Grace Kelly's got that swing

YouTube:

Grace Kelly pays tribute to Lee Berk performing a composition by Berklee's first honorary doctorate, Duke Ellington. Kelly arranged "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)" and features faculty Jesse Taitt on piano, and alumni Max Ridley on bass and Tyson Jackson on drums.

Performers
Grace Kelly, sax and voice: / gkellymusic
Jesse Taitt, piano: / jessetaitt
Max Ridley, bass: / maxridleymusic
Tyson Jackson, drums: / tdiorjackson

Production Credits
Michael Borgida, Producer
Sean McMahon
Andres Gonzalez-Cardona, Audio Producer
Jeannie Greeley, Video Producer
Bryan Barancik, Stage and Lighting Design
Ryan Jones, BPC Production Manager
Ed Libertore, Front of House Engineer
Alex Rodriguez, Live Stream Mix

Concert Production:
Technical director: Kevin Greene
Cameras: Jeannie Greeley, Steffan Hacker, Jihae Kim, David Perez Caviedes, Sage Shriver-Blough
Production Assistants: Arthur Yearsley, Camilo Barrios Pacheco, Mohan Chen
Audio Production Assistant: Justin Livingston

Post Production:
Editor: Sage Shriver-Blough
Finishing: Steffan Hacker
Audio Mixer: Andres Gonzalez-Cardona

Grace Kelly works her magic on a bebop classic, "A Night in Tunisia"

There's an interesting version of "A Night in Tunisia" starting at roughly 8:33. This is one of the few tunes that Diz wrote, and it's one of my favorite tune.

Six versions of "Unchain My Heart," a lesson in comparative funkology

It's by Bobby Short. Ray Charles first recorded it in 1961. Here's a live version from 1964. Note the quick tempo:

Here's some local musicians somewhere in the USA about 10 years ago. This version is clearly based on Charles's version, except we don't have backup vocalists and the band is fronted by a woman:

This is the marvelous Sant Andreu Jazz Band five years ago. This version, too, is based on Charles's. The trumpet player does something very hip at the beginning of his solo (1:35), he holds a single note for several seconds:

Continuing in the same vein, Bob Dylan (1986) with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, despite the fact that Dylan's vocal instrument can't compare with Charles's the arrangement is much the same:

Here's Hugh "Dr. House" Laurie from nine years ago. What's up with that self-conscious not-quite-ironic tour through the studio? A bit anxious? His version isn't modeled on the Charles original. The tempo is much slower, and the opening verse is very spare. But we've still got back-up vocals and a sax solo:

Finally, one-and-only Grace Kelly completely revises the song, reconceptualizing it for the 21st century with sounds and textures that owe a lot to electronic genres. Grace wails on alto:

I've set up a play list of various versions. You should probably check out one of the Joe Cocker versions. I double-dog dare you to listen to more than 10 seconds of the Trini Lopez version. What a dog! The Lavine version is definitely worth a listen; very gritty vocal. Judging from the names, this is from Eastern Europe somewhere.

Grace Kelly can unchain my heart anytime anywhere

Grace Kelly, jazz saxophonist, then and now

This was recorded in 2006. As Phil Woods announced, she was fourteen. Phil? He was born in 1931. He knew Charlie Parker, and married Parker's widow, Chan.

A few years later:

Getting closer to the present, 2014:

Now let's really fly through time: Singing, and with dancers, 2018:

Just a couple of days ago, playing Yoko Kano's "Tank" with a fiddler:

Kidz these days...

...R doing just fine...

Thank U very much.