Remembering saxophone great Sonny Stitt on his birthday

Raising a glass to Sonny Stitt – born Edward Hammond Boatner Jr. in Boston – with a few stellar performances. 

Happy 95th Birthday Sonny Rollins!

Cheers to the amazing Sonny Rollins, the last man standing. Here are some 1949 recordings and a recent interview.

Happy Birthday Carol Kaye!

Celebrating the birthday of Wrecking Crew bass boss Carol Kaye with her funky 1995 mini-LP.

LINKS

PKM Carol Kaye: The boss of bass guitar

J.J. Johnson vs. Nat King Cole

With help from arranger Frank De Vol and an uncredited orchestra, J.J. Johnson jazzed up Nat King Cole's 1956 swinger "To The Ends Of The Earth" 

Previously unheard outtakes from J.J. Johnson soundtrack sessions released

Family Groove's collection Themes and Cues for Movies & Television gathers intriguing snippets recorded by J.J. Johnson back in the 70s. 

Here's the scoop...
Very few composers have a legacy spanning over four decades with as much versatility, vigor and brilliance as J.J. Johnson. The iconic trombonist recorded hundreds of ground-breaking sessions across virtually every sub-genre of jazz – beginning with the Benny Carter and Count Basie's orchestras in the 40s to his early 50s sessions with Charlie Parker & Miles Davis to his legendary late 50s bebop recordings on Columbia, Prestige, Savoy & Blue Note Records, through his hard bop sessions with Stan Getz for Verve into the 1960s. In 1970, Quincy Jones convinced J.J. Johnson to leave New York for Los Angeles. Given his previous accomplishments, it was perhaps inevitable that the trombonist/composter/arranger would be creating memorable audio landscapes for film & television, notably Across 110th Street with Bobby Womack, Trouble Man with Marvin Gaye, Willie Dynamite with Martha Reeves and Cleopatra Jones with Joe Simon.

These recently discovered audition reels focus on the early 1970s era ranging from full orchestral movements to strange and quirky Moog arrangements. Family Groove Records has issued these previously unheard compositions as Themes and Cues for Movies & Television in a limited vinyl edition of 500 copies available here. Listen to a sampling below.