Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Linda Ciofalo was born on August 28, 1972 in New York City, New York. She began singing from a very early age, first appearing in public at the age of nine. The music at this time in her life was traditional church music but later, after deciding upon a career as a singer, she studied at the Juilliard School of Music.
Encouraged by educator Howlett Smith to explore jazz, Linda studied at jazz workshops, learning from singers such as Sheila Jordan and Mark Murphy. She also performed with Murphy, as well as pianist Barry Harris.
In the mid-80s her professional career was launched when she was chosen from three hundred applicants to sing with a big band. Although her chosen field is jazz, Ciofalo has also sung with reggae and rock bands, and has performed in the musical theatre. Her performances take her from small clubs to festivals, and is mainly centred on the East Coast states.
Vocalist Linda Ciofalo, who is also an accomplished songwriter, sings a wide-ranging repertoire, incorporating sultry ballads and raunchy blues songs.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jeanie Barton was born on August 18, 1978 in London, England. She spent years as a principal in the National Youth Music Theatre, then studied jazz harmony at Morley College in London as well as improvisation with BBC Jazz award winner Anita Wardell. She also cut her teeth as a singer for bebop pioneer Laurie Morgan’s trio, fronting their famous North London weekly gig, Downstairs at The King’s Head in Crouch End for over a decade.
She went on to support Georgie Fame, as well as backing vocals for Luddy Samms of The Drifters. Barton has performed for Samuel L Jackson, Shirley Bassey, and Pierce Brosnan. She has sung at The Jazz Cafe, The 606 Club, Ronnie Scott’s and The National Theatre, as well as a Parisian cruise on the Seine and the Cannes Film Festival.
Vocalist Jeanie Barton was voted Best Newcomer at the Marlborough Jazz Festival 2015, and in addition writes for the London Jazz News and Nottingham Live, formally the Nottingham Post.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Fay Victor was born on July 26, 1965 in Brooklyn, New York City. After spending her early childhood years in New York, Zambia, and Trinidad & Tobago, her mother settled in Long Island, New York where she spent her teenage years. After her mother’s sudden death, she re-discovered music and singing, and after a three-month stint at a club in Fukui City, Japan with pianist Bertha Hope, she decided to start a career as a jazz singer.
In 1996, Fay settled in Amsterdam, The Netherlands and performed and toured through the country, as well as Spain, Germany, the UK, Sweden, Russia, and India. While living in the Netherlands, Victor branched out into blues, songwriting, and forms of improvising outside the standard jazz canon.
Returning to the States in 2003, Victor has made her home in New York City. She has worked with the likes of Randy Weston, Roswell Rudd, Anthony Braxton, Misha Mengelberg, Vijay Iyer, Tyshawn Sorey, Wadada Leo Smith, Nicole Mitchell, Marc Ribot, Martine Syms, Daniel Carter, William Parker, Darius Jones, Wolter Wierbos, Ab Baars, Joe Morris, Sam Newsome, and Reggie Nicholson.
Victor has coined the term “freesong” to describe her vocal approach. In her jazz repertoire, he has specialized in the work of Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman, and Herbie Nichols.
Vocalist, composer, lyricist, and educator Fay Victor, who originally sang in the traditional jazz field, has expanded her repertoire to include blues, opera, free improvising, avant-garde, modern classical music, and occasional acting, continues to perform and record.
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The Quarantined Jazz Voyager
The Quarantined Jazz Voyager’s next selection from his library is the 1962 album release Lena Horne titled Lena On The Blue Side. This studio album, released by RCA Victor in stereo and monaural. The recording took place in New York City in the summer of 1961.
The album features mainly blues-inspired songs, a departure for Horne from her usual standards, and recordings from the Great American Songbook. The recordings were arranged and conducted by Marty Gold.
The album was received well by the music press and Billboard Music Week of February 1962 rated it with a four star. Charting in the Billboard 200 album chart at #102. The complete album has only been reissued on CD in Japan in 1991.
Track List | 33:39Paradise ~ 3:40; The Rules Of The Road ~ 3:36; Darn That Dream ~ 2:41; I Wanna Be Loved ~ 3:02; I Hadn’t Anyone Till You ~ 2:45; Someone To Watch Over Me ~ 3:41; It’s A Lonesome Old Town ~ 2:32; I’m Through With Love ~ 2:58; What’ll I Do ~ 1:57; It Might As Well Be Spring ~ 3:30; They Didn’t Believe Me ~ 2:15; and As You Desire Me ~ 3:02.
Personnel- Lena Horne – Vocals
- Andy Ackers – Piano
- George Duvivier – Bass
- Al Caiola – Guitar
- Osie Johnson – Drums
- Bernie Glow, Mel Davis – Trumpet
- Sy Berger, Tony Studd – Trombone
- Strings
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Hollywood On 52nd Street
What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life? is a song with lyrics written by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman and original music written by Michel Legrand for the 1969 film The Happy Ending. The song was nominated for an Academy Award For Best Original Song but lost out to Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head.
Alan Bergman would recall that after Michel Legrand had written eight melodies that were somehow not viable for the film, Marilyn Bergman suggested the opening line “What are you doing the rest of your life?”, and Legrand then completed the song’s melody based on that phrase.
Marilyn Bergman would later comment on the double meaning of the phrase “What are you doing the rest of your life?” within its parent film: as the romantic theme song’s title the question overtly references the marriage proposal Mary Spencer (played by Jean Simmons) received and accepted sixteen years earlier but, as Mary’s present-day angst becomes apparent, “What are you doing the rest of your life?” is recast as a question Mary must ask herself.
What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life? was sung in The Happy Ending by Michael Dees whose version was included on the film’s soundtrack album. The Story
1953: Through the course of a Colorado autumn and winter, Mary Spencer (Simmons) and Fred Wilson (Forsythe) lead an idyllic existence. Mary drops out of college (with 6 months to go) to marry Fred. Their perfect wedding mirrors the happy endings of the films Mary loves. However, there are no fairytale happy endings and sixteen years later Mary is off to find her happiness, leaving behind her husband and daughter, which she eventually does despite her mother and her husband’s pleas.
