I’ll tell you the stories—-and you can figure out which tune I’m talking about. Or, better yet, listen to the podcast and find out :).

#1: The primary writer was a member of the National Association for The Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and was put in jail for refusing to enlist in the U.S. army due to it’s racial segregation policies. Described as a ‘one hit wonder’, in fact, he later became a successful songwriter in France, penning hits for Maurice Chevalier and Josephine Baker.

#2: The bridge of this particular tune used chord changes that later inspired what have been called “Coltrane Changes”—the ones he used in Giant Steps.

#3: This may be the only song that can be considered a link between The Everly Brothers, Charlie Parker, and The Three Stooges.

#4: One of the world’s most played jazz compositions, this instrumental was first recorded as a vocal by Sarah Vaughan under the name ‘Interlude’.

#5: Fats Waller wrote it quickly, then promptly forgot it. Now it’s one of the world’s best known jazz standards.

#6: A song written by a rarity in 1940’s songwriting success—a black female. She went under the name of Glenn Gibson to hide the fact that she was female.

I will tell you some of the artists you’ll hear in this episode of Discovering Jazz. You’ll hear Paul Bley, Ruth Brown, Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Bill Coon & Oliver Gannon, Steve Turre, Coleman Hawkins, Angela Verbrugge, Jason Moran, and Fats Waller, and a bit of James Edward Davis.

If you like this episode, ratings and comments on the itunes podcast site or on whatever site you listen to these podcasts are not just welcome but cherished.