The theme of my 2014 A-to-Z Blog Challenge is BLUES, PUPUS, and REVIEWS.
Tuesday & Friday - BLUES: Art, Movies, Music,
& Police
MONROE, MARSALIS, and MY WAY
Father of BLUEgrass Music;
Jazz in the Bittersweet BLUES W. MARSALIS;
and Ol’ BLUE Eyes
Sometimes
the music is just too big to write about. It’s that way with Bill Monroe,
considered the Father of Bluegrass music; and Wynton Marsalis with his Jazz in
the Bittersweet Blues; and Ol’ Blue Eyes himself, Frank Sinatra, doing things
“My Way.”
It
was always entertaining to watch shows with Frank Sinatra on stage joking
around with his buddies, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin. Imagine Ol’ Blue Eyes
teaming up with Wynton and Bill to sing a medley of tunes, the three of them bobbing
and weaving through the rhythms of bluegrass, crooning nightclub melodies, and hitting
the high notes of sweet jazz.
Frank
gets the red ribbon for his live performance in Australia with the Red Norvo
Quintet in 1959 and for his rendition of Red Roses (for a Blue Lady.)
Wynton
earns the white ribbon for opening the White House Music Series hosted by First
Lady Michelle Obama.
But
Bill wins the blue ribbon. He is the Father of Bluegrass; his band was named
the Blue Grass Boys; his record label was Bluebird; and he sang such songs as
Mule Skinner Blues, Blue Grass Breakdown, and Blue Moon Over Kentucky. He even
founded the Bean Blossom Bluegrass Festival. When it came to doing things “My Way”
Frank Sinatra had nothing over Bill Monroe.
