Jazz Crossover 1HWs

[OldFogey]

Looking over the lists for one hit wonders I was reminded of the jazz artists who have from time to time crossed over to the rock/pop charts. One thing I loved growing up was the variety of music you could hear on the radio.

One of these songs has already been mentioned: Jan Hammer, "Miami Vice Theme," 1985. So I didn't include it here.

I tried to keep it to ten so I left out a couple of noteworthies


Count Basie, "April in Paris," 1956
Nina Simone, "I Loves You, Porgy," 1959
Hugh Masakela, "Grazing in the Grass," 1968


Herbie Hancock actually made it more than once, so he's not on this list.

Here's my list -- please listen. And then VOTE. YOU CAN VOTE FOR MORE THAN ONE!!

Dave Brubeck Quintet, "Take Five," 1961
Probably needs no introduction. One of the great pieces of music in any genre. Written in 5/4, hence the title.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwNrmYRiX_o

Vince Guaraldi Trio, "Cast Your Fate to the Wind," 1963
You may know Vince from the work he did on Peanuts shows for TV. Love his "Linus' Theme." He also gave us this gorgeous tune.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PddZZ83Be8E

Kai Winding, "More," 1963
Kai is a great jazz trombonist who crossed over with his arrangement of the theme from the movie Mondo Cane.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UJV3CHCsVk

Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto, "The Girl From Ipanema," 1964
Turned the radio up all the way when this song came on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpmGKbXxaOk

Neal Hefti, "The Batman Theme," 1966
Neal is a great jazz arranger, and there are all kinds of nice touches in the arrangement to this popular TV show theme.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXvXz7OqgbY

Cannonball Adderley, "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy," 1967
Joe Zawinul, later to make his mark with Miles and Weather Report, wrote this tune. This is just one of the best. Cannonball is one of the great alto saxists in jazz history.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRrFWp4DUho

Spyro Gyra, "Morning Dance," 1979
This is a nice tune, though I do have to say I'm not a huge Spyro Gyra fan as a rule. In the late 70's and early 80's there was a fair amount of jazz influence leaking into rock, and vice versa (voila fusion). This is one of the highlights of that movement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LAkWUbbI9g

Lee Ritenour, "Is It You," 1981
Lee is a great jazz guitarist, who has played as a session player for a lot of rock/pop groups.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmVgtwnyQCg

Stanley Clarke/George Duke, "Sweet Baby," 1981
George played with Zappa for a while, but he and Stanley form a formidable jazz core. Nice crossover tune.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMQapZlEjJg

The Crusaders, "Street Life," 1979
The Crusaders are a really nice jazz combo. Joe Sample is a keyboard great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_ZvDI7XGFU

So which ones did you like? VOTE!!! You can vote for as many or as few as you like!

[defenestrater]

I liked most of them. My dad plays jazz piano and Take 5 was one of his favorites to play whenever he practiced. I probably heard it everyday when I was growing up. I'd probably consider it one of my most favorite songs, period.

Those last three really surprised me. I guess this shows how much I don't know about jazz, because I've heard all of those songs and its never occured to me that they would be considered part of the genre.

[Hungryfreak]

Take Five is just an absolute jazz classic.

[OldFogey]

I liked most of them. My dad plays jazz piano and Take 5 was one of his favorites to play whenever he practiced. I probably heard it everyday when I was growing up. I'd probably consider it one of my most favorite songs, period.

Those last three really surprised me. I guess this shows how much I don't know about jazz, because I've heard all of those songs and its never occured to me that they would be considered part of the genre.

The tracks themselves are probably the least "pure jazz" of any of the selections. But the artists all have authentic jazz credentials, although there are some purists who don't particularly like calling Spyro Gyra jazz, to be honest.

Check this track from the Crusaders (a little talking intro before the song gets going):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAdRjsNaIPU
I think it's safe to say that's a freakin' hot jazz band. Larry Carlton played with them at various times.

My personal opinion -- it was easier for a real jazz track to cross over in the 60's, and the way for jazz artists to cross over in the 70's and later was to do more of a pop song and give it jazz flavorings, in the progressions or solos.

[onduvalst]

lol I always thought it was called Take Five because the sax takes a break (taking five) in the song while the rest of the band waits for it to return. :)

[OldFogey]

Just FYI - as an example of the crossing over in the 60's. I saw this band play on the same bill as Arthur Brown and Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GceGfe17Jkc

That's Charles Lloyd with a young Keith Jarrett.

Forest Flower was a crossover hit, but I don't think it made it into the Top 40. Awesome album though for anyone who is interested.

And btw, that was by far the best band on that bill. And they got a standing O.

[OldFogey]

Take 5 is just an absolute jazz classic.

I think it's a classic regardless of genre :D

The whole album is awesome (The album is called Time Out). Blue Rondo a la Turk. Rondo a la Turk is a very popular piano piece by Mozart. There is no musical connection between the two songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kc34Uj8wlmE

[Runesmith]

I think I liked More the best. Reminds me of Telstar.

[sg327]

It's good to see the forum branching out a little to different genres. I thought it was kind of funny to listen to those and realize that I'd heard most of them before and they just never clicked or just never thought of them as jazz.

The ones that stood out for me were Dave Brubeck, Vince Guaraldi (I like Linus & Lucy too), Neal Hefti, Spyro Gyra and the Crusaders.

I think I'll do a first second and third....
1. Dave Brubeck Quintet "Take Five". (I've liked that song for a long time and it's one of my favorites.
2. Spyro Gyra "Morning Dance". That's one I've heard in the past and really like it after hearing it again.
3. Vince Guaraldi Trio "Cast Your Fate To The Wind". Linus & Lucy has always been a favorite too so it wasn't that far of a stretch to like this song also.

(I like this thread...great idea).