Your Antidote to Obsessively Melancholy Music!

Gifts & Messages is here to rescue you from depressing news and to cure what ails you! After a rollicking opening segment from Hank Crawford, Vanessa Rodrigues, Brice Winston and Leslie Odom Jr., we continue to celebrate Sonny Rollins -his first recordings with the Clifford Brown-Max Roach Quintet. Then, it's the always sublime Stephane Grappelli, this time with piano giant Earl Hines for three tracks from an absolutely essential session. Once we get going with Earl, it's hard to stop: a trio with Monsieur Bechet & Fatha's big band. We feature two more American Pianists Association award winners (Aaron Diehl and Dan Tepfer), and then three generations of trumpeters (Woody Shaw, Dave Douglas and Etienne Charles). We finish with a lullaby from Don Pullen.

Enjoy the show (I did!).

Playlist

• Hank Crawford "Down on the Deuce" from Down on the Deuce (Milestone) 00:00
• Vanessa Rodrigues "Marble Rye" from Soul Project (self produced) 06:53
• Brice Winston "Spur of the Moment" from Child's Play (Criss Cross) 14:21
• Leslie Odom Jr. "Look for the Silver Lining" from Leslie Odom Jr. (S-Curve) 24:33
• Clifford Brown, Max Roach "Gertrude's Bounce" from Brownie (EmArcy) 28:52
• Clifford Brown, Max Roach "Step Lightly" from Brownie (EmArcy) 33:36
• Clifford Brown, Max Roach "Powell's Prances" from Brownie (EmArcy) 37:10
• Stephane Grappelli, Earl Hines "Fine and Dandy" from The Giants (Black Lion) 40:45
• Stephane Grappelli, Earl Hines "Manhattan" from The Giants (Black Lion) 45:03
• Stephane Grappelli, Earl Hines "Over the Rainbow" from The Giants (Black Lion) 49:54
• Sidney Bechet "Blues in Thirds" from Classic Earl Hines Sessions 1928-1945 (Mosaic) 53:34
• Earl Hines "Second Balcony Jump" from Classic Earl Hines Sessions 1928-1945 (Mosaic) 57:40
• Aaron Diehl "Generation Y" from The Bespoke Man's Narrative (Mack Avenue) 1:00:50
• Aaron Diehl "Nardis" from Live at Caramoor (self-produced) 1:08:05
• Dan Tepfer "Road Runner" from Eleven Cages (Sunnyside) 1:16:36
• Dan Tepfer "All the Things You Are/Canon at the Octave" from Natural Machines (Sunnyside) 1:22:48
• Woody Shaw "Stormy Weather" from Imagination (32 Jazz) 1:26:48
• Etienne Charles "Moko Jumbie" from Carnival: The Sound of a People, Volume 1 (Culture Shock) 1:35:19
• Dave Douglas "Goldfinger" from A Thousand Evenings (RCA Victor) 1:41:00
• Don Pullen "Ode to Life" from Random Thoughts (Blue Note) 1:45:18