Marian McPartland who brought Piano Jazz to the world for many years. One of the best ever was Bill Evans.
Love jazz.
And yes, love Sarah and Ella. I witnessed Sarah Vaughan at the Village Vanguard in 1970. It was her birthday on a Monday evening, when the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis big band had their weekly gig. She was sitting in the audience. The Vanguard is a claustrophobic place. A seventeen piece big band has no rational reason to be shoehorned into that venue. But that's where this band played every Monday.
And talk about jazz luminaries. Jerry Mulligan, Pepper Adams, Clark Terry, Rollin Hannah, etc., etc., etc.
On this night Johnny Carson was filming his Tonight Show live, so Clark Terry (a principle in Doc's Tonight Show band) could not perform. His fill in was... none other than Dizzy Gillespie. Thad Jones asked Sarah to share the small stage with the band. What resulted was an absolutely amazing performance, with Thad and Sarah trading riffs -- Sarah scatting, Thad tooting on the flugelhorn. Needless to say, it was a memorable night. I went to the Vanguard often that summer, but I will never forget that evening when everything just clicked.
As Duke Ellington wisely said, "When the music sounds good, it
is good."
Indeed, it was very good that night.
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