Miles Davis & John Coltrane: So What

The battery in my laptop is about to run out and I need to get dressed. So here's a work of genius that needs no introduction.

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Billie Holiday: Strange Fruit

One of the most haunting songs. I never imagined I'd see footage of it. An astonishing performance.

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Ramsey Lewis: The In Crowd

I'm tired, my family is alternately ill or demanding: what better way to cheer up than to listen to Ramsey Lewis?

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I'm sure you can all work out where to buy Ramsey Lewis's stuff. If not, bad luck: I'm off to bed.

Eric Dolphy: 245

Given the name of this blog, I thought it high time I added some saxophone music.

I first thought of John Coltrane and Charlie Parker. Then I thought of Stan Getz and Michael Brecker. But then I decided that Wagner would have hated Eric Dolphy most of all - so here he is playing on German TV in 1961.

Rauchen.

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Two excellent Dolphy albums from Amazon.

Louis Armstrong & Johnny Cash: Blue Yodel No. 9

I've liked Louis Armstrong since I was a teenager, and in my early 30s I finally owned up to liking Johnny Cash. But nothing prepared me for the humour and magic of the two men playing together. This clip, so good natured, so humane, makes me laugh out loud every time I see Louis Armstrong's yodelling. I could never tire of watching it.

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There are so many brilliant Louis Armstrong and Johnny Cash records that you might as well buy any that you don't have. You won't regret it.