Best Jazz CDs - Musicians List / Guide

 In most cases, great music is collective. Just because someone has written a 'decent song' does not mean it's going to make a great recording. It takes WORK & THOUGHT with the right creative people to accomplish this.

                                                                                    TWO MASTERS at work ...

                                                                            THIS IS WHEN THE MAGIC HAPPENS.

                                        We are firm believers that songs do not become famous without GREAT arrangements.

 The struggle to rise above mediocrity and connect.

 Everybody writes today ....

Including VOCALISTS! The world is saturated with music. It seems to me that things were much better when COLE PORTER wrote and FRANK SINATRA sang.

                                                      ALL TUNES DO NOT NEED WORDS!








  The non performing songwriter:  THE MOST UNDER-APPRECIATED PERSON IN MUSIC,
                                                                           AND IN TODAY'S WORLD - THE POOREST.




                            They are just taken for granted. What a shame - it's still about the tune, man!







                                                              JOHNNY MERCER (1909-1976)
                                                                        
                                                                          (Song Lyricist)


           
                                              The words are the hardest part to get right in a song.
                                                This man was the most prolific in American music.

Some world contributions after the Tin Pan Alley                                                                                                   era by composers not known for performing:

         Beyond The Sea

         Hello Dolly

         I Left My Heart In San Francisco

         Mona Lisa

         Nature Boy

         New York, New York

         Send In The Clowns

         Unforgettable

         What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?

         What A Wonderful World

                             _____________________________________________________________

                   Today's odds for unknown writers who do not perform,

                    on getting on a recording, are about a gazillion to 1.

                    When any artist goes into a studio to record, they have

                    the whole music world at their fingertips. All the existing

                    material he's ever heard, dances in his head. He has to

                    do something he's written, plus there are always band

                    members with something they wrote.

                                        It's a CATCH 22 situation

                     Unknown writers have no reputation, because their work has not been

                  heard, and you can't get heard, because you have no reputation.

                              Most established artists will not accept unsolicited material. 

                        I have personally never even heard of a company who just

                        publishes new Jazz. Is this the reason there has only been

                        about a DOZEN songs written after 1970 that the jazz world

                        has accepted as NEW Standards?

                        __________________________________________________________________                                                          

                            We can't blame Rock 'n Roll for everything - Why did it stop?

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 You are listening to the MITCH MARCUS Quintet doing        

         an original Bossa Nova called "The Music Of Love."

  It's about someone who's found real love and wants to keep it forever.

  Mitch Marcus

                                      This is a personal request to

                                       MARK MURPHY, KEVIN MAHOGHANY, KURT ELLING ...

                                           Where are you?

   This is taken from the CD "THE TIME IS NOW."                                                              Mitch Marcus Plays the Music of Jim Miller & Jimmy Scalise (Cy Green.)

Always on the cutting edge with avant garde or free sounding fusion groups,                                                  Mitch leads a STRAIGHT-AHEAD QUINTET on this recording. This has a nice                                                  mix of tunes with some great solo work.

            Mitch Marcus & Sylvain Carton

   Mitch Marcus, tenor sax & piano

   Sylvain Carton, alto sax

   Mike Abraham, guitar

   David Ewell, bass

   Sameer Gupta, drums

   This CD has the tribute to Clifford Brown tune: "CLIFFORD'S CHANT"

                     (Our Vocal Version will be a tour de force omen that will raise Clifford from the dead.)

 Taking on original material from unknown writers is a risk.                                                                                   Given only a short time to prepare, the gentlemen in the                                                                                       Mitch Marcus Quintet take on this task quite admirably.                                                                                           This is not the norm for this saxophonist leader. The music                                                                                      laid down here has a fresh spontaneous feel, unlike anything                                                                                        he's ever done.

There are some very creative solos from all members.                                                                                           "NIGHT CABBIE" is a standout. Guitarists will take note of                                                                                           Mike Abraham on this cut. "PORTRAIT" is a beautiful and                                                                                   penchant work reminiscent of the blue side of Monk.                                                                                              Then there is bassist David Ewell - what a wonderful                                                                                               player he is! Mitch, along with altoist Sylvain Carton,                                                                                            weave their magic throughout this cd for about 62 minutes.                                                                                    Their solos on"CLIFFORD'S CHANT" seem real heartfelt.

It is my wish you do yourself a favor and purchase this.                                                                                           You will not be disappointed. I am personally looking                                                                                           forward to the vocal side of these writers and so should you.

Bill Bohannon , WBEE Jazz Radio Chicago

                                                   The MITCH MARCUS Band was voted

                                           Best Jazz Group in the S.F. Bay area in 2006

                                                          Track listing: All Instrumentals

                                                                           The Time Is Now ........ 4:15

                                                                           Clifford's Chant .......... 7:20 

                                                                            Blues For Nasstaja .... 5:30

                                                                            Forever ................    6:16 (Now playing) 

                                                                            Portrait Of Dagney ..... 9:06

                                                                            Night Cabbie .............. 10:02

                                                                            Sweet Miss Beyette ...  6:25

                                                                            My Joanne ............  6:10  

                                                                            Wentworth Park ......... 4:30

                                                                            Things Ever Splendid .. 3:55

                                                                    All compositions by JIM MILLER & CY GREEN

                                                                      Recorded May 3 & 4, 2005  San Francisco

Not released to the public. Available only from:

Jim Miller                                                                                                                                                                  690 Chesnut St.                                                                                                                                                     Unit 404                                                                                                                                                                      San Francisco, CA 94133                                                                                                                                                                

Send $12 usd        james.a.miller@comcast.net

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         It's too bad Cy & Jim missed out on the Male dominated song era. This is where they fit.                                                                                   

 

 

 

                                        

 

 

 

A special note of gratitude to piano extraordinaire, PAUL COSCINO                          who has played many of our tunes in their infancy.

 ALSO:

Marie Alexandre, Vocalist

Shirley Ammons, Vocalist

Bill Conant, Bassist

Denise Davis, Vocalist

Dawn Geraci, Vocalist

Chante Hamilton, Drummer

Donald Jackson, Bassist

Bob Kupfer, Piano Vocalist

Oscar Lindsay, Vocalist

Pennington McGee, Vocalist

Penny Pendleton,  Bassist

Lee Roland, Band Leader

Jerry 'Doc Smith,  Piano Vocalist

Bryant Taylor, Drummer

Carole Lynn Taylor, Vocalist

Roy Thatcher, Guitarist

John Whitfield, Bassist

Jim Widlowski, Drummer

Norvelle Wilson - (Mrs. Lee Roland), Vocalist

  JAZZ VOCALISTS:  "Any woman I loved mentally and emotionally has eluded me. If a song I wrote is about positive love - it was pure imagination. Being a firm believer for most of my life that anything outside of being in love, or the pursuit of that feeling, is absolutely secondary to everything else."  jimmy s

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Using the word "love" in a song has been passe for quite sometime. Not with Cy - it's back! A man who has lost at it and is not afraid to write about it. He can also spin off some politically incorrect lyrics without batting an eye and the very next song can be written directly to GOD. Choosing the wrong singer for a 'Cy Green lyric' is like asking Bruce Springsteen to do "Baltimore Oriole."

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   Your DONATION will help them get their VOCAL PROJECT started.

                                       1,200 GREAT RECORDINGS

This is the best in modern mainstream music with no fads or extremes. (1935-1990)

Just send what you can afford, and get your JAZZLIST today. The amount is up to you.                                                                                                   

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This WEBSITE was put together to raise funds to record VOCALS of our music. Your donation for our JAZZLIST can really help. Click here  DONATION BUTTON and get it now!

Here are some other titles of 

Cy Green/ Jim Miller tunes:

 Andato

A Part Of My Heart

Come Back Sweet Jesus

Don't Ever Leave Me

Don't Tell Me Lies Again

Fantasy Women

Island Of Our Own

I Was Wrong Again

Oh Chris                                 

Sun Ship

Wacko World

What Can I Do For Your Love?

When We Move In Our Dance

Why Is Love Blue?

 Some will be done on our upcoming VOCAL PROJECT

                                              "Up Close & Personal"

  Artists & Singers looking for something different to add to their CD should

  check this site out:

                                                     newjazztunes

CY GREEN can give new meaning to a simple lyric                                                   with a directness that cuts right through you.                                                

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                                 This was at the height of DISCO ....

Publishers of this material had little or no interest in his solicitations, NOT even letting him submit and therefore heard nothing.

He also worked on the lyrics to the tune "FRED" written by Neal Hefti.  Upon writing Mr. Hefti for permission to send the lyrics to him, he received a gracious note from Neal saying "With all respect to you and Sammy Cahn, I cannot listen to your lyrics." Sammy had also written words to the tune and was turned down.

                                                                    
                                                                 


 
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