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It's nearly Father’s Day! To celebrate, we invited the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra to share some of their favorite tunes that touch on the theme of fatherhood.
Sherman Irby recommended Dizzy Gillespie playing “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” from his album Have Trumpet, Will Excite! and Carlos Henriquez reminded us of the song he wrote for his dad called “Guajeo de Papi” on his album A South Bronx Story. Wynton Marsalis offered Louis Armstrong’s “I’m a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas” and Herbie Hancock’s “Tell Me a Bedtime Story” from Fat Albert Rotunda because “my father loved to play that song.”
A few JLCO members also had stories about the songs they added to the playlist:
Chris Crenshaw:
“I thought about Wayne Shorter’s ‘Infant Eyes’ because my daughter Jazzlyn waited for me to drive from Jersey to Augusta, GA to be born. Ten minutes after she was born, she opened her eyes as I held her, and I was the first thing she saw in her young life.”
Kenny Rampton:
“The song ‘Bags' Groove’ by Milt Jackson was one of my Dad’s favorite tunes. My dad, Roger Rampton, was the first-call percussionist in Las Vegas for decades and the vibraphone was what he really loved playing. I used to play with my dad when I was a kid and remember playing ‘Bags' Groove’ with him more times than I can count. He passed away many years ago, but still to this day, every time I hear that song, I think of my father, Roger Rampton.”
Vince Gardner:
“My father Burgess Gardner was a trumpet player from Greenville, Mississippi who started playing gigs at 13 but didn’t start playing jazz until he was blown away by Clifford Brown. He was never able to see him in person, but stylistically my Dad always had some of the sound of his early idol in his playing. Clifford Brown and Max Roach recorded a song called ‘Flossie Lou’ that, without asking him about it for years, I always thought sounded like something my dad would have played. Many years later I asked him about it, and he said it was the first Clifford Brown solo he learned. That song has always been his ‘theme music’ to me.”
Marcus Printup:
“I composed a song for my father, Bobby Printup, called ‘Deddy’s Blues.’ This song is very special in a few ways. ‘Deddy’ (we don’t say ‘daddy’ in Georgia!) had a mean whistle! I heard him whistling this melody one day. It was in a 12-bar blues form!! I transcribed the phrase and made it into this song. Notice where the pitch bends in bar 9-10. That is how he whistled! I recorded this a few years later with Ben Williams on bass. When Deddy passed in 2013, the JLCO attended his funeral in Conyers, GA. (We marched a second line to the cemetery!) I performed ‘Deddy’s Blues’ with Dan Nimmer. It was truly special. I also wrote and recorded this song for Deddy after he passed. It is called ‘To the Mountaintop.’ The beginning was a spontaneous church vibe. This song represents him receiving his victory from his God. He made it to the mountaintop!!”
Thank you to the JLCO for a phenomenal season of music and for continuing to inspire with these stories and songs. Shout out to all the "Pops" on Father's Day.
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