Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagy Carmichael wrote the melodies behind Stardust, Georgia on My Mind, The Nearness of You and Heart and Soul, songs that moved from hot jazz of the 1920s into the permanent repertoire of popular and jazz singers.
He came up through Midwestern jazz circles and wrote for dance bands before settling into Tin Pan Alley and Hollywood. Lazybones and Skylark with Johnny Mercer, Rockin' Chair for Louis Armstrong, and film songs such as Ole Buttermilk Sky show the range from bluesy shuffle to easy ballad. He sang his own material in a laconic, slightly nasal voice that the microphone suited, often at the piano as a wry musical philosopher. The songs keep inviting fresh improvisation, whether as a modern jazz ballad or opened up between two grand pianos.
Compositions by Hoagy Carmichael appear on
Unanimity
Two grand pianos, one disc: Bob Sedergreen and Tony Gould, leading Australian jazz improvisers, in a rare live duo of spontaneous piano performance.
About Time
Drummer Mark Lockett's debut About Time gathers a strong Melbourne jazz front line for modern standards and one original, telling fresh stories in the spirit of Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers.