December 17 - Ray Noble (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for December 17th are here: Arthur Fiedler; Domenico Cimarosa (2019), (2020), Moriz Rosenthal (2021), Arthur Fiedler (2022), Domenico Cimarosa (2023), and Domenico Cimarosa; Johann Friedrich Schubert (2024)

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Ray Noble (17 December 1903 – 3 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United States. He is best known for his standard "The Very Thought of You".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Noble Art

In the 30s, composer Ray Noble

Had a band with success that was global.

If to you he's unknown,

Look him up on your phone,

Or as Brits would prefer, on your mobile.

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Sentimental Journey

"The Very Thought of You" is still performed

   In piano bars, revues, and cabarets,

For listeners whose memories are warmed

   By songs recalling sentimental ways

Before the weekly music charts were stormed

   By all the noisy hits of nowadays.

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

December 6 - Dave Brubeck (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for December 6th are here: Nikolaus Harnoncourt; Joseph Lamb (2019), Dave Brubeck; Henryk Górecki (2020), Ira Gershwin; Orazio Vecchi (2021), Orazio Vecchi (2022), Johann Christoph Bach (2023), and Ira Gershwin; Johann Christoph Bach (2024)

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Dave Brubeck (6 December 1920 – 5 December 2012) was an American jazz pianist and composer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take Three

(1)

Brubeck is often regarded as a foremost exponent of cool jazz.  – Wikipedia

Dave Brubeck and his great quartet

Played jazz so cool that in a set

They never seemed to break a sweat.

(2)

"Brubeck's real achievement was to blend European compositional ideas, very demanding rhythmic structures, jazz song-forms, and improvisation in expressive and accessible ways."– John Fordham in The Guardian, qtd in Wikipedia

They played a style of jazz that marries

Music's sometimes adversaries:

Jazz (with all its tributaries)

And classical contemporaries.

(3)

"Above all they [the Europeans] found it hard to believe that the most successful jazz in America was being played by a family man, a laid-back Californian, modest, gentle and open." The Economist, qtd. in Wikipedia

A family man, and not a freak,

With unimpeachable technique;

His titles sometimes tongue-in-cheek,

Yet debonaire and ultra chic.

 

 

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November 19 - Tommy Dorsey (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for November 19th are found here: Tommy Dorsey (2019), Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (2020), Pierre Leclair (2021), Tommy Dorsey (2022), Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov (2023), and Tommy Dorsey (2024)

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Tommy Dorsey (19 November 1905 – 26 November 1956) was an important jazz trombonist and big band leader.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Do I Have To Separate You Two?"

Acrimony between the brothers led to Tommy Dorsey walking out to form his own band in 1935. – Wikipedia

Though they thought that a family band,

Would be firm, not erected on sand,

They found that it wobbled

Whenever they squabbled,

And didn't turn out as they planned.

 

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Tales: Great Art Repurposed.]

 

 

May 21 - Fats Waller (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for May 21st may be found here: Fats Waller (2019), Maurice André (2020), Heinz Holliger (2021),  Fats Waller (2022), Fats Waller (2023), and Dennis Day (2024)

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Fats Waller (21 May 1904 – 15 December 1943) was an innovative and virtuosic jazz pianist and composer.

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Taking It in Stride

There's a challenge for pianists, and that's

Playing stride at the keyboard like Fats,

With each note in the bass

In its accurate place,...

And if you can do it, congrats!

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Takes: Great Art Repurposed.] 

April 10 - Claude Bolling (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous postings for April 10th may be found here: Claude Bolling (2019), Eugen d'Albert (2020), Charles Swinnerton Heap (2021), Jorge Mester (2022), Marilyn Maye (2023), and Eugen d'Albert (2024)

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Claude Bolling (10 April 1930 – 29 December 2020) was a jazz pianist  and composer who became extremely popular in the 1970s due to a several crossover recordings made with well-known classical artists, including Jean-Pierre Rampal, Yo-Yo Ma, Pinchas Zukerman, and others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cross Over Crossover

Although the [crossover album with Rampal] drew criticism from both classical and jazz purists as, in the words of one article, “watered-down jazz with a thin classical veneer,” the listening public loved it. – Neil Genzlinger, "Claude Bolling, Jazzman With Crossover Appeal, Dies at 90" (www.nytimes.com)

According to our recent polling,

Neither pressure nor cajoling

Could keep a connoisseur from scrolling

Past a birthday verse extolling

Music by the late Claude Bolling

(Unless they stopped to do some trolling).

 

 

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March 6 - Bob Wills (The Musical Birthday Series, 7th Annual Cycle)

Previous March 6th entries can be found here: Oscar Straus (2019), Norman Treigle (2020), H. C. Robbins Landon (2021), Sarah Caldwell; Julius Rudel; Oscar Straus (2022), Stephen Schwartz (2023), and Yannick Nézet-Séguin (2024)

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Bob Wills (6 March 1905 – 13 May 1975) was an American wEstern swing musician, songwriter, and bandleader.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where There’s a Wills

 

Considered by music authorities as the founder of Western swing, he was known widely as the King of Western Swing.  -- Wikipedia

Of Wills I sing,

Who was the king

Of Western swing,

A style that has

It’s own pizzazz,

Combining jazz

With country as

A hybrid thing.

If you enjoy these posts, please help me, and consider sharing.  [Also, please visit my other blog: Alternate Takes: Great Art Repurposed.]