Leonard Feather

Both of the labels on those records read as by Sextet with Dinah Washington.

The sessions were organized, arranged, and produced by music critic, pianist, and producer Leonard Feather.

He also wrote both of those tunes for Dinah.

The band backing her up were members of Lionel Hampton's band, most notably Joe Morris on trumpet and Milt Buckner on piano.

And then Lucy Yegazarian gave us a tune, Blow Top Blues.

It's a tune that was written by Leonard Feather, and we heard it on the album Hey Love.

Johnny O'Neill here, joining on the piano.

Peter Washington on bass.

And I went to see Dizzy at the Village Vanguard.

I had written Dizzy a thank you card because Leonard Feather had contact information for all the musicians in the Encyclopedia of Jazz.

And I sent it to Dizzy, but I think it went to his, home in Corona where he'd lived around the corner from Louis Armstrong.

Uh, three, four, six, eight, um, uh, a hundred and 106th street.

Blowtop Blues.

Leonard Feather, the jazz critic and songwriter, wrote the tune Blowtop Blues.

Billie Holiday.

with her tune Stormy Blues.

Also, interesting new things I'm learning.

I mean, it's not that unexpected, but he, even though he very much did his own thing, he had a very pretty deep knowledge of the jazz history that Came before him and there's like a Leonard Feather blue note blindfold test that, you know, putting on a bunch of records.

And he kind of nails them all.

And he's like as complimentary as he can be.

He added... "People who don't really know me call me Erroll.

But Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee, and Carmen McRae all know me as Hoochie Coo, and that means they love me as much as I love them." When journalist Leonard Feather complimented Erroll on his successful career, Garner answered...

"I'm so happy it happened to me, but I sure wish it could have happened to Art Tatum instead." According to Erroll, Ted Williams, the longtime Boston Red Sox star and one of the greatest hitters in baseball history, once carried a copy of Erroll's album Up in Erroll's Room into Fenway Park and played it over the loudspeaker before batting practice.

Then he turned to his players and said, "Listen to that tempo." [upbeat jazz music] Erroll loved telling that story.

Recorded November 16th, 1964.

Got the original liner notes by Leonard Feather.

We're going to read those out.

Cover photo by Jim Marshall and cover design by Reed Miles.

The music they made reflects their mood on that particular day, a mood of contemplation blended with inspiration, of cooking on a slow burner.

Given these ingredients and men of this caliber, it would be hard to go wrong.

Leonard Feather.

Such a great record.

It was music that demanded participation rather than passive enjoyment.

Jazz critics of the time, like Leonard Feather, noted how hard bop bridged the gap between high art and popular appeal.

They praised its rootedness.

Club owners saw increased ticket sales because audiences could dance or simply nod along to familiar blues turns.

And that series, which is not named, has Whispering as the theme song.

Now, in his book, Inside Jazz, Leonard Feather says, the last four trumpet measures of Groovin' High later provided Tad Dameron with parts of the theme for a beautiful ballad recorded by Saravan called If You Could See Me Now.

Now, Gillespie was obviously very fond of the tune because he re-recorded it again in March of 1945 after the February 9th session.

And this one includes Charlie Parker and Dizzy curtailed his chorus to allow guitarist Remo Palmieri a short improvisation.