Moody Jazz

    Holiday music can become a little bit overwhelming. Brenda Lee has been stalking me this year, rocking around her Christmas tree in just about every store I set foot in. I’m going to be rocking someone’s tree if I hear it once more. If, like me, you are weary of the holly jolly tunes this season, let me suggest some classic jazz listening for any mood, any time.
              If the endless “goodbying” and the fire so slowly dying in “Let it Snow!” has you bursting into tears and cursing love everywhere, there are some songs that would agree with you. “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” sung by Dinah Washington, is a must. “You don’t know what love is/ Until you’ve learned the meaning of the blues/ Until you’ve loved a love you had to lose/ You don’t know what love is.” Dinah Washington, having been married seven times, has the right to claim authority on this one.
              Billie Holiday’s “I’m a Fool to Want You” was released in 1958 on the last album she ever made. The raw, wearied warble in her voice speaks of a life hard lived. She draws out the first line of the song with a tangible ache of honesty that draws her listeners in for more. Nobody does heartache like Lady Day.
              Perhaps wallowing is not your style. You’re moving on and need something upbeat to match your outlook. “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home” is one of my favorite Nat King Cole tunes. The big band arrangement is at the top of my list of hard-swinging charts. Anita O’Day sings to another great arrangement (Billy May) on the tune, “I Get A Kick Out of You,” by Cole Porter. Frank Sinatra’s version may be more well known, but Anita takes this song to a whole different place by setting a tempo so fast your foot can barely keep up. And while your foot is going, take a listen to Ella Fitzgerald’s wildly wonderful scatting on her version of “How High the Moon.” You will be yelling like you are in the front row by the time it’s over. And of course, if you are looking for cheer , you cannot go wrong with anything Louis Armstrong. “Sunny Side of the Street,” anyone?
              Two pieces I would recommend for sheer beauty are Duke Ellington’s “Isfahan” and Count Basie’s “Lil’ Darlin’.” The former was one of the last of the famed musical collaborations between the Duke and Billy Strayhorne. The piece is a part of Ellington’s “Far East Suite,” his attempt to musically convey what the group saw and heard on the band’s 1963 tour of the Middle and Far East. “Isfahan” (named after one of the largest cities in Iran) features the lush tone of saxophonist Johnny Hodges, a veteran Ellington band member. The exquisite melody is matched with an equally exquisite sound from Hodges, backed by the full beauty of the horns and rhythm section. “Lil’ Darlin’,” from the album “Atomic Basie,” is similar in its masterful arrangement (Neal Hefti) and beauty. The tempo is a leisurely stroll, the theme simple, and the result classic. If you are ever in need of accompaniment while de-stressing, these two pieces are it.
              It seems that the compilation-meisters have found their compilation heaven in the trove of music deemed “romantic jazz.” “Jazz for lovers,” “Jazz by Moonlight,” “The Most Romantic Jazz Music in the Universe…” apparently jazz musicians like their loving. I will just make two suggestions for this category that has been so thoroughly mined before. The first is “Easy Living” by Chet Baker. “Living for you is easy living/ It’s easy to live when you’re in love…” Although he is known primarily as a trumpet player, Baker has a vocal style that matches his horn playing: intimate and relaxed. Really relaxed. Being stoned for the majority of his career might have contributed to this stylistic feat. For romance you also cannot go wrong with a bossa or two. I would choose the 1963 album “Getz/Gilberto,” featuring the expressively warm tenor saxophone of Stan Getz, guitarist and singer João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim as pianist and composer, and Astrud Gilberto. Oh and Portuguese. Everything sounds more romantic in Portuguese.
              And not one to leave out the equally deserving, yet overlooked moods, let me suggest the song “Peel Me a Grape” sung by Anita O’Day if your holiday has you feeling haughty, and June Christy’s version of “Ev’rything I’ve Got” if you need some vindictive venting. “I have eyes for you to give you dirty looks/ I’ve got words that do not come from children’s books,” starts the song. And it only gets more spiteful from there. Probably not good material for your holiday party, but hey, we can’t all be Brenda Lee.