Off The Wall Song Quotes Heard On Recordings

[Ken Dryden]

I don't really keep track of amusing song quotes, though as I was driving and listening to the Larry Coryell & Kenny Drew, Jr. version of "Moanin'," i got a laugh out of Drew inserting "Theme From Perry Mason" into his solo.

Please share some of your recent (or long time) favorites.

 

[Dan Gould]

Maybe its too obvious but I always appreciate "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in the middle of "Two Bass Hit".

[Stonewall15]

My all-time favorite occurred when Dave Brubeck was playing "For All We Know" live at the 1958 Monterey Jazz Festival. Midway in the song a plane took off from a nearby airport and was clearly heard at the festival. Brubeck immediately segued into "Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder".   

[danasgoodstuff]

I think it was Johnny Griffin playing live with monk at the 5 Spot, a good chunk of blue tailed Fly to start his solo.  Clapton on Sunshine of your love starts his with Blue Moon.  Hendrix on Wild Thing at Monterey, Strangers In the Night.  Eric and Jimi didn't usually do that sort of thing, Johnny often did but maybe not as often as Dexter.

[soulpope]

Dexter Gordon quoting virtually out of nowhere "Mona Lisa" in "Second Balcony Jump" ....

[Teasing the Korean]

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! 

[HutchFan]

36 minutes ago, soulpope said:

Dexter Gordon quoting virtually out of nowhere "Mona Lisa" in "Second Balcony Jump" ....

I can't think of anyone who used quotes as much as Dexter did.  It was a big part of his musical vocabulary.  

 

[soulpope]

12 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

I can't think of anyone who used quotes as much as Dexter did.  It was a big part of his musical vocabulary.  

Yep .... and increasingly in his later career ....

[JSngry]

41 minutes ago, HutchFan said:

I can't think of anyone who used quotes as much as Dexter did.  It was a big part of his musical vocabulary.  

 

Paul Desmond. But his were a lot more subtle than Dex's, who will forevermore be my Quotesmaster General. 

[Teasing the Korean]

17 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Paul Desmond. But his were a lot more subtle than Dex's, who will forevermore be my Quotesmaster General. 

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

[JSngry]

https://raggywaltz.com/category/desmonds-quotes/

This guy gets deep into it. 

[Ken Dryden]

4 hours ago, Stonewall15 said:

My all-time favorite occurred when Dave Brubeck was playing "For All We Know" live at the 1958 Monterey Jazz Festival. Midway in the song a plane took off from a nearby airport and was clearly heard at the festival. Brubeck immediately segued into "Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder".   

I go a laugh out of that when that CD set was released.

30 minutes ago, Teasing the Korean said:

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

Paul Desmond and Dave Brubeck would exchange quotes at times during concerts, though Desmond was the master for including obscurities.

[JSngry]

Yeah, Desmond would throw in quotes of things I didn't know were quotes until they were pointed out to me. 

[sgcim]

On the Tal Farlow album "Fuerst Set", the trio (Farlow, Costa and Burke) are playing Opus De Funk by Horace Silver, and Farlow quotes the horse racing bugle call, and ends on the flatted fifth instead of the normal 5th, and you can hear Eddie Costa yell in the background, "Are you serious?!"

[Rooster_Ties]

Who was it that quoted the Woody Woodpecker theme?? — more than just once, iirc.  I know Woody Shaw actually recorded the tune (in the studio no less).  But somebody, Woody? — and/or maybe Dex too? — did it as just a quote in one or more solos.

That always sorta cracked me up — although I haven’t heard it in decades now (which leads me to believe it was Dex).

[medjuck]

How about all the times Bird quoted "In an English Country Garden" or "The Kerry Dancers". 

[Teasing the Korean]

54 minutes ago, Rooster_Ties said:

Who was it that quoted the Woody Woodpecker theme??

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

[Ken Dryden]

Frank Zappa stuffed his song "Rhymin' Man" full of quotes. He was surprised that I recognized "Hallelujah, I'm a Bum" in it and claimed no one in his band knew it and he had to teach them the song. Then he didn't know that piece was a parody of the old hymn "Revive Us Again."

He always loved sticking quotes into songs, including Gustav Holsts's "The Planets,"Igor Stravinsky's "Petrouchka" and the hilaious solo in "Let's Move to Cleveland" that opened with the introduction to "The Rite of Spring," with the band playing "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" behind him. I heard that in the 1984 Atlanta concert.