Musical Musings Blog 2... The Infinite Musical Continuum

  From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack. After a three week break to change platforms, JazzWax is back, bigger and better than ever! JazzWax is a highly respected daily jazz blog and website created in 2007 by journalist and author Marc Myers, who also writes for The Wall Street Journal. It is widely regarded as an essential source for jazz history, criticism, and commentary. The site features in-depth interviews with musicians, producers, and industry figures, along with reviews of recordings and thoughtful essays on both classic and contemporary jazz. JazzWax is known for uncovering overlooked sessions, publishing archival material and vintage photographs, and sharing personal stories that preserve jazz history. Its coverage spans legendary musicians, rare recordings, and even the business side of the music, making it a trusted resource for jazz fans and professionals alike. Please visit: http://jazzwax.com

  One of several live performances by Joe Bonamassa and His Band of the song "Mountain Time".  This particular performance comes from the Beacon Theater in New York, New York, and the song was released on Bonamassa's 2002 studio record "So, It's Like That".  Bonamassa co-wrote this tune with the late, great songwriter, Will Jennings.  

  This week's Sunday Special.  From July 9th, 1971, one of the last concerts ever at Shea Stadium in Flushing-Meadows, Corona Park, Queens, New York, featuring Grand Funk Railroad performing their song "I'm Your Captain".  The band lineup is: Mark Farner: guitar, keyboards, & vocals Mel Schacher: bass Don Brewer: drums & vocals

  On june 11th, 1976 a very special concert took place in the studio's of the Dutch TROS tv programme "Music all In". The audience witnessed a great concert of Gladys Knight and (her family group) the Pips, and as a special guest starred Al Foster, the drummer who played for a long time with Miles Davis Watch more World of Jazz videos ► https://goo.gl/Z28cxv Join us. Subscribe now! ► https://goo.gl/n2FHaL Thanks for all your support, rating the video and leaving a comment is always appreciated! Please: respect each other in the comments. This is the official YouTube channel of World of Jazz.

  A Full Concert Friday this week.   From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack. Leonard Bernstein Young People’s Concert March 11, 1964, Jazz in the Concert Hall with guests Gunther Schuller, Don Ellis, Eric Dolphy, Richard Davis and Benny Golson.

  More memories of Cleo Laine.  Here is her rendition of "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)".  Closing number from her special/miniseries(?), Cleo, from 1978, with a reprise of the opening song, I Got The Music In Me. Helen Gelzer and Johnny Dankworth beside her.

  From a performance on "The Midnight Special" on November 2nd, 1973, here is Rick Derringer & The Edgar Winter Group with "Rock & Roll Hoochie Koo".  Check it out.  Also, Rest In Peace, Edgar Winter and Rick Derringer.  You both will live on in our hearts as musicians and music fans, forever.  

Today marks what would be Ray Charles' 95th birthday.  One of my favorite singers who ever lived.  Here are some of his best songs. What'd I Say on the Ed Sullivan Show with The Raelettes & Billy Preston Ray Charles I Believe to My Soul Ray Charles Mess Around Ray Charles Georgia On My Mind Ray Charles I Can't Stop Loving You with The Raelettes Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival, 1997

  From a gig on June 15th, 2025 in Poland, here is Black Country Communion, a rock and roll super group with "Sista Jane" and "Mistreated".  The band lineup includes Joe Bonamassa on guitar and vocals, Glenn Hughes on bass and vocals, Derek Sherinian on keyboards, and Jason Bonham on drums, percussion, and backing vocals.  

  This week's Sunday Special.  "Melissa" (ft. Derek Trucks) by Warren Haynes from the upcoming album "The Whisper Sessions".

  On this very day, 51 years ago.  The title explains this performance.  Andy Williams, one of the great singers of our time, performing a medley of songs including "Lonely Street" in a concert on September 20th, 1974.  The medley includes "Lonely Street", "Danny Boy", "We're Almost There", "Born Free", and the grand finale, "More".  

  From a 1964 live performance, here is one of the original Chicago bluesmen, Chester Arthur Burnett also known as "Howlin' Wolf", with one of his best known blues songs, "Smokestack Lightning".  

  Back in June, we lost a true legend of not only funk, soul, and rhythm & blues music, but of music as a whole with the passing of Sly Stone, bandleader of Sly & The Family Stone, a groundbreaking rhythm & blues and funk band.  To pay tribute to Sly, here is "Thank You", the best-known tune by Sly & The Family Stone as performed on "The Midnight Special" on August 9th, 1974.  Rest In Peace, Sly Stone.

  From a performance on July 10th, 1997, here is The Crusaders, with the composition "I Felt The Love".  

  From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack. Phil Woods, alto; Brian Lynch, trumpet; Jim McNeely, piano, Bill Goodwin Drums.

  From a performance at The Beacon Theatre in New York, New York, here is Joe Bonamassa with his interpretation of Leonard Cohen's "Bird On A Wire".  

  This week's Sunday Special.   Jazz music meets comedy and classic hipster Beatnik humor, with the one the only Al Kelly in... Rock and Roll From Outer Space.  I can dance to this jazz, Daddy-O.  Believe me.   From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack. Al Kelly (1896–1966) was a brilliant and wildly original American double-talk comedian—one of the most unique performers in the history of vaudeville and early television. Al Kelly specialized in “double-talk”: a surreal, rapid-fire blend of gibberish and real words delivered with such convincing rhythm, tone, and confidence that it sounded like he was speaking actual English—even though it was complete nonsense. He could improvise these routines on the spot, often fooling entire audiences (and sometimes other performers) into thinking he was speaking a foreign language or obscure technical jargon. Imagine Groucho Marx and James Joyce having a lovechild who sells used encyclopedias on amphetamines—that’s Al ...

  Check out Jaco Pastorius and the tune "Come On, Come Over" released on his 1976 self-titled record and written by none other than Robin and Barry Gibb who, along with their brother, Maurice, formed the core of pop and disco music legends, The Bee Gees, from England.  

  From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack. Sarah Vaughan’s voice defies language—operatic in scope, celestial in tone, and fearless in its emotional depth. In this stunning rendition of a Gershwin melody, “The Divine One” transforms the song into something transcendent. With the control of a classical soprano and the soul of a jazz prophet, Vaughan’s vibrato shimmers like candlelight, soars like cathedral bells, and dives deep into emotional terrain few artists dare to explore. She doesn’t just sing—she resurrects. Experience the majesty of a voice that bends time, dismantles melody, and rebuilds it as a living confession. This is more than a performance. It’s a sacred transmission from one of the greatest vocalists who ever lived.

  "You Enjoy Myself" → "Twist" from Phish's 4/27/2025 show at Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, CA.

  Watch Tedeschi Trucks Band perform “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" live with Leon Russell feat. Warren Haynes and Anders Osborne, recorded in 2015 at LOCKN’ during Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited. The track is from the upcoming live album, Tedeschi Trucks Band and Leon Russell Present: Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited (LIVE AT LOCKN’) — out September 12 on Fantasy Records.  By the way, "She Came In Through The Bathroom Window" is a Beatles song from their "Abbey Road" record from 1969 and was written by Sir Paul McCartney although it is often credited to the songwriting duo of McCartney, and the late, great John Lennon.  

  Oh, my gosh!  Be prepared be amazed.  Be prepared to be absolutely blown away! From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack. Meet Varijashree Venugopal, the Indian vocal phenomenon with perfect pitch and lightning-fast phrasing, effortlessly blurring the lines between Carnatic music, jazz improvisation, and vocal percussion. In this jaw-dropping performance, Varijashree takes on John Coltrane’s legendary Giant Steps solo — not on saxophone, but with her voice. Armed with years of classical South Indian training and a fearless jazz sensibility, she scats through Coltrane’s famously difficult changes using a mesmerizing blend of: • 🎶 Konnakol (Indian rhythmic solfege) • 🎵 Jazz scat syllables • 🔁 Polyrhythmic phrasing • 🔥 Coltrane-level velocity This isn’t just a tribute — it’s a transcultural reinvention of one of the most iconic solos in jazz history. If you thought Giant Steps was hard to play… wait ‘til you hear it sung. 🕊️ Follow Varijashree Venugopal for more musi...

  From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack. Sunday, September 7th, 2025. Sonny Rollins turns 95 today. I shot this video with him in 2007 when he was playing some gigs in New Mexico. Sonny Rollins is important because he is one of the most influential tenor saxophonists in jazz history. Key reasons: • Hard bop innovator. He helped define the sound of 1950s hard bop with albums like Saxophone Colossus (1956). • Improvisational mastery. Known for long, spontaneous solos that were structurally coherent and rhythmically inventive. • Standard-setting compositions. He wrote pieces like “St. Thomas,” “Oleo,” “Doxy,” and “Airegin,” now core jazz repertoire. • Bridge figure. Played with Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Clifford Brown, Max Roach, and later embraced freer forms in the 1960s. • Sabbaticals. Famously stepped away from performing (e.g., the “Bridge” period, 1959–61) to practice intensively and reinvent his style. • Longevity. His career spanned seven decades, making him a ...

  This week's Sunday Special.  From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack. Lonnie Liston Smith is a cosmic voyager of sound—a jazz keyboardist, composer, and producer whose work spans spiritual jazz, soul, funk, and fusion. Born December 28, 1940, in Richmond, Virginia, Smith studied music at Morgan State University and started his career playing acoustic piano with jazz heavyweights like Pharoah Sanders, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, and Miles Davis during the late 1960s and early 1970s. But it was with Pharoah Sanders that Smith first tapped into the celestial frequencies that would define his legacy—meditative, transcendent, and deeply rooted in Black spiritual consciousness. His shimmering electric piano can be heard on Sanders’ classic Thembi (1971), where he conjures sonic landscapes that feel more like prayers than compositions. In 1973, he stepped into his own light and formed Lonnie Liston Smith and the Cosmic Echoes. Their albums, especially Expansions (1975), became iconic fo...

  Watch Tedeschi Trucks Band perform “The Letter” live from Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited (LIVE AT LOCKN’) with Leon Russell, recorded in 2015. The first single from the upcoming album, Mad Dogs & Englishmen Revisited (LIVE AT LOCKN’) with Leon Russell, out September 12th on Fantasy Records. Pre-order now and catch the band on the ‘Live In 25’ tour, running through October 25th. https://ffm.to/ttb_lr_maddogs Video from "Learning To Live Together: The Return of Mad Dogs & Englishmen"

Full concert Friday this week, eight days after yours truly saw him live at the Minnesota State Fair, here is Daryl Hall and His Band playing a concert at the fabled, legendary, incredible, awesome, Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2022.  Each video is a chapter of the concert film, an individual tune.  The band lineup is as it was at the Minnesota State Fair concert and features guest appearances on two songs later in the set by Todd Rundgren.   Dreamtime It's Uncanny Problem With You I'm In A Philly Mood Cab Driver Sacred Songs Babs and Babs Here Comes the Rain Again (feat. Dave Stewart) Sara Smile I Can't Go for That (No Can Do) "Wait For Me" (feat. Todd Rundgren) Can We Still Be Friends (feat. Todd Rundgren) Expressway To Your Heart (feat. Todd Rundgren) You Make My Dreams Come True

  From a performance on June 11th, 1976, here is the Metropole Orchestra jazz orchestra, with their great rendition of "April in Paris".  

  From a performance on July 6th, 2025, here are Joe Bonamassa and His Band with special guest, Warren Haynes, from Gov't Mule and The Allman Brothers Band, playing their cover of Freddie King's "Pack It Up".  

  From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack. Pharoah Sanders brings the cosmic fire to Hamburg in this rare 1980 performance at the Subway Club. Joined by pianist John Hicks, bassist Curtis Lundy, and drummer Idris Muhammad, the quartet delivers an electrifying version of Sanders’ original composition “Dr. Pitt”—a spiritual, groove-heavy journey that blends fierce improvisation with deep, meditative soul. 🎷 Pharoah Sanders – Tenor Saxophone 🎹 John Hicks – Piano 🎻 Curtis Lundy – Bass 🥁 Idris Muhammad – Drums Recorded live in Hamburg, Germany, 1980 — this is Pharoah in his prime: fearless, focused, and fully free. Don’t miss this hidden gem of spiritual jazz history.

  From Bret "Jazz Video Guy" Primack. Witness the electrifying performance of David Sanborn and his powerhouse group at the Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival, 1995. Performing “The Dream”, this all-star lineup showcases Sanborn at the height of his expressive powers—his alto sax crying, soaring, and preaching with every note. With guitar virtuoso Dean Brown, keyboardist Richard Perterson, bassist Richard Patterson, and the thunderous Dennis Chambers on drums, this is a masterclass in groove, soul, and high-octane jazz fusion. 🎷 David Sanborn – alto saxophone 🎸 Dean Brown – guitar 🎹 Richard Perterson – keys 🎸 Richard Patterson – bass 🥁 Dennis Chambers – drums More than just a performance, this is a sonic experience—tight, emotional, and unforgettable. 🕊️ David Sanborn (1945–2024): A legacy of sound that continues to inspire.