The first in a new series of unique and fun mixes - exploring the biggest selling jazz tracks of all time! Constructed with care featuring music that resonated with the largest amount of people, so much so that they were compelled to go out and buy the album or single!
Presented for your fun and entertainment - the series is neither definitive or comprehensive. Relax, do whatever you do when you listen to jazz, and have a good time. If you enjoy the selections, you are in harmony with millions of people throughout the last few decades, including myself! Listen in the player below, and thank you for stopping by! - Kendo
Billie Holiday - "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" - with Teddy Wilson and His Orchestra. Released in 1935 it became Lady Day's breakthrough hit. She would have a much bigger one in a few years.
Dave Brubeck Quartet - "Take Five" - The best selling jazz song of all time. It's album "Time Out" was the first jazz album to sell a million copies. It eventually went platinum. Columbia executives had serious reservations about the concept albums commercial appeal, and insisted the band record an album of standards first ("Gone With the Wind"). 1959
Miles Davis - "So What" - The best selling jazz album of all time unless you count Kenny G. or Norah Jones (who complained about being considered a jazz artist). "Kind of Blue" didn't really sell that well initially, but wound up being on the charts for decades, selling 5x's platinum. It is largely regarded as the best jazz album recorded. 1959
George Benson - "Breezin'" - certified triple platinum, it won 3 Grammy awards and topped 3 Billboard charts: pop, r&b and jazz. The other single from the album "This Masquerade" hit #10 on the Hot 100 and #8 in Canada.
Sarah Vaughan - "Lullaby of Birdland" - the hit single from Sarah's eponymously titled album, composed by George Shearing who released it two years earlier. The album was Sassy's only collaboration with trumpeter Clifford Brown, and was her personal favorite album for most of her career. 1954
Weather Report - "Birdland" - Heavy Weather skyrocketed the band to insane superstardom, and it's hit single created a frenzy in 1977, becoming an instant standard, being performed by nearly everyone and recorded by the likes of Maynard Ferguson, Buddy Rich and the Manhattan Transfer, who won a Grammy with it. Heavy Weather hit #30 on the Billboard pop chart and #1 on their jazz chart, where it remained well into 1978. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Oscar Peterson - "Night Train" - a big seller for Peterson as was the album of the same name, the song basically became identified with him. The album was formatted to have shorter selections, making them very suitable for airplay. 1962
Wes Montgomery - "Windy" - Wes' biggest selling single, reaching #44 on the Hot 100. It's album "A Day In the Life" hit #1 on the Billboard Jazz chart, #2 on their R&B chart and #13 on the Billboard 200 chart. It is certified gold. Jazz was on the wane in 1967 (the "Summer of Love") and Wes comically lamented that after selling all those records, he still had trouble getting gigs.
Chuck Mangione - "Feels So Good" - Chuck was already a pretty big deal before this release, but words cannot express the mania that followed the #4 hit and #2 album (kept from #1 by the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack). Every trumpet player in high school wanted to be him. Mangione's signature hat and vest and significant musicianship brought the flugelhorn out of the shadows and very much into prominence. The killer guitar solo is by Grant Geissman. The 1977 album is certified double platinum.
Stan Getz & Joao Gilberto - "The Girl from Ipanema" - speaking of mania: Bossa Nova in the early 60's. Getz had opened up the floodgates in the United States with "Jazz Samba" with Charlie Byrd in 1962. Four bossa nova albums later in 1964 Getz/Gilberto was a sensation, aided by the debut of vocalist Astrud Gilberto on a few tracks, including this one. This song was voted Record of the Year at the Grammys in 1964, and also won Album of the Year in 1965. The album is certified platinum. "The Girl From Ipanema" is perhaps the song most identified with bossa nova in the states and has been recorded countlessly.
Cannonball Adderley Quintet - "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" - recorded in 1966, the song became a surprise hit early 1967, hitting #2 on the Soul chart and #11 on the Hot 100 and #4 on Canada's RPM Singles chart. Later that same year, other hit versions were recorded (with lyrics) by Marlena Shaw (#58) and the Buckinghams (#5). It was written by Joe Zawinul, who also composed "Birdland". The album hit #1 on the Soul chart and received a Grammy for Best Instrumental Jazz Performance.
