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A Jazz Immuno-Booster: Part 1

By Ludovico Granvassu | Mondo Jazz
March 23, 2020
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We may still be months away from developing vaccines to tame the threat that COVID19 poses to our bodies. But given the centrality of the mind-body connection for our physical well being, we should not forget that we continue to have music to support our minds during these challenging times.

So I have reached out to the very people that have been providing us with this life-line, musicians, and have asked them to share one song they rely on when they need to be uplifted, or soothed.

The first installment of this mix-tape series features selections by

Yilian Canizares

violin
b.1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Yilian Canizares,

Nels Cline

guitar, electric
b.1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Nels Cline,

Caroline Davis

saxophone
b.1981

" data-original-title="" title="">Caroline Davis,

Dave Douglas

trumpet
b.1963

" data-original-title="" title="">Dave Douglas,

Ryan Keberle

trombone
b.1980

" data-original-title="" title="">Ryan Keberle,

Jordan McLean

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Jordan McLean,

Ernst Reijseger

cello
b.1954

" data-original-title="" title="">Ernst Reijseger,

Ned Rothenberg

saxophone
b.1956

" data-original-title="" title="">Ned Rothenberg,

Roberto Ottaviano

saxophone, soprano
b.1957

" data-original-title="" title="">Roberto Ottaviano,

Mauro Ottolini

sousaphone
b.1972

" data-original-title="" title="">Mauro Ottolini,

Becca Stevens

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Becca Stevens, and

Alicia Waller

vocals

" data-original-title="" title="">Alicia Waller.

Not surprisingly, the selections include lots of soulful and spiritual music—and a bit of a comfortingly-retro tinge—from

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane to

Aretha Franklin

vocals
1942 - 2018

" data-original-title="" title="">Aretha Franklin, from

Ella Fitzgerald

vocals
1917 - 1996

" data-original-title="" title="">Ella Fitzgerald and

Louis Armstrong

trumpet and vocals
1901 - 1971

" data-original-title="" title="">Louis Armstrong to

Stevie Wonder

vocals
b.1950

" data-original-title="" title="">Stevie Wonder.

For details on the tunes see the playlist below. If you're curious about the rationale behind these choices, here is what the selectors had to say [comments listed in chronological order, by reference to the songs they refer to].

Ned Rothenberg

My recommendation is

Aretha Franklin

vocals
1942 - 2018

" data-original-title="" title="">Aretha Franklin's "Spirit in the Dark": gospel fervor without the Christian compulsions.

Yilian Canizares

Whenever I play "Feeling Good" by

Nina Simone

piano and vocals
1933 - 2003

" data-original-title="" title="">Nina Simone I feel immediately better. I simply love the hope and the strength that this song makes me feel.

Becca Stevens

How can I not smile when hearing this song, or reading its lyrics? It speaks to the beauty and breathlessness of embracing the unknown, how time stops when you allow yourself to smile in the face of fear, and most of all, falling head over heels in love with a bee [smiles]: "When a bee lies sleepin' / In the palm of your hand / You're bewitched and deep in / Love's long looked after land. Where you'll see a sun up sky / In the mornin' dew / And where the days go laughin' by / When love comes callin' on you. Sleep on, bee, don't waken / Can't believe what just passed / He's mine for the takin' / I am so happy at last. Maybe I dream but he seems sweet / Golden as a crown. A sleepin' bee done told me / I'll walk with my feet off the ground / When my one true love I have found."

Alicia Waller

Without hesitation, the song for me is the 1968

Max Roach

drums
1925 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Max Roach recording of "Effi," a

Stanley Cowell

piano
1941 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">Stanley Cowell composition. Every once in a while you hear something that makes you excited about life, which makes you excited about making music. This recording of this song did it for me. When I first heard it, I couldn't stop listening to it for months. I hadn't heard anything that "alive" in a while and it inspired me to get my first record together. These 6 minutes remind me, without fail every single time, that the possibilities for music-making are endless, and that we can paint almost anything with sound... which is a sunny enough realization for me.

Jordan McLean

Coltrane's "Welcome" jumped to my mind when I was searching for that feeling of being lifted. Not just spiritually, but physically being lifted up by a recording. The simplicity and universally of the melody and the power of the performance make it one of those "perfect" tracks, of which Coltrane has so, so many. This work has the same effect on me as a Mahler symphony, a Fela Africa 70 record, or an original

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman Quartet recording. The ultimate in connecting with the best parts of being human.

Nels Cline

"Greeting to Saud (Brother McCoy Tyner)" might seem like an odd choice since Pharoah doesn't even play saxophone on this song. It's a feature for pianist Joseph Bonner dedicated to the great (and now sadly, late)

McCoy Tyner

piano
1938 - 2020

" data-original-title="" title="">McCoy Tyner, and is a blissful yet powerful swirl of bells, tamboura, pizzicato violin... Meditative and always uplifting. Another tune that has a very positive effect is

Jim Hall

guitar
1930 - 2013

" data-original-title="" title="">Jim Hall's "Secret Love." Versions of this song exist both on the classic Jim Hall Live! (A&M/Horizon) and in a box set released decades later, Jim Hall Live Vol. 2-4 (Artist Share). Possessing a breezy latin feel, both versions are remarkable examples of Jim Hall and his Trio's remarkable level of artistry and invention. The combination of the song itself and what these men—especially Mr. Hall, of course—do with it makes me smile every time.

Ernst Reijseger

Dollar Brand's "Gwidza (In Memory Of Campbel Gwidza)" feels like a magical South African Gospel piece, which then turns wild with a virtuoso middle-section showacasing Dollar Brand's rhythmic left-hand groove on top of a completely independent melody. The piano has metal pins on the hammers because probably the felts on the hammers were too old. The result is very similar to a harpsichord. The sound is amazing and uplifting.

Sean Bergin

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Sean Bergin and I discovered this tune at the time when we were the "house band" at Amsterdam's Melkweg, a gig we held from between 1976 and 1980.

Mauro Ottolini

I chose the rendition of "April in Paris" by Ella and Satchmo because it is an endorphin booster. It is full of pathos... pure magic. Despite being a wispered song, it really swings!

Ryan Keberle

I could have picked any number of Elis Regina recordings here. Her music reflects the joy, passion, and love with which she lived her life and is an inspiration to me on many levels. Other picks could have been

Milton Nascimento

guitar and vocals
b.1942

" data-original-title="" title="">Milton Nascimento's "Tudo Que Voce Podia Sera" from Clube da Esquina and

Maria Schneider

composer / conductor

" data-original-title="" title="">Maria Schneider's "Hang Gliding."

Caroline Davis

"Nobody Else but Me" is a beautiful song with an interesting form. Celebration of being true to yourself! I love

Gerald Clayton

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Gerald Clayton's solo rendition of it!

Dave Douglas

Without even hesitating, for me the go-to-song for these times is

Stevie Wonder

vocals
b.1950

" data-original-title="" title="">Stevie Wonder's "Have a Talk with God."

Roberto Ottaviano

I love all music genres, but jazz has been a revelation, my master-key for the world. In jazz I can hear literature, mathematical formulas, athletic exercises, anecdotes that are told by the fireplace, poetry, song and ritual dance, diplomatic confrontations or the protests of the squares, the material to learn from, and the art of seduction... in short, humanity. When I put on "After the Rain" by

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane I am able again to orient myself in this ocean, often in storm, which is our life. The same goes with "Shoe Shine Boy" by

Lester Young

saxophone
1909 - 1959

" data-original-title="" title="">Lester Young, "Peggy's Blue Skylight" by

Charles Mingus

bass, acoustic
1922 - 1979

" data-original-title="" title="">Charles Mingus, "Alabama" or "Infant Eyes" by

Wayne Shorter

saxophone
1933 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Wayne Shorter or "Kathelin Gray" by

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman.

Playlist

Ned Rothenberg: Aretha Franklin "Spirit in the Dark" Spirit in the Dark (Atlantic) 0:00
Yillian Canizares: Nina Simone "Feeling Good" I Put a Spell on You (Phillips) 3:59
Becca Stevens:
Nancy Wilson
vocals
1937 - 2018
" data-original-title="" title="">Nancy Wilson,
Cannonball Adderley
saxophone
1928 - 1975
" data-original-title="" title="">Cannonball Adderley "A Sleepin' Bee" Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderley (Capitol) 6:52
Alicia Waller:
Max Roach
drums
1925 - 2007
" data-original-title="" title="">Max Roach "Effi" Members, Don't Git Weary (Atlantic) 9:25
Jordan McLean:
John Coltrane
saxophone
1926 - 1967
" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane "Welcome" Kulu S�� Mama (Impulse!) 15:37
Nels Cline:
Pharoah Sanders
saxophone, tenor
1940 - 2022
" data-original-title="" title="">Pharoah Sanders "Greeting To Saud (Brother Mccoy Tyner)" Elevation (Impulse!) 20:58
Ernst Reijseger:
Dollar Brand
" data-original-title="" title="">Dollar Brand "Gwidza (In Memory Of Campbel Gwidza)" Underground in Africa (Soultown) 25:01
Mauro Ottolini:
Ella Fitzgerald
vocals
1917 - 1996
" data-original-title="" title="">Ella Fitzgerald,
Louis Armstrong
trumpet and vocals
1901 - 1971
" data-original-title="" title="">Louis Armstrong "April in Paris" Ella and Louis (Verve) 29:35
Ryan Keberle:
Elis Regina
vocals
b.1945
" data-original-title="" title="">Elis Regina "Madalena" Ela (Philips) 36:05
Caroline Davis:
Gerald Clayton
piano
" data-original-title="" title="">Gerald Clayton "Nobody Else but Me" The Paris Sessions (EmArcy) 38:40
Dave Douglas:
Stevie Wonder
vocals
b.1950
" data-original-title="" title="">Stevie Wonder "Have a Talk with God" Songs in the Key of Life (Tamla/Motown) 43:16
Roberto Ottaviano:
John Coltrane
saxophone
1926 - 1967
" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane "After the Rain" Impressions (Impulse!) 45:57

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