Fine and Mellow Music 1

About this Blog 

I've named my blog after a particular song (after a particular rendition of a song, actually), but it also represents a type of music I hope to write about and showcase.  Most of it will fall under the broad umbrella of jazz, but there are so many kinds of jazz and music is so notoriously difficult to categorize.  You will find music here that you might label as cool jazz, mellow jazz, vocal jazz/pop, the Great American Songbook, and maybe even Easy Listening.  In recent years a number of cd's and internet radio stations have cropped up presenting what they call Lounge Music; some of what you encounter here will fit into that category.  What will the music have in common?  Most of it will have been recorded since the early 1950's.  In fact, much of it will be from the 50's & early 60's.  There will be lots of vocals, probably more female than male vocals.  There will be a bias toward small combos rather than larger ensembles.  Finally, with a few exceptions, there won't be a lot of up tempo stuff.  You know, music that's mellow, and fine.

I've always been one to read the liner notes of my albums and I want to know who the players are and a little of the backstory.  What I hope to do with this blog is share some music videos from you tube that I like and provide a little background about the songs &/or the videos.

 Fine & Mellow Billie

The video below is the source of my blog's title.  It is from a 1957 CBS special, The Sound of Jazz.  As was most all TV in 1957, it was broadcast live and featured 32 musicians representing the various eras of jazz history.  Fine & Mellow was written by Billie Holiday and was one of the few straight blues numbers in her repertoire.  She is backed/accompanied by an all-star combo, which consisted of a combination of veterans and youngbloods: Lester Young (ts), Ben Webster (ts), Coleman Hawkins (ts), Roy Eldridge (t), Doc Cheatham (t), Vic Dickenson (tb), Gerry Mulligan (bars), Danny Barker (g), Mal Waldron (p), Milt Hinton (b), Osie Johnson (d).  All of the solos are outstanding, but the most poignant is the 2nd tenor solo, which was performed by Billie's long-time collaborator from whom she had become estranged, Lester Young.  Ken Burn's featured this presentation in his Jazz series (Disc 9: The Adventure).  Jazz critic, Nat Hentoff, who was a consultant for the original broadcast, described the moment this way: "Lester got up, and he played the purest blues I have ever heard, and [he and Holiday] were looking at each other, their eyes were sort of interlocked, and she was sort of nodding and half–smiling. It was as if they were both remembering what had been—whatever that was.  And in the control room we were all crying.  When the show was over they went their separate ways."  Some have argued that by 1957 (only 2 years before the premature deaths of both Billie and Lester), Billie's voice had suffered too much from years of abuse.  While her instrument may not have been what it once was, this performance demonstrated that she could do so much with what was  left.