Say what you want about Hugh Hefner. Call him a smut peddler, a misogynist, a sexual miscreant. Say what you will. You have that right. However, I hope that you will also respect my right to disagree with you. As I have stated before on this blog, I am a Playboy subscriber. I do read it for the articles and interviews, a statement I think most people who still subscribe to the magazine to this day would claim as well. Fact is, if you simply want to see a bunch of pictures of naked women, you could log on to the web and see whatever you like. And I do mean whatever. Playboy wasn’t and isn’t about purely satisfying the prurient interest of the hard-up and horny. Playboy (like Mr. Hefner, in my opinion) had class. It still does.
I not only admire Hugh Hefner for taking a fledgling little magazine and turning it into a household name. I also admire the other lesser known fact that Mr. Hefner was an avid jazz fan. And he liked the good stuff. If you ever have a chance to pick up one of the Playboy jazz compilations on cd, I would encourage you to do so. Hugh Hefner knows good music.
What I didn’t really know until lately was the fact that Hugh Hefner also produced music. One of the albums he produced back in the 60’s was an album of standard ballads with Johnny Janis doing the vocals. The album was named Once In A Blue Moon. Mr. Janis was kind enough to give me a copy of this album as well as a copy of his seven other albums, and I have to say that upon first hearing this music, I was both enthralled and puzzled.
Enthralling was the music itself. I was immediately taken with Mr. Janis’ vocals and the way he so seamlessly embraced the songs, creating an atmosphere on the record that keeps one in a sort of nostalgic, wistful holding pattern until the very last song plays. Often I am approached to play someone’s single on the Evening Melancholy radio station, and more often than not, I find myself in a fix because the music is either completely wrong for the jazz/vocal ballad format of the station, or the talent of the musician who had made the well-meaning offering was not as detectable as I had hoped. In the case of Johnny Janis, neither deal-breaker emerged during my listening. The only thing to emerge was my unequivocal admiration for this wonderful vocalist/guitarist and the man who produced this album.
What I found puzzling was the fact that Mr. Janis, while enjoying a brief period of notoriety and success, was not as popular as he should have been. It seems to me that he could have very well carved his own niche in the industry, even with such heavyweights as Sinatra and Tony Bennett looming about. But in the world of music, it is all about timing and fortune, right? Still, I find myself very fortunate in encountering Mr. Janis and having him introduce me to his wonderful music.
I have added songs to the station as well as to the Evening Melancholy MySpace page in hopes that more people can experience and be introduced (or reintroduced) to the music of Johnny Janis. If you find yourself so inclined, and I hope that you do, you can purchase his music here.
Great taste is a gift not a skill. I am only grateful in the fact that Mr. Hefner had the great taste to produce a Johnny Janis album, and I am grateful as well in knowing that Mr. Janis had the talent and taste to create the music on Once In A Blue Moon and his other wonderful pieces.
For all who may be interested, once again this year Evening Melancholy will be playing classic vocal and jazz Christmas tunes from 7 PM Eastern time Christmas Eve until 7 PM Eastern Christmas Day. If you have any holiday requests, please let us know.
I got a request last week to play music by Susannah McCorkle. I have to admit that up until that point I really did not know who she was. I went out and searched for her music — luckily, Emusic.com is rife with it — and I really dug her sound. So, I will be adding her music this week.
I also went out and read up on Ms. McCorkle and discovered that she suffered from depression and took her life by jumping out of a window at the age of 55. Upon reading that, other names began to drift in and out of my head — Nick Drake, Phyllis Hyman, Elizabeth Hartman — all artists, all people who struggled with depression and lost the battle. Many believe that depression is a sort of phantom disease, a fabrication of one’s mind. “People who have it want to have it. Either that or they don’t have the balls or wherewithal to overcome it. And so they kill themselves. They take the easy way out.”
To be complete honest, I had no real idea of how devastating a disease depression can be until a few years ago. It can not only submerge the sufferer, but those who are even close to the maelstrom can be pulled in. It is not something that should be taken lightly or seen as a character flaw or a weakness or an attempt to avoid responsibility. For some, yes I do believe that they have the power to defeat it, or at least keep it at bay but choose not to. It can become a crutch just like any other debilitating disease. But for others…what man or woman in their rightest frame of mind chooses to leap from windows to ease their pain?
When I once told someone that I was going to see a therapist, their response was “I don’t understand this whole thing about going to see psychologists. In my day, when people got depressed, they just went to church and shouted a lot.” Sunday was for shouting, I guess. Monday through Saturday were the days for alcoholism, domestic abuse, extra-marital affairs — all the things that helped us along the way until we could return to church again on Sunday and shout it out. Then heart disease due to stress would creep in much too early and take us out of our misery. I’ve also read religious sites that seem to claim that depression is due to being too focused on oneself and not having enough of God in one’s life. However, if you read about the generosity and spirit of Phyllis Hyman, you know that can’t be true.
I can’t say I understand it completely. I can’t say that I know of the best way to treat it. Each one must follow their own path. I can say, however, that when people say, “It’s all in your head,” they don’t know the half of it.
Due to the fact that I have been bouncing around a lot these last couple of months, I haven’t had a real chance to sit down and add more tunes to the station. However, I spent a few hours today doing just that. Check out the main page to see all of the new albums and tracks I am adding this week. Hopefully, there will be plenty more added by the end of next weekend.
Two standouts to the wealth of material added this week:
A live version of “Someone To Watch Over Me” by Andy Bey. Simply superb!
And a few tracks from an album done by Sonny Stitt back in the ’70s - Endgame Brilliance: Constellation & Tune-Up. Over and over again, Stitt proves to me that no one comes as close to the brilliance of Charlie Parker on alto as Stitt does. The man was not only technically profound, but he was prolific as well.
Enjoy all the new tunes and enjoy this crisp weather. Romance is in the air. Feels good!
So, I’ve written about this musician before and she definitely doesn’t need any promotion from me as she is already a well-established singer, BUT I want to laud the talents once more of vocalist Stacey Kent. I really love her voice and her new album is a real delight. It’s so nice to hear a voice that doesn’t fall in line with convention. In the past if you heard Sarah Vaughan, you knew it was Sarah Vaughan. Billie Holiday, Ella, Anita. You didn’t have to wonder what the name was behind the voice. Well, the same goes for Stacey Kent. Whenever I am listening to the station and one of her tracks begins to play, I know right away who I am listening to. A great talent. I look forward to hearing more and more from her.
Listen out for some tracks from the new album in the upcoming week.
