Sunday Music Muse Day Buddy Rich Big Band, Dizzy Gillespie Ken Burns Jazz, Jazz 90.1 Holiday Party

This week's Sunday Music Muse day finds me fighting a cold, nothing serious, just annoying. But to help relieve being dragged out by it, I have two selections I won in a raffle at the Jazz 90.1 Holiday Party, my member-supported jazz station, held for staff, volunteers and supporters.  Lisa and I are volunteers  for the "Jazz 90.1 Street Team" which mans info booths at events and concerts around town, promoting the station.  There was good company, good food and good music by Paradigm Shift, a local group.

 The first selection is The Buddy Rich Big Band Big Swing Face.  Buddy is a legendary drummer and band leader, know for having a hard swinging band, and this knocks your socks off. 

I have one other Buddy Rich CD, The Roar of '74. which my father played percussion (congas) on.  My grandfather always claimed he was friends with Buddy Rich and wanted to take me to his self-named club in NYC, back in the 70s, but the never happened.

The other is selection is Dizzy Gillespie - Ken Burns Jazz, a complication of Gillespie tunes, only three were featured in the Ken Burns Jazz box set. Dizzy is of course a legendary jazz innovator credited with creating Bebop. 

My "Three degree of Separation" moment with him is he sent my grandmother word of my father's illness, which led to me visiting Sam in Paris before he died.  I've never got to met Dizzy, but he's always had my thanks.

Now back to fighting my cold with dayquil, nightquil, and jazz. Stay healthy.

Sunday Music Muse Day - Michael (Mike) Melito Quintet, Buddy Rich, Steve Greene Trio, and Vieux Farka Toure

Welcome to another Sunday Music Muse Day.  This week's selections starts off with the beats of two swinging drummers. Counting off the downbeat first is Mike Melito (when he had a longer name, and longer hair), as the Michael Melito Quintet - My Conception, actually is Mike's recording debut as a leader.   Mike sure hit the ground running, and continues producing the swinging "hard bop" he set out to play.  I already have Mike's latest "New York Connections", and look forward to the CD release gig he has planned in October.  Mike is a big fan of my father, Sam Woodyard (drummer for Duke Ellington), and counts Sam as a major influence.  The more I hear Mike play, the more I hear bits of Sam in his playing, and feel Mike is keeping that swinging tradition alive, and progressing.

Next up is special find, legendary drummer Buddy Rich, The Roar of '74.  Billed as "the world's greatest drummer" during his career, with the impressive roster of big bands and artist he played with, and leading his own big band, it would hard to argue with that title. An added treat for me is that my father, Sam Woodyard is featured on percussion (bongos, hand drum, etc).  This a hot rocking set of tunes and great fun to listen to.

The next selection is another local Rochester musician, guitarist, Steve Greene Trio.  I heard Steve play a live set on our local jazz radio station, Jazz90.1, in the past. This is nice mellow jazz guitars and bass set.  I hope to catch Steve performing live sometime.

My last selection, actually was picked by my wife, Lisa, who saw this artist perform while she was visiting a friend in Hudson, NY, this weekend.  Vieux Farka Toure - Mon Pays is a CD by the Malian (Mali, in West Africa) singer and guitarist and son of the late Grammy Award winning Malian musician Ali Farka Toure, who many know from his CD with Ry Cooder, Talking Timbuktu.  Lisa really liked the live concert, and the infectious Afro-beats on this CD makes me jealous I didn't see him, too.

All in all, a nice collection of tunes to head into autumn with.  Enjoy.