April 15, 2016
ALL THAT JAZZ #36
Although Major League Baseball's Opening Day now falls about 2 weeks earlier than it did back in the days of no West Coast teams and the 154-game schedule, for me it means that baseball now has 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 and umpire wear Jackie's number 42. Ken Burns...who shares my fascination with jazz and baseball...has a new documentary about Jackie that premiered on PBS this week. Robinson's skill and daring as a ballplayer are celebrated in Buddy Johnson's 1949 novelty "Did You See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball?" Here are two versions, the first by Count Basie and his Orchestra, with the vocal by the great blues shouter, Jimmy Rushing. The second features Natalie Cole with a big band led by John Clayton.
Posted by Foos at April 15, 2016 6:07 AM
