Word: songbooks
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Guitarist John Scofield is no stranger to the Cambridge jazz haven Regattabar, but when he returns to the Charles Hotel’s fabled lounge for a two-night stand, he will abandon his usual frantic and funky post-bop for the deep soul of Ray Charles’ songbook...
Perhaps therein also lies the answer to why Jack's ratings in many cities dip after its first two months. It soon dawns on the Gen Xers that their cool, eclectic music collection is actually the new American songbook, just as their snarky cynicism is the generic spawn of David Letterman. Worse yet, the big news being hidden behind Jack's robotic wall of attitude is this: Jack is the new oldies. Therefore, we all must be getting...
...DIED. BOBBY SHORT, 80, cabaret performer whose combination of swank elegance and boyish exuberance became a symbol of Manhattan sophistication, drawing glitterati from Woody Allen (who featured Short in two movies) to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor; in New York City. His Great American Songbook repertoire included stylish, raspy celebrations of Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Duke Ellington and Fats Waller. After first playing professionally at the age of 11 as the "Miniature King of Swing," he became a fixture for 36 years at New York's Carlyle Hotel Cafe, where he would have opened its 50th anniversary season...
Charlap himself is coming into bloom these days, after years of paying his dues as a musician's musician. His deepest ardor is for the works of classic songwriters like Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Richard Rodgers--the so-called Great American Songbook. In the annals of composition, he maintains, "these songs represent a new blueprint for a truly American style. They will always be vital and au courant, as timeless as Beethoven." Over the past few years, with his trio mates, Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washington (no relation) on drums, Charlap has built on that blueprint...
Meantime, Charlap is planning his next songbook exploration, an all-Gershwin album with his trio plus four horn players. And he has just finished a CD for Angel Records on which he forms a duo with, yes, his mother. (It's a family affair, since it includes two songs composed by his father.) Charlap, who plays occasional cabaret gigs with his mother, credits her as a major musical influence, particularly on his phrasing: "I find myself hearing her voice in my head. After all, I've been listening to her ever since I can remember...