All your life is channel 13

Although the program is two years old, I'm posting about the hour-long documentary aired on KQED last night: From Shtetl To Swing, which traces the rise of Jewish-Americans in the performing arts, particularly the jazz sphere. It's amazing how the minor third's "longing" could unite klezmer music and blues in one of the most distinctly American fusions that's ever happened, undoubtedly paving the way for the birth of rock'n'roll less than two decades after Benny Goodman's heyday. The entire program was worth watching just for the clip of the Goodman's quartet bashing its way through an uptempo number -- pure ecstasy in music. Keep your eyes peeled for this one. (Side note: I'm not sure exactly why KQED aired it immediately prior to a documentary about the Nuremberg trials.)

FMFM: Lee Morgan's The Gigolo, a fiercely loud (but acoustic) session featuring complex melodies, often harmonized between Morgan and Wayne Shorter. (I could listen to that sound all day -- two horns playing in unison until they split for a tricky little harmony, like Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan used to do. I've had studio engineers tell me to write a little Bacharach figure, and I never tell them I'm really sourcing this stuff instead.) The Gigolo is a sunny-day blaster that's as much soul-jazz as hard-bop in many ways, with hard-hitting grooves and bright horns. Wonder if the title track and "Speedball" pointed the way to Morgan's untimely end...