Sunday, February 11, 2007

Sunday Morning

Sunday morning in deep winter . . . a cup of coffee, some French toast, the New York Times scattered about the living room . . . and some drowsy, golden-era jazz to add a little warmth . . .



The Music:

Barney Bigard & His Orchestra [Duke Ellington small group]: A Lull at Dawn
Barney Bigard & His Orchestra [Duke Ellington small group]: Lament for Javanette
Benny Goodman Sextet Featuring Charlie Christian: I Surrender, Dear
Benny Goodman Sextet Featuring Charlie Christian: Stardust
Bessie Smith: Downhearted Blues
Bessie Smith: Empty Bed Blues
Bessie Smith: Nobody Knows When You're Down And Out
Billie Holiday: I Can't Give You Anything But Love
Billie Holiday: The Very Thought Of You
Billie Holiday: You Let Me Down
Bix Beiderbecke: In a Mist
Bix Beiderbecke: Singin' the Blues
Charles Trenet: Verlaine
Charlie Christian: Rose Room
Coleman Hawkins & His Orchestra: Body And Soul
Coleman Hawkins w/ Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra: One Sweet Letter From You
Coleman Hawkins & the Mound City Blue Blowers: If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight
Count Basie: How Long Blues
Count Basie & His Orchestra: I Want A Little Girl
Count Basie & His Orchestra: Good Morning Blues
Django Reinhardt: Beyond The Sea (La Mer)
Django Reinhardt: Nuages
Django Reinhardt: Time On My Hands
Duke Ellington: Dear Old Southland
Duke Ellington: Solitude
Fats Waller: Honeysuckle Rose
Fats Waller: I Ain't Got Nobody
Fats Waller: Numb Fumblin'
Fats Waller: Rockin' Chair
Fats Waller and His Rhythm: I'm Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter
Fats Waller and His Rhythm: You're Not the Only Oyster In the Stew
Jack Teagarden: Basin Street Blues
Jack Teagarden: Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen
Jack Teagarden: The Blues
Johnny Hodges & His Orchestra [Duke Ellington small group]: Day Dream
Hoagy Carmichael: Washboard Blues
Hoagy Carmichael: Lazybones
Hoagy Carmichael: Lazy River
Lester Young: Four O'Clock Drag
Lester Young [Count Basie small group]: I Want A Little Girl
Lester Young [Count Basie small group]: Pagin' The Devil
Louis Armstrong: I Surrender Dear
Louis Armstrong: Just a Gigolo
Louis Armstrong: When It’s Sleepytime Down South
Mildred Bailey: Rockin' Chair
Rex Stewart and His Orchestra [Duke Ellington small group]: My Sunday Gal
Sidney Bechet: I Want You Tonight
Sidney Bechet: Indian Summer
Sidney Bechet: Really the Blues

Warning: those of you who like to make playlists - you can get lost on finetune.com for hours at a time!

2 comments:

Jeff said...

Hi William,

What a great, relaxing way to spend a Sunday morning! Thanks for the playlist. I haven't been able to get all the way through it yet, but I fully intend to.

I love the Duke and the Count, and being both a guitar and a Blues fanatic, I appreciate Bessie, Django, Coleman, Charlie, Fats, and Louie very much.

I appreciate your tribute to the golden era of jazz. I don't care much for bebop and free jazz, although I read with some sadness, in that post you put up about Eric Dolphy, about how he died needlessly from a diabetic shock. What a waste.

I don't know why, but every time I think of Count Basie, I'm reminded of a scene in one of my favorite movies of all time, Raging Bull It's the scene where DeNiro, playing Jake Lamotta, is lamenting to his younger brother Joey, played by Joe Pesci, that he knows he's better than all of the heavyweights, but that he'll never get a chance to prove it because his hands are too small. Then, to prove how tough he is, he goads Joey into punching him repeatedly, until Joey stops in disgust, and Jake pinches him on the cheek. The whole time, One O'Clock Jump is playing on the radio in the background, and Scorcese bring up the volume to a climax at the end of the scene. Scorcese uses music, perticularly jazz, with great effect in his films.

cowboyangel said...

Jeff, glad you liked the playlist. I was wondering how it would work on a blog - if anyone would actually listen. You have to have a minimum of 45 songs, which I find too much. But glad you dug it. I've really enjoyed playing around on finetune.com - it's pretty addictive.

Yeah, Dolphy was a great soul. He used to practice on his front porch, playing along with the birds as they sang, and his music has that quality to me. Took me a while to get into him, but then it finally clicked one day, and I could "hear" him after that without any problem. I had to be in a very slow, mellow frame of mind to catch it at first.

You know, I've never seen Raging Bull. Got to watch it - especially if it features "One O'clock Jump"!