Jazz Compositions » "Bossa Beguine"

"Bossa Beguine" is a jazz composition written by the legendary pianist/composer Oscar Peterson. I couldn't find detailed information on web about when/where/how/etc. did Oscar Peterson composed this piece.

Probably it first appeared on the album: "Oscar Peterson - Blues Etude (PolyGram)." According to the liner notes of this album, track was recorded December 3, 1965 (Oscar Peterson on piano, Ray Brown on bass, Louis Hayes on drums) and published by Tomi Music Company (BMI).

Jazz Compositions» "The Jody Grind"

Jazz Compositions: "The Jody Grind"

"The Jody Grind" is a jazz composition by pianist/composer Horace Silver. It's the opening track of the album:
"Horace Silver Quintet/Sextet - The Jody Grind (recorded 1966)"
.
It first recorded & appeared on this album also; as we learn from critic Leonard Feather's sentence in the liner notes:
"On the title number he (Horace Silver) composed for this set, ..."

Jazz Compositions: "Soul Eyes"

"Soul Eyes"

"Soul Eyes" is a jazz standard written by jazz pianist/composer Mal Waldron in 1957. It's usually performed as a "ballad". It was first recorded in March 22, 1957; and first released at the same year on audio album:
"The Prestige All Stars: Interplay for Two Trumpets and Two Tenors (Prestige 7112)"

"Soul Eyes" is recorded by numerous artists; some of them are: John Coltrane, Archie Shepp, Mal Waldron, Oliver Jones, Abbey Lincoln, Oliver Jones, Kenny Burrell, Art Farmer, Stan Getz, Kenny Barron, Art Farmer, Ernie Watts, McCoy Tyner and Jimmy Ponder.

Jazz Compositions: "But Beautiful"

"But Beautiful"

"But Beautiful" is a popular jazz ballad, performed by many artists.
It was scored by composer Jimmy Van Heusen and lyricist Johnny Burke, who collaborated for over a dozen years and produced dozens of hits and award-winning songs.

Notes by Chris Tyle (Jazz Musician and Historian)
Tenor saxophonist Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis was the first jazz player to record this tune in 1947. His version is a nice ballad reading of the number, illustrating his appreciation of Coleman Hawkins. He would revisit the number, in a longer version, in 1958; by that time his style was completely his own.

Jazz Compositions: "Route 66" (~wikipedia)

"Route 66"

"(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66", often rendered simply as "Route 66", is a popular song and rhythm and blues standard, composed in 1946 by American songwriter Bobby Troup. It was first recorded in the same year by Nat King Cole, and was subsequently covered by many artists including Chuck Berry in 1961, The Rolling Stones in 1964, and Depeche Mode in 1987. The song's lyrics follow the path of the U.S. Route 66 highway, which used to run a long distance across the U.S., going from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California.

Jazz Compositions: "Besame Mucho"

"Besame Mucho"

"Besame Mucho" (english: Kiss me a lot) is a Spanish-language song written in 1940 by Mexican songwriter Consuelo Velázquez.

Inspiration
According to Velázquez herself, she wrote this song even though she had never been kissed yet at the time, and kissing as she heard was considered a sin.

She was inspired by the piano piece "Quejas, o la Maja y el Ruiseñor" from the 1911 suite Goyescas by Spanish composer Enrique Granados, which he later also included as Aria of the Nightingale in his 1916 opera of the same name. ~wikipedia

Jazz Compositions: "Take Five" (~wikipedia)

"Take Five" is a jazz piece written by Paul Desmond and performed by The Dave Brubeck Quartet on their 1959 album Time Out. Recorded at Columbia's 30th Street Studios in New York City on June 25, July 1, and August 18, 1959, this piece became one of the group's best-known records, famous for its distinctive, catchy saxophone melody and use of the unusual quintuple (5/4) time, from which its name is derived.

Jazz Compositions: "Mona Lisa" (~wikipedia)

Mona Lisa (Nat King Cole song)

"Mona Lisa" is a song written by Ray Evans and Jay Livingston for the Paramount Pictures film Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950). It won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for 1950. The arrangement was by Nelson Riddle and the orchestral backing was played by Les Baxter and his Orchestra. The soundtrack version by Nat King Cole spent eight weeks at number one in the Billboard singles chart in 1950. Also, Cole's version of the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1992. The Billboard sales charts of 1950 also showed significant sales on versions by Dennis Day and Harry James. In 1986, it was used as the theme to the British film Mona Lisa. An uncredited version of Mona Lisa plays in the background of one scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954). The song was used in the wedding scene of the NBC mini-series, Witness to the Mob, in 1998.

Jazz Compositions: "Well, You Needn't"

"Well, You Needn't" is a jazz standard composed by Thelonious Monk in 1944. According to Robin D.G. Kelley in his seminal biography "Thelonious Monk: the Life and Times of an American Original" the title was inspired by a protegé of Monk's, the jazz singer Charlie Beamon; Monk wrote a song and told Beamon he was going to name it after him, to which Beamon replied "Well, you needn't". ~wikipedia

Jazz Compositions » "The Pink Panther Theme"

"The Pink Panther Theme"

"The Pink Panther Theme" is an instrumental composition by Henry Mancini written as the theme for the 1963 film "The Pink Panther" and subsequently nominated for the 1964 Academy Award for Original Music Score. The cartoon character created for the opening credits of the movie by David DePatie and Friz Freleng was animated in time to the tune.The soloist of this song was Plas Johnson.

Jazz Compositions: "All of Me"

Jazz Standards: "All of Me"

"All of Me" is a popular song and jazz standard written by Gerald Marks and Seymour Simons in 1931.

First performed by Belle Baker over the radio and recorded in December 1931 by Ruth Etting, it has become one of the most recorded songs of its era, with notable versions by Russ Columbo, Bing Crosby, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Mildred Bailey, Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson in 1941, The Count Basie Orchestra, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, Frankie Laine in 1947, Della Reese, Johnnie Ray, Django Reinhardt, Erroll Garner, Willie Nelson, Jean Frye Sidwell, João Gilberto (Disse Alguém), Michael Bublé and The Rockin' Berries. In an episode of the 1970s television show Sanford and Son, Redd Foxx (joined by Scatman Crothers on guitar) sings a short but memorable version. "All of Me" is also performed in the Muppet Show episode with The Greasy Gopher singing along with a mandolin. The song is featured prominently in the 1984 Steve Martin/Lily Tomlin film of the same name.

Jazz Compositions: "Body and Soul"

"Body and Soul" is a popular song written in 1930 with lyrics by Edward Heyman, Robert Sour and Frank Eyton; and music by Johnny Green.

History
"Body and Soul" was written in London for Gertrude Lawrence and was first recorded by Jack Hylton and his orchestra. Rising quickly to popularity, Libby Holman introduced it in the U.S. in the 1930 Broadway revue Three's a Crowd and it was used as the theme to the 1947 film, Body and Soul. Like many pop songs of the time, it became a jazz standard, with hundreds of versions performed and recorded by dozens of artists. As with many pop standards, there are variations on the lyrics, primarily between renditions by male and female performers. Classic vocal recordings include those of Ella Fitzgerald, Annette Hanshaw, Billie Holiday, Billy Eckstine and Frank Sinatra.