Charlie Barnett was a popular big band leader and saxophonist in the 1930's and 1940's who was an enthusiastic admirer of Duke Ellington. He was one of the first white band leaders to integrate his band, and his style was so "hep" that he was also one of the few white band leaders who could hold their own with black audiences, accustomed, as they were, to the wide-open swing music of Count Basie and Jimmy Lunceford.
Here he is playing his signature theme, "Cherokee". Note, particularly, the call and response with the trumpet player - whose name I don't know; Bobby Burnet? Johnny Mandel? - about three minutes into the tune (from the 1944 movie, Jam Session).
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That was some toe tappin' good music!
ReplyDeleteRJ: I'll say! Barnet also recorded two other variations on this theme, "Redskin Rumba" which featured some great mute-trumpet work by, I believe, Billy May, and "Pow-Wow", which also has some great, quasi-boppish trumpet (can't remember the name of the trumpeter).
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, Barnet was married eleven times; I think he probably beat even the much-married Artie Shaw on that score.
Married eleven times, eh? Sounds like he played the fiddle as well.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to see about getting some CDs of band music; they would make a great addition to my iPod!
Thanks for the music.
ReplyDeleteHey Paco did you hear this from Artie Shaw? -After she had married Sinatra she asked him once, 'How was the sex, was it good?' Artie replied, 'Baby if it was just that we'd still be together'. Eventually he got her to tell what was on her mind, it was Sinatra, 'In bed he's like a woman'. This was a recent interview just before he died, as Artie commented, 'I thought Sinatra was some kind of stud'.
Weird, huh? Artie Shaw is one of my heroes, musically and everything, but 8 wives all divorced and in the end he lived alone I think, hmmm.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0789600/bio
Ava Gardner. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteHe was talking to Ava Gardner.