Jazz Casual: Count Basie/ Dizzy Gillespie/ John Coltrane

Live Music Performances And Interviews

Count Basie performs here in a quartet context.The casually attired, chain smoking legend improvises on the spot and reminisces with producer/host Ralph Gleason.He shows you a side of himself that completes the picture of one of the godfathers of jazz. (Air date: May 6, 1968)
Count Basie - Piano
Norman Keenan - Bass
Sonny Payne - Drums
Freddie Green - Guitar
Performances: I Don't Know, Handful Of Keys, Untitled, Squeeze Me, Twenty Minutes After Three, I'm Gonna Love You As Long As I Live, If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight, National Educational Television Blues.

The usually ebullient Mr. Gillespie is rather reserved here, but as always his playing is stunning.He would continue to play well into the '90s, but his middle-period work, as captured in this Jazz Casual episode, is remembered fondly by many as some of his most important and enjoyable. (Air date: January 17, 1961)
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie - Trumpet
Lalo Schifrin - Piano
Leo Wright - Saxophone
Chuck Lampkin - Drums
Bob Cunningham -Bass
Performances: Norm's Norm, Lorraine, Blues After Dark, Tocatta From Gillespiana

It was his comfort with, and trust in, Ralph Gleason that got John Coltrane to perform on this show.For those of us who saw him live in his prime, this is a pleasant reminder of just how magnificent and singular an American artist John Coltrane was.For many, the "golden age" of jazz came to an end when Trane died at so young an age. (Air date: January 4, 1964)
John Coltrane - Saxophones
McCoy Tyner - Piano
Jimmy Garrison - Bass
Elvin Jones - Drums
Performances: Intro Theme: National Educational TV Blues, Afro Blue, Alabama, Impressions