July 15, 2015
Miracler
Mark Ulriksen
Location
San Francisco
And now for something a little different
Now that we find ourselves in the mid-summer way, it feels a good time to change up the pace a bit. As announced at the start of this season, pop remains the main staple in our diet here, but we're happy to veer off the menu when a Miracler cooks up a specialty from a different genre.
Today's chef has spent a lot of time listening to—as well as painting—the world of jazz. Mark's a man who paints what he's into, like jazz, baseball, dogs, San Francisco, politics, etc—much of that stuff winding up on his 50 New Yorker covers. Most recently, he created a sketchbook of the British Open scene for Golf Mag. Nice work if you can get it. Oh, and speaking of songs, let's go to the music!
We first met MU in March 2012 with the popular road trip mix Get Outta Town, followed up by that winter's ultimate Holiday mix and later, his January 2013's Influential Collection. Enjoy today's heaping plate of Miracles which the kitchen is calling Jazz 14 Ways, with a little illustrated Amuse-bouche to start off the meal.
Liner notes by MU: Jazz Doodles
You Miraclers have such a larger collection of rock than I'll ever hope to have so I opted to tap into my jazz library for some catchy, swinging, eclectic jazz numbers. It's a mix of vocals and instrumentals. No rock in sight.
1. Doodlin' Sarah Vaughan
I first heard this tune rather late in life, sung by Kurt Elling in a small setting. Sarah Vaughan has some great sass about her, perfect for this tune.
2. Nobody But Me Lou Rawls
You fine folks of 3MPM land have had lots of Lou Rawls in various mixes, reminding me how much I love his husky voice. I recently got on an Ultra-Lounge kick and found this gem on one those compilation CDs.
3. Peel Me a Grape Anita O'Day & Cal Tjader
During Diana Krall's 1999 Monterey Jazz Festival performance some fan kept yelling over and over for her to play this Dave Frishberg gem. She finally relented and turned me on to this number. But I prefer Anita O"Day's take more than Mrs. Costello's version.
4. Our Day Will Come Nancy Wilson
As pretty as it gets.
5. Caravan Gordon Jenkins
One of my all-time favorite Ellington compositions, I heard this version on the series finale of Mad Men. We immediately paused the TV, shazamed this version, thank you very much modern technology. Jenkins was a long-time arranger/conductor for Sinatra and is the father of SF Chronicle sports columnist Bruce Jenkins. For those who care to know.
6. That Old Black Magic Louis Prima
Not certain if he was the catalyst for the main character in Broadway Danny Rose but he could have been. I have a wonderful live in Vegas LP of his. Sure would have loved to have seen him perform.
7.Hungry Man Louis Jordan
When I was first starting out as a freelance illustrator I thought this song would make for a fun children's book. I painted two scenes from the lyrics, showed them to Chronicle Books who were enthusiastic. I just had to get the rights from the Jordan estate. End of story.
8. Where's Adam? Dizzy Gillespie
My only qualm with Dizzy is that he never ran for president. He would have had my vote.
9. Peckin' Duke Ellington
Paraphrasing one of the characters in Stranger Than Paradise— Ellington is my main man. I love the exuberance of the nonsense lyrics and the band all joining trumpeter Cootie Williams in the call and response.
10. Ol' Man River Casa Loma Orchestra
To me these guys are the swingingest white band from the 1930s.
11. Desifinado Antonio Carlos Jobim
Jobim is on my Mt. Rushmore of popular song writers, along with Gershwin, Porter, Arlen, Ellington and Carmichael. When it's an imaginary Mt. Rushmore you can inflate the numbers I'm told. On this Ultra-Lounge version when the trombone slides into play it slays me every time.
12. Creole Love Call Comedian Harmonists
Great vocals, lousy recording , sad fate. This German six-man band only performed from 1928-1934. When a bio pic about them came out in 1997 I remember President Clinton saying it was on his summer movie list. Surprised the press with that answer.
13. Lazy River Louis Armstrong
Ladies and Gentlemen: presenting the greatest jazz musician ever, the first massive soloist, improviser and scat singer.
14. Popsicle Toes Michael Franks
A leap forward to the 70s with a great sing-along number.
Mix is UP. Check your email for the password. To comment on this mix, click on the 'Comment' button below the post and write something. If you don't have/want to use your Google etc. accounts, just type your name in the "Name" box and you are done. See you back here or on our members-only Facebook page soon. XOK
PEPE VERDE, YOU'RE UP NEXT!
22 comments:
Mark -- First off -- fantastic paintings come with this!!!
Very easy collection for me to get into -- I have all the cuts here but the one by the Comedian Harmonists (I am thinking that, historically, things may not have ended well for jazz loving Germans).
Your mix reminds me of watching Elvis Costello make angry fire spark from the eyes of an otherwise zen-like Herbie Hancock when he off-handedly commented about Sinatra singing pop. Hanckock shot back with -- Sinatra was a jazz singer. Every time jazz sells its suddenly not jazz.
Your mix is jazz when it was popular music. A few jazz nerd notes:
Basie backed Sassy on "Doodlin" -- one of a slew of great instrumentals that Horace Silver wrote.
Nancy Wilson may be the most beautiful woman who ever walked the earth.
I print myself Cal Tjader and Tom Jobim shirts, I love those 2 guys so much. Jobim belonged to the Frank Sinatra fan club as a Rio teenager and Tjader (with fellow SF local Dave Brubeck) cut the first small group Afro-cuban version of Ellington's "Caravan"
As a 12 year old I had a "new wave" Joe Jackson record called Jumpin' Jive that was straight Louis Jordan covers. It had liner notes praising Jordan and I gladly took the Jordan record my father handed me. Thanks, Dad!
Bobby Troup wrote a ton of great, often comic tunes, like Hungry Man -- including Route 66. He was also married to Julie London and people of my vintage will remember him as Dr. Early on Emergency. An all around solid Joe -- he trained black marines in WW2 and ran the first fully integrated night club in the service -- in the deep South. What a guy! This song always cracked me up and I sagely took it's lyrical advice in my personal life: "Feelin' melancholy??? Munch a Mexican tamale!"
The Michael Frank doesn't quite fit here but they played Popsicle Toes on the radio, and in restaurants, when I was watching the first run of Wonder Woman. Like the Joe Sample fender Rhodes in this one.
If you haven't fallen asleep reading the above yet, thanks for the musical memories, and the art, Mark.
This mix is making me hungry!
Nice mostly pop mix -- just because someone uses jazz instrumentation doesn't make it jazz -- ha-ha.
Caravan is a great catchy pop tune. I'm planning to put a version of it on my next mix but what version is top secret. We can have a Caravan cover duel.
I second Nick's comment about Jumpin' Jive as a swing gateway album.
I never listened to a Casa Loma Orchestra album in the old days but Pandora keeps adding them to my stations. One point in the plus column of the technology debate.
Nice vocal-less Desifinado. Joe Boyd's White Bicycles -- ht Pepe, recommended https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77836.White_Bicycles?ac=1 -- has a funny chapter with a post-breakup Getz / Gilberto on tour. I'm liking instrumental music more & more all the time.
Thanks for sharing, Mark!
WHERE DID THIS CRAZY-ASS VERSION OF DESAFINADO COME FROM?!!!!
Fun fact: I dated Michael Franks' little sister in high school.
Thank you, brother!
This mix is one of those gems that grow on you every time you hear it. It swings from song to song all the way to the end. "Caravan" is one of my favorite songs ever, and I have never heard this version of it! I put another version of it on a jazz mix I made back in 2011 before you started up with the proj. I would love to send it out to you, if you want.
Silly me, I was trying to figure out how "Doodles" applied to this mix. All I saw was the great art that the 3mpm folks were treated with. Very Rich!
Okay, that Sarah Vaughan has some crazy lyrics for a jazz record. This song reminds me of something two people would still be dancing to after the party's over and everyone else is passed out on the couch.
I know nothing about jazz, but I know it when I like it, and I like this.
Very much.
Thanks Mark!
Listening through this collection of goodness, I find it funny to think about how there were people who felt about this stuff the same way that Tipper Gore felt about W.A.S.P.
I, too, fell under the spell of Joe Jackson's Jumpin' Jive at a young age, though I never followed up on checking out the originals. More's the pity.....
That Sarah Vaughan number is deeply weird, and therefore takes the cake for me, but Hungry Man is definitely up there as well!
While on a different register, this somehow works as a perfect companion to "The Roger Moore Miscegenation Terrace", extending the afternoon into the post dinner drinks.
As usual (and quite welcome) with the Prodge, there's lots of stuff here that I didn't have in my collection, or even know. My vocal jazz tends to be limited to Vaughan, Holiday or Sinatra, but I really enjoyed this set. Happy to learn about Lou Rawls in a jazz vehicle -- I only knew him as a silky soul singer (but of course) :)
And we haven't commented the artwork yet, but wowzers trousers. Your work is so cool señor Ulriksen!! Thank you, and glad to @meet you. Keep 'em coming please.
PS: Kelly, with so many cool artists as members, we're going to have to book a gallery for a 3MPMP art exhibition.
Although my jazz preference sways towards crazy Charles Mingus, I really love this mix and happy to add some diversity to my smallish jazz collection. Thanks. P.S. Jazz doodles reminds me of cheesy doodles.
Thanks, Mark for a really fun mix. Some cuts take me back to a really happy place, playing mom's records in my single-digit years. "Our Day Will Come" is the standout for me - beautiful end to end. What a performance, over such a discreet arrangement, and what a lush recording and mix. This is the kind of recording that made me learn to really listen to hear music, the space between the notes and the sound of the room, and the choices made in recording and production. So gorgeous; thank you.
I did exactly the same WTF-Shazam routine as you in watching the Mad Men finale. Very cool version of Caravan. And that Louis Jordan tune is a treat - hadn't heard that before. Mad props for having not one but two lyrical shout-outs to New Mexico. Kinda has that "Rhode Island is Famous for You" vibe, and a flavor of Cole Porter in its make-a-rhyming-list-of-things approach. Fun.
The arrangement of Desafinado with that silky trombone is so smooth. Where's Adam?, Ol' Man River, Peckin', and Creole Love Call are all crazy romps. What a treat.
Love that we're mixing up the mixes, and especially love that our jazz is the kind that's lovable (I'm looking at you with askance, academic '60s bop).
On this Lou Rawls track he reminded me of Cab Calloway - not an association I had ever made. But then the Dizzy track did the same, so maybe I had Calloway on the brain.
It's super cool (in almost the literal sense) to get the Jobim jukebox staple, and I'm glad we dodged the Diana Krall bullet by getting actual artists in her place.
Just great fun all around, and the images dial it up to 11. Many thanks.
It's taken me a few days to get to this mix, but it was worth the wait! I'm no jazz aficionado, but I do recognize a few of the tunes here. My favorites of this line up, neither of which I'd heard before, are Doodlin and Desifinado. So. Flipping. Good.
A couple of fun facts of my own:
1. I played the original 1963 (and very much pop) version of Our Day Will come on an oldies radio station I worked for 20 years ago. I'd forgotten how much I like that song.
2. My mother, who was a professional jazz singer, herself, back in the day, idolized Sarah Vaughn and met her once. In the bathroom of a club, I believe. My mother told me that all should do was say thank you and cry, and that Sarah Vaughn started crying, as well. Personally, I love that story...perhaps because it's my mom, but it's still sweet.
Thanks all for the great feedback/anecdotes. Mr. Dedina you are a google-search trove of info.
FYI, the Desifinado cover is by Si Zentner from an excellent Ultra Lounge CD-BossaNovaville.
Personally I think we could make a great mix just of covers of Caravan. Another great version is from the Boston Pops with Arthur Fiedler, believe it or not. Sounds huge, like something out of Lawrence of Arabia. Jeanne -Marie I have your version as our fine hostess gave me access to mixes I missed before joining this august group. Somehow I thought you might like this sort of mix.
Melissa, your mom and Sarah Vaughn story is priceless. Almost makes me cry.
Finally, a special thanks to Kelly for all of her detail work including art and links. That gal works it!
This is a self-portrait if ever a mix tape could be. Easy, soulful, and fun!
Going back a decade or two whenever I hear Jordan's "Hungry Man" I think of your book proposal and I think, Damn, that WOULD make a perfect kid's book.
...that is, until the song gets to "Have a banana, Hannah / Try the salami, Tommy,"
Let's not ever forget that the word "jazz" is synonymous with jizz. This "spunky essence" is what makes Jazz so vital. (It's also why only unsexy people tend to hate it.)
Big thanks for this mix, Mark!
"Bobby Troup wrote a ton of great, often comic tunes, like Hungry Man -- including Route 66. He was also married to Julie London and people of my vintage will remember him as Dr. Early on Emergency. An all around solid Joe -- he trained black marines in WW2 and ran the first fully integrated night club in the service -- in the deep South. What a guy! This song always cracked me up and I sagely took it's lyrical advice in my personal life: "Feelin' melancholy??? Munch a Mexican tamale!"
GREAT COMMENTS, MR. DEDINA! Your love of music is what this group is about.
Louis Prima has one of those voices that touches me in a primal place, probably because I played our "Jungle Book" LP approximately 50,000 during my preschool years. Loved so much on this mix -- it's great to bring some fresh sounds to the Prodge. THANKS!
And I want to add one more fangirl comment -- I love your illustrations! Your style is so unique and evocative.
This mix is the perfect summer jazz mix -- hits the right notes without taking itself too seriously. I am also a big "Caravan" fan (who knew there were so many in this group?), and I love all the accompanying illustrations. Thanks, Mark!
MARK! I'm listening to your mix at work right now as I write....and it suddenly occurred to me I hadn't commented, despite having listened to this mix several times already. Really enjoyed it—a fun and refreshing spin on the Pop Miracle! Loved that version of Caravan....I always love Nancy Wilson and of course Louis Prima & Keely [Beth I agree...I first heard Louis as a kiddo on my much loved "Jungle Book" LP too!]
Thanks for such an excellent mix!
PS
My co worker just said "Hey is that Louis Prima? Turn it up!"
;-)
When I realized that King Louie was an actual person, I was ecstatic to discover some Louis Prima among my Dad's vinyl. "That Old Black Magic" was my favorite find, along with Keely Smith's voice. Nancy Wilson is amazing. I first heard her in my twenties and thought she was somehow Nancy Wilson of Heart, singing some far superior solo material (with a changed voice); if that's not embarrassing enough, it took me a year or two to figure out she was a different person. All these tunes are pulled from my favorite era of jazz. Many thanks for a great mix!
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