SWEET, SWEET MUSIC: MICHAEL FEINSTEIN, AMBASSADOR OF THE GREAT AMERICAN SONGBOOK, APPEARING WITH TONY WINNER BARBARA COOK

Michael Feinstein is back in residence at Feinstein's at The Loews Regency through December 30. This time he's sharing the bill with Broadway legend, Barbara Cook, who is a 2011 Kennedy Center Honors recipient along with Meryl Streep, Neil Diamond, Yo-Yo Ma and Sonny Rollins.

Michael Feinstein is a terrific friend and supporter of Jimmy McHugh Music.
In 2009 Michael headlined a sold out concert at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, saluting the music of Jimmy McHugh, as he did a year earlier at Los Angeles's Mark Taper Forum.

Barbara Cook also has a close connection to Jimmy McHugh, having starred on the original studio cast album of 'Lucky In The Rain', a 2000 musical comedy built around Jimmy's songs.

MichaelFeinstein.com
BarbaraCook.com
FeinsteinsAtTheRegency.com

STEVE TYRELL AT THE LEGENDARY CAFE CARLYLE: A HOLIDAY TRADITION

It's that time of the year again- Vocalist Steve Tyrell is ringing in the holidays at The Cafe Carlyle.
Continuing through New Years Eve, this is the Grammy-winner's seventh return engagement at the chic nightspot.
After the passing of the legendary Bobby Short, The Café Carlyle invited Steve to take over their revered Holiday Season which Mr. Short had not missed in 36 years.  

In his four and a half decades in the music business, Steve Tyrell has achieved great success as an artist, producer, songwriter, music supervisor, and performer gaining a passionate following all over the world. 

As a record producer, Steve has collaborated with such diverse artists as Rod Stewart, Diana Ross, Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson, Linda Ronstadt, Aaron Neville, Mary J Blige, Dolly Parton, Bonnie Raitt, Burt Bacharach, Bette Midler and Stevie Wonder.

Steve is a great friend and supporter of Jimmy McHugh Music, performing numerous McHugh standards in concert and on record.

We suggest you book a reservation soon as the word is out: 
Steve Tyrell at The Cafe Carlyle is a guaranteed way "to make the season bright".

The Cafe Carlyle  www.thecarlyle.com

BOB DYLAN SINGS JIMMY McHUGH

 
Searching around the internet we discovered that Bob Dylan has performed Jimmy McHugh's 'I'm In The Mood For Love' in concert a number of times over the years. 
It is exactly what you would expect a Dylan version of 'I'm In The Mood For Love' to sound like, complete with harmonica and the kind of slight Crosby-esque croon he used on his album 'Self Portrait'.

Unfortunately, as of yet, we haven't  been able to track down a recording of Mr. Dylan performing the song. Instead we decided to treat you to a somewhat different version of the tune as performed by the iconic 'Little Rascal star, Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer.
The song was featured in a 1936 'Our Gang Comedy' short.

It been said (also on the internet) that I'm In The Mood For Love is Alfalfa's signature song.

Here's the link.

Enjoy!

SONY'S MASTERWORKS BROADWAY RELEASES RECORDINGS OF SONGS FROM THE HISTORIC JIMMY MCHUGH & DOROTHY FIELDS MUSICAL 'BLACKBIRDS OF 1928'

Masterworks Broadway, a subsidiary label of Sony Masterworks, is re-releasing classic recordings of songs from 'Blackbirds of 1928' the pioneering, all-black musical written by Jimmy McHugh & Dorothy Fields.


These are the only recordings of songs from this landmark score, presented as they were originally performed. Taken directly from the original masters, they have never before been available digitally.

Adelaide Hall

Originally recorded in 1953, the recording features the legendary Cab Calloway and Thelma Carpenter performing I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby, Diga-Diga-Doo and other McHugh/Fields classics. 


The show, which was the first Broadway success for composer Jimmy McHugh and lyricist Dorothy Fields, became the longest running all-black show on the New York stage.
Directed by producer Lew Leslie, it starred Adelaide Hall, Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson and Mantan Moreland.





Set for release November 15, 2011 , Blackbirds of 1928 will be available as a digital download and disc-on-demand with the original cover art and new liner notes at Arkivmusic.com and Amazon.com.

A Moment of Reflection: 9/11 and The Twin Towers

A couple of days ago we saw something on television that we at Jimmy McHugh Music would like to share with you.

MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell featured a three-minute montage of the many cameo appearances made by the Twin Towers in films directed by such world-class filmmakers as Mike Nichols, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen and Sidney Lumet to name but a few.

The short was created by New York filmmaker, Dan Meth, as a unique and fitting tribute to the memory of the thousands of people lost that day.

We hope you’ll take three minutes to view this moving and sadly beautiful tribute.

Twin Tower Cameos from Dan Meth on Vimeo.

thelastword.msnbc.com

SONG SPOTTING: The Cotton Club

Most recently screening on CineMax’s MAX HD channel, this epic crime drama, directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is centered around the famed Harlem Jazz Club of the 1920’s, The Cotton Club.

The 1984 film features several Jimmy McHugh songs including Exactly Like You and his iconic ‘hot jazz’ barn-burner, Diga Diga Doo.

Jimmy was the club’s first Musical Director a coveted position which he held during the Club’s most celebrated years. Under his musical direction he discovered Duke Ellington and brought the young, novice songwriter Dorothy Fields to the Club to write songs with him.

Richard Gere, Diane Lane and Gregory Hines head up the cast which includes Nicolas Cage, Bob Hoskins, Laurence Fishburne, Maurice Hines and Gwen Verdon.

The film received several Golden Globe © and Academy Award© nominations.

Try to catch The Cotton Club on the tube- you wont be disappointed!

Click to hear:

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra performing

Jimmy McHugh’s Diga Diga Doo

Good Things Come In Small Packages

Although it’s only 16 seconds long, people all over the world are familiar with the Universal Pictures Fanfare that opened all of the films released by the studio from the mid-1930s. Whether in theatres or on TV, everyone has heard the triumphant orchestral soundbite which, most notably, trumpeted the start of Universal’s Frankenstein, Dracula and Wolfman movies.

Jimmy McHugh composed this iconic bit of motion picture history to accompany Universal’s ‘globe and stars’ logo.

The Fanfare was retired in 1946, but has often been revived to open such films as the recent Jack Nicholson remake of The Wolfman, Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid starring Steve Martin and director Ron Howard’s fantasy flick, Willow.

http://youtu.be/Aop_7Q3PoW0

SONG SPOTTERS UNITE!

Couldn’t Sleep a Wink Last Night?

Why not put that insomnia to work for you?

If you spot a Jimmy McHugh Song in a classic film or TV show, we’d love you to tell us about it.

When you can’t sleep and you’re watching late night TV or surfing the web, be on the lookout for vintage McHugh tunes.

In appreciation, we’ll send you a terrific Jimmy McHugh Music CD Sampler along with our undying gratitude.

PS:

As Inspiration (and Consolation!), click on the link below for a clip of a very young Frank Sinatra crooning Jimmy’s I Couldn’t Sleep A Wink Last Night from debut film Higher and Higher. By the way-That’s Dooley Wilson (of ‘Casablanca’ fame) on the piano.

http://www.movieweb.com/dvd/DVjOsmolL14fml/i-couldnt-sleep-a-wink-last-night

SONG SPOTTING: When My Sugar Walks Down the Street

In his authoritative biography of Jimmy McHugh, author Alyn Shipton writes, “The extraordinary success of When My Sugar Walks Down The Street (1925) gave McHugh his first taste of what it felt like to write a truly popular hit. A melody that was hummed on every street corner.”

We just uncovered this rarely seen clip of Judy Garland performing the song in a scene that was shot for 1954’s A Star Is Born.

The song was intended to be part of Judy’s legendary ‘Born In A Trunk’ sequence.

It was cut out due to intense pressure from Warner Brothers Studios to make the film shorter (so exhibitors could squeeze in more showings each day).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Star_Is_Born_%281954_film%29

SATCHMO THE GREAT

SATCHMO The Great 1957

"Louis Armstrong is to music what Einstein is to physics and the Wright Brothers are to travel." -Ken Burns

The outstanding 1957 documentary, Satchmo The Great follows Louis ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong on his first world tour as ‘America’s Official Goodwill Ambassador’.

Leonard Bernstein also appears in the film, written and narrated by legendary newsman, Edward R Murrow.

Jimmy McHugh and Louis were lifelong friends. They met while they working at Harlem’s Cotton Club in the 1920s.

We’ve included a clip from the documentary, featuring Satchmo performing McHugh’s iconic ‘On The Sunny Side Of The Street’.

To quote Jimmy, ‘Louis put the Beat on the Sunny Side of the Street!’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECYuEEzRWdE

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135642/

Song Spotting: The Strip

THE STRIP: Mickey Rooney’s Mid-Century Musical Melodrama

We hope you’ll get a chance to catch Mickey Rooney in The Strip.

(MGM,1951). It features a very young Vic Damone performing the Jimmy McHugh gem, ‘Don’t Blame Me’.

This black & white potboiler features Mickey as a young drummer returning from service in the Korean War. While restarting his musical career he gets a gig in a Sunset Strip club, meets the love of his life and falls in with a very bad-news gambling syndicate.

The kicker is his supporting cast of musicians, which include Louis Armstrong, Earl ‘Fatha’ Hines and the illustrious jazz trombonist, Bix Beiderbecke.

IMDB: The Strip

Song Spotting

Be sure to catch Stormy Weather, a 1943 gem starring Lena Horne, who turns in bravura performances of Jimmy’s ‘I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby’ & ‘Diga Diga Doo’

And talk about a supporting cast: Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson & the tap dancing Nicholas Brothers.

A True DVR Delight!

See Lena & Bill Robinson perform ‘I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby’: youtube.com

Stormy Weather  http://www.flixster.com/movie/stormy-weather

Jimmy McHugh Song Spotting #3

‘Don’t Blame Me’ from ‘Two Weeks In Another Town’

A terrific look inside the film business, directed by Oscar © Winner Vincente Minnelli and starring Academy Award © recipients Kirk Douglas, Edward G Robinson and Clair Trevor.

In the film, the song is performed by singer Leslie Uggams, who said:

‘The movie starred Kirk Douglas; I sang his favorite song in it, “Don’t Blame Me.” Liza got me the movie, directed by her dad, Vincente Minnelli. What a friend!’

CLICK HERE FOR MORE:

•To Weeks In Another Town 1962 TCM

•IMDB

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By The Way…

There are THREE JIMMY MCHUGH Titles in

ASCAP’s list of the 100 MOST RECORDED SONGS:

I CAN'T GIVE YOU ANYTHING BUT LOVE, BABY

ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET

I'M IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE

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McHugh Song Spotting #2

HOUSE CALLS (1972) A comedy starring Academy Award-winners © Glenda Jackson and Walter Matthau.
(Walter Matthau sings along/karaokes with Tommy Dorsey's classic recording of 'On The Sunny Side Of The Street' The tune is reprised at the end of the film, performed by Frankie Laine.)
Link to film review

McHugh Song Spotting #1

McHugh Song Spotting

We recently caught two great films that feature music by
Jimmy McHugh.
Set your DVR next time these are shown. You won't be sorry!

THE BIG CLOCK (1947) Suspense thriller starring Academy Award-winner © Ray Milland and Charles Laughton; featuring 'I'm In The Mood For Love.
Link to film review

"I Feel A Song Coming On" Biography Featured in Leonard Maltin's Book List

Leonard Maltin included I Feel a Song Coming On in his Year End Book Survey on his website Movie Crazy.