by Robert Wilkinson
Today is the birthday of four greats, two very funny troubled comedians and two legendary musicians.
Woody Allen (December 1, 1935) is an comedy genius. Rather than reinvent the wheel, from Wiki “… (Woody is a) screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, author, playwright, and musician whose career spans more than 50 years.
He worked as a comedy writer in the 1950s, writing jokes and scripts for television and publishing several books of short humor pieces. In the early 1960s, Allen began performing as a stand-up comic, emphasizing monologues rather than traditional jokes. As a comic, he developed the persona of an insecure, intellectual, fretful nebbish, which he insists is quite different from his real-life personality. In 2004, Comedy Central ranked Allen in fourth place on a list of the 100 greatest stand-up comics, while a UK survey ranked Allen as the third greatest comedian.”
Richard Pryor (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was a comedy genius as well. He was the best of the best when it came to stand-up comedy, and he also made his mark as an actor, social critic, satirist, and brilliant writer. From Wiki:
“Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time: Jerry Seinfeld called Pryor "The Picasso of our profession,” Bob Newhart has called Pryor "the seminal comedian of the last 50 years." This legacy can be attributed, in part, to the unusual degree of intimacy Pryor brought to bear on his comedy. As Bill Cosby reportedly once said, "Richard Pryor drew the line between comedy and tragedy as thin as one could possibly paint it."
These two were/are very funny guys, despite occasionally very self-destructive behavior. Woody’s still playing clarinet, and Daddy Rich is entertaining in the Great Beyond. A big thanks to both for all the laughs!
It’s also the birthday of the man who created his place in history as the drummer for the Doors. John Densmore (December 1, 1944) has also been a professional dancer, actor, and producer of great theater! He now has a project called Tribal Jazz, and continues to be a musical force to this day. I’ll be doing Jim Morrison’s birthday tribute soon, so that’s when you’ll get John’s work as a drummer with that band.
If you want to know more about what John’s up to these days, here’s John Densmore official site
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Today would also have been the 70th birthday of Jaco Pastorius (December 1, 1951 – September 21, 1987), generally considered the best bass player in history. He was a jazz legend, and died way too young. Because of the lack of time, today I'll give you a few that showcase his amazing talent!
First, here's Weather Report's studio version of "Birdland, which shows off his considerable talent playing "fluid bass." Here he is live in 1978 groovin' high performing "Birdland" Here's the entire live show! Weather Report Live in Germany 1978
He also backed Joni Mitchell for a couple of years! Here's Jaco, Pat Metheny, Michael Brecker and other great talents in an hour and 13 live 1979 show at the Santa Barbara Bowl. Shadows and Light
Here's 58 minutes of Jaco at his best! Jaco Pastorius Live in Montreal 1982 (Thanks, Alexei!)
We'll close this brief tribute with his first solo album, considered a true classic! It begins with "Donna Lee,” and the rest of the tracks will autoload.
For the encore, you've never heard this before! It's a rare clip of Jaco in 1986 playing "Purple Haze" solo on bass!
For our second encore, thanks to Alexei, we have an hour and 25 video of Jaco in Modern Electric Bass explaining his approach to playing. Great stuff!
This year, I found a worthy third encore! This is 19 minutes of outrageously good jazz by Weather Report at the 1976 Montreux Festival. Wow. The first three minutes is some incredible sax by Wayne Shorter, and Jaco makes his first visual a little over 3 minutes in. This is serious jazz! Weather Report with Jaco Pastorius Live in Montreux 1976
So today we send out a big happy to all of you, as you've each given me some amazing moments of laughter and even out of the body experiences of one sort and another!
© Copyright 2023 Robert Wilkinson
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