Fats Waller, Willy the lion Smith, Roosevelt Sykes, and on and on all said Tatum was better then anyone. Their is a smoothness that makes it all sound effortless, light and easy; when it was any thing but.
I hope you get some kind of cut from the obnoxious and irrelevant commercials that randomly interrupt the video every 10 minutes, by the way. RU-vid will kill itself before much longer at this rate and join the rest of the online garbage dumps.
Some beautiful insights. I think it’s worth mentioning that many of the greats that Sonny came up with were of Caribbean parentage, including: Herbie Nichols, Denzil Best, Art Taylor, Elmo Hope, Walter Bishop Jr., Kenny Drew, Wynton Kelly, Cecil Payne, Ernie Henry, Percy France, Leonard Gaskin, Duke Jordan, Roy Haynes and Gill Coggins, (Gil’s mother only and Walter Bishop’s mother was born in the US though both her parents were Caribbean, thus, all four of his grandparents were Caribbean) and of course both of Sonny’s parents were Islanders. Though often ignored, this heritage deeply influenced what music was being made in New York between 1920 and at least 1959. (Incidentally: Monk grew up in an exclusively, Caribbean community in San Juan Hill and even Bud Powell’s early teacher was William Rawlings: the master educator from Nevis.)
Some beautiful insights. I think it’s worth mentioning that many of the greats that Sonny came up with were of Caribbean parentage, including: Herbie Nichols, Denzil Best, Art Taylor, Elmo Hope, Walter Bishop Jr., Kenny Drew, Wynton Kelly, Cecil Payne, Ernie Henry, Percy France, Leonard Gaskin, Duke Jordan, Roy Haynes and Gill Coggins, (Gil’s mother only)and of course both of Sonny’s parents were Islanders. Though often ignored, this heritage deeply influenced what music was being made in New York in particular, between 1920 and at least 1959. (Incidentally: Monk grew up in an exclusively, Caribbean community in San Juan Hill and even Bud Powell’s early teacher was William Rawlings, the master educator from Nevis.)
Aurora...........NOLA..............so many instruments..............so many bands (Royal Roses/Reed Minders/Basher/George/Rory Danger).........so much talent and creativity.........................
How someone can better talking about the spontaneus music ; i absolutly agree with all Cecil said (if C . Taylor made Free-jazz ; Ellington made Free-jazz ; (Ragtime ; Charleston ; Swing or Be-bop are a mind-free in music)
Thank you, Ken, for addressing this new frontier; an unexplored continent akin to the Italian Renaissance. I deeply value the work you do. Keep the coming!
I have a number of Ella Fitzgerald CDs and recordings because I love her work and remember seeing her on shows like Ed Sullivan. I completely forgot about Mel Torme!! Thanks for reintroducing him to me. I need to start scouring RU-vid and Apple Music for his tunes.
WOW. So much talent in one spot. So amazing to hear. Her voice so incredible. So clear and perfect. There will never be another Ella Fitzgerald. Back in my generation, some people used to make fun of Mel Torme. They never gave him the credit he deserved. He was a mellow-voiced singer and also a songwriter. If those people poking fun of him ever heard this, they would take back every mean thing they ever said about him. Nothing like hearing a little jazz and scat to make your day brighter.
One of my most gratifying evenings was sneaking in to the Ella Fitzgerald concert for the then new Smith College President. Fortunately, the window I climbed in was where the Will Mastin trio was hanging out and they thought this white college kid was cool. She had a fuschia scarf that she used as a prop. No one wanted her singing to end. Smooth as silk.
Muchas gracias, por este fragmento específico, de este documental excelente. "El Pregón de la fruta bomba" es una guaracha-son de mi padre, también voz segunda del Conjunto Típico Habanero, Humberto Más, quien me dio el ser y, además, me crió. Cosas que, a veces, no siempre se dan. Justo, un día como hoy, de 1997, partía hacia la eternidad, con 75 años. Tenía hecho Shangó. Saludos afectuosos y gracias nuevamente.
