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Body and Soul
On the 1939 Bluebird recording, the piano offers a brief introduction. Then Hawkins’s tenor comes in, and the familiar melody soon gives way to hints. Listen to how his line keeps moving even when the band’s pace stays easy. He holds on to the shape of the song’s harmony and lets you hear how much can happen inside it.
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Poinciana
On the full performance from At the Pershing: But Not for Me, Vernel Fournier’s drum pattern gives Jamal somewhere to leave his piano hanging. Hear how long he can wait to put the next note down while the groove keeps its shape. Give the trio the full eight minutes to hear how much variety they find in the same pulse.
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Mack the Knife
When the words get away from her on the 1960 Ella in Berlin recording, Fitzgerald sings about what’s happening right there in the room. The band keeps moving and the audience can hear her make the next line up. It’s a chance to hear a singer use timing and an audience to get somewhere the printed song could never take her.
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Afro Blue (feat. Erykah Badu)
Badu’s voice seems to drift freely until you tune in to what the drums are doing underneath. The groove keeps defining a place she can land, and she can take a very long route to it. Mongo Santamaría’s tune still has its clear shape inside a recording you might put on next to contemporary R&B.
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Autumn Leaves
On take 13, the stereo album version from Portrait in Jazz, follow Scott LaFaro’s bass as closely as the piano. He moves into the gaps Evans leaves, and sometimes both are developing an idea at once. You can hear the three players decide, in motion, how much of the tune they need to spell out.
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Lullaby of Birdland
Vaughan makes the leaps in George Shearing’s melody sound as natural as speech. Listen for the moment she leaves the words behind and uses syllables to keep swinging with the band. The voice can carry the song and then join the conversation as another instrument.
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My Favorite Things
The soprano saxophone can state the show tune in a few breaths. The group takes its time with what follows, lingering over repeating patterns in minor and major. Each return to the melody tells you where you are after you’ve spent a while listening to how the quartet moves around it.
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I Loves You, Porgy
Simone gives each plea time to settle before she moves to the next. Her piano keeps the pace measured, and a slight change in the weight of her voice can feel enormous. You can hear the scene from Porgy and Bess as something a person is struggling to say to someone close.
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Without a Song
A relaxed tempo leaves Rollins room to try short remarks and long runs in the same breath. Listen to the lighter sound of Jim Hall’s guitar beside the tenor. Even when Rollins stretches a phrase far beyond where you expect it to stop, the band makes it easy to hear the next time around.
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The Trolley Song
Salvant keeps the delight of the song from Meet Me in St. Louis, but listen to how much attention she gives to the little sounds along the way. Words imitate the trolley and the singer’s racing heart. Each change of emphasis gives those familiar sounds a fresh jolt.
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My Funny Valentine
On Chet Baker Sings, Baker stays close to the melody in a soft, remarkably steady voice. Listen to how little he does to dress up the small criticisms in the lyric. The affection comes through in the care he takes with the pace, as if this were a conversation he wanted to keep private.
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All the Things You Are
Follow the ride cymbal and bass when Jarrett’s piano starts taking longer trips away from the melody. They keep the recording moving at a pace where he can set a phrase loose and still return to a familiar turn in the song. Put this on when you want to hear a trio swing through complicated harmony.
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In Your Own Sweet Way
Montgomery gives Brubeck’s melody a rounded attack, with enough room for one note to linger as the next arrives. Pay attention to the shifts between short, clear notes and longer runs. Even when the guitar moves quickly through the changes, you can hear the shape of the line.
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What a Diff'rence a Day Made
Belford Hendricks’s strings give this recording a soft sweep. Washington sings through it with such clean diction that you can follow how she treats individual words. Listen to which ones she leans on before she lets the line rise. The arrangement sounds grand, but the voice keeps the feeling close.
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Can't Get Out Of This Mood
The title sounds like a complaint until Joy starts playing with where the words land. A rich low note can hold the thought in place, while the end of the line skips ahead. The pleasure she takes in the rhythm makes getting stuck sound like an appealing predicament.
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