Leon Thomas or Ursula Dudziak, my criteria would be very different.

Pee-Wee helped me get through that most dreaded of decades, the 1980s. David Lynch and Tom Waits helped me in this regard also.

Please do check the new arrivals bin and also the dollar LPs, provided that your lower back can handle looking through dozens of boxes on the floor. You will find worthwhile LPs in great condition. Also, if you are driving north from there, I would suggest staying on 206N. It is a lovely drive, maybe not so much in August, but it is beautiful in the fall. New Jersey is the only state that doesn't allow you to quickly and conveniently pass through on an interstate, so you may as well take the scenic route.

I read that cops on the scene reported this, can't remember the details.

His last album before getting killed in a car crash. Apparently racist whites tampered with the tires on his car.

That, and because some of us aren't seeking out these kinds of artists either.

Keely Smith - Politely! (Capitol, mono) Arrangements by Billy May.

So they just issued the one channel, with the jazz recording, but not the other channel?!?That's weird!

Over the years, I've found - and unloaded - copies of the double Atlantic LP collecting tracks from her early 10" Atlantic albums. Considering that I would always find another copy after I unloaded one, I assumed that the universe wanted me to keep a copy, and I eventually tossed in the towel and just kept one. So I am thinking of finally spinning this. My earlier impressions of Mabel were that I didn't like her at all. Frank Sinatra apparently worshipped her, and given that my admiration of Frank at least borders on worship, I can only assume that I am missing something with Mabel. So I would like to hear what others think of Mabel Mercer. Maybe elements of her singing would appeal to me more now than they did previously.

Lena Horne - It's Love (RCA Victor, mono) Orchestra led by Lennie Hayton.

Chris Connor - I Miss You So (Atlantic, mono) Includes a version of "Radar Blues," by Harry Revel, from Music Out of the Moon!!!

Sammy Davis, Jr. (Vocalion, rechanneled stereo). A budget-line comp drawn from Sammy's hard-to-find Decca albums. Arrangers include Jack Pleis, Sy Oliver, and Morton Stevens. The treble on this album is insane. I had to turn it way down.