Following in jafant's footstep and to respond to the "Caravan" posts:
Ella:
Sublime. It just doesn't get better than that; different yes, but not better. Arguably the best female jazz singer ever and shows why she was called, and speaking of "royalty" titles, "Queen Of Jazz". Amazing musician in every sense of the word. Pitch like few other singers, swung like hell and one of maybe a half dozen singers of either gender that doesn't make me want to turn the music off after more than just a few seconds of scatting. From the very first note of the clip it is obvious that it is Duke's (Edward's 😎) band. The sound of the saxophone section is, in many ways, led from the bottom up by the great Harry Carney's big and rich baritone sound. Fantastic clip.
Hugh Masekela:
Hard to listen to this after Ella. Kind of like going from the sublime to the ridiculous. Imo, one of the most overrated musicians in all of "jazz". I put jazz in quotes because a lot of what he played was not jazz at all. A lot of it was pleasant enough with its "African" flavor, but I just don't feel that a lot of his music is on a high level of skill or artistry. And his singing is worse than the already mediocre flugelhorn playing that he is known for. Not my cup of tea.
Vanessa Mae:
Not my cup of tea either. Pleasant enough, but for me it's musical fluff that gets on and capitalizes fom the "World Music" bandwagon. Music that relies heavily on production values geared toward unabashed accessibility and does not shy away from also capitalizing on the soloist's good looks as part of the "package".
Art Blakey:
Classic. Fabulous band playing Freddie Hubbard's fabulous arrangement of the tune. Great and tasty use of dissonance in the horn writing to make three horns sound like a larger group. Freddie's soloing is on fire as usual. Blakey sounds great and is in his prime. His playing got looser and more relaxed as he aged and wasn't always as incisive as on earlier records like this one. Great stuff!
A couple of other favorite versions of the tune; coincidentally all piano trio versions:
The tune fits his rhythmic quirkiness perfectly; probably my favorite version:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QLOlMnNVkwA
An even more modern approach:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SSOdZJSIP3Q
Nothing like the composer (actually, co-composer with Juan Tizol, trombonist in Duke's band) himself playing the tune; great record!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yNoLbP5s-68
Ella:
Sublime. It just doesn't get better than that; different yes, but not better. Arguably the best female jazz singer ever and shows why she was called, and speaking of "royalty" titles, "Queen Of Jazz". Amazing musician in every sense of the word. Pitch like few other singers, swung like hell and one of maybe a half dozen singers of either gender that doesn't make me want to turn the music off after more than just a few seconds of scatting. From the very first note of the clip it is obvious that it is Duke's (Edward's 😎) band. The sound of the saxophone section is, in many ways, led from the bottom up by the great Harry Carney's big and rich baritone sound. Fantastic clip.
Hugh Masekela:
Hard to listen to this after Ella. Kind of like going from the sublime to the ridiculous. Imo, one of the most overrated musicians in all of "jazz". I put jazz in quotes because a lot of what he played was not jazz at all. A lot of it was pleasant enough with its "African" flavor, but I just don't feel that a lot of his music is on a high level of skill or artistry. And his singing is worse than the already mediocre flugelhorn playing that he is known for. Not my cup of tea.
Vanessa Mae:
Not my cup of tea either. Pleasant enough, but for me it's musical fluff that gets on and capitalizes fom the "World Music" bandwagon. Music that relies heavily on production values geared toward unabashed accessibility and does not shy away from also capitalizing on the soloist's good looks as part of the "package".
Art Blakey:
Classic. Fabulous band playing Freddie Hubbard's fabulous arrangement of the tune. Great and tasty use of dissonance in the horn writing to make three horns sound like a larger group. Freddie's soloing is on fire as usual. Blakey sounds great and is in his prime. His playing got looser and more relaxed as he aged and wasn't always as incisive as on earlier records like this one. Great stuff!
A couple of other favorite versions of the tune; coincidentally all piano trio versions:
The tune fits his rhythmic quirkiness perfectly; probably my favorite version:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=QLOlMnNVkwA
An even more modern approach:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SSOdZJSIP3Q
Nothing like the composer (actually, co-composer with Juan Tizol, trombonist in Duke's band) himself playing the tune; great record!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yNoLbP5s-68