 |
|||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
       |
|||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
|
Search our site:           |
|
 UPLIFTING MUSIC for UNCERTAIN TIMES Music has the power to comfort, inspire and even heal, especially during times of great uncertainty. Here is a survey of what many of us are listening to as we look for clarity, take one day at a time, and hope for a brighter and less troubled tomorrow. KARRIN ALLYSON singer, bandleader, recording artist – I've been finding Brazilian music (Gal Costa, Guingha) to be especially joyful right now. – Kathleen Ferier (an English contralto, now long-gone) singing "Das Lied von der Erde" (Mahler) – As always, Nancy King and her pianist Steve Christofferson.
drummer, percussionist, recording artist – "Amazon River" (Dori Caymmi/Gil Goldstein/Romero Lubambo, from Infinite Love) – "Waters of March" (Antonio Carlos Jobim/Elis Regina, from Elis & Tom) – "Coração de Estudante" (Milton Nascimento, from Milton Nascimento's Amigo) DAVID BASSE singer, bandleader, recording artist, radio host (KANU) – "I Feel Free"/Cream – The Fifth Symphony/Dmitri Shostakovich – Stevie Wonder's Greatest Hits, Volume 2. VINCE BILARDO drummer, bandleader, recording artist – "Adagio for Strings"/Samuel Barber – "America the Beautiful"/Ray Charles – "Lincoln Portrait"/Aaron Copland PAUL BOSCHI concert production/talent coordination (New York City), former Pitch Weekly music editor – "Rio"/Duran Duran – "Stand"/Sly and The Family Stone – Smokey Robinson and The Miracles: Greatest Hits. WARREN BOWMAN pianist, recording artist – Diana Krall (with strings, in her jazz quartet, or accompanying herself solo). – Quality trios and quartets, with pianists such as Benny Green, Larry Fuller, Geoff Keezer, and Gene Harris. – And lastly, but not leastly, small groups incorporating vibes (e.g., MJQ & the George Shearing Quintet). J. ROBERT BRAGONIER, MD, PhD Public Health physician, university professor (Los Angeles, CA), jazz reviewer (Compuserve Music Forum) – In the classical arena, it has to be Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (Ode to Joy); but how does one leave out Brahms' First Symphony? And so many, many others. – Among popular selections, I'd name the "Flying Theme from ET," by John Williams; but his "Olympic Theme" should be on the list, too. – For jazz, the first thing that popped into my mind was "Somewhere," the finale to Stan Kenton's "West Side Story." And the piano trio jazz of Bill Evans, Hank Jones and Tommy Flanagan (rest his soul).
bassist, recording artist – "Joy Spring" (Clifford Brown)/Tierney Sutton – "Starbucks Blues" (Ray Brown)/Ray Brown Trio – "When I Fall In Love" (Edward Heyman & Victor Young)/Keith Jarrett Trio JOE CARTWRIGHT pianist, bandleader, recording artist – Secret Story/Pat Metheny – Here's To Life/Shirley Horn – Maihar Gharana/Nityanand Haldipur, Indian classical flute JEFF CHARNEY radio host (KPRS) – "Star Spangled Banner"/Marvin Gaye (from the L.A. Lakers game) – "America the Beautiful"/Ray Charles – "The Lord's Prayer"/Angie Winans GINNEY COLEMAN radio host (KCUR) – "Come Sunday"/Duke Ellington (from Black, Brown and Beige) – "Rhapsody In Blue"/George Gershwin – Standards in Silhouette/Stan Kenton – Love Lost/The Four Freshman STEF COX trombonist, educator – Good Dog, Happy Man/Bill Frisell – Fingerpainting, the Music of Herbie Hancock/Nicholas Payton, Christian McBride, Mark Whitfield – Circle of One/Oleta Adams BILL CRAIN saxophonist, recording engineer, BRC Studios – "Fanfare For the Common Man"/Aaron Copland – Beethoven's Symphony #9 – Anything by James Taylor
booking agent – "If I Could Reach Out & Help Somebody"/Otis Clay (from Gospel Truth) – "Mean Feeling"/Johnnie Bassett (from I Gave My Life to the Blues) – "Still Got the Blues"/Gary Moore (from Still Got the Blues) RANDY DAVIS President, Streetside Records – "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Won't Get Fooled Again"/The Who – "So What"/Miles Davis PHIL DEGREG pianist, educator (Cincinnati Conservatory), former Kansas Citian, recording artist – "A Child Is Born"/Thad Jones – "Peace"/Horace Silver – "Lotus Blossom"/Billy Strayhorn RICH DENNY club owner, Phoenix Piano Bar & Grill – "It's a Wonderful Life" – "Let the Good Times Roll" – "Kansas City" CANDACE EVANS
– "Fanfare for the Common Man" (Aaron Copland)/Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic – "Appalachian Spring" (Aaron Copland)/Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic – Entire soundtrack from the movie "Glory" (James Horner)/Boys Choir of Harlem MARY ELLEN & NELSON FARNEY Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors – "America the Beautiful"/Ray Charles – "Beauty and the Beast"/Joe Cartwright (performed live) – Hearing the Dunn-Freeman Mix live at the Blue Room – Anything by Sonny Rollins – "This Bitter Earth"/Dinah Washington – "Waters of March"/Susannah McCorkle TIMOTHY FINN music journalist, The Kansas City Star – "After the Gold Rush"/Neil Young – Soundtrack to the film "Cal"/Mark Knopfler – "Sail Away"/Randy Newman BILL FOGARTY Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors, Kansas City Jazz Workshop – "Ko-Ko"/Duke Ellington and his orchestra, featuring Joe (Tricky Sam) Nanton on trombone (1940). – "Swing to Bop"/Charlie Christian, Thelonious Monk, Joe Guy and others, at a session recorded at Minton's in Harlem (1941). – "Congo Blues"/Red Norvo and Teddy Wilson (1945) featuring Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Norvo, Wilson, Slam Stewart and Flip Philips. GARY FOSTER woodwind specialist, studio musician (Los Angeles, CA), recording artist, clinician, KU grad – Jimmy Rowles/Stan Getz duet: "I'll Never Be the Same" (from The Peacocks). – Johanness Brahms: Second movement from the F Minor Clarinet Sonata/Karl Leister. – Samuel Barber: Knoxville, Summer of 1915/Leontyne Price. CHUCK HADDIX historian, Marr Sound Archives, radio host (KCUR) – "Peace Piece"/Bill Evans – "Blue In Green"/Miles Davis – "Come Sunday"/Duke Ellington and Mahalia Jackson (from Black, Brown and Beige) BILL GRAY
– Classical music, Tchaikovsky in particular. And also Patsy Cline. I think men, perhaps, find it a little difficult to feel emotion about all these things that are happening. We tend to suppress it. But you put on a Pasty Cline record and you can feel sad! It's okay to cry in your beer! PEGGY GRAY former Executive Assistant, Kansas City Royals, longtime music fan – Ella Fitzgerald, June Christy, Sarah Vaughan... the great singers; and, of course, Pat Metheny's Beyond the Missouri Sky with Charlie Haden. It is so very soothing. I've also been listening to Steal Away: Spirituals, Hymns and Folk Songs by Charlie Haden and Hank Jones. It is probably my favorite of them all. BUD HALEY educator, saxophonist/clarinetist – Gregorian Chant. Any part of the Ordinary of the Mass, but especially "Agnus Dei." – Stravinsky. Any of his music, but particularly his "Requiem Canticles." – Gerry Mulligan: the Concert Jazz Band. LISA HENRY singer, bandleader, recording artist – "Angels Watching Over Me"/Richard Smallwood CONNIE "CRASH" HUMISTON Kansas City Blues & Jazz Festival, radio host (KKFI) – Mighty Sam McClain's rendition of Al Green's "Lord Will Make a Way." – "The Healing Game"/Van Morrison – "Love Is a Precious Thing"/Terry Evans STEVE IRWIN jazz aficionado, Kansas City Jazz International – The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album – The Harold Arlen Songbook/Ella Fitzgerald – Pete Fountain's New Orleans – Mike Metheny's version of "The Greatest Love Of All." (It makes me smile, giggle and laugh out loud...)
manager/bartender, The Club at Plaza III – "America the Beautiful"/Ray Charles – "Imagine"/John Lennon – "What's Going On"/Marvin Gaye STEVE KENEMORE entrepreneur, business owner, music lover – "I Hope You Dance"/Leanne Womack – "Hero"/Rod Stewart – "Just Breathe"/Faith Hill JOE KLOPUS music journalist, The Kansas City Star – The Beethoven string quartets. My touchstone. – Ellington from the '30s and '40s. Hodges and Webster! – Monk. Anything Monk. STEVE LAGER radio host (KCIY) – The main thing I would say is: people are turning to 106.5 "The City" for a respite from the non-stop "intense" information they are getting on other stations and TV. JOHN LEISENRING trombonist, educator, Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors – "My New Celebrity Is You" (Johnny Mercer)/Blossom Dearie KIM LIGGETT singer, bandleader – "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning"/Ray Charles – "Waters of March"/ Antonio Carlos Jobim – "Pick Yourself Up"/Anita O'Day KEVIN MAHOGANY singer, bandleader, educator (Berklee College of Music/Boston), recording artist, former Kansas Citian – The Marvalettes, the Four Tops, the Temptations, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder. DOREEN MARONDE Academic Director, Arts & Humanities, Johnson County Community College – Ben Webster playing "Tenderly." – "Butterfly Lovers," Chinese folk music played on Chinese instruments. – And, of course, Frank Smith playing and singing "It Might As Well Be Spring."
saxophonist, educator (UMKC), recording artist, Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors – "Peace Piece"/Bill Evans – "Dear Lord"/John Coltrane – "Minuano"/Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays( from Still Life Talking) ANDREW MILLER music journalist/editor, Pitch Weekly – "My Last Affair"/Ella Fitzgerald – "Stormy Weather"/George Benson – "Experiment in Terror"/Henry Mancini – "Sweet Charity"/Mr. Bungle (When putting this list together, I realized that all of the song titles could be interpreted as having a connection to the attacks and their aftermath. But strangely, this wasn't a conscious thing -- just the most-listened-to songs on albums I've been playing for years.) JIM MONROE Topeka Jazz Festival, Topeka Jazz Workshop – Al Cohn's arrangement and playing of "America the Beautiful." – "Somewhere"/Barbra Streisand (from "West Side Story") – "You'll Never Walk Alone" TOM MORGAN drummer, educator (Washburn University/Topeka), recording artist – The motet by J.S. Bach called "Jesus, My Friend."
educator (Webster University/St. Louis), trumpeter, former Kansas Citian – Kind of Blue/Miles Davis – The Lost Art/Mel Lewis Sextet – Officium/Jan Garbarek & the Hilliard Ensemble STEVE PAUL senior writer/editor, The Kansas City Star – Amnesiac/Radiohead – Thirteen Pictures/a Charles Mingus anthology – Fan Dance/Sam Phillips – Love and Theft/Bob Dylan AL PEARSON trumpeter, recording artist – Porgy and Bess/Miles Davis – Sketches of Spain/Miles Davis EVIE QUARLES blues and jazz photographer – "Memories"/Barbra Streisand – The gospel of the Holmes Brothers – Bluesmen Cephas & Wiggins BEVERLY REHKOP jazz photographer – Aaron Copland's "Appalachian Spring" – Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" – "God Bless America" RUTH RHODEN radio host (KCUR) – Anything by Beethoven, Bach or Baker (Chet) MIKE & VICKI ROLLF Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors – Ryan Adams, Pat Metheny, Four Play, Boney James, Art Porter, Gerald Albright and Brian Culbertson. TOMMY RUSKIN
– I've been listening a lot to the old Ahmad Jamal Trio with Vernell Fournier and Israel Crosby... – and Jeff Hamilton, especially with Ray Brown's trio... – and I've really been enjoying Zoot Sims lately. DAVEY SCOTT trumpeter, recording artist (New York City), KC native * Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (all movements)/Chicago Symphony * I Will Say Goodbye/Bill Evans Trio * Petrouchka (Igor Stravinsky)/Chicago Symphony PAUL SMITH pianist, educator, recording artist – "He's Gone Away"/Pat Metheny and Charlie Haden – "Autumn in New York"/The Singers Unlimited – "God Bless America"/Marilyn Maye (Oct. 26-28, 2001) (I accompanied Marilyn for three concerts in October at Friends University in Wichita, KS. She opened all three shows by walking out on stage, a single spot on her, and starting "God Bless America" a cappella, with the band entering some measures later. I had chills on every show.) TODD STRAIT drummer, recording artist, educator – Kind Of Blue/ Miles Davis – Still Life Talking/ Pat Metheny – Stompin' at the Savoy/Rufus and Chaka Khan DOUG TALLEY saxophonist, bandleader, recording artist, educator (Shawnee Mission schools) – "Isfahan" (from Joe Henderson's Lush Life) – Sophisticated Giant/Dexter Gordon – "Wendy" (from The Paul Desmond Quartet Live) KRISTA TATSCHL TV news reporter (KMBC, channel 9), musical theater performer During this crazy time, I've retreated into a Broadway haven. My favorites to cheer me up are: – The Overture from Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Jesus Christ Superstar." – "I've Got the Sun In the Morning..." from "Annie Get Your Gun." – Audra McDonald's glorious song, "How Glory Goes." (It'll make you weep!) TERRY TEACHOUT music journalist/author (New York City), contributor to Time, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and many others, former writer for The Kansas City Star – "Farmer's Trust," composed by Pat Metheny, performed by and from Jim Hall & Pat Metheny (Telarc) – Rondo in A Major, D. 951, for piano, four hands, composed by Franz Schubert, performed by Duo Tal & Groethuysen (Sony Classical) – "Twelve Poems of Emily Dickinson," composed by Aaron Copland, performed by Barbara Bonney and Andre Previn (Decca/London) JULIE TURNER singer, bandleader, recording artist – "America the Beautiful." I've been enjoying hearing it and singing it. – Anything by Diana Krall. I have several of her CDs. – A swinging Frank Sinatra, with Nelson Riddle or Count Basie. That definitely lifts my spirits! RON UBEL recording engineer, Soundtrek Studios – Ralph Vaughan Williams' Symphony #5 (the third movement, "Romanza")/Andre Previn and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. – Gustav Mahler's Symphony #2 ("Resurrection"); the last movement/Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic. – The last movement ("In paradisum") of the Requiem Mass by Maurice Durufle'/Robert Shaw Chorale. TIM WHITMER pianist, bandleader, recording artist – My Night to Dream/Myra Taylor – Peace, Love and Happiness/Sonny Kenner – Jazz Meets Chant/Stan Kessler DAVE ZOLLER pianist, composer, recording artist (Dallas, TX), former Kansas Citian It would be impossible to limit my selection to any three albums or CDs. But it would be possible for me to pick three categories of music I'm turning to, along with a representative sample from each category: – Classic Jazz Recordings, such as Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue, which is still an inspiration and resource 42 years after its original release. – Great Recent Vintage Records Destined To be Classics, such as Jim McNeely's marvelous tentet CD titled Group Therapy (Omnitone Records). – Great Classical Performances, such as the Ravel String Quartet in F and the Debussy String Quartet in G Minor (as played by the Budapest String Quartet; Columbia Records, late '50s); they are a source of beauty, wonder, inspiration and hope. RETURN TO DECEMBER 2001/JANUARY 2002 MAIN INDEX © Kansas City Jazz Ambassadors 1996-2001. All rights reserved. |
|
           |
|
|||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
