Park Hill resident and three- time Grammy winner Dianne Reeves heard that George Clooney was interested in hiring her to appear in and sing on the soundtrack for “Good Night and Good Luck,” his saga about Edward R. Murrow and the McCarthy era. All she needed was an audition tape. So she opted for the do-it-yourself method.
“I had my own home movie camera. He wanted me to sing ‘How High the Moon’ really slow and give instructions to my band. He asked me to do what I do. Nothing out of the ordinary.”
The result: Reeves is something of a singing narrator for the film, and the new CD, “Good Night and Good Luck” (Concord) serves as a luxurious set of standards that goes beyond the typical soundtrack fare. It’s nothing short of a follow up to “A Little Moonlight” from 2003, which also presented a set of comfortably interpreted standards.
The film uses period songs “that had a kind of double meaning,” Reeves said, including “Straighten Up and Fly Right” and “I’ve Got My Eyes on You.” “The songs are definitely part of what’s going on in the film.”
Reeves worked closely with Clooney, who directed and co-wrote the film (he also co-stars) and served as sound-
track’s executive producer. Clooney is the nephew of the late jazz diva Rosemary Clooney, and Reeves was happy to discover that Rosemary was an admirer of her vocal skills.
“We talked about her a lot,” said Reeves of conversations with Clooney. “He told me road stories about her, and that she really loved my singing.”
Out of the closet
A newly available live date from saxophonist John Coltrane will be available on Tuesday. It’s saturated with vintage ’60s risk taking and pure energy.
“One Down, One Up: Live at the Half Note” (Impulse) was, according to the press release, “discovered in a Coltrane family closet.” That must be some massive closet, considering that the master died 38 years ago. Recorded at New York’s famed Half Note club in 1965, lo-fi bootleg versions of this material have been circulating for years, but Coltrane collectors need to hear the “classic” quartet (pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones) blazing through these extended versions of “My Favorite Things” and the title cut in crisp sound.
Apparently there was a tape recorder around every time Coltrane picked up his horn in 1965, but that wasn’t the case in 1957, during his relatively brief tenure with piano genius Thelonious Monk. That makes the new “Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall” (Blue Note) a surprisingly happy (and historic) jazz discovery. Coltrane learned much about opening up harmonically and expanding the boundaries of his improvisations from Monk, who sounded “far-out” then but simply comes off as brilliant and accessible now.
Set list
Saxophonist Joshua Redman brings his Elastic Band to the Boulder Theater tonight … “Jazz on the Mezz” returns to the Hotel Boulderado on at 5:30 p.m. Wednesdays with the Diamond Weyl Jazz Showcase … journeyman soprano saxophonist Dave Liebman appears with his Big Band at the CU-Denver Concert Hall on Thursday, and pianist Stanley Cowell is slated for two nights at Dazzle this Friday and Saturday … drummer Dafnis Prieto’s group plays at the Mount Vernon Country Club Oct. 19 with saxophonist Peter Apfelbaum, who has a trippy new CD, “It is Written” (ACT).
Bret Saunders’ column on jazz appears every other Sunday in A&E. Saunders is host of the “KBCO Morning Show,” 5:30-10 a.m. weekdays at 97.3-FM. His e-mail address is bret_saunders@hotmail.com.
