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Top 10 Jazz Albums: John McLean

9/30/2015

1 Comment

 
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John McLean is a composer, performer, and publisher member of ASCAP (Tiger Joe Tunes). He is currently compiling the second annual (2015) Table of St. Nicholas, a fundraiser CD to benefit Love INC, a charity in Charlottesville, Virginia. John began playing drums in 1974 and then guitar in 1983. A sample of his creations can be found at joyfulnoisemachine.com.
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1. Vince Guaraldi Trio | A Charlie Brown Christmas

My favorite album of all time. Complex structures that sound simple to the ear—both sweet and melancholy. It's genius. Great interpretations of Christmas fare and deep, catchy originals.

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2. Style Council | Cafe Bleu

Philly soul as interpreted by a young Londoner. I was a big fan of his previous mod revival band, the Jam, but was stunned by the elevation in vocals and compositions in this set.

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3. Sting | The Dream of the Blue Turtles

Another post-punker backed by solid instrumentalists. Excellent compositions and playing. Still have the cassette all these years later.

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4. Miles Davis | The Best of Miles Davis

"Autumn Leaves" and "Dear Old Stockholm" are phenomenal, but as a whole, these songs capture the tight phrasing I instantly loved about Miles. I played in a band that did a few tunes off Tutu, but even though not in my repertoire, these early recordings resonate best with me.

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5. Jeff Beck | Wired

I sill marvel at this guy's fluidity and sense of melody. Blow by Blow and the work he did with Rod Stewart are also strong, but this album is the one I tried to play along with in my early years.

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6. Joni Mitchell | Court and Spark

Pop/folk songs? Jazzy structure and meandering vocals over secure backing tracks.

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7. Ella Fitzgerald | The Best of the Song Books: The Ballads

Smooth, smooth vocals meld amazingly with orchestra backing.

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8. Doc Severinsen | Merry Christmas from Doc Severinsen

Perennial late Christmas Eve favorites. Sturdy backing band allows Doc to stand out in melody.

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9. Charles Mingus | Mingus Ah Um

Moody personal set. Atmospheric sound track to life.

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10. Buddy Rich | Best of Buddy Rich

Hard to pick a favorite. This selection is actually a multi-disc set. I started drumming at age nine and always thought, "There are two types of drummers: Buddy Rich and everybody else."

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Ethel Ennis in the Inaugural Spotlight

9/13/2015

8 Comments

 
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Along with the thirteen jazz events held at the White House during his administration, President Nixon invited jazz vocalist Ethel Ennis to sing the national anthem at his second inauguration ceremony on January 20, 1973. Full credit for this occurrence belongs to Vice President Agnew, however. 

Out of the blue, some two years before, the vice president, who was also the former governor of Maryland, called the singer and invited her to appear with entertainers Frank Sinatra and Danny Thomas at Maryland’s Governors Day celebration. Afterward, along with her husband and others, Ms. Ennis joined the vice president in his apartment, where she learned that not only was he a jazz aficionado, but in fact, he had all seven of her albums. Unlike Nixon, Agnew was a jazz fan (Swing era mostly), as well as a more accomplished pianist than the president. Agnew ably accompanied his favorite singer on his grand piano for the rest of the evening. 

As it turned out, this night was but a prelude to the next out-of-the blue phone call: an invitation to sing the national anthem at the Republican Convention in July, 1972, which led to the invite by the president to sing at his inauguration the following January. (1)

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Politics aside, jazz, then as now, benefits immensely when a star the caliber of an Ethel Ennis is given an opportunity to be seen and heard by millions of Americans. And shine she did, becoming the first vocalist from the world of jazz to sing the nation’s hymn in the inaugural spotlight—and the first to sing it a cappella. 

  1. Sallie Kravitz, Ethel Ennis: The Reluctant Jazz Star (Baltimore: Hughes Enterprises/Gateway Press, 1984), 83–86.
Photos courtesy of the Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, California, and the National Archives, College Park, Maryland. Digital processing by National Air Survey/Visual Image Presentations, Silver Spring, Maryland.

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