Ben E. King: "Stand By Me" (Live - 1987)

Live at the Montreux Jazz Festival 1987.
Ben E. King - vocal; Philip Stancill - MD, Keyboards; Allen Gaz Gaskell - tenor sax, guitar; Mickey Kearns - baritone sax; Tony McConnell - tenor sax; Bob Hardy - keyboards; Klaus Steinbeck - bass; Steve Grant - drums.

"Stand by Me" is the title of a song originally performed by Ben E. King and written by Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller.

According to the documentary History of Rock 'n' Roll, Ben E. King had no intention of recording the song himself when he wrote it. King had written the song for The Drifters, who passed on the chance to record it. It was not until after the "Spanish Harlem" recording session that he had some studio time left over. The session's producers, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, asked if he had any more songs and King played "Stand by Me" on the piano for them. They liked it and called all the studio musicians back in to record it. The song was not released on an album until it had been out as a single for two years. After those two years the song appeared as track seven on King's Don't Play That Song.

Accoeding to wikipedia, King's version went to number one on the R&B charts and was a Top Ten hit on the U.S. charts twice—in its original release in 1961, when it peaked at #4, and a 1986 rerelease coinciding with its use as the theme song for the movie of the same name following its appearance in the film, when it peaked at #9, and also in an advertisement for Levi Jeans. It also reached #1 on the UK Singles Chart in 1987 after its re-release, mostly due to the jeans spot, originally reaching #27 on its first release.

"Stand by Me" was ranked number 121 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 1999, BMI named it as the fourth most-performed song of the 20th century, with about 7 million performances.


- Lyrics:

When the night has come, and the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we will see
No, I won't be afraid, oh, I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
So darlin', darlin' stand by me
Oh stand by me
Oh stand, stand by me, stand by me

If the sky that we look upon should tumble and fall
Or the mountain should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no, I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darlin', darlin' stand by me
Oh stand by me
Whoa stand now, stand by me, stand by me
*Solo*

And darlin', darlin' stand by me
Oh stand by me
Oh stand now, stand by me, stand by me

If the sky that we look upon should tumble and fall
Or the mountain should crumble to the sea
I won't cry, I won't cry, no, I won't shed a tear
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
And darlin', darlin' stand by me
Oh stand by me
Whoa stand now, stand by me, stand by me
So darlin', darlin' stand by me
Oh stand by me
Oh stand now, stand by me, stand by me
Whenever you're in trouble won't you stand by me
Oh stand by me
Whoa stand now, oh stand, stand by me..

Miles Davis: "Human Nature" (1985)

* First Video: Miles Davis Best Cover




* Second Video: Original Version





** Note: Second Video is the Last Video of Michael Jackson (R.I.P), Performing Original Version "Human Nature", The Video Clip is Taken from "This Is It".


"Human Nature" is a song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was written by Steve Porcaro and John Bettis and produced by Quincy Jones. It is the fifth single from the singer's sixth solo album, Thriller (1982). Initially, Porcaro had recorded a rough demo of the song on a cassette, which was then given to Jones. Enjoying the demo, Jones had the ballad included on the Thriller album. The song was the last selected for the album, ousting "Carousel" from the final track listing.

"Human Nature" was released on July 3, 1983, as the album's fifth single. Although not released in the UK, the song achieved chart success in the US. Reaching number two on Billboard's Hot Adult Contemporary chart and number seven on the Hot 100, the song became Jackson's fifth Top 10 hit from Thriller. In New Zealand the single reached number 11. The ballad garnered many positive reviews from music critics. "Human Nature" has been covered and sampled by numerous artists, including Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, SWV, Nas, Jason Nevins, Alicia Keys and Boyz II Men.

Miles Davis included a cover version of the song on his album You're Under Arrest in 1985.

Tex Beneke & the Glenn Miller Orchestra: "In The Mood" (1946)

Tex Beneke and the Glenn Miller Orchestra perform the jazz classic: "In The Mood" (1946)

"In the Mood" is a song popularized by the American bandleader Glenn Miller in 1939, and one of the best-known arrangements of the big band era. Miller's rendition topped the charts one year later and was featured in the 1941 movie Sun Valley Serenade. The song is an anomaly to chart purists. "In The Mood" was released in the period immediately prior to the inception of retail sales charts in Billboard magazine. While it led the Record Buying Guide (jukebox list) for 13 weeks and stayed on the Billboard charts for 30 weeks, it never made the top 15 on the sheet music charts, which were considered by many to be the true measure of popular song success. The popular Your Hit Parade program ranked the song no higher than ninth place, for one week only (1940).

In accordance with wikipedia, The Glenn Miller 1939 recording on RCA Bluebird, B-10416-A, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1983. The recording by Glenn Miller is one of the most recognized and most popular instrumentals of the 20th century. The song even appeared in The Beatles "All You Need is Love" #1 single in 1967 and in the Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers rendition in 1989, "Swing the Mood", a no. 1 smash around the world. A version was also released as V-Disc 842B in May, 1948 by Glenn Miller and Overseas Band by the U.S. War Department.

It opens with a now-famous sax section theme, and is joined by trumpets and trombones after 13 counts. It has two main solo sections; a "tenor fight" solo—in the most famous recording, between Tex Beneke and Al Klink—and a 16-bar trumpet solo. It is also famous for its ending.

Fans of the British sci-fi series Doctor Who know "In the Mood" as the song played at the end of the Ninth Doctor episode The Doctor Dances. Another Glenn Miller song, Midnight Serenade, is also featured.

John Coltrane: "Alabama - Jazz Casual"

John William Coltrane (sometimes abbreviated "Trane"; September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was beatified by the African Orthodox Church as Saint John William Coltrane.


Working in the bebop and hard bop idioms early in his career, Coltrane helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz and later was at the forefront of free jazz. According to wikipedia, he was prolific, organizing at least fifty recording sessions as a leader during his recording career, and appeared as a sideman on many other albums, notably with trumpeter Miles Davis and pianist Thelonious Monk. As his career progressed, his music took on an increasingly spiritual dimension. His second wife was pianist Alice Coltrane, and their son Ravi Coltrane is also a saxophonist.


He influenced innumerable musicians, and remains one of the most significant tenor saxophonists in jazz history. He received many awards, among them a posthumous Special Citation from the Pulitzer Prize Board in 2007 for his "masterful improvisation, supreme musicianship and iconic centrality to the history of jazz."

Ella Fitzgerald: "Summertime"

Ella Fitzgerald sings Gershwins "Summertime" at a concert in Berlin - Germany.

"Summertime" is an aria composed by George Gershwin for the 1935 opera Porgy and Bess. The lyrics are by DuBose Heyward, the author of the novel Porgy on which the opera was based. According to wikipedia, the song soon became a popular and much recorded jazz standard, described as "without doubt... one of the finest songs the composer ever wrote....Gershwin's highly evocative writing brilliantly mixes elements of jazz and the song styles of blacks in the southeast United States from the early twentieth century."

here are some 15,000 different recorded versions of the song. In September 1936, a recording by Billie Holiday was the first to hit the national pop charts, reaching # 12. Other notable recordings include those by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald in 1957, Sam Cooke in 1961, and Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding Company on the 1968 album Cheap Thrills. The most commercially successful version was by Billy Stewart, who reached # 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966.


- Lyrics:

Summertime, and the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin' and the cotton is high
Oh! Your Daddy's rich and your Ma is good lookin'
So, hush little baby, don't you cry . .

One of these mornin's you're gonna rise up singin'
Then you'll spread your wings, and you'll take to the sky
But 'till that mornin' there's a nothin' can harm you,
with Daddy and Mammy standin' by . .

But 'till that mornin' there's a nothin' can harm you,
with Daddy and Mammy standin' by . .

Harlem in Montmartre: Notes on the French Contribution to Jazz

Charles Hobson, producer of the PBS Great Performances program Harlem in Montmartre, brings to The New School the story of the jazz age in Paris between the First and Second World Wars, a fascinating but neglected piece of African American history. Inspired by William A. Shacks book of the same title, his documentary contains rare archival performance footage of James Europe, Josephine Baker, Sidney Bechet, Bricktop, Eugene Bullard, Django Reinhardt, and many more.


Using photographs and film clips from the 1920s and 30s, Mr. Hobson discusses his film and the extraordinary role played by French artists and intellectuals in advancing the acceptance of jazz as a serious art form. Fridays @ One is supported by a bequest in memory of Estelle Tolkin. Sponsored by the Institute for Retired Professionals.

Location: Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnhold Hall, 55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor.
02/19/2010 1:00 p.m.