Mr. G's Humpday Happytracks - Wednesday, August 28, 2024: Kurt Elling and Jon Hendricks - Goin' to Chicago

Credit: William Ellis

Today's Humday Happytrack is a version of the good old blues standard, Goin' to Chicago. This is a vocal duet by two great jazz vocalists.

The artists are Kurt Elling and Jon Hendricks. This track was recorded live in 1999 at Chicago's legendary jazz nightclub, The Green Mill. Mr. Elling is perhaps the preeminent male jazz vocalist in the world today - he is a baritone with a four-octave range! He was born in Chicago in 1968, raised in Rockford IL and launched his career in the city of his birth. He decamped to New York City (aka Mecca for jazz musicians) in 2008, but he still comes home frequently. Jon Hendricks is best-known for his work with Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, the jazz trio that popularized vocalese. He was one of the elder statesmen of the jazz vocal world when this duet was recorded.

Here's Goin' to Chicago by these two stellar singers. Click on the link and check it out!

Whay do I love this track?

First of all, Elling and Hendricks are obviously having a lot of fun, and I can feel the respect and love flowing between these two.  It's wonderful when a current artist like Elling can work with one of his heroes from the preceding generation.

Secondly, I love the spare arrangement! It is just the two singers and Rob Amster's bass walking throught the blues changes. This gives Elling and Hendricks room to stretch out. Make no mistake - this is the real blues, people!

Third, the vocalese intro by Elling. I live in the Chicago area and love the city, and Elling's proud declarations about the city's virtues causes me to nod vigorously in agreement.

Finally, the Green Mill audience reactions became part of the performance. The Green Mill is a small room and the interaction between performers and audience members is intense and sort of intimate.

Elling won two Grammys. Hendricks was a giant of American music - the Lambert Hendricks and Ross song, Twisted was covered by Joni Mitchell. These two jazz guys have an extensive discography - dig in!!

Mr. G's Humpday Happytracks - Wednesday, August 21, 2024: Ruth Moody - Dancing in the Dark

 

Today's Humpday Happytrack is a cover of Bruce Springsteen's great song, Dancing in the Dark.

The artist is Ruth Moody - she is best known as one of the founders of the Wailin' Jennys, the female roots music supergroup. Ruth started out as a solo artist and she continued to pursue her solo career, separate from the Jennys.  We are lucky that she kept making her own music. This woman has an amazing voice, and she is one of those people that is the master of several instruments - guitar, banjo and more.

There are live versions of this song on YouTube. I am partial to the album version for reasons I will discuss below.  Here is Ruth's version of Dancing in the Dark. Click on the link and check it out.

Why do I love this track?

First of all, Ruth Moody sings like an angel - a pensive, wistful angel that is quietly expressing great emotion with every note she sings. She is a Canadian bluegrass artist, classically trained and soaked in instrumental expertise and yearning bluegrass vocal harmonies.  She brings that vocal instrument to this Springsteen classic.

Second, the source material is well-chosen. This is, in my opinion, Springsteen's best song. 

Third, the production and musical arrangement are outstanding. The track has subtle rhythmic urgency that is intense enough that I didn't even notice the absence of a drummer on the track. The vocal harmonies are impeccable.  The instrumental voicings bring the feel of chamber music to this 1980's rock anthem - viola, bowed double bass, acoustic guitar and rhythm work on the mandolin. Ruth and her team turn this tune into meditative musical poetry.

Finally, the topper - near the end of the track, there is an outstanding jazz mandolin solo that darts in and out of the vocal harmonies before the song comes to an abrupt halt. I haven't been able to determine who played the mandolin on that track - I'm trying to find the original album notes.

My strong recommendation - dig into Ruth Moody's solo work. The Wailin' Jennys discography is also worthy of attention.  Enjoy Ruth's great music!

I think this version of Dancing in the Dark would leave The Boss shaking his head in amazement.

Mr. G's Humpday Happytracks - Wednesday, August 14, 2024: The Slickophonics - Procrastination

 

My last post to this blog was back in December 2023.  Not coincidentally, this is when I started as volunteer music reporter for the Evanston Roundtable.  Digging into the local music scene and writing several thousand words each week gobbled up my free time and fulfilled my need to tell stories about music and musicians.  I woke up a couple of days ago and realized - I missed my good ol' blog.

 It should be easy enough to write some stuff that complements my efforts as a music reporter. I've decided to inflict my extremely quirky musical recommendations upon readers of this blog. To keep this manageable, I will restrict myself to one track each week. I'll publish on Humpday, which is today.  

Today's Humpday Happytrack is Procrastination by the Slickophonics.  Click on the link and check it out.

What do I love about this track? Well, it is an intense funk shuffle, very heavy on the syncopated horn riffs. There is  awesome trombone work - Ray Anderson is the trombonist's name, and he really knows how to work a plunger mute! I also love the lyrics - the tune opens with a spoken word intro that defines procrastination as "irreplaceably and irrevocably continuing to gaze at one's navel,"  Ray Anderson is also the lead singer on this track, and his vocal style is a cross between a carnival barker and your drunken uncle at the end of the wedding reception.  Hey, it works!

Slickophonics was an innovative proto-funk band that had five members - Ray Anderson on trombone & vocals, Steve Elson on sax and keyboards, Allan Jaffe on guitar & vocals, Mark Helias on bass & vocals, and Jim Payne on drums and vocals. The band was popular in Europe - they toured extensively in the 1980's. This is loose-jointed funk with a touch of anarchy - not clean and precise like the Vulfpeck version of funk. I love it!

All of Slickophonics tracks stand up under repeated listening. This group wasn't famous and only lasted for a few years, but they created awesome music! Enjoy it, and tell your friends!!