December 23 - Chet Baker (The Musical Birthday Series, 5th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for December 23rd are here: Chet Baker (2019), Mathilde Wesendonck (2020), Ross Lee Finney (2021), and José Greco (2022)

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Chet Baker (23 December 1929 – 13 May 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and singer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nocturne

As quiet music sets a mood

Romantic couples nibble food, —

The wistful trumpet of Chet Baker, –

The flash of the martini shaker.

How sad it is that jazz so cool

Is now a cheap designer’s tool

When clients give him the assignment

To set a vibe of louche refinement.

 

 

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October 18 - Wynton Marsalis; Anita O'Day (The Musical Birthday Series, 5th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for October 18th are here: Heinrich Schütz; Luca Marenzio (2019), Lotte Lenya; Ferdinand Schubert (2020), Baldassare Galuppi (2021), and Luca Marenzio (2022)

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Wynton Marsalis (b. 18 October 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You Can’t Please Everyone

Marsalis is generally associated with straight-ahead jazz. Jazz critic Scott Yanow regards Marsalis as talented but criticizes his "selective knowledge of jazz history". Keith Jarrett said Marsalis "imitates other people's styles too well". — adapted from Wikipedia

Though there seldom is gossip or malice

Concerning the great Wynton Marsalis,

Some critics have said

That he’s too straight-ahead,

But perhaps they’re excessively callous.

 

 

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Anita O'Day (18 October 1919 – 23 November 2006) was an American jazz singer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

O’Day O!

Hip hip hooray

For Anita O’Day!

Whose resumé

Could safely say

She found her way

Without cliché,...

And here to stay.

 

 

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March 10 - Bix Beiderbecke; Dudley Buck (The Musical Birthday Series, 5th Annual Cycle)

For previous March 10th posts, check here: John Bacchus Dykes (2019), Arthur Honegger (2020), Camillo Schumann (2021), and Lorenzo da Ponte; Pablo de Sarasate (2022)

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Bix Beiderbecke (10 March 1903 – 6 August 1931) was an influential American jazz cornetist, pianist,  and composer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Too Young

Bix Beiderbecke died

  At twenty-eight,

But no one denied

  That he was great.

He lived out his life

  As if he’d guessed

His quotidian strife

  Would be compressed.

 

 

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Dudley Buck (10 March 1839 – 6 October 1909) was an American composer, organist, and writer on music. He was Charles Ives's organ teacher at Yale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Opposites Attract

Dudley Buck

Had the luck

  To teach young Charles Ives,

A thing which proves

That Fortune moves

  Mysteriously in our lives.

 

 

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May 26 - Miles Davis (The Musical Birthday Series, 4th Annual Cycle)

Previous posts for May 26th are available here: William Bolcom (2019), Teresa Stratas (2020), and Isadora Duncan (2021)

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Miles Davis (26 May 1926 – 28 September 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, composer, and one of the greatest jazz musicians of all time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Left Behind

Critics were often unreceptive but the decade garnered Davis his highest level of commercial recognition. – Wikipedia

When In a Silent Way was released later that year, some critics accused him of "selling out" to the rock and roll audience. – Wikipedia

In a 1982 interview in DownBeat, Wynton Marsalis said: "They call Miles's stuff jazz. That stuff is not jazz, man. Just because somebody played jazz at one time, that doesn't mean they're still playing it." – Wikipedia

The critics objected when Miles

Explored other musical styles.

    Their writing derides

    His most popular sides,

    They said that jazz fusion

    Was just an illusion,

And they deeply disparaged such trials.

 

 

 

 

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