Tag: Jazz

Barbara Dane’s Cool Musical Legacy: “Wild Woman,” “Gasser,” “Hard-Hitter”

Dane Barbara

Folk, blues, and jazz singer Barbara Dane was born in Detroit on May 12, 1927.  Smithsonian Folkways recently released a retrospective of the singer and political activist who has worked with many musical giants of the 1950s, 1960s, and beyond.

In her long career, Dane performed and recorded with artists such as Louis Armstrong, Memphis Slim, Otis Spahn, Memphis Slim, Willie Dixon, Pete Seeger, Mose Allison, Big Mama Thornton, Lightnin’ Hopkins, T-Bone Walker, and many others. Below she sings with Louis Armstrong on the Timex All-Star Jazz Show, which was broadcast on CBS on January 7, 1959.  Armstrong famously described Dane with the compliment, “She’s a gasser!”

She also made a wonderful album with The Chambers Brothers. Here, they perform “I am a Weary and Lonesome Traveler” from Barbara Dane and the Chambers Brothers.

A new album from Smithsonian Folkways collects a number of Dane’s recordings into a retrospective. Below is a promo for the two-CD retrospective, Hot Jazz, Cool Blues & Hard-Hitting Songs (2018).

More on Barbara Dane

Dane has had a long career with great music while also being active politically for such causes as the civil rights and anti-war movements. If you are unfamiliar with her work, her website is a good place to start. And another resource is the audio documentary, A Wild Woman Sings the Blues: The Life and Music of Barbara Dane.

Finally, fortunately for us, Dane continues to be active. Below is a video of her performing and talking about her career at the San Francisco Library in 2014.

Happy birthday Ms. Dane!

What is your favorite Barbara Dane recording? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    100 Years of Lady Day

    Holiday 100th

    On April 7, 1915, Eleanora Fagan was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The little girl would have a difficult childhood and later a tragic life, but she would grow up to brighten the world as Billie Holiday, or as jazz saxophonist Lester Young nicknamed her, “Lady Day.”

    In honor of Holiday’s 100th birthday, several articles reflect on her life, such as CBS Sunday Morning, a Daily Telegraph listing of her top 10 songs, and a MacLean‘s article about “the voice that launched a thousand voices.” But of course the best celebration is to listen to her music.

    In this video, Holiday performs “Fine and Mellow” on CBS in 1957. [Update: the video and a BBC documentary about her life are no longer available.]

    Happy birthday Lady Day.

    What is your favorite Billie Holiday song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Charlie Haden’s “Spiritual”

    haden The great jazz bassist Charlie Haden has passed away at the age of 76 after a prolonged illness. Haden had a long and influential career, including being a part of the Ornette Coleman Quartet starting in the late 1950s and a part of the Liberation Music Orchestra starting in the late 1960s. Haden made the world a better place in other ways too, as a teacher and as an advocate for social justice.

    As a teenager, Haden lost his singing voice from bulbar polio while he was playing in a family country band, so he turned his focus to playing bass. The country influence stayed with the Iowa-born Haden on much of his music, including 2008’s Rambling Boy album, even as he became a groundbreaker in a number of genres.

    One of my favorite albums is the Grammy-winning Beyond The Missouri Sky (Short Stories) (1996), where Haden and guitarist Pat Metheny created some of the most haunting and beautiful country-infused jazz music ever recorded. “Spiritual,” one of the tracks on the album was written by Haden’s son Josh Haden. Although I also would later fall in love with the Johny Cash version that included the lyrics, this instrumental version still breaks my heart every time I hear it.

    The same disease that took away Haden’s voice and forced him to turn to the bass eventually affected his playing. In 2010, due to post-polio syndrome, Haden stopped performing in public even though he continued to play at home and with friends. The disease, however, could never take away the beautiful recordings that Haden made during his lifetime. For more on Haden’s life, check out these articles from Variety and the New York Times. RIP.

    Photo via Geert Vandepoele (Creative Commons).What is your favorite Charlie Haden track? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    History of Jazz Piano in One Video

    Jazz piano
    In this video, Kris Bowers sits down behind a piano and takes us through a history of instrumental jazz piano using more than 40 tunes. Bowers, a Thelonious Monk Competition winner, gets a little help from some other musicians from the “History” series and a sign that tells us what is going on.

    Check out this video on the history of jazz piano.

    NPR disagrees with a little of the commentary, but it is an interesting music tour. Check out some other videos in the History series posted by collectivecadenza.

    What is your favorite jazz piano piece? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Ella Fitzgerald: A-Tisket A-Tasket

    On April 25, 1917, Ella Fitzgerald was born in Newport News, Virginia. The great jazz singer eventually became known as “The First Lady of Song” and “The First Lady of Jazz.”

    Pure Ella Unlike many other great jazz singers of her era, Fitzgerald is probably remembered for her upbeat optimistic songs instead of sad jazz ballads, although she did those songs justice too. But her childhood was anything but happy.

    After moving to Yonkers, New York with her her mother, Fitzgerald’s mother passed away.  Thus, the young girl found herself an orphan at the age of fifteen. After running away from an abusive stepfather, Fitzgerald lived in a variety of places, including an orphanage, a reformatory, and on the streets.

    But Fitzgerald pursued her dream.  She found some success performing at an amateur night at The Apollo Theater in Harlem and later as a regular singer at Harlem’s Savoy Ballroom with Chick Webb‘s Orchestra (later renamed “Ella and her Famous Orchestra” after Webb’s death). But it was a nursery rhyme that gave Fitzgerald her first huge hit.

    A-Tisket, A Tasket

    Fitzgerald, along with Van Alexander, took a nursery rhyme about a little yellow basket and she recorded it as a catchy popular song in 1938. Her version of “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” became a huge hit. If you have never heard her swinging original version, you are in for a treat. Check it out.

    Fitzgerald performed “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” in her first big screen appearance in Abbott and Costello’s Ride ‘Em Cowboy, a 1942 comedy film.   She played a ranch employee, singing the song for other employees on a bus.  A complete high-quality clip is not available, but you may see a clip — covered with some narration — on YouTube.

    Later Years

    For Fitzgerald’s take on a more modern song, check out her performance of The Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” She performs at the Hollywood Palace in February 1968, with an introduction by Jimmy Durante. Fitzgerald would later perform the song at the 1969 Montreux Festival.

    In Fitzgerald’s later years, she suffered a number of health problems. On June 15, 1996, Fitzgerald passed away in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 79.

    As for the yellow basket, there was a happy ending. Fitzgerald later recorded a sequel to “A-Tisket, A Tasket” with Chick Webb called “I Found My Yellow Basket.”



    What is your favorite Ella Fitzgerald performance? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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