October 23, 2026

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Jazz Note #2 – Play a Showtune

dave@weheartmusic.com November 15, 2007

The best way an artist can grab the attention of an ever-elusive audience is to take something tried and true and turn it on its head.  I’m talking about reinterpretation.  When it comes to jazz, there is no better way to ease a new listener into a new sound than to play a familiar tune, especially when song comes from the Rogers and Hammerstein’s musical, “Oklahoma” and Ray Charles is the one singing “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” from the 2006 Concord release, “Ray Sings Basie Swings.”

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Jazz Note #1 – Make it Catchy

dave@weheartmusic.com October 28, 2007

As post-war Bebop began to wane into the cold war era, a group of jazz musicians sought to reconnect with their audience. Hard Bop, West Coast Cool, wherever the name, the songs usually stated a quick, catchy theme, letting the players take it from there. A few classics from this time are Lee Morgan’s “Sidewinder”, Horace Silver’s “Song for My Father” and this gem from Miles Davis, “Milestone” from the same-name 1958 Columbia record.

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