May 13th – Johnny Hartman – Don’t You Know I Care

Johnny Hartman is primarily remembered for the album he recorded with John Coltrane which contains, for some, the definitive version of Lush Life. But his other Impulse! albums are almost as good. I Just Dropped By To Say Hello features another tenor genius, Illinois Jacquet as well as Hank Jones on piano.

Don’t You Know I Care (Or Don’t You Care To Know) is a not so well-remembered Ellington tune. The lyrics are by Mack ‘brother of Hal’ David – he and Ellington also wrote I’m Just A Lucky So-and-So together. Jacquet weaves some beautiful lines around Hartman’s stately vocal and proves that, when you know what you’re about, 8 bars are really all you need for a solo.

 

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