This Week: Grande Dames of Jazz

Tonight on Miles to Go, faithful intern Sam Mashaw brought us plenty of soulful selections from the greatest jazz singers of all time: Billy Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Nina Simone (pictured left, center, and right, respectively).

Livening our program further was our homage to Dizzy Gillespie, who would've celebrated his 82nd birthday yesterday (21 October 2010). Gillespie was known for wailing on his bent trumpet while looking as though he was about to burst (see photo, left), and served as both inspiration and teacher to some of the best-known horn players of all time, from Miles Davis to Chuck Mangione.

Interspersed amongst these magnificent leading ladies were tunes from other great jazz names past and present, as well as a few names you might be surprised to find included in a jazz program (such as Pomplamoose and Andrew Bird). Here's a look at the full array of what we laid down tonight:

1. Baby, Don't You Go Away Mad - Ella Fitzgerald
2. My Baby Just Cares for Me - Nina Simone
3. Misty - Billie Holiday
4. Nature Boy - Pomplamoose
5. Autumn in New York - Dexter Gordon
6. Autumn Serenade - John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman
7. A Night in Tunisia - Dizzy Gillespie
8. Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac - Dizzy Gillespie
9. Sinnerman - Nina Simone
10. Blue Skies - Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong
11. What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
12. Birdland [Live from King Street, San Francisco] - Buddy Rich
13. Strange Meadowlark - The Dave Brubeck Quartet
14. Ides of Swing - Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire
15. Baby, It's Cold Outside - Nina Simone & Ray Charles
16. Feelin' Good - Nina Simone
17. Spiral - John Coltrane
18. Georgia on my Mind - The Oscar Peterson Trio
19. God Bless the Child - Billie Holiday
20. Bewitched, Bothered, & Bewildered - Ella Fitzgerald
21. I Cried for You - Billie Holiday
22. When I Fall in Love - Miles Davis

Talk-over music came courtesy of Booker T. & The MG's, The Modern Jazz Quartet, The Oscar Peterson Trio, Air, Louis Armstrong, Sonny Rollins, Young Holt Unlimited, The Walter Wanderly Trio, Medeski Martin & Wood, and The Kenyon College Kokosingers.

As per usual, for a rundown of the Miles to Go playlist each week, keep your browsers here, and for the best jazz et al. around, keep your radios (or your iTunes) tuned to WKCO 91.9 FM!