Introducing Bobby Hackett! My favorite Trumpet Player

This is an intro to my favorite trumpet and cornet player, Bobby Hackett.  But, I have to warn you, listening to Bobby Hackett is an addictive step back into the nostalgic era of big bands, when melody and virtuosity counted, when drums were only a part of the ensemble, when romance drifted through the air like the sweet fragrance of honeysuckle, and “making love” expressed the tender emotions of being in love.  Nowhere is this more evident than in Hackett’s version of “Embraceable You.”

With melody written by George Gershwin and lyrics by his brother Ira, to get into the romance of this song (that has been recorded by almost every jazz musician and singer you can name), you need to first hear the words before listening to Bobby Hackett’s incomparable instrumental arrangement.  So, here’s Billy Holiday in a recording from circa 1944:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VaaGLNfrhI

Now, experience the enchanting sound of Bobby Hackett, as he plays all around the melody, permeates your soul and makes you want to hold the girl of your dreams in your arms and hope the music never ends.

I mentioned he played trumpet and cornet, very similar, but different instruments.  The first thing you notice is the cornet is shorter, more compact.  A second difference is the cornet’s tube that begins to expand just past the mouthpiece, while the trumpet’s tube doesn’t expand until the lead-in to the bell. But, bear in mind trumpets and cornets also come in a variety of shapes.

As with many musicians of the time, Bobby played other instruments.  After a dental procedure that left him unable to play the horn, at least for a while, he joined the Glenn Miller Orchestra to play guitar, as well as playing short trumpet solos on such songs as “String of Pearls.”

In the 1950s, Hackett was the trumpet soloist on many of Jackie Gleason’s full orchestra, easy listening albums.  Here is My Foolish  Heart with Bobby Hackett playing the eloquently understated trumpet solo in his seemingly effortless, inimitable style.

My Foolish Heart

Robert Leo “Bobby” Hackett’s musical career covered the big band and jazz era from the 1930s through the 1950s.  Mention big names and you’ll find that Bobby Hackett played with all of them, as well as on movie soundtracks.  Bennie Goodman.  Glenn Miller. Andrews Sisters.  Fred Astaire. Tony Bennett, Dizzy Gillespie.

It’s no wonder his music lives on.  His lyrical trumpet lightens the day and even when the music is over, it plays in your heart.  Want more?  YouTube has plenty.  Also online at jango.com

Jazz for a Lazy Sunday - Autumn Leaves- Jazz Violin

I've always loved jazz violin.  Stéphane Grappelli, Joe Venuti.  This selection features an Australian, Retaw Storer Boyce.  First take.  No score.  No practice.  Haunting and beautiful.  Retaw plays all kinds of music and you can checkout more at http://www.retawboyce.com/

If you like jazz, this man is a real find.  Jazz lives!!!

Jazz For A Lazy Sunday - La Vie en Rose

One of the most beautiful love songs!  La Vie en Rose, which I believe is pronounced La Vee In Rose. At least that's what a French speaking friend told me.  Louis Armstrong tries out several pronunciations, none of which quite fit, but that doesn't detract from the loveliness of the lyrics or the flowing beauty of the melody.

Louis Armstrong, as I'm sure you know, began his playing in New Orleans.  Too long a story to relate here, but over his career he certainly transcended any labels.  His short, almost staccato bursts of trumpet, let you know it's Louis and the growling vocals identify him anywhere.  One jazz critic was asked who his favorite trumpet player was and he immediately said, Louis Armstrong.

The response was, "So you think he was the best?"

"Not at all," the critic replied.  "Lots of better trumpet players, but that's not what you asked me."

The same applies to the vocals.  Who would have guessed Louis Armstrong could sell records with his one octave growl?  He never would have lasted on American Idol, but still his voice compels you to listen and feel.  His version of La Vie en Rose comes from the heart...and goes right to your heart.

What does La Vie en Rose mean, anyway?  The closest English equivalent is 'looking at the world through rose colored glasses.'  Another way to put it is seeing beauty in life because you're in love.

In the end, who cares about a translation.  The words and melody tell it all.  There's nothing quite like being in love and there's nothing better than hearing Louis Armstrong play and sing about it.

Sunday Morning Jazz - Frank Sinatra - Serenade In Blue

Although Frank Sinatra died almost 15 years ago,  he's still a household name among those who love smooth jazz.  Few remember however, the ups and downs of Sinatra's career.  High school dropout. Started out in small clubs.  Got picked up by two of the most famous big band leaders of the 1930s, Harry James and then Tommy Dorsey.  Branched out own his on and did spectacularly well during the war years. But, by the early 50's, Sinatra was passé.  He lost his recording contract.

He got back to music in the strangest way, via a non-musical film role in one of the greatest films of all time, From Here to Eternity.   His recordings began to soar on the charts once again, only to fade at the end of the 50s.  Capitol Records dropped him, so he started his own record company, Reprise.

Funny how we think that stars are always starts.  We sense luck and forget the energy, resilience, and persistence it takes to rise to the top, or what it takes to stand back up after you've fallen.

Anyway, here is Frank Sinatra singing a beautiful melody,  written by Harry Warren, a prolific song writer of over 800 songs, including "I Only Have Eyes for You", "You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby", "That's Amore", "The More I See You", and the first gold record in history, "Chattanooga Choo Choo", made famous by Glen Miller and his Orchestra.

Music and Flea Market – Another Sunny Day in Homburg

As sunny day and friendly crowds

Trash and treasures!

 I get frustrated when I hear people complain about nothing to do, right here in Germany, in the living, breathing heart of central Europe.  Right.  After you’ve been to all the weinfests, bierfests, historic cities and towns, sampled the huge varieties of foods, including special seasons for strawberries, asparagus, and pumpkins…  Well, I guess there really is nothing to do.  Wait a sec!  I left out flea markets and music festivals that spring up when the weather turns warm.

Homburg, just up A-6 toward Saarbrücken, has both. Every first Saturday, there’s a huge flea market.  It’s located a few blocks from the old market square. All you have to do is ask and people will point you in the right direction.  Vendors from all over Germany and France, as well as locals, bring their trash and treasures and display them in the open air. Very extensive.  It’ll take you over an hour to wind in and out and around the new Rathaus area.  Of course there is wurst and bier, along with crepes, sweet waffles, and soft ice cream.  It’s a bargain hunter’s paradise. Great selection of middle eastern carpets.

Another thing you don’t have to worry about is a shortage of cash.  In Homburg, from April to late October, there are free rock concerts every Friday night at 1900 and jazz concerts every Saturday, from 1100 to 1430.  What kind of rock and what kind of jazz?  Oh, you beggars are soooooo choosy.  Varies.  The bands change every week and in the case of jazz, it goes from modern to Dixieland to traditional big bands.  These are accomplished musicians.  Seldom do you see sheet music or music stands.

These folks change instruments as easily as you and I change hats!

A plethora of styles mix seamlessly.

Nobody can resist a good book.

Karl Marx and Truman Capote dropped by.

Hemingway was asked what he did for inspiration.  He said he went to the Prado and gazed at a few canvases.  You could say the same for music, or dance, pottery, or goldsmithing.  Art has a direct connect to the soul.

Homburg is a magical place on Saturdays!


Music, as with most art, soothes, relaxes, and takes you to a floating island of sentiment, high above your cares.  Think I’m wrong?  Hear a few bars of rock from your high school days and you sing along.  Can’t help it. As you sing, faces and places float past, a panorama of triumphs and failures, loves and loses.  You gain glimmers of acceptance, thin slices of understanding.  In the same way, jazz washes you in moonlight and the scent of roses.

While you’re making that connection, sit back and order a bier, or a wurst, or a full meal (all at normal prices) and enjoy the show.  Don’t feel like eating or drinking?  Enjoy the music for free, in one of the most quaint old market areas around.  The cobble-stoned market square has a beautiful stone fountain, surrounded by buildings that date back to forever, with their gabled and tiled roofs. Bars, restaurants and shops are all around you, as well as vendors selling fresh produce, cheeses, honey, and sausage.  The old Rathaus (city hall) is also on the square, complete with a crest of arms that indicates this city was once a part of Bavaria.

Nothing to do?  Well, go back to your warm milk and cookies and TV reruns.  Meanwhile, for the rest of us, rich man, poor man, or beggar, there’s a rainbow of activities going on in Homburg every weekend.

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."
--  Berthold Auerbach (German novelist, 1811-1882)

Jazz For A Lazy Sunday - Teddy Wilson

Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye, music and lyrics by Cole Porter. This rendition from circa 1945 has my favorite jazz pianist, Teddy Wilson, Red Norvo on vibes, and vocals by Maxine Sullivan, whose voice is every bit as smooth and lyrical as Ella Fitzgerald's.

Wilson, whom I've frequently mentioned, played and recorded with all the famous jazz musicians of the era, as well as leading his own band.  Once you hear Wilson's effortless elegance, you never forget it and you always hunger for more.

Grab that second cup of coffee, or settle down for lunch and set the mood with this wonderful song by Cole Porter.

Every time we say goodbye
I die a little
Every time we say goodbye
I wonder why a little
Why the Gods above me
Who must be in the know
Think so little of me
They allow you to go

When you're near
There's such an air
Of Spring about it
I can hear a lark somewhere
Begin to sing about it
There's no love song finer
But how strange the change
From major to minor
Every time we say goodbye

Benny Goodman - Memories of You

For my money, one of the most beautiful songs ever written.  The lyrics are powerfully evocative, but even as an instrumental, I hear it and memories of life and loves flow past in an unending rainbow of sentiment.

Benny Goodman's clarinet was legendary and the piano of the inimitable Teddy Wilson is beyond compare.

Here are the lyrics to Memories of You.  If you can find the vocal version by Bette Midler, you'll fall in love all over again with your memories.

Waking skies - at sunrise
Every sunset too
Seems to be - bringing me
Memories of you

Here and there - every where
Scenes that we once knew
And they all - just recall
Memories of you

(Oh) How I wish I could forget those, (those) happy yesteryears
That have left a rosary of tears

Your face beams - in my dreams
(In) Spite of all (that) I do
(And) Everything - seems to bring
Memories of you 

Easy Sunday Morning Jazz

Recorded in 1955, this version of Deep Purple is timeless. With Art Tatum on piano, accompanied by Lionel Hampton, Harry Edison, Buddy Rich, Red Callender and Barney Kessel, for my money this is jazz at the pinnacle of soft, lyrical improvisation. Sweet, sweet sounds that live in your soul and carry you to new heights.


Deep Purple, written by pianist Peter DeRose, was first published as a piano composition in 1933.  Words weren't added until 1938.  After that it took off as one of the biggest of the big band hits, even lasting in various versions through the beginning of the rock and roll era.

The words sink in deep and fill your heart.  It's love with an almost unbearable pain...

When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls

And the stars begin to twinkle in the sky—

In the mist of a memory you wander back to me

Breathing my name with a sigh...

Smooth, Sexy Jazz For That Perfect Sunday Afternoon

The smoothest of smooth tones.  Grab that second cup of coffee, or that early afternoon wine, sit back and let the music flow.

Jazz for a Lazy Sunday:Bunny Berigan & Orch-I Can't Get Started

Bunny Berigan, one of the most original jazz musicians of the 20;s and 30’s, was given a fiddle when he was a kid and later his grandfather gave him a trumpet.  He learned to play both and by high school, he was playing fiddle with the school band and trumpet professionally with a jazz orchestra.

Later he hooked up with Benny Goodman.  Want to hear some other great Berigan solos?  Listen to Goodman’s ‘King Porter Stomp’ and ‘Sometimes I’m Happy,’ both from 1935. 

Soon Berigan was on his way, with his own orchestra and a hit number called ‘I Can’t Get Started.’  Recorded in 1937, it was to be his one big shot.  By 1940, Berigan’s orchestra was gone, he’d gotten on with Tommy Dorsey’s band (Check out his solo on ‘Marie.’) and then been dropped.  Heavy drinking had worked its horrific transformation, turning promise and future into empty and past.  In 1942, at the age of 33, cirrhosis of the liver silenced the magic trumpet of Bernard R. Berigan.  But, the bits and pieces of solos and songs still thrill, their ups and downs, happiness and melancholy always reminding us of the talent that once was Bunny Berigan.

Jazz for a Lazy Sunday Afternoon

One of the finest jazz musicians ever, Benny Goodman's clarinet took jazz from the backstreet speakeasies to Carnegie Hall.  His 1938 Carnegie Hall concert, featuring his orchestra, trio, and quartet, is still hailed as the greatest jazz concert ever.

The Goodman Quartet featured Benny Goodman on clarinet, Gene Krupa on drums, Lionel Hampton on vibes, and my all time favorite jazz pianist, Teddy Wilson.

Goodman took the long way around to get to the top.  Born into an impoverished Russian, Jewish, immigrant family, Benny was the ninth of twelve children.  HIs got his first music lessons in a synagogue.  At the age of 16, he joined Ben Pollack's jazz orchestra.  Pollack's eye for talent led him to hire, in addition to Goodman, such future jazz greats as Jack Teagarden, Glen Miller, and Harry James, all of whom went on to form their own orchestras. 

The Goodman Quartet, featured on this recording, brought together Benny Goodman on clarinet, Gene Krupa on drums, Lionel Hampton on vibes, and my all time favorite jazz pianist, Teddy Wilson.  Very tough to beat that combo!