A while back I had put up Frank Sinatra’s rendition of this classic George Gershwin song (my favorite), but it’s disappeared from YouTube. Fortunately, we have this nice version by Satchmo (singing and blowing) and Ella Fitzgerald, playing with the Oscar Peterson Quintet.
Who knew that Satchmo could sing harmony?
Not available in Germany.
Oh my, if you don’t know the “Ella and Louis” albums, you owe it to yourself to go purchase them right away. Also, if you like standards, the Johnny Hartman with John Coltrane album is highly recommended – best “Lush Life” ever.
Lush Life is good, but my favorite on that album is “My One and Only Love.”
I’ll investigate Ella and Louis, since your penchant for Coltrane/Hartman shows excellent taste.
This one by Frankie may be it, since the time of the recording is the same.
I like the tempo of both versions, kind of a ‘swing step’.
Let’s credit Ira Gerschwin for his wonderful lyrics.
“Who knew that Satchmo could sing harmony?”
The majority of jazz fans, that’s who.
Precisely.
Speaking of great singers, Whitney Houston died today at the age of 48. Even though her personal life was a mess, the woman could sing. She sang the best version of the National Anthem at a sporting event I ever heard.
The king and queen of Jazz (IMVHO) 😉
Please crash this poll: Should Catholic institution be allowed to refuse to provide coverage for birth control, etc., etc.?
http://www.news-sentinel.com/section/OPINION
There are only a few hundred votes, but we’re losing.
I don’t know if Coynating will have the same effect as pharyngulating, but I bumped it up a vote.
Maybe we should call it “WEIT-washing a poll.”
🙂
And, if you share the nationality if the fellow in my gravatar image, you could pronounce it “veitvashink.”
I always pronounce WEIT as “veit” in my Teutonic mind.
I didn’t know that Armstrong could sing harmony, since I had never heard this recording before (so thanks for that) but it doesn’t come as a surprise, since his first important work — or at least first important recorded work — has him playing harmony on second coronet to “King” Oliver in the latter’s Creole Jazz Band.
I have heard it argued, almost persuasively, that Armstrong’s playing in Oliver’s band was his best “pure” jazz work, since it featured intricate ensemble playing — as opposed to the virtuoso solos featured in Armstrong’s own bands and the groups he assembled solely for recording purposes, such as the Hot Five and Hot Seven.
My favorite story about Armstrong is that when he recorded with a band back in the days of gramophone recordings the engineers would always make him stand way back from the rest of the band. It was the only way to keep the horn from drowning out the rest of the mix. Possibly apocryphal but in Satchmo’s case I believe it.