This Week: Under the Covers

This article is cross-posted from the Miles to Go Before I Sleep blog...

This week on Miles to Go Before I Sleep, I invited my listeners to join me under the covers - that is to say, I broadcast jazz covers of non-jazz songs, originally laid down by artists from Simon & Garfunkel to Nirvana to Rihanna. Several listeners called in requests, and I was joined in the studio by Rachel Walsh, who (after some coaxing) made her on-air debut. Also, I featured Paris Troika, an up-and-coming jazz trio which primarily covers rock songs in a rambunctious and infectious jazz style. I encourage everyone to check out their eponymous debut album. Here's a look at what tunes I played this week:

1. Don't Stop the Music - Jamie Cullum
2. Barracuda - The Bad Plus
3. Space Oddity - Paris Troika
4. Ziggy Stardust - Seu Jorge
5. Le Vieux Piano - Edith Piaf
6. Modal Mood - Dexter Gordon
7. White Christmas - Charlie Parker
8. Greensleeves - John Coltrane
9. Santa Claus is Coming to Town - Bill Evans
10. Layla - Paris Troika
11. Mrs. Robinson - Booker T. & The MG's
12. Somewhere - Tom Waits
13. Gone Daddy Gone - Gnarls Barkley
14. Smells Like Teen Spirit - The Bad Plus
15. Uptight (Everything's All Right) - Buddy Rich
16. In the Hall of the Mountain King - The Kansas City Jazz Orchestra
17. Pavanne - The Ahmad Jamal Trio
18. Hoe-Down - Oliver Nelson
19. Wind Cries Mary - Jamie Cullum
20. Purple Haze - Paris Troika
21. When You Wish Upon a Star - Bill Evans
22. Someday My Prince Will Come - The Bill Evans Trio
23. When I Fall in Love - Miles Davis

Talk-over music this week came courtesy of The Beatles, The Vince Guaraldi Trio, The Ahmad Jamal Trio, Curtis Mayfield, The Bad Plus, Booker T. & the MG's, Lee Konitz w/ The Gerry Mulligan Quartet, and Medeski, Martin & Wood.

As per usual, for a rundown of the Miles to Go playlist each week, keep your browsers here, and for the best jazz et al. around, keep your radios (or your iTunes) tuned to WKCO 91.9 FM!

This Week: Grande Dames of Jazz

This article is cross-posted from the Miles to Go Before I Sleep blog...

Tonight on Miles to Go, faithful intern Sam Mashaw brought us plenty of soulful selections from the greatest jazz singers of all time: Billy Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nina Simone (pictured left, center, and right, respectively).

Livening our program further was our homage to Dizzy Gillespie, who would've celebrated his 82nd birthday yesterday (21 October 2010). Gillespie was known for wailing on his bent trumpet while looking as though he was about to burst (see photo, left), and served as both inspiration and teacher to some of the best-known horn players of all time, from Miles Davis to Chuck Mangione.

Interspersed amongst these magnificent leading ladies were tunes from other great jazz names past and present, as well as a few names you might be surprised to find included in a jazz program (such as Pomplamoose and Andrew Bird). Here's a look at the full array of what we laid down tonight:

1. Baby, Don't You Go Away Mad - Ella Fitzgerald
2. My Baby Just Cares for Me - Nina Simone
3. Misty - Billie Holiday
4. Nature Boy - Pomplamoose
5. Autumn in New York - Dexter Gordon
6. Autumn Serenade - John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman
7. A Night in Tunisia - Dizzy Gillespie
8. Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac - Dizzy Gillespie
9. Sinnerman - Nina Simone
10. Blue Skies - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
11. What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
12. Birdland [Live from King Street, San Francisco] - Buddy Rich
13. Strange Meadowlark - The Dave Brubeck Quartet
14. Ides of Swing - Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire
15. Baby, It's Cold Outside - Nina Simone & Ray Charles
16. Feelin' Good - Nina Simone
17. Spiral - John Coltrane
18. Georgia on my Mind - The Oscar Peterson Trio
19. God Bless the Child - Billie Holiday
20. Bewitched, Bothered, & Bewildered - Ella Fitzgerald
21. I Cried for You - Billie Holiday
22. When I Fall in Love - Miles Davis

Talk-over music came courtesy of Booker T. & The MG's, The Modern Jazz Quartet, The Oscar Peterson Trio, Air, Louis Armstrong, Sonny Rollins, Young Holt Unlimited, The Walter Wanderly Trio, Medeski Martin & Wood, and The Kenyon College Kokosingers.

As per usual, for a rundown of the Miles to Go playlist each week, keep your browsers here, and for the best jazz et al. around, keep your radios (or your iTunes) tuned to WKCO 91.9 FM!