My wife and I saw The Jersey Boys musical last year on our annual trip to New York City. Jarrod Spector has as great a voice as Frankie Valli, and we thoroughly enjoyed the show. Toward the end of the show soundtrack, Act I. The Early Years: A Scrapbook, there is a snippet from “Moody’s Mood for Love,” a great song.
“Moody’s Mood for Love” is jazz saxophonist James Moody’s 1949 instrumental solo on the 1935 song, “I’m in the Mood for Love” with lyrics later added by Eddie Jefferson. This particular arrangement of the song did not come to be known by its now common title of “Moody’s Mood for Love” until King Pleasure released a very popular vocal version in 1954 .
Based on The Jersey Boys soundtrack snippet, I went searching for a recording of this tune. I was amply rewarded by a Ray Gelato Giants’ recording of this piece. I love the complexity in the melody of this tune. The saxophone improvisation at the end of the song, “And, you can blow now, if you want to…,” is a great climax to a great song. “The Men from Uncle” album, by The Ray Gelato Giants, is an example of “retro swing” or the swing revival. The Swing Revival was a late 1990s and early 2000s period of renewed popular interest in swing and jump blues music and dance from the 1930s and 1940s .
The tracks on the “The Men from Uncle” album have great energy. And, you have to love the great brass sound. This group is based in the UK , and recently released the album entitled “Ray Gelato Salutes The Great Entertainers.” This album contains recordings of such great hits as,
1. This Joint Is Jumpin’
2. A Little More To Love
3. I’m In The Mood For Love
4. The Jumpin’ Jive
5. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
6. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
7. Rags To Riches
8. Flyin’ Home
9. Your Feet’s Too Big
10. Is That Train Ever Comin’
11. Stardust
12. Night And Day
13. Don’t You Go Way Mad
14. That’s All
This music makes me want to take up the saxophone, or go back to the trumpet. But, my wife won’t let me.
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