Bette Midler's most recent album is Bette Midler Sings the Peggy Lee Songbook. My favorite song on it is "Fever." Here's a live performance on the Today Show (start playing it at 1:30 if you don't care for Katie Couric):
jazz vocalists
November 10, 2008
November 06, 2008
"C'est Si Bon" - Eartha Kitt
I used to enjoy watching Eartha Kitt as Catwoman (right) in the TV version of Batman. Much later, I found out that singing has been a major part of her career. She learned to speak French fluently when she was performing in Europe.
Eartha Kitt originally sang "C'est Si Bon" in the 1954 film, New Faces.
She's performed numerous times on Broadway, including replacing Chita Rivera in Nine, and being nominated for Tony Awards for Timbuktu (Kismet in a West African setting) and The Wild Party.
This performance is from 1962.
November 02, 2008
"Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me" - Diana Krall, Duke Ellington
"Do Nothing Till You Hear From Me" is from Steppin' Out, one of my favorite Diana Krall albums (her debut album).
Actually, I love all of her albums. I also love Duke Ellington's music. Ellington originally composed this piece as an instrumental, "Concerto for Cootie," designed to show off Ellington's band's lead trumpet player, Cootie Williams. Later, Bob Russell's words were added to Ellington's music, and Duke Ellington's rendition of the song was a hit in 1944.
Here's the Duke Ellington Band, in 1965, performing "Prowling Cat (trumpet solo, Cat Anderson)" and "Do Nothing Till You Hear It From Me (trombone solo, Lawrence Brown)
Other versions, YouTube:
Amazon Clips:
- Cootie Williams (the original trumpet player)
- Billie Holiday