Ramsey Lewis - Legends of Jazz - Showcase - 2006

In June 2006, for the first time in more than forty years, live jazz music returned to national television with "Legends of Jazz." A new weekly performance series on PBS hosted by jazz great Ramsey Lewis, each show would have a theme ("The American Songbook," "The Piano Masters," "Latin Jazz," etc.) and feature live and uncut musical performances by top artists. And in the span of only a few short episodes, "Legends of Jazz" certainly lived up to its name. Appearing together -- some for the first time -- guests included Tony Bennett, Al Jarreau, Keb' Mo', David Sanborn, Chris Botti and Robert Cray.

But I enjoyed every one of these performances, though some more than others. Since I'm not much of a "scat" man, I generally preferred the slower, more moody numbers. Chris Botti's take on the standard "My Funny Valentine" was elegant, even sans vocals, while "Mumbles" turned me into a Clark Terry fan, even though I'd never heard of him before. Jane Monheit gives a lovely vocal performance on "They Can't Take That Away from Me," and then there is Robert Cray, who I just love to watch play, along with Keb' Mo', tearing through "12 Year Old Boy." Loved it. 55 minutes of different jazz artists!

Ralph Towner and Gary Peacock - International Jazz Festival, Viersen, Germany - 1997

Ralph Towner is an American acoustic guitarist. Unlike most jazz guitarists, Towner eschews amplification, using only 6-string nylon-string and 12-string steel-string guitars. As a result, he tends to avoid high-volume musical environments, preferring small groups of mostly acoustic instruments that emphasize dynamics and group interplay. Both with Oregon and as a solo artist, Towner has made significant use of overdubbing, allowing him to play piano (or synthesizer) and guitar on the same track; his most notable use of the technique came on his 1974 album Diary, in which he plays guitar-piano duets with himself on most of the album's 8 tracks. In the 1980s, Towner began using the Prophet V synthesizer fairly extensively, but has since deemphasized his synthesizer and piano playing in favor of guitar.lso plays piano, synthesizer, and trumpet.
Gary Peacock (born 12 May 1935 in Burley, Idaho) is an American jazz double-bassist.After military service in Germany, in the early sixties he worked on the west coast with Barney Kessell, Bud Shank, Paul Bley and Art Pepper, then moved to New York. He worked there with Bley, the Bill Evans trio (with Paul Motian), and Albert Ayler's trio with Sunny Murray. There were also some live dates with Miles Davis, as a temporary substitute for Ron Carter.Peacock spent time in Japan in the late 1960s, abandoning music temporarily and studying Zen philosophy. After returning to the United States in 1972, he studied Biology at the University of Washington in Seattle, and taught music theory at Cornish College of the Arts from 1976 to 1983. In this dvd both collaborated with their unrelenting performances. Great compositions. Champion of Chamber Music quality. Full 25 minutes of very relaxing music....