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Last broadcast on Sun, 23 Aug 2009, 21:00 on BBC Radio 2.
Synopsis
The ghost of tenor-sax giant Lester Young looms large over this week's programme on the occasion of his centenary. We hear him, the eminence grise behind two classic Billie Holiday tracks. We also hear him with Jimmy Rushing and a Basie small group; and with Una Mae Carlisle in an extraordinarily titled Fred Fisher song from 1941, Blitzkrieg Baby (You Can't Bomb Me)!
Then, on a new release celebrating Johnny Mercer by Scottish singer Todd Gordon, Todd suggests Mercer as the only direct Scottish link to American Songbook Royalty. This has Russell hunting - and finding plenty of other contenders: Hoagy Carmichael (whom we hear), Cole Porter; maybe even Harry Woods. And what about Haven Gillespie, whose Breezing Along With The Breeze we hear breezily sung by Jessica Molaskey? Finally a new one from Paul West rounds off the subject - and the show - Miss You, Mr Mercer.
This Week's Show
This week was something of a Red Letter one for the programme, with that coup of a first UK performance of a Cole Porter song – and we think a very fine performance, too. Not only that, but we believe it’s an overlooked gem and we’re surprised that it’s been sitting uncelebrated for so long. We had the pleasure of witnessing Michael L Roberts in action at London’s Pizza On The Park and can vouch for his considerable talent. His next London outing will be on September 21st at The Pizza Express in Dean Street, Soho and we hope to catch him again, then.
We hope you enjoyed the Jack Seigal/Duncan Lamont song, “Miss You, Mr Mercer”, sung by Paul West that concluded the show – and we wonder how many allusions to Mercer songs you managed to catch as they flew by. Here’s the list as we heard it: Fare Thee Well To Harlem; Hooray For Hollywood; You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby; Blues In The Night; Moon River; The Atcheson Topeka and The Santa Fe. We may have missed a couple – do the phrases ‘old Southern smile’ and ‘Dixie freckled face’ refer to songs, too? We know you’ll remind us and we’ll kick ourselves…
Were you as moved as we were by Mr Sinatra’s performance of “Gone With The Wind”? We really believe those mid-fifties concept albums for Capitol - ‘Only The Lonely’ and ‘Close To You’ were artistically the high water mark of his career. His readings of ‘Spring is Here’ from the former album and ‘P.S. I Love You’ from the latter can move us close to tears.
Played in This Week's Show: Frank Sinatra
Recommendations
The famed musical relationship between Billie Holiday and Lester Young has been celebrated by many record albums over the years so here’s a quick round-up of a few good ones: Not all are currently in print but all are available (we’ve checked) from various website sources: Starting with the most modest: Sony has culled 16 tracks from their huge ‘Complete Billie Holiday’ set to give us “Billie Holiday & Lester Young – A Musical Romance” and this contains all the key recordings – ‘This Year’s Kisses’, ‘Me, Myself & I’, ‘Why Was I Born’ etc., Then the Italian Giants Of Jazz label manages to cram 24 tracks onto their ‘Lady Day and Prez’ set. Spanish Disconforme spreads to 2 CDs and gives us 42 tracks on their “Billie Holiday & Lester Young: The Complete Recordings, while the French Fremeaux label issued a yet more comprehensive 3 CD set called ‘The Complete Billie Holiday and Lester Young 1937-46’: 64 tracks including alternate takes, this is the most complete collection of all, though this doesn’t give us the moving ‘Fine and Mellow’ from the 1957 ‘Sound Of Jazz’ session, a track we wouldn’t want to be without. You’ll find it on the first album listed above – and also on the marvellous 70-track “Billie Holiday, The Legacy” – 3 CDs in a box plus handsome book -produced by Michael Brooks, which includes many of the best Billie/Prez partnerships but a lot more besides. On balance, we’d say this last set is the one to go for – it’s on Columbia Legacy 47724.
Tracklist
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Billie Holiday — A Sailboat In The Moonlight‘Lady Day’ Complete Billie Holiday Columbias ’33-‘44
Columbia Legacy, CXK 85470 -
Frank Sinatra — Gone With The Wind“Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely”
Capitol, CDP 7 48471-2 -
Jones-Smith Incorporated — Boogie Woogie
“Count Basie & His Small Groups – The Fives”
Giants Of Jazz, CD 53296 -
Una Mae Carlisle — Blitzkrieg Baby (You Can’t Bomb Me)
The Complete Una Mae Carlisle & John Kirby 1940-42
RCA Jazz Tribune, ND 89484 -
Billie Holiday — When A Woman Loves A Man
‘Lady Day’ Complete Billie Holiday Columbias ’33-‘44
Columbia Legacy, CXK 85470 -
Todd Gordon — Tangerine
Todd Gordon: Moon River To The Days Of Wine & Roses – The Genius Of Johnny Mercer
Audacious Records, ARTG-10051 -
Hoagy Carmichael — Little Old Lady
Hoagy Carmichael In Person 1925-55 (10 CD Box)
Avid, AMBX 150 -
Bing Crosby & Fred Astaire — I’ve Got A Shooting Box In Scotland
Fred Astaire – The Complete London Sessions
EMI, 7243 5 20045 2 2 -
Michael L Roberts — I Know It’s Not Meant For Me
Cleared For B’cast By The Cole Porter Estate
None - Special Recording, PING 01 -
Kay Starr — Side By Side
Kay Starr – The Ultimate Collection (3 CD Set)
EMI Gold, 390 0462 -
Jessica Molaskey — Breezin’ Along With The Breeze
Jessica Molaskey – A Kiss To Build A Dream On
Arbors Records, ARCD 19384 -
Paul West — Miss You, Mister Mercer
Paul West – Being Along
OA2 Records, 2004-03-16
Broadcast
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Sun 23 Aug 200921:00
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