Shirley Horn

One of Shirley's best friends, singer Gail Marten says:

"I don't know if you know that Shirley Horn is quite ill. She has been moved from hospital critical care to Spellman Nursing Home in DC. She is conscious, but as yet unable to speak. She is on dialysis, breathing assistance and feeding tube. We are hoping for the best."

I checked with Gail -- Shirley most definitely would appreciate flowers, cards, prayers, etc. Here is her contact information and where cards and flowers can be sent:

Shirley Horn
Gladys Spellman Specialty Hospital and Nursing Center
2900 Mercy Lane
Cheverly, MD 20785

Shirley's music has probably touched most of us. If you have a chance, don't hesitate to reach out to her. You'll be giving something back.

Oscar Peterson to be honored with Canadian postage stamp

Mr. Peterson might have only a slight history as a vocalist, but he
has certainly earned this honor through his work as a composer,
instrumentalist and accompanist to many great singers (Louis, Ella,
Sarah, Anita, etc.)

JOHN STEWART
THE MISSISSAUGA NEWS
Aug 10, 2005

The new Canadian postage stamp honouring Oscar Peterson will be
unveiled in the presence of the jazz giant himself, on his 80th
birthday.

Canada Post, Universal Music Canada (Peterson's record label) and HMV
Canada are throwing a birthday bash for the king of the keys, the day
the long-time Mississauga resident turns 80.

The birthday party, which includes a "special musical tribute" by a
so-far unnamed guest, will be held Monday, Aug. 15 at the HMV
Superstore at 333 Yonge St. in downtown Toronto beginning at 12:15
p.m.

"This is the first time we've ever been quite so secretive about a
(stamp) design," Cindy Daoust of Canada Post media relations, said
from Ottawa Friday. "We're keeping it pretty close to our hearts until
the 15th."

Daoust said the stamp, which was created by veteran designer Tiit
Telmet, is spectacular. "In my opinion, it's stunning," she told The
News. "It captures the essence of the man and the essence of the
music, and that's hard to do on such an extremely small canvas."

The event will be relatively short with speeches from officials of the
post office, Universal and HMV, the secret musical performer and
comments by Peterson.

He has been the recipient of numerous national and international
awards including the Order of Canada and a Lifetime Grammy Achievement
Award.

Canada Post announced earlier this year that Peterson would become the
first living Canadian ever honoured on a stamp for his lifetime works.

There have been four million stamps printed, and they will be
available Aug. 15.

Keter Betts R.I.P.

Legendary jazz bassist William Thomas "Keter" Betts was born July 25, 1928, in Port Chester, New York. While running an errand for his mother while in the fifth grade, Betts came across a parade. Instead of continuing on his way, he followed the parade all over town, entranced by the music. That incident marked the beginning of his love affair with music.

Starting out on the drums, Betts tired of carrying the set up and down the four floors to his family apartment, and in 1946, he switched to the bass. When Betts was only nineteen, he landed his first professional gig, playing for thirteen weeks in Washington, D.C., with saxophonist Carmen Leggio. After touring the country from 1949 to 1951, Betts met jazz singer Dinah Washington and toured with her from 1951 until 1956. The next five years found Betts working in the hottest clubs in the country and touring Europe and South America with Charlie Byrd and Woody Herman. In 1964, Betts joined up with Ella Fitzgerald for a short tour. He would rejoin her several more times, and their career together would span twenty-four years.

Betts has been an instructor of music at Howard University in Washington, D.C., since 1963, and he also instructs young adults through various programs, including the Washington Performing Arts Society's Concerts in Schools and Prince George's County's Arts Alive. Despite appearing in more than 100 recordings, it was not until 1998 that Betts released his first solo album, Bass, Buddies & Blues, and followed it up a year late with Bass, Buddies, Blues Beauty Too.

Betts has been a member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Big Band and has been inducted into the Washington Area Music Association Hall of Fame. Since 2000, Betts has performed annually at the All-Star Christmas Jazz Jam on Millennium Stage. Betts is widely considered the most respected journeyman bassist in jazz music, and his career continues strong today.

Biography

Legendary jazz bassist William Thomas "Keter" Betts was born July 25, 1928, in Port Chester, New York. While running an errand for his mother while in the fifth grade, Betts came across a parade. Instead of continuing on his way, he followed the parade all over town, entranced by the music. That incident marked the beginning of his love affair with music.

Starting out on the drums, Betts tired of carrying the set up and down the four floors to his family apartment, and in 1946, he switched to the bass. When Betts was only nineteen, he landed his first professional gig, playing for thirteen weeks in Washington, D.C., with saxophonist Carmen Leggio. After touring the country from 1949 to 1951, Betts met jazz singer Dinah Washington and toured with her from 1951 until 1956. The next five years found Betts working in the hottest clubs in the country and touring Europe and South America with Charlie Byrd and Woody Herman. In 1964, Betts joined up with Ella Fitzgerald for a short tour. He would rejoin her several more times, and their career together would span twenty-four years.

Betts has been an instructor of music at Howard University in Washington, D.C., since 1963, and he also instructs young adults through various programs, including the Washington Performing Arts Society's Concerts in Schools and Prince George's County's Arts Alive. Despite appearing in more than 100 recordings, it was not until 1998 that Betts released his first solo album, Bass, Buddies & Blues, and followed it up a year late with Bass, Buddies, Blues Beauty Too.

Betts has been a member of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Big Band and has been inducted into the Washington Area Music Association Hall of Fame. Since 2000, Betts has performed annually at the All-Star Christmas Jazz Jam on Millennium Stage. Betts is widely considered the most respected journeyman bassist in jazz music, and his career continues strong today.

Which of the two original covers of Hello Dolly do you prefer????? 

Un'altra estate...CALDA! E sono sempre a Firenze...ma quando lo trovo un lavoro???? 

Here is the proud owner of the Japanese reissue of Hello Dolly! 

Here I am, on my PC.... 

Ella posponed

On Verve Release Schedule, Ella's Volume 2 of singles, is marcked as this:

TBS - Ella Fitzgerald - Jukebox Ella: The Complete Verve Singles Vol. 2 - Catalog Reissue - Verve Reissues

Ella Fitzgerald 21st of July 1975, before the Antibes Festival 

Anne Bancroft -- she sang, too.

Anne Bancroft -- she sang, too.
Anne Bancroft was indeed a wonderful singer as well as an irreplaceable actress.

When she was just another movie starlet in the early 50's she played a nightclub singer in 'Don't Bother to Knock' and was dubbed by Eve Marlee. The movie starlet thing eventually fizzled out and she went to NY, got serious about acting and became a surprise star on Broadway in 'Two for the Seesaw' and 'The Miracle Worker'. During this period she started showing up on Jack Paar's talk shows on which she was sharp, funny and thoroughly delightful. She once casually mentioned to Paar that she was studying singing and he made her promise that when she was ready she'd make her singing debut on his show. Which she did (6/7/63), in a regal Grecian gown no less, singing (and very well) a torchy medley of 'Where Are You?' and 'These Foolish Things' in front of a teddibly sophisticated Manhattan penthouse set. Her voice was throaty and strong and her phrasing and pitch were perfect

She then co-starred with Dick Shawn in a two-character ABC Stage 67 musical special titled 'I'm Getting Married' (3/16/67) in which she sang four original Betty Comden-Adolph Green songs - 'Venezia', 'Getting Married', 'Forbidden Fruit' and 'Love Is Our Umbrella', the latter two duets with Shawn.

She then guested on the Kraft Music Hall on NBC (4/30/69) singing a most peculiar pair of tunes - 'Limehouse Blues' and, in a trio with Mel Torme and Dudley Moore, 'Scarborough Fair'.

Her sublime hour was her Emmy-winning CBS special titled 'Annie, the Women in the Life of a Man' (12/18/70). It was a semi-revue format with a half-dozen or so male guest stars appearing in only one sequence apiece. Lee J. Cobb's was as a posh Park Avenue psychiatris"

Upcoming CD releases from Japan

Japan Reissues: On June 15, 2005

Vivid Sound VSCD 9317 (New) Coltrane, Alice / Eternity 2415
Vivid Sound VSCD 9318 (New) Coltrane, Alice / Transcendence 2415

On July 15, 2005

P Vine PCD 22214 (New) Cobb, Arnett / Chittlin' Shout 2310
P Vine PCD 22215 (New) Bama / Ghettos Of The Wind 2310
P Vine PCD 22216 (New) Humphrey, Paul / And The Cool...aid Chemists 2310
P Vine PCD 22217 (New) Humphrey, Paul / Supermellow 2310
P Vine PCD 22218 (New) Humphrey, Paul / America Wake Up 2310

On July 20, 2005

Sony SICP 867 (New) Dombasle, Arielle / Amor Amor 2520
Sony VRCL 18826 (New) New Sound Quartet, The / Summertime 2835
Universal UCGJ 7005 (New) Ozone, Makoto / Real 3000
BMG Funhous BVCJ 37432 (New) 24 Bit Rich, Buddy / Different Drummer 1890
BMG Funhous BVCJ 37433 (New) 24 Bit Rich, Buddy / Buddy Rich In London 1890
BMG Funhous BVCJ 37434 (New) 24 Bit Rich, Buddy / Stick It 1890
BMG Funhous BVCJ 37435 (New) 24 Bit Rich, Buddy / Plays And Plays And Plays 1890


On July 21, 2005

Victor VICJ 61279 (New) Frank & Joe Show, The / 33 1 / 3 2520
Victor VICJ 61280 (New) Palmieri, Eddie / Listen Here - 50th Anniversary Edition 2520
Victor VICJ 61281 (New) Weckl, Dave / Multiplicity 2520
King ABCJ 357 (New) Burton, Ann / Misty 2500
King ABCJ 358 (New) Burton, Ann / Thats All 2500
King ABCJ 359 (New) Merrill, Helen / Deep In A Dream 2500
King ABCJ 360 (New) Merrill, Helen / Love Is Song 2500
King KICJ 489 (New) Cohen, Avishai / At Home 2500
King KICJ 490 (New) York, Jennifer / Transtions 2800
King KICJ 491 (New) Wooten, Victor / Soul Cir"

HELLO, DOLLY! (Cardboard Sleeve)/ Ella Fitzgerald

HELLO, DOLLY! (Cardboard Sleeve)/ Ella Fitzgerald

R.I.P. -- Monica Zetterlund

Swedish Jazz Star Monica Zetterlund Dies in Fire

Agence France Presse, May 13, 2005

STOCKHOLM -- Swedish jazz singer Monica Zetterlund, who recorded with
the legendary Bill Evans among others, has died in a fire that
ravaged her Stockholm apartment, police said on Friday.

Zetterlund, 67, was best known for her 1964 recording of "Waltz for
Debbie" with the Bill Evans trio.

In addition to several solo records, she also sang with jazz greats
Arne Domnerus, Zoot Sims, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis, and more recently
toured with fellow Swedish jazz singer Lisa Ekdahl.

Police confirmed that the body found after a fire in Zetterlund's
apartment on Thursday was that of the singer.

"Unfortunately, it was Monica Zetterlund," police spokesman Kjell
Lindgren said.

According to media reports, Zetterlund, who had difficulty moving
around due to debilitating scoliosis, was smoking in bed when the
fire started.
_________________________________________

Jazz Singer Monica Zetterlund Dies in Fire

Reuters, May 13, 2005

STOCKHOLM -- Swedish jazz singer and actress Monica Zetterlund, who
performed and recorded with piano legend Bill Evans in the 1960s, has
died in a fire in her flat in Stockholm, police said on Friday.

The artist, whose acting performances included the 1972 movie "The
Emigrants" alongside Scandinavian stars Liv Ullman and Max von Sydow,
died when her flat in central Stockholm caught fire late on Thursday.
The cause was unknown.

Born in 1937 as Monica Nilsson, her first popular hit at home was a
cover of "Walking My Baby Back Home" in Swedish, but her pure, sultry
voice soon became known to jazz fans around the world.

Zetterlund gave up performing in 1999 and later told one
interviewer: "Now I don't even sing in the shower."

Jazz bassist Percy Heath dies at 81

The Seattle Times: Nation & World: Jazz bassist Percy Heath dies at 81
"Percy Heath, the superb bassist who for more than 40 years provided the sublime underpinnings for the Modern Jazz Quartet, died Thursday of bone cancer at a hospital in Southampton, N.Y. He was 81.
Mr. Heath was the last surviving member of the quartet he helped found that became known simply as the MJQ. Mr. Heath joined with pianist John Lewis, drummer Connie Kay and vibraphonist Milt Jackson, to create a restrained bop style that was considered the epitome of sophistication.
He and his brothers, saxophonist Jimmy Heath and drummer Albert 'Tootie' Heath, made up one of the great families in jazz.
Percy Heath was born April 30, 1923, in Wilmington, N.C.
He was drafted into the Army in 1944, and learned to fly P-4s and P-47s as a member of the Tuskegee Airmen. His class graduated in early 1945. He saw no combat. After the war, he decided to go into music, so he took part of his military separation money and bought a stand-up bass.
Mr. Heath and his brother Jimmy moved to New York in the late 1940s. By 1950, they had found steady work with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.
The MJQ had its genesis in the Gillespie big band. As Lewis told critic Leonard Feather some years ago, he and three other band members � drummer Kenny Clarke, bassist Ray Brown and Jackson � decided to form a group to try to create a sound that was not based on the standard themes of the day.
The group originally was called the Milt Jackson Quartet. Mr. Heath joined the group when Brown left to play in his wife Ella Fitzgerald's band.
The Modern Jazz Quartet officially was born in 1952. After a well-received European tour, it returned home and slowly caught on with American fans. Kay joined the group in 1955 when Clarke moved to Europe.
The group "

Marilyn Maye is highlight of UMSL jazz festival

Marilyn Maye is highlight of UMSL jazz festival - The Current - Arts and Entertainment

Maye has just returned from a run at the famed "Birdland" music club and opens at a new Kansas City club called Jardine's on Monday, so she is very busy.

Marilyn Maye lives partly in Texas and partly in Kansas City. Despite being in the same state, Maye had not performed in St. Louis for 20 years. However, she may be back before too long. She had high praise for Jim Widner, who directs both the festival and UM-St. Louis' own Jazz Ensemble. "Jim worked with me years ago on the road and in Las Vegas, playing bass in my band," she said "He is a very good musician.

Widner joined her on stage as part of her band again for the Friday night performance, along with the three other musicians, Rob Fleeman, Jimmy Eklof, and Billy Stritch, who make up her regular band.

Marilyn Maye's style harkens back to the late big band era of Ella Fitzgerald and Mel Torme, both of whom she counts among her own favorite singers. She also cited Jack Jones and Joe Williams as favorites.

"Mostly I listened to male singers," she said. "That is better for female singers, otherwise you risk picking up the style of other women singers. You want to develop your own style, to have a distinctive voice."

Marilyn Maye has that distinctive voice. She and Mel Torme are the only singers who have been invited twice to perform with the famous Philly Pops.

Maye says that when she sings on stage, she loves to connect with the audience.

"Don't sing for yourself; do a presentation," she said, talking about making that link with the listeners. She said that too many singers today look like they are singing for themselves, not for the audience. Singers, she said, are not thinking as much about the audience and are entertaining themselves.

"Don't take it too lightly," she advised new singers. "It is fun, but it is serious fun."

DRUMMER STAN LEVEY DIES AT 79

DRUMMER STAN LEVEY DIES AT 79



By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Pioneering be-bop jazz drummer Stan Levey, who kept time for such musical greats as Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Ella Fitzgerald, and the Stan Kenton orchestra, has died at age 79, friends said on Friday.

Levey, who ended a 30-year music career in 1973 to become a photographer, died on Tuesday at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Los Angeles, about two months after undergoing cancer surgery, said friend and business partner Arthur Pritz.

The self-taught Levey was just a 16-year-old upstart without his own drum kit when he first played with Gillespie in 1942 at a hometown Philadelphia club, where he talked his way into sitting in with the famed trumpeter's band.

After moving to New York, Levey fell in with the group of musicians -- among them Gillespie, Parker, Miles Davis, Coleman Hawkins and Dexter Gordon -- who founded the be-bop sound that revolutionized jazz.

Levey soon joined the Gillespie-Parker quintet, a mid-'40s ensemble that Los Angeles Times jazz critic Leonard Feather called "the first genuine all-be-bop group to play on 52nd Street, the famed block in midtown Manhattan where clubs lined both sides of the street." Pianist Al Haig and bassist Curly Russell rounded out the lineup.

"He sat back there and gave you that good time to where you can go anywhere you want to go rhythmically and musically," vibe player Terry Gibbs told the Times, describing Levey's style.

Levey's pioneering be-bop work behind the drums prompted Gillespie to dub him "the original original."

As Parker's roommate during those years, Levey had a front-row seat to the saxophonist's creative process. One of his favorite stories, according to Pritz, was seeing "Bird" wake up from a sound sleep one night to compose and play his seminal work "Confirmation," then go back to bed.

Levey also played big-band stints with such legends as Woody Herman and Benny Goodman before gaining wide prominence with a two-year gig as drummer for the Stan Kenton orchestra.

Besides his collaboration with most of the leading jazz instrumentalists of his era, Levey worked with such vocal giants as Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand.

Settling in Los Angeles in the mid-1950s, Levey spent five years as a regular at the Lighthouse nightclub in Hermosa Beach, where he played with Howard Rumsey's Lighthouse All-Stars. It was there that he became a major influence in the "West Coast," or "cool school" movement of modern jazz.

Levey appeared on more than 2,000 recordings during his career -- his drum work can be heard on such hits as Bobby Darin's "Mack the Knife" and Peggy Lee's "Fever." And he played for numerous TV shows during the 1960s, including "Batman," "Mission: Impossible" and "The Munsters."

Featured prominently in Ken Burns' documentary "Jazz," Levey also recounts his career in a newly released documentary he produced with Pritz, "Stan Levy: 'The Original Original."'

Matrimoni gay, la Spagna dice ...

l'Unit� online-Matrimoni gay, la Spagna dice ...

A rare shot of Ella and Nelson 

Remember that the 25th of april is Ella's birthday! 

Mi raccomando, ricordatevelo, il 25 aprile non è solo la festa della liberazione ma anche l'anniversario della nascita di Ella Fitzgerald!