The beginning of the baseball season reminds me of the ties between jazz and baseball.  (Although OJ beat me to the punch a few months ago by posting a link to some newly discovered home movies showing Duke Ellington pitching and taking some swings)

Baseball rose to prominence on the broad shoulders of Babe Ruth during a time in American history that is more generally known as the "Jazz Age."  Both pastimes were prime entertainment for the country through the dark years of the Great Depression and World War II.  And, I would argue, that the Golden Age of both was in the post-War period of 1945 through the late 50's when, among other things, both activities began to integrate at a much faster rate than the rest of the nation.  (I have long thought that there is a noir-ish Great American Novel to be written that is set in the worlds of jazz and baseball, where, somehow, the rise of Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and bebop is juxtaposed with the arrival of Jackie Robinson and other early black players to the Major Leagues.  Alas, I am not the person to write this book, as I have been thinking about it for years, and have not come up with even one character or storyline...so if any of you want to have a crack at it, be my guest....just, please, get both the baseball and the jazz right.)

So, to celebrate the start of the new season, some jazz recordings inspired by baseball.

No song is more associated with baseball than "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" (with the National Anthem a close second), and jazz musicians have taken many swings at it over the years...converting the song from its natural 3/4 time signature to a more rhythmic 4/4 in the process.  One of my favorite versions of this particularly American tune is performed by, of course, a Russian-born, Israel-raised singer who lives in Canada, Sophie Milman.  Among the pleasures of this recording are the seldom-heard verses about "baseball-mad" Katie Casey.

Another fine take is the debut recording of the remarkable trombonist Frank Rosolino, who with help from pianist Barry Harris, presents the song as an upbeat bebop number

In "Van Lingle Mungo", pianist-singer-lyricist Dave Frishberg (ATJ #8) set the names of ballplayers, famous and obscure, from the 30's, 40's and 50's, to a lilting melody.  How can any baseball fan not be smitten by a song that rhymes "Max Lanier" with "Johnny Vander Meer," "Pinky May with "Frenchy Bordagaray" and "George McQuinn" with "Early Wynn"?

Finally, although Baseball's official Opening Day now falls about 10 days earlier than it did back in the days of no West Coast teams and the 154-game schedule, for me it means the Major Leagues now have 2 Opening Days - one on the first day of the regular season and another on April 15, the anniversary of Jackie Robinson's 1947 debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers.  Jackie Robinson Day is wonderfully commemorated each year throughout MLB by having every player wear Jackie's number 42.  Robinson's skill and daring as a ballplayer are celebrated in Buddy Johnson's 1949 novelty "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?," played here by Count Basie and his Orchestra, with the vocal by the great blues shouter, Jimmy Rushing.