Song Of The Day: Jan. 7, 2018
This elegiac farewell to Lester Young was composed by Charles Mingus shortly after Prez’s death, and appeared on his essential Mingus Ah Um album. The musicians:
Charles Mingus, bass
Horace Parlan, piano
Dannie Richmond, drums
John Handy, Booker Ervin, Shafi Kadi, tenor sax
Doesn’t get more mournful or beautiful than this:
Nice to see jazz on a Sunday morning. I’m listening to Johnny Hodges right now. Maybe some Lester Young later.
Love this one, it’s got that just hang in the air ambience and always reminds me of Bill Evans “At the Village Vanguard” session. Dreamy and oh so cool.
Joni Mitchell wrote lyrics for this and did her version on the “Mingus” album, with Jaco Pastorius on bass.
https://youtu.be/q_9QfYIaoTQ