In A Mellow Tone, March 27: Songs for My Father
A spinning-vinyl show with my co-host Heavy Ben
Once a month or so, the co-hosts of In A Mellow Tone do a collaborative show. This month Heavy Ben and I will be spinning vinyl in the studio.
This week my father turns 92, so my vinyl selections are a celebration of the occasion. I will be playing the first side of the Horace Silver Quintet’s, “Song For My Father”. I’ll also be playing a side of the album “Bird of Paradise” by Sadao Watanabe and The Great Jazz Trio. Sadao Watanabe is also in his early 90s (born in 1933) and is still recording and performing. I’m going to end with a few tracks from an album I remember listening to as a teen - “Two Decades of Jazz”.
Here’s a live version of Song For My Father - Horace Silver’s best known song.
And, hard to believe, but it was 50 years ago that Steely Dan used the opening riff from Song For My Father in their song Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.
Sadao Watanabe
Sadao Watanabe is a Japanese sax player. Bird of Paradise was released in 1979 and featured The Great Jazz Trio - a great trio indeed, with Ron Carter on bass, Hank Jones on piano, and Tony Williams on drums.
Sadao Watanabe released his first album in 1961 and recorded an album in December 2023 that will be released in April, called Peace.
Jazz of Two Decades
I remember this album from my teen years. I think it contributed to my love of jazz (that, as well as listening to Ron Sweetman, the original host of In A Mellow Tone). I am planning on spinning four tracks from the album, if we have the time:
“Inside on the Southside” by Bud Freeman and His Orchestra
“Johnson and Turner Blues” by Big Joe Turner
“Night Wind” by the Billy Taylor Trio with Johnny Hodges
“Battle of the Saxes” by Coleman Hawkins
You can listen live at 9 to 11 p.m. on March 27, or on demand shortly after broadcast.