[ADUHF]

Let's see how good your memories are. You can go as far back as you like, to even the 20's, 30's and 40's (or earlier, if you like) when jazz was pretty much the mainstream music.

Post only "official" content uploaded or authorized by the artists or their labels whenever possible. And post no more than 4 suggestions per day, to give others a fairer chance. How you distribute those four is up to you. It could be four tracks by the same artist. Or four tracks by four different artists. Or even four different versions of the same song. Whatever floats your boat.

Last, but not least, put each video or audio track in a separate post, to make thread navigation easier. IOW, don't put all 4 videos or tracks in the same post. If you just want to give a list of 4 songs without any audio or video, that can be done in one post, if you prefer.

 

[ADUHF]

An easy one. Scott Joplin's ragtime classic "The Entertainer", made (more) famous by the movie The Sting.

 

[Mizukage]

Harry Connick Jr., It had to be you, When Harry Met Sally.

 

[ADUHF]

Another easy one. Bill Conti's "Gonna Fly Now" from the Rocky pictures.



Alternate versions are welcome as well btw. But those will count towards your 4 per day.

 

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[Mizukage]

Cab Calloway, Minnie the Moocher

 

[ADUHF]

Wow! Great suggestions so far folks! Thanks.

 

[ADUHF]

Another easy one. Bill Conti's "Gonna Fly Now" from the Rocky pictures.

"Gonna Fly Now"

SQ is not very good on this. So I will look for another version to post.

 

[ADUHF]

"Speak Low" by Kurt Weill & Ogden Nash

This was originally popularized by the 1943 play, and perhaps more significantly, the 1948 film adaptation of One Touch of Venus, which starred Ava Gardner as Venus. And it subsequently became a jazz standard. The song was performed in the film by Eileen Wilson and Dick Haymes.

This is a tough one to perform well imo. Though there are good recordings by a number of the old-timers, including Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Peggy Lee, Frank Sinatra, and notably, Sarah Vaughan. It also seems to be a favorite of Brazilian artists, perhaps because it lends itself to slow bossa nova rhythms. One of the best bossa recordings I've heard is by Marisa Monte. The SQ is rather poor though on her (unauthorized) YT clips.

This version by Dianne Reeves & George Duke is another interesting take on the song though...

 

[ADUHF]

"Caravan" by Juan Tizol, Duke Ellington & Irving Mills

This is another slightly tough one that goes back aways, to 1936. It's really more of an underground hit, but five different versions charted on the pop charts between 1936 and 1953, two of which were rockabilly renditions with the melody played on guitars. Most of the greats have covered this (according to Wikipedia there are over 350 recordings of this song). And it's fun to watch and listen to guys like Gene Krupa and Oscar Peterson attack this one.

This is a nice simple arrangement though. Only thing I don't really like is the amount of noise comin off the percussion. (I'll keep lookin for better though.)



This also made a couple comebacks in recent years in the 2014 movie Whiplash, and the TV series Mad Men, my sources tell me.

 

[Mizukage]

Bob James, Angela, Taxi Theme song (1978). I believe David Sanborn was the saxophonist.

 

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