Take the A Train (BOTB)

        My fascination with trains goes back to my childhood in the Fifties.  My grandfather had worked for the railroad for a while and often talked to me about trains.   The electric train set that my parents got me for Christmas in 1957 became a yearly tradition as the layout was set up around the Christmas tree.   Each year my parents added new trains and accessories to that layout.  If there had been enough room in our house, I would have loved to have kept my trains in operation throughout the year.   I loved trains then and I remain transfixed by trains.

Postcard of the "New Olympian" passenger train. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

         When the metaphorical motto about "getting on the Trump train" came into use, it was something that I easily related to.   The campaign was a wild ride, but a well organized ride with more people getting on board at each station stop.  With the inauguration before us at the end of this week the real train ride begins.  There's still time for more of us to get on board.  I'm hoping for a pleasant ride over the next four years.  I'm sure the opposition will continue to try to obstruct the progress of the journey, but this is a powerful train that is not likely to be easily deterred.

         Still, many of you are not ready or at all interested on hoping aboard the Trump Train.   So let's forget about that train for a while and ride a different train to a different place.   Let's take the A Train down to Harlem...


Battle of the Bands

         Battle of the Bands is the blogging event started by Far Away Series and now hosted by StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands.   This event happens twice each month on the 1st and 15th.   The premise is simple:  Listen to the songs presented below and then in the comments vote for your favorite and tell us why you liked it.  Then visit the links listed near the bottom of this post for more Battle action.


Take the A Train

      This is one of the signature tunes of the Duke Ellington Orchestra.  "Take the A Train" was composed by Billy Strayhorn and Duke's son Mercer Ellington in order to circumvent high ASCAP broadcasting royalty fees.  The title is a reference to taking the new A train rather than the D train as the best way get to Harlem and Sugar Hill from Brooklyn. A popular account says that the title was inspired by instructions that Duke gave to Strayhorn in order to get to his house.

      Strayhorn claimed to have written lyrics for the song, but the first recorded vocal version had lyrics composed by (or for) The Delta Rhythm Boys, whose version I'm using as the first offering in my second Band Battle of 2017.   For reference purposes, I've offered for your listening pleasure a 1943 version of Duke Ellington and his Orchestra performing the song in the film Reveille with Beverly.

Don't Vote on this version, please!!!   For reference only...





Here are the versions to vote on...

The Delta Rhythm Boys  "Take the A Train"  (1942?)

        I love this video!  This version of "A Train" is a step back in time.  Great harmonies done with style, "The A Train" doesn't get much better than this.  Seeing as I can't hop on a time machine I'm happy to let this video take me back   These guys are the real deal.  What do you think?

       





Chicago  "Take the A Train" (1995)

      On Night and Day, their acclaimed album collection of big band standards, Chicago reached back into the past with updated recordings of classic jazz tunes. Chicago pays tribute to the big band sound while pushing into the realm of psychedelia as it goes into territory the "A Train" never went before.  See if you think this is as cool as I think it is.





Time To Vote!

        The song versions in this Battle were recorded over 50 years apart providing very different musical takes on the same song.  Which version do you like the best?   

        Please vote on your favorite by letting us know your choice in the comment section and tell us why you prefer the version you chose. Then after you've finished here, please visit the other blogs listed below who may or may not be participating this time around. And if you've put up your own BOTB contest let us know that as well so we can vote on yours.

Here are some other places where you might find BOTB posts:


 StMcC Presents Battle of the Bands

 ‘YOUR DAILY DOSE’ 

  'MIKE'S RAMBLINGS'

'Curious as a Cathy'

Sound of One Hand Typing

The Doglady's Den 

Angel's Bark  

Cherdo on the Flipside  

Jingle, Jangle, Jungle 
  
J. A. Scott  



Winner Announced on Monday January 23rd

      There will be another couple of posts in my President Trump Acclimation Series in the upcoming week. They will continue to be harsh as have been the preceding two entries, though those posts generated some excellent discussion. My wish is not to condemn anyone or any group, but to inform and raise what I think are some important points that are often ignored by most people. Then on January 23rd it will be back to my more important concern, Battle of the Bands. At that time we'll see what you readers have opined about the two song versions to be voted on in the above post. Please vote!

        Do you like trains?   Have you ever taken a train trip or do you commute via train?  Would you like to see a resurgence in affordable efficient passenger train travel?  

Related articles

• Overnight train barrels off tracks in India while passengers sleep, killing at least 115
• At least 44 dead, 103 injured as trains collide in Iran
• 2 members of Tower of Power struck by train - Guitarist who avoided Buddy Holly plane crash dies
• Amtrak's Downeaster at 15: More riders, more communities
• Dutch passenger trains to run on 100% wind energy

Nine Nice Jazz Favorites

            And I thought nine would be an easy number to deal with.  Once again I've ended up sacrificing so many great albums, but I think the ones I've kept are pretty nice.  These are probably not the greatest by consent of most jazz purists and believe me, I'm far from being a jazz expert.  But I do own a lot of jazz albums and there are so many that could have made the list.  I'll stick with these.  I know what I like.

           This selection covers a pretty nice range of styles.  I'm keeping it light on vocal music, which is a genre I truly enjoy.  I'm also leaving off the jazz albums I had on my previous lists.  These are all favorites, but I don't know that they would necessarily supercede any other favorites I have in my collection.  In other words there would be several other albums I could interchange with these.  Seeing as how I've only got nine places to fill I'll stand by these.

          Here are my NINE NICE JAZZ FAVORITES:

Pass The Plate (1971) by The Crusaders-- This is the first album the Jazz Crusaders released under their shortened name: a jazz funk album which at times has been flawlessly engineered to create an almost psychedelic musical mind trip.  There's nothing weird or far-out about the music, but portions have been edited and phased in and out in a tasteful manner in the amazing title piece.  The rest of the album is bop, funk, a touch of gospel, and a whole lot of good listening.  This is one of the earliest jazz albums I bought back when I was still in college in 1971.



Don Shirley in Concert (1968) by the Don Shirley Trio-- Classical music is some of the finest music of all in my opinion.  This album almost comes across as classical at times, with influences that might remind one of Rachmaninoff or Chopin.  The classical sound makes sense since Don Shirley is also a classical pianist who has written symphonies and concertos.  But this album is clearly jazz--a very melodic, beautiful form of jazz.  Shirley is accompanied by bass violin and cello in a concert at Carnegie Hall performing unbelievably beautiful renditions of "Georgia on My Mind", "I Can't Get Started", "My Funny Valentine", and other jazz standards.  This is another album from my college days.

         The Essential Dorsey Brothers (1928-1935)  Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra--  In the 50s I was growing up on this stuff and still digging on it into college.  This was the music of my parents so there were always plenty of big band music albums to listen to.   It seems terrible to bring down big band and early jazz to be represented by just one album, but we're talking about so much great music in the first half of the twentieth century.  I'm choosing this one because it is a jazz orchestra with a string section and I'm partial to strings.  Also, I like the campy sound of the music of the pre-WW2 era.  There are some really fine arrangements of fairly well-known standards as well as songs that are not often heard.  It's some really great music.

           Bopland: The Legendary Elks Club Concert L.A. 1947 by Dexter Gordon and many others--I'm not a huge fan of be-bop and some of the wilder modern jazz sounds, but I do like it and listen to it when I'm in the right mood.  And actually if I put one of these CDs on, if it's good it will put me in the right mood.  Like the big band music I'm leaving out a lot of music here.  I am a big fan of time-travel and though I usually don't like live albums with a lot of extraneous crowd noise, this album makes me feel like I've traveled back in time. 

          I became interested in hearing some Dexter Gordon after reading Jack Kerouac's ON THE ROAD.  In the book, the characters frequent jazz clubs where this style of music is being played.  Kerouac goes into some extensive descriptions of some of Dexter Gordon's music and reading about made me want to hear it.

The Bopland album effectively provides the experience of live bop and the musicianship is at times a wonder. I especially like the electric guitar work of Barney Kessel.  But of course Dexter's sax and the rest of the band are pretty good too.

           Idle Moments (1963)  by Grant Green -- This is superb guitar music backed by an excellent ensemble of musicians.  The title track is one of the most ultimately cool jazz pieces ever--perfect for lazy afternoon or dreamy late night listening.  The entire album is the epitome of coolness.  Besides the totally laid back fifteen minutes of "Idle Moments" there are some exquisite examples of ensemble bop featuring swinging saxophone and irresistible vibes.  Put this CD on, maybe have a martini or two, and you will just feel so cool.  Like, yeah man!

             Stormy Weather: The Legendary Lena 1941-1958 by Lena Horne-- Oh, such a travesty!  Perhaps I should have done a separate list of vocal albums.  Maybe I should later?  This current list is lacking so many great female vocalists such as Julie London, Dinah Washington, Diana Krall, Cassandra Wilson, and so many more.  I went with Lena Horne because she had such a long musical history.  And this album has some of my all-time favorite songs.   Lena's vocal stylings are impeccable.  It's old music, but it's classic and it doesn't get much better than this.

                The Man From Ipanema (1995) by Antonio Carlos Jobim --- This 3 disc career retrospective set would be cool for the packaging alone. It comes in a colorful spiral bound booklet form.  The music ranges from the beginning of Jobim's career into the nineties.  Tracks feature collaborations with Stan Getz, Astrud Gilberto, Pat Metheny, and many others in ensemble and with orchestra backing.  Some of the more well known songs have as many as four different versions, each one as good as the other.  The music is smooth bossa nova.  There is not a bad track to be found on any of the discs.  This is a prized part of my music collection.

Cool Cat Blues (1990)  by Georgie Fame-- There are so many male jazz vocalists that one could choose so I thought I'd go with one who I feel has been the most overlooked in the United States.  I've been a fan of Georgie Fame since 1965 when his jazzy version of "Yeah, Yeah" hit the U.S. charts.  He had a couple of other hits in the United States after that, but never achieved wide recognition.  The Cool Cat Blues album features an alternate slowed down take of "Yeah, Yeah", "Moondance", and "Georgia".  He is joined by the likes of Boz Scaggs, Robben Ford, and long time collaborator Van Morrison.  Fame is jazz in the pop vein very much like Scaggs and Morrison.  This is a fine album from one cool cat.

           Paganini: After a Dream (2003) by Regina Carter -- As a fan of jazz violin I had to put one fiddle player here.  There are many good ones to choose from, but Carter probably plays closest to a style I most enjoy.  Also, this album fits the classical mold I like so well.  Regina Carter takes some lovely impressionistic pieces by Ravel, Debussy, Faure, and others and jazzes them up a bit.  The result is mellow melodic jazz that is beautiful to listen to but with enough improvisation to demonstrate her skill as a jazz artist.  Everything I've heard by Carter is quite good, but this is the album that really suits me.

           So much that I've had to leave off, but that's the nature of a list like this.  It pained me to eliminate "Charlie Parker with Strings", "Cool Velvet" by Stan Getz, and "Mel Torme Sings Fred Astaire", but what the hey--I'm not on any desert island and I can still listen to any of my albums when I want to.

           How'd you like my list?   You can still add one of your own.  Don't be intimidated by "jazz".  You probably listen to it without even realizing it's catagorized as jazz.  Jazz is cool.