New Day Jazz
Justin Desmangles
France and Bones will be sitting in for Justin on New Day Jazz this Sunday. The entire three hours will be devoted to the great "Mr. B", Harry Belafonte! Guided by his autobiography, titled My Song: A Memoir of Art, Race, and Defiance, we will be traveling through the genres of music which touched him throughout his lengthy career. (Wait till you hear his back-up band for his professional debut.) It is not only a musical journey, but a political mirror of the quest for civil rights in America and the world. Often, HB was the force behind the idea, using his influence and resources as a power for good.
"All of us see the world as it exists; fewer see what it might look like if made to change; and fewer still try to put together the people and ideas that make change happen. Paul Robeson was one; Martin Luther King, Jr. was one; Bobby Kennedy became one. And, of course, Nelson Mandela. I had just enough vision to see that they were visionaries, and to do what I could to help."-Harry Belafonte
Genre
Jazz
Missed the Show?
| Artist | Song | Album | Label | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lester Young | How High The Moon | Live at the Royal Roost | Charly, 1948 | Prez urged actor HB to sing |
| Charlie Parker | Jumpin' with Symphony Sid (DJ who broadcast live radio from the Roost) | Complete Live, Roost | Savoy, 1949 | HB's b/u for 1st gig: Parker, Al Haig, Max Roach, Tommy Potter |
| Stan Getz | Pennies From Heaven (Sung in HB's 1st gig, @ Royal Roost) | Storyville | Roulette, 1951 | Al Haig, p; arr.song for HB's 1st gig |
| Gillespie/Parker | Groovin' High | Live, Town Hall (prod. by Monte Kay's New Jazz Foundation, who gave HB his 1st gig) | Uptown, 1945 | Diz's reworking of "Whispering" |
| Harry Belafonte | Whispering | The Early Years | Capitol, 1949 | |
| Machito & his Afro-Cuban Orchestra | Holiday Mambo | Complete Masters 1951,2 | Columbia | b/u band for HB's 1st Roost Records single, w/ a song he later recorded |
| Boysie Grant | Solas Market | V/A Mento Madness | V2 N. America | HB reworked into Kingston Market |
| Lord Flea's Calypsonians | Naughty Little Flea | Swingin' Calypsos | Capitol, 1957 | Belafonte rec. 1961 |
| Lord Fly | Swine Lane Gal/Iron Bar | V/A Mento Madness | V2 N. America | HB reworked into Cocoanut Girl/Day-O |
| Josh White | Jim Crow | Free & Equal Blues | Smithsonian Folkways,1944 | HB was called "the next Josh White" |
| Odetta | No More Auction Block For Me | Ballad for Americans | Vanguard, 1960 | "The voice of the civil rights movement"-HB |
| Josh White | Freedom Road | Free & Equal Blues | Smithsonian Folkways,1944 | to words by Langston Hughes. |
| Paul Robeson | Scandaliz' My Name | Peace Arch Concerts (across WA /Canada border) | Folk Era Records, 1953 | HB prod. for his mentor when PB's passport revoked |
| Leon & Eric Bibb | Deep River | Praising Peace-A Tribute to Paul Robeson | Stony Plain, 2006 | PR's funeral song. Bibb on when HB guest-hosted "Tonight Show". |
| Nina Simone | Mississippi Goddam | In Concert | Philips, 1964 | in Selma to Montgomery March, 1965 |
| Ron Carter | Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child | Standard Bearers | Original Jazz Classics, 1979 | "My favorite bass player"-HB |
| Mahalia Jackson | Move On Up A Little Higher | Gospel Sound | Columbia, 1954 | |
| Harry Belafonte | Jerry (This Timber Got to Roll) | Essential | Legacy | Work song |
| Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee | Midnight Special | Midnight Special | Prestige/Bluesville, 1960 | "The best blues harp player in the world"-HB |
| Harry Belafonte | Lead Man Holler | Island In The Sun: Soundtrack | RCA Victor, 1957 | HB, 1st black lead opp. white leading lady (Joan Fontaine) |
| Dorothy Dandridge | That Old Feeling | Smooth Operator | Verve, 1958 | w/HB in Bright Road, Carmen Jones, Island in the Sun |
| John Lewis' Modern Jazz Quartet | Skating in Central Park | Odds Against Tomorrow: Soundtrack | Atlantic, 1959 | HB, 1st noir black lead (!), John Lewis, score |
| Max Roach | Man From South Africa | Percussion Bitter Sweet | Impulse, 1961 | |
| Myriam Makeba | We Speak Peace | Eyes On Tomorrow | Gallo, 1991 | HB brought to US, toured, rec. with |
| Hugh Masakela | Stimela (Nat'l Anthem of Migrant Laborers) | Live at Market Theater | Four Quarters, 2007 | HB got him to US, in Manhattan School of Music, Musicians Union card. |
| Harry Belafonte | Move It | Paradise in Gazankulu | EMI, 1988 | Rec. in S. Africa w/Youssou N'Dour, Brenda Fassie |
| Harry Belafonte | Turn The World Around | Turn The World Around | Columbia, 1977 | A Jim Henson favorite from the Muppet Show, HB sang it at his funeral |
| Duke Ellington | Work Song (from Black, Brown and Beige) | Centennial Edition | RCA Victor, 1944 | Duke HB's "Strollin' 20s" TV special |