In a Christmas Mood …

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

If you find yourself in London this Christmas Eve—and why would you not be there that night?—you ought to spend the evening in the company of Nick Shankland and Kitty LaRoar in the cabaret at Scarfes Bar (from 8:00 p.m. till midnight). Whoever or whatever the jazz muse is, he/she/it has decided to hang out with these two musicians and their friends the last few years.

And they released a Christmas E.P. this year, Christmas Dream, a collection of holiday standards that they treat like the ideas are new to them and the sentiments freshly felt. They make music that is beautiful, elegant, and always in the mood for love.

I have been a fan of Kitty LaRoar and Nick Shankland’s music for a couple years now, and each recording brings new pleasure with repeated listens. Her voice and his piano accompanied me through this challenging 2016 and helped make it less so. Last year they released an E.P. for Valentine’s Day (titled Valentine’s Eve, with saxophonist Ed Jones) … if they dedicated themselves to recording music about every holiday on Earth, I would be happy to take that global tour with them.
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Today in History: Dec. 18

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

“And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore.”

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! was broadcast for the first time on this date in 1966. It was on CBS.

Boris Karloff, June Foray, and Thurl Ravenscroft provided the voices for the Chuck Jones-animated film, but due to an error, only Karloff’s name appears in the credits. Ravenscroft, who was also the voice of Tony the Tiger and many other characters, sings “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”

Dr. Seuss is said to have tried to remedy the acting credits oversight single-handedly with many letters to newspapers.

Karloff won a Grammy in the Spoken Word category for the soundtrack to the film; remarkably, it was the only performing award Karloff ever received in his long acting career.

“This sound wasn’t sad. This sound sounded glad!” A clip (after the jump):
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Today in History: Dec. 17

Posted on by Mark Aldrich

At 10:35 a.m. on this date in 1903, for about 12 seconds, Orville Wright took the first sustained motorized aircraft flight at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina.

The Wright Brothers flew a total of four times that morning and afternoon. Orville and Wilbur took turns flying and they stopped for the day with a crash of the flyer from an altitude of about ten feet. That last flight covered 852 feet in 59 seconds.

Almost as important as the flights themselves was the fact that the brothers had five witnesses present. One of them, John T. Daniels, took the famous photo at the top of this article. Orville is the pilot in the photo, and Wilbur is running alongside.
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