Kudos to Mr. Muller (thanks for the copy, Bob) on this entry in the series.
The Mingus Dynasty versions of Sweet Sucker Dance, Dry Cleaner and A Chair
In The Sky put those compositions in far more a valuable light, Benny
Goodman's cover of "Both Sides Now" has to be my personal favorite of any
I've heard, Ian Shaw's jazz vocal take on "Furry Sings The Blues" is in the
tradition of King Pleasure, Eddie Jefferson, and Jon Hendricks (and he's
backed by the great Cedar Walton, no less) and Dave Douglas' workout on Same
Situation and his imaginative arrangement of My Old Man, are collectively an
overview of jazz at its finest.
Guitarist Fareed Haque's cover of Woodstock is from an interesting album.
About ten years ago, the recently re-launched Blue Note label asked a group
of its most recent signings to each choose a Rock or Pop album to cover in
its entirety. Haque chose Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's Deja Vu. It's an
amazing album for lovers of both CSNY and jazz (like me). The arrangement of
each of the songs on the album is in line with the spirit of the original,
and it's a kick to listen to - like you're in a parallel universe. Another
fine one in this Blue Note covers series was guitarist Charlie Hunter's
Natty Dread (the Bob Marley & The Wailers album).
Thanks for the fine listen, Bob.
Jim
