Benny Goodman and the art of improvising

In a tv program from 1967 Benny Goodman and some other jazz musicians talk about and show what it means to do jazz improvisation.

In the first clip they show how a new song can be born through improvisation on a another one, here they play In a Mellow Tone and Rose Room at the same time.



In the second video clip they talk about what they feel when they are playing jazz and the role of the rhythm section in a jazz band. They then decide on playing Airmail Special.

Benny Goodman also refers to Airmail Special as Good Enough To Keep. I suppose there is a story behind those names, does anybody have more info about that?



The other musicians are Clark Terry (trumpet), Zoot Sims (saxophone), Ed Shaughnessy (drums), Hank Jones (piano), Gene Bertoncini (guitar) and Milt Hinton on bass.

Some of the things they say can be applied at dancing as well, for example Ed Shaughnessy says: "Even when I play simple things, I try do do it with feeling". I belive that often you don't have to do very fancy moves, you can have a fantastic dance just by doing basic stuff with feeling.

I think that the leader in a dance couple is similar to the rhythm section in a band, the leader provides the pulse and basic structure and upon that the follower can improvise.

A band got to have a good rhythm section if they are going to be great, I have several examples of bands that have very good soloists that plays the melody, but the drummer plays in a mechanical way without feeling and that destroys the tune once you notice that.

What do you think of the video clips with Benny Goodman talking about jazz improvisation? Tell me.

Hey Mr Jesse: January 2008

The third year of the podcast Hey Mr Jesse starts out great, normally the show is about 60 min long, this time it is 80 min, packed with good swinging music. See the show notes for Hey Mr Jesse January 2008 for all the details.

Download the January show of Hey Mr Jesse (mp3, 55 MB)

Jesse Miner does a tribute count down of Oscar Peterson songs, since Oscar Peterson passed away last month.

He does an interview with Pete Petersen from The Pete Petersen & The Porkpie Septet. It's great to hear that there are new swing songs being written as well as new arrangements of jazz standards.

Jesse & Manu also kindly features some of my comments and tips:

First, there is the great music video with Ondrej Havelka and his Melody Makers playing Beat Me Daddy Eight To the Bar.

When they talked about street band last podcast I had to plug my favorite street jazz band: The Lost Wandering Blues & Jazz Band.

Here is a video clip with The Lost Wandering Blues & Jazz Band playing Tilly Brown that I haven't seen before. This is totally their style of music (but I prefer an acustic guitar).



At last, they also talk about Bernard Berkhout, the band leader of 4beat6, that I tipped them of in the last episode. Here is a video clip with 4beat6 playing Airmail Special at a concert.



See what I wrote about previous Hey Mr Jesse shows.

What do you think of the January 2008 podcast of Hey Mr Jesse? Tell me.

Nikki Yanofsky sings Airmail Special and scats like Ella Fitzgerald

Wow! You must see Nikki Yanofsky sing Airmail Special in this video clip.



Nikki Yanofsky is an amazingly talented 13-year-old from Montreal, Canada who is one of the artists that sings on a tribute album called "We All Love Ella - Celebrating the First Lady of Song". The Ella that we love is of course Ella Fitzgerald and Nikki Yanofsky does a fantastic performance when she scats through Airmail Special in the style of Ella Fitzgerald.

Here is also a video clip where Nikki Yanofsky talks about being selected as one of the artists for the Ella Fitgerald tribute album. She has good company on the album: Diana Krall, Natalie Cole, Dianne Reeves, Michael Buble and Etta James among others.



I'd love to see what Nikki Yanofsky does next when she finds her own voice in the world of jazz. Go girl!

If you like these video clips, you'll like seeing Nikki sing It Don't Mean A Thing.

How did I find out about her? Through the "Hey Mr Jesse" July 2007 episode. More on that later.

What do you think of the video clip with Nikki Yanofsky singing Airmail Special? Tell me.