Andreas Pettersson: Gershwin On Guitar

On Saturday I visited a concert at Katalin arranged by Uppsala Jazz Club that was called "Gershwin On Guitar" performed by the Andreas Pettersson Quartet.

Andreas Pettersson is an amazing guitarist that I've had the pleasure of listening and dancing to before. Two years ago he was playing together with his old friend Ulf Johansson Werre and some other musicians at Uppsala Winter Camp. What a treat.

This time he and his quartet interpret George Gershwin's songs. The other musicians in the band are: Daniel Tilling (piano), Martin Sjöstedt (bas) och Daniel Fredriksson (drums).



They started with songs from George Gershwin's early career: "Preludes I, II och III”.

Andreas Pettersson continued with songs like: "Embraceable You", "Strike Up The Band", "Lady Be Good" and "´S Wonderful".

They also played a bunch of melodies from George Gershwin's opera "Porgy and Bess": "It Ain´t Necessarily So", "Summertime" and "Bess, You Is My Woman Now".

If you want to hear what they sounded like, take a look at this page with the album "Gershwin On Guitar", which has sound samples.



In the break I had the good fortune of sitting beside a retired music teacher from Uppsala who told me some anecdotes.



The photos are taken by me and may not be published elsewhere without my permission. Contact me if you want to license my jazz photos.

Did you visit the concert "Gershwin On Guitar" with the Andreas Pettersson Quartet? What did you think of it? Tell me.

Let's Call The Whole Thing Off from the movie Shall We Dance

Often at swing dances you hear "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" performed by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald, but I think it's good to sometimes trace the song back to its orgin.

"Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" was written for the movie Shall We Dance from 1937 with lyrics by Ira Gershwin and music by George Gershwin. In the video clip above you see Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire dance to the song on roller skates.

When you see the film, the song's introduction makes much more sense than it does when played "stand alone", that's why I most times cut the intro and start playing at "You say either, I say either".

By the way, don't confuse this movie with Shall We Dance from 2004 starring Jennifer Lopez, Richard Gere and Susan Sarandon or the original Japanese version of Shall We Dance (1997) which people say is the better one (I haven't seen the latter).

What do think of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire dancing to "Let's Call The Whole Thing Off"? Tell me.

Ray Brown Trio feat. Regina Carter - Lady Be Good

It's time again for the Ray Brown Trio to entertain you, this time Ray Brown is joined by Larry Fuller on piano and George Fludas on drums. Together with them they feature Regina Carter on violin. Regina Carter is swinging hard while the trio backs her up with a nice steady groove.

Enjoy this video clip with the Ray Brown Trio feat. Regina Carter playing Lady Be Good.



The jazz standard Oh, Lady Be Good is written by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin in 1924.

What do you think of the Ray Brown Trio & Regina Carter playing Oh, Lady Be Good. Tell me.

Summertime: Ray Brown Trio

Today it's Midsummer nights eve, which is a big holiday here in Sweden. What could be better fitting for today than to feature a version of the song Summertime. Summertime was written by George Gershwin for the opera Porgy and Bess in 1935.

In this video clip Summertime is performed by Ray Brown Trio which consists of Jeff Hamilton (drums), Gene Harris (piano) and of course Ray Brown (bass).



Great stuff. Both sweet, dramatic, groovy and swinging. Make sure you catch the bass riff that starts at 3:40 from the end (since YouTube videos counts down). Man, if I were a bass player I would steal that directly.

What do you think of Ray Brown Trio performing Summertime? Tell me.