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4 dic 2008

(59)

Pres and Teddy (1956)

This one has Lester Young, Teddy Wilson, Papa Jo, and Gene Ramey. In other words, three of my favorite musicians of all time. (I don't know anything about bassist Ramey, aside from his work here.)

The tracks are All of Me, Prisoner of Love, Louise, Love Me or Leave Me, Taking a Chance on Love, Gershwin's Our Love is Here to Stay, and the blues Pres Returns.

Bob Basil taped this for me in the early 80s, along with the Oscar Peterson session with Pres, and I have loved it ever since. We wore out this tape. Later, I purchased it on cd. I heard this was on some list of the 100 greatest albusm of all time, and I fully concur with that judgement.
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3 comentarios:

  1. Phaedrus8:17 a. m.

    Back in the day I had to answer YES to one or more of the following three questions before I would tape an album for myself or a friend:

    1. Is the musician long dead?

    2. Have I already purchased several albums by this musician?

    3. Are the odds EXCELLENT that, after hearing this tape, the listener will go out and purchase one or more albums by this artist?

    Ah, such rules I followed to be ethically pure! *laughs*

    At any rate, with "Prez and Teddy" I might have been able to say YES to number 2, certainly to number 3. Not to number 1, though. I saw Teddy Wilson a couple of years after I made that tape.

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  2. Phaedrus8:31 a. m.

    Addendum:

    After wracking my brain I remembered the name of the venue where I saw Teddy Wilson: ArtPark, near Niagara Falls, NY. That place had a ton of great jazz there every summer. I saw
    Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and Benny Carter there.

    Sarah was in ill health at the time -- 1989 -- and, after falling down, sang several songs sitting flat on the stage floor. And Ella had a heart attack right after her show. Both singers, at the very end of their careers, were mesmerizing. It was a blessing to have been able to see and hear them in person.

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  3. Phaedrus8:46 a. m.

    Ella Fitzgerald's show was in 1986. Here is a link to the NYTimes article describing what happened: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7DE153BF93AA15754C0A960948260 .

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