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Straight No Chaser - A Jazz Show


Welcome to Straight No Chaser, the Award-winning Podcast hosted by Jeffrey Siegel

Jun 18, 2012

Paul McCartney’s latest CD, Kisses on the Bottom (insert rear end joke here) was not really a jazz record, but with support from Diana Krall and her band, including Christian McBride, it was above-average Standards crooning. Calling it “the songs which inspired the songs”, he selected tunes that a young McCartney heard his father playing on piano when growing up in Liverpool.

Now at the age of 70, the man called “Macca” has attempted almost every type of music in his musical career, from rock and pop to oratorio and electronica. Putting aside his voluminous songwriting artistry, his skills arranging and producing, McCartney's musicianship is what sets him apart from most rockers of his day. Accomplished on many instruments, whether on a Martin acoustical guitar (“Yesterday”) or at the key board of a baby grand (“Hey Jude”), his craftsmanship excels. His vocal range and styling have, at least in their prime, moved a ballad with feeling and the blues with grit. His bass line on that iconic Hofner bass played almost as the lead was a driving foundation, the glue that held together the Beatles sound.

Having put together "Jazzin' On" tributes to John Lennon and George Harrison, and a 70th birthday podcast for John, it seemed this birthday was a splendid time to whip up a “Jazzin’ on Paul” podcast, which features Macca compositions from his Beatles and solo career, including:

Nelson Rangell – “Let It Be”

McCoy Tyner – “She’s Leaving Home”

Holly Cole – “I’ve Just Seen a Face”

Jaco Pastorius – “Blackbird”

London Jazz Four – “Paperback Writer”

John Pizzarelli – “When I’m Sixty-Four”

Brad Mehldau – “Martha My Dear”

Ralph Towner – “Here, There and Everywhere”

Herbie Mann – “You Never Give Me Your Money”

Phoebe Snow - "Every Night"

Corinne Bailey Rae - "My Love"

Freddie Hubbard - "Uncle Albert/Adminral Halsey"

Jazz Crusaders - "Hey Jude"