The Aged P

You can’t mistake that soft, silky baritone voice….Nat King Cole was so big during the 40s/50s that the iconic Capitol Records building in Los Angeles was often described as “the house that Nat built”

Yet it is often forgotten that he was regarded as one of the top jazz pianists of his time, on a par with Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum and credited with being one of the first jazzmen to organise the piano/guitar/bass trio set up that became so familiar in the 40s…

Nat plays…

Nat sings….

Charlie Barnet was not the biggest name in Swing but he was well respected as a musician by many of his peers, including Count Basie and Duke Ellington. Syrupy smooth sounds were never part of the Barnet formula and “Skyliner” with that electric interplay between brass and saxes is as exciting as big band music could get.

It was the theme tune of a late night big band programme on AFN Munich in the late 40s and became a major influence on British jazz musicians because in those days listening to AFN was the only way we could get away from the constraints of the rather sniffy play it safe BBC.

So sit back and get ready to return to the 1940s when music was about men who could really blow….

Recorded in Italy in 1969 the Bill Evans version of the pop classic “Autumn Leaves”….beautifully improvised melody lines make this an all time jazz piano classic. Eddie Gomez is brilliant on bass and Marty Morell’s taut drumming gives the whole set an extra flourish.

When I was at university in the early 60s the vast majority of students were still into New Orleans style “trad” jazz but I always preferred the cooler side of modern jazz and nobody epitomised the essence of cool better than Bill Evans….

Louis Armstrong plays and sings Edith Piaf’s love song “La vie en rose”. Not only does he manage to convey the romantic message of the lyrics with his gruff and gravelly voice but he proceeds to offer a masterclass in jazz trumpet…..