Prime Time Jazz - a WTJU special (Part 2)

I hosted a special 3-hour program as part of the 2017 Jazz Marathon/Station Fund Drive for WTJU. Jazz on TV followed up the follow-up to my program last year, Jazz on Film.

The focus was on legit jazz created (or sometimes repurposed) for TV shows. Part 1 featured music from the late 1950s and early 1960s.

While that was the heyday, there were still some jazz scores in the following decades on network TV.

Mike Post

Not everything Post wrote was jazz, but there were a few scores that qualified. He created the signature sound for Law & Order (1990-2010). Like 77 Sunset Strip, the show spawned its own spinoffs: Law & Order Special Victim’s Unit (1999 - ), Law & Order Criminal Intent (2001-2011) Law & Order, Trial by Jury (2005-2006), Law & Order LA (2010-2011). While the themes varied, all began with that "CHUNG-CHUNG" sound. Mike Post also wrote the theme to "LA Law" (1986-1994). While some may consider the sax solo smooth jazz, jazz it remains -- especially in the long version of the theme.


LA Law was another long-running program to feature a Mike Post theme. From 1986-1994 viewers heard David Sanborn's opening sax riff. My listeners got to hear the entire solo.

Late Nights

In the early days, jazz bands were the standard for late night talk shows. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962-1992) featured Doc Severinsen and his orchestra. The band included monster players such as Tommy Newsome (sax), Conte Candoli (trumpet), and Ed Shaughnessy (drums).  Here's Johnny made a fortune for its composers -- Johnny Carson and Paul Anka.


Saturday Night Live (1975-) had an impressive number of important jazz musicians in their ranks. SNL band alumni include Paul Shaffer (keyboards), G.E. Smith (guitar), David Sanborn (sax) Michael Brecker (sax). Paul Shaffer left SNL to lead the "The World's Most Dangerous Band" for Late Night with David Letterman. (1982-1993)

Angela and Barney Miller

Keyboardist Bob James is credited with one of the most iconic themes of the early 1980s. The theme to Taxi (1978-1982) is a Bob James chart called Angela. Equally well-known was the bass solo of session musician Chuck Berghofer. It begins the theme to Barney Miller (1975-1982).

Quincy Jones

The prolific Quincy Jones wrote many movie and TV themes. Time constraints limited me to just two. Ironside holds the distinction of being the first TV theme to use a synthesizer. And Streetbeater is better known as the theme to Sanford and Son (1972-1977).

And more

I also included classics such as the theme to Route 66, Night Court, and even Seinfeld. Listeners got to hear the swinging Count Basie score to M Squad (arranged by Johnny Williams), and its parody, t Ira Newsom's Police Squad! theme.



I also aired Lalo Schifrin playing the theme to Mannix, though I didn't have time to include anything from Mission Impossible.

But I did save time to end with my favorite jazz TV score -- the theme to Jonny Quest. Hoyt Curtain wrote many swinging themes for Hanna Barbara - the Flinstones, the Jetsons, Top Cat, Wally Gator, and so on. But Jonny Quest may be the best.

Session trombone players were complaining that their parts weren't very challenging. So Curtain wrote a theme that's virtually impossible to play on the instrument and laughed as they sweated through take after take. If you listen very carefully, you'll hear them struggle through the opening bars.


It was a fun program, and we raised some money for WTJU. I had fun, and we raised some funds. That's what I call a successful radio program.

Prime Time Jazz - a WTJU special (Part 1)

I hosted a special 3-hour program as part of the 2017 Jazz Marathon/Station Fund Drive for WTJU. Jazz on TV followed up the follow-up to my program last year, Jazz on Film.

The focus was on legit jazz created (or sometimes repurposed) for TV shows. Although the bulk of jazz TV soundtracks came from the late 1950s and early 1960s, the genre continued to have outstanding contributions through the present day.

Didn't hear the program? Here's what you missed:

77 Sunset Strip - Birth of a franchise

Movie composer Max Steiner and Jack Halloran wrote the score for this LA-based detective show. During its six-year run (1958-1964), the program spawned three spin-offs. Each one was set in a relatively exotic locale, with its own musical identity.

77 Sunset Strip (starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. and Roger Smith) featured a jive-talking valet parking attendant, "Kookie Kookson" (Edd Byrnes). The soundtrack was a mix of hep jazz with a hint of early rock n' roll. It was a winning combo - the soundtrack album made the top 100 for 1959.



Hawaiian Eye premiered a year later, with Tracy Steele, Robert Conrad, and Connie Stevens as a singer in a local club. Stevens sang somewhat traditional pop numbers, but the instrumental score was Martin Denny-style exotica.

Bourbon Street Beat only lasted one season (1959-1960). The soundtrack, while jazzy, didn't quite capture the essence of the Big Easy. But there was some street cred. In addition to Richard Long and Andrew Duggan, the show featured a jazz pianist. This recurring role was played by Eddie Cole, Nat King Cole's brother.




Surfside 6 was set in Miami, with an opening theme by Mack David and Jerry Livingston. The program ran from 1960-1962, and -- at least to the best of my research -- didn't have much in the way of music.

Henry Mancini and John Williams

Mention jazz on TV and most people immediately think of Peter Gunn. Peter Gunn (Craig Stevens) was a cool detective whose office was a table at Mother's, a jazz club. Two successful LPs of the music from "Peter Gunn" were issued during the show's three-year run (1958-1961). Musicians included jazz stalwarts such as Pete Candioli (trumpet), Red Mitchell (bass), Shelly Manne (drums), and Johnny Williams (piano).

Johnny Williams also played the jazz organ for Mancini's Mr. Lucky soundtrack. Though only lasting two seasons (1959-1960), the show also produced two popular LPs.




Johnny Staccato (1959-1960) tried top Peter Gunn by having their detective be a jazz pianist. Elmer Bernstein wrote a hard-driving West Coast jazz score, and Johnny Williams' piano playing was dubbed in for actor John Cassavetes.



In the late 1950s, TV westerns were on the decline and detective shows on the rise. Shotgun Slade (1959-1961) tried to split the difference. Though set in the west of the 1880s, this show about a private detective used a modern jazz score. Gerald Fried wrote the music, arranged by Johnny
Williams.



Williams moved from arranger to composer for Checkmate (1960-1962). Created by Eric Ambler, it featured an elite private investigator firm that specialized in blocking crimes before they happened. The soundtrack was suitably sophisticated and cool. Williams would eventually come to be known as "John" rather than "Johnny" and write soundtracks for "Star Wars," "Jaws," "Raiders of the Lost Ark," and many, many other films.

"Got a Little Rhythm" has a lot of fun

It's always fun when friends get together to make music. And that's exactly what this intimately-recorded release sounds like. Pianist John Musto and soprano Amy Burton are a husband and wife team, steeped both in Broadway and classical music traditions. Baritone Patrick Mason is a long-time collaborator with both Musto and Burton, and the easy camaraderie of these three comes across in the release.

Many singers stick to the Great American Songbook when performing an album of show tunes, but mercifully that's not what happens here. Sure, there are some standards such as George Gershwin's "Fascinating Rhythm" and Vernon Duke's "Autumn in New York."

But this trio goes deeper into the repertoire, coming up with some unusual gems like "I'll See You in C-U-B-A" by Irving Berlin and "Faithful Forever," by Ralph Robin and Leo Rainger.

I'm used to the singing style of Broadway's current crop of full-throated performers. Initially Burton and Mason's voices sounded a little thin to me. After a couple of numbers, though, I began to appreciate the subtleties their restraint brought to the songs.

It sounds like"Got a Little Rhythm" was a lot of fun to record. I'm glad Bridge Records let us sit in on the fun.

Got a Little Rhythm
Amy Burton, soprano; Patrick Mason, baritone; John Musto, piano
Bridge Records 9430

David Ian: Valentine's Day -- Jazz stylings for that special day

Valentine's Day
David Ian
Prescott

Looking for the perfect soundtrack for a romantic evening at home? Jazz pianist David  Ian's "Valentine's Day" may be just what you're looking for. Ian assembles a collection of romantic standards from the Great American Songbook and presents them with his affable piano stylings.

A number of guest vocalists are on hand. Some, like Andre Miguel Mayo and Talitha Walters-Wulfing, are alumni from Ian's Christmas album.
By using different singers, and using them sparingly, Ian keeps the album's sound interesting and consistent. As a soundtrack to an intimate evening, Valentine's Day is ideal -- with one caveat.

There's a bonus track, "Sweet By and By" with gospel singer Russ Taff. Taff's voice is quite rough compared to the other singers, and the song itself an odd choice. Think about it -- the message of this gospel song is that we'll all be reunited after death. Talk about a mood killer.

Skip the bonus track and save the evening.