Tin Tin Deo

How many tangerines do you think Dizzy Gillespie could stash in his cheek pouches? Just kidding, I know that’s disrespectful towards one of the greatest trumpeters who ever blew. But I’ve never seen him play before, and it’s a sight to behold.

Time On My Hands

Bryan Ferry is known for being among the first to pioneer the genre-crossing covers album, and for using Old Hollywood as a major reference point in his aesthetic. So it’s surprising that it took him until 1999 to go full 1930’s. As Time Goes By …

A Time for Love

I was never one of those people who think that jazz is boring, or pretentious, or for old people; but I did used to think that it all kind of sounds the same. One of the first jazz records that really enamored me was Shirley …

Thunderclouds

If today’s jazz world is exemplified by Cecile McLorin Salvant, then the rumors that the genre has stagnated are unbased and unfounded. McLorin Salvant is a classically trained vocalist and composer of French and Haitian background (by way of Florida) who has earned every major …

This Can’t Be Love

“This can’t be love, because I feel so well” sings Dinah Washington, echoing everyone who has ever wondered if they were finally in a mature relationship, or just a very boring one. Rodgers and Hart wrote this song to poke fun of common songwriting tropes, …

Them There Eyes

It’s not true that the lady only sang the blues. She only mostly sang the blues. Sometimes she sang happy love songs like this one. Billie Holiday had a tragic life, and it’s only natural that she leaned towards sad material. It is simply natural that she channeled feelings of sorrow so beautifully. But to hear her sing something joyful is beautiful too. They say that people who feel great sorrow also experience great joy, and Billie Holiday reflects that.

That’s All I Want From You

Jazz artists in the 1950’s didn’t have the Top of the Pops to beam them into people’s living rooms every weekend night. So here’s a rare 1955 TV clip of Dinah Washington on one of the first pop programmes, Bandstand Revue. Dinah didn’t have a choreographed dance routine, as one of today’s artists would be expected to do, but she didn’t need anything but a microphone to convey everything she had to say. Put her on a stage and watch the emotion start to flow.

That Old Feeling

Interesting what comes up when you start researching any of the old standards. I am familiar with this song from one of my favorite jazz albums, Lena Horne’s Stormy Weather. That record came out in 1957. The song goes back to 1937, written by Sammy …

Tenderly

The joy of delving into the great American standards is the vast array of permutations there to find. A great classic can be shaped into any form, to please any taste. For example, the first major artist to record this standard was Sarah Vaughan in 1947, followed by everyone else under the sun, including luminaries like Fitzgerald, Holiday and O’Day, and most indelibly, The Muppets. The secret to cultural longevity, evidently, is existing equally well as an aching love ballad, and a children’s novelty song. Now that’s versatility.

Tell Me More and More and Then Some

I recently made the observation that every jazz song is a hangover song, whether literally or metaphorically. Every jazz singer was always in recovery from something. This song was written by Billie Holiday, who was a lifelong addict. The definitive rendition is from Nina Simone, …