Friday Jukebox: Obamamerica Hellscape Edition

A little piece of America back when it was still great. Well, sorta. So long as you were white. And straight. And male.

But, hey, who isn't, amirite?

Sorry. I just needed a little cool West Coast sound to chill me out after the ridiculous shit that went down in the Sportspalast along the Cuyahoga. Hope you have a swingin' weekend.

Friday Jukebox: Does It Feel Hot In Here To You? Edition

As described in the Wiki entry,

"In 1936, the Harlem Hamfats recorded "The Weed Smoker's Dream". Band member (Joseph) McCoy later rewrote the song, refining the composition and lyrics. The new tune, titled "Why Don't You Do Right?", was recorded by Lil Green in 1941, with guitar by William "Big Bill" Broonzy. The recording was an early jazz and blues hit.

The song has its roots in blues music and originally dealt with a marijuana smoker reminiscing about lost financial opportunities. As it was rewritten, it takes on the perspective of the female partner, who chastises her man for his irresponsible ways and admonishes him to:

Why don't you do right, like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too..."

This cover of the classic is by Amy Irving for the 1988 comic film Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and is, in my opinion, the definitive version, succeeding the Peggy Lee rendition that was considered one of her signature tunes and the "standard" for this song.

If you're interested, the Lee cover is here. It's a fairly straight-ahead big-band swing piece, and lacks the smoky insinuation that makes the Irving cover so tasty.

So...why don't you do right?

Friday Jukebox: Jumpin' at the Woodside Edition

Count Basie and his Orchestra in the 1938 recording of "Rockin' at the Woodside:

Thought of this because I was listening to a Basie tribute on KMHD on the way home last night that talked about how a lot of Basie's musicians didn't learn their parts from printed scores. Apparently Basie would lay down the theme and then the various sections would split up and riff on it until they'd got a track they liked, then the band would reassemble and jam.

As someone who never could play music without a printed sheet, I find that fucking amazing. These guys were some pretty incredible musicians, and that, along with the backbeat, is why I'll always love the hell out of jazz.

Friday Jukebox: Coooool, Daddio! Edition

There are times I regret that jazz just isn't a "living" musical idiom anymore, and this is one of them; I caught this playing on our local jazz station yesterday morning on the way into work:

From the liner notes: "...the three parts of the suite were recorded straight through live, and were only intended to be a pre-take run-through, but as is obvious here, Blakey and company nailed the whole thing right out of the box."

Damn straight.

In some ways the Fifties were the buttoned-down reaction to the wartime excesses of the Forties. But not for jazz; some of the great American music of all times comes from that time, and surely this has to be part of that brilliance; a synthesis of hard bop and Afro-Cuban rhythm years before the "Afro-beat" and Latin pop of the Santana variety.

Out for the weekend, hep cats and kittens.

A Little Touch of Django in the Night

...from the Stolen Sweets.Haven't come across the latter-day Boswell Sisters?Well, you should. They kick more ass than a crazy monkey with a size twelve tap shoe.(a h/t to KMHD 89.1FM, where I first heard them, and to my friend Brent, who went to their CD release party and is just generally a righteous dude.)