Friday, May 1, 2009

BLAST FROM THE PAST: BILLIE HOLIDAY & LESTER YOUNG ON "THE SOUND OF JAZZ"

This afternoon at the Blue Note, Nat Hentoff was interviewing John Pizzarelli as a part of the Blue Note Interview Series with Nat Hentoff. Hentoff was talking about an association with Robert Herridge (producer/host of CBS' "The Sound of Jazz") that lead to his involvement in the following video, recorded for "The Sound of Jazz." Hentoff described how Lester was feeling ill but summoned the energy to stand in the shot. Billie Holiday had tears in her eyes during Lester's solo, as you can see here, and according to Mr. Hentoff, so did he, Heriddge, the camerman, and almost everyone else who was there. It's now considered one of the most famous "live jazz" performances in TV history. Other members of the band were Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Gerry Mulligan, Roy Eldridge, Doc Cheatham, Vic Dickenson, Danny Barker, Milt Hinton and Mal Waldron. Enjoy.

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