Tune in to this week's session of In A Mellow Tone to hear our newest host Natalie McGrath take a deep dive into the history and music of jazz's most tortured artists. What is a tortured artist? Essentially, it is a person who is constantly tormented by their art, their surroundings, or themself. The concept of a tortured artist or tortured genius is quite profound in the genre of jazz with several exceptional musicians having histories of dealing with substance abuse, mental illness, domestic abuse, and even fatal addictions that were bound up in their artistic struggles. Many people believe that some artists with the most tortured minds produced the best art, or let their bad habits stimulate their creativity. For some musicians, their demons got the best of them and led to their demise, while a small portion of others allowed their hardships to fuel their drive to become better virtuoso artists. Many talented jazz musicians either had their careers sidetracked or prematurely ended due to their addiction to drugs and/or alcohol. This show features Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, and Lester Young in the first half, followed by John Coltrane, Jaco Pastorius, and Amy Winehouse in the second half.
| Billie's Bounce Charlie Parker - The Complete Savoy & Dial Master Takes - Savoy Jazz |
| Donna Lee Charlie Parker - The Complete Savoy & Dial Master Takes - Savoy Jazz |
| Lover Man Charlie Parker - The Complete Savoy & Dial Master Takes - Savoy Jazz |
| Relaxin' at Camarillo Charlie Parker - The Complete Savoy & Dial Master Takes - Savoy Jazz |
| All of Me Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra and Eddie Heywood and His Orchestra - The Essential Billie Holiday - Metro Doubles |
| I’ll Be Seeing you Billie Holiday - The Complete Commodore Recordings - Commodore Records |
| Strange Fruit Billie Holiday - The Complete Commodore Recordings - Commodore Records |
| Fine and Mellow Billie Holiday - Lady in Satin (The Centennial Edition) - Columbia Records |
| If the Moon Turns Green Billie Holiday - Recital - Verve Records |
| Body and Soul Billie Holiday and Her Orchestra - Body and Soul - Verve Records |
| Lester Leaps in Count Basie and the Kansas City Seven (with Lester Young) - Single - Vocalion |
| Dickie’s Dream Count Basie and the Kansas City Seven (with Lester Young) - Single - Vocalion |
| There Will Never Be Another You Lester Young - Just You, Just Me |
| Roseland Shuffle 2 The Count Basie Orchestra (feat. Lester Young) - The Savory Collection, Vol. 2 - Jumpin' at the Woodside: The Count Basie Orchestra (feat. Lester Young) |
| Giant Steps John Coltrane - Giant Steps - Atlantic Records |
| Naima John Coltrane - Giant Steps - Atlantic Records |
| Blue Train John Coltrane - Blue Train - Blue Note Records |
| A Love Supreme, Pt 1: Acknowledgement John Coltrane - A Love Supreme - Impulse! Records |
| Teen Town Weather Report (with Jaco Pastorius) - Heavy Weather - Columbia Records |
| Birdland Weather Report (with Jaco Pastorius) - Heavy Weather - Columbia Records |
| Donna Lee Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius - Epic Records |
| Continuum Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius - Epic Records |
| Portrait of tracy Jaco Pastorius - Jaco Pastorius - Epic Records |
| Wake Up Alone Amy Winehouse - Back to Black - Island Records |
| Body and Soul Amy Winehouse and Tony Bennett - Lioness: Hidden Treasures - Lioness Records |
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