Noting a certain pesky robot on our kitchen table that repeatedly mentions the Birthday Roundup, reminding the gang at Way Too Damn Lazy To Write A Blog that, hoo-boy, there are some doozies among the natal anniversaries on March 14.
First and foremost, there's Albert Einstein (yes, THAT Einstein, as opposed to Harry "Parkyakarkus" Einstein and Bob "Super Dave Osborne" Einstein), the Nobel Prize-winning physicist and visionary, was born on March 14, 1879. Here he is, the genius, thinker, innovator and movie buff, with Charlie Chaplin in 1931.
Along with his meeting with Charlie Chaplin, a favorite Albert Einstein story involves him interrupting a conference by announcing, "you will have to excuse me, gentlemen. It's Time for Beany." That was Albert's favorite TV show and we surmise he was a big fan of Stan Freberg and Daws Butler, the brilliant voice artists who doubled as puppeteers and gag writers!
Chaplin and Time For Beany were not the only links between the founder of modern physics and quantum mechanics and the worlds of animation and filmmaking. Animation producer Max Fleischer, always fascinated by the sciences, made a documentary film about Einstein's Theory Of Relativity in 1923. A piece which explains the sciences to the layman very well, it makes me love Uncle Max even more than I already do!
It's difficult to think of any individual in the music field who has excelled in more genres, worn more hats successfully and tried out more new ideas in more varied settings than producer-arranger-bandleader-composer-brassman Quincy Jones.
Since MJ's "King of Pop" records are Quincy's best known work as an producer-arranger, this post will concentrate on Mr. Jones' outstanding work in jazz and r&b.
It's tough to know just where to begin or end with Mr. Jones, responsible for so much stellar music. We'll start with a couple of tracks from Genius + Soul = Jazz by Ray Charles. It's a masterpiece and features incredible arrangements by Quincy.
No doubt Sinatra heard this album and took notes! The stellar Quincy Jones arrangements enable Ray to blend the sounds of soul, r&b and jazz beautifully, as Capitol Records Frank (with Quincy, Billy May, Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins arrangements) transported the crooner persona that began with Bing Crosby into a jazzier place, updating and expanding the 1930's swing era sound.
Here, Ray Charles pays tribute to Quincy Jones. They did incredible work together!
Quincy Jones played on one of my favorite records, Clifford Brown In Paris. Featuring Clifford, Art Farmer, Quincy and outstanding arrangements, this album's alternate title could be KICK ASS BRASS.
Without a doubt, the brilliance of this group inspired the arrangements and sound of Quincy's epic 1950's - 1960's big band, seen here rocking the house in Paris.
These look forward to Quincy's charts for the Count Basie juggernaut on The Chairman Of The Board's classics It Might As Well Be Swing and Sinatra At The Sands
There's a Netflix documentary about the life and times of Quincy Jones - and it looks fantastic.
Should one asked this film buff if there's any actor who never played 007 but would have at the very least made an interesting, offbeat James Bond, different from all the others, it would be this insanely prolific movie and TV star, born on the same day as Quincy Jones, March 14, 1933: Michael Caine.
Among his numerous credits, Caine starred in the greatest of heist caper movies, The Italian Job (1969).
Among a gazillion movies and TV shows spanning every imaginable genre in a six-decade acting career, arguably my all-time favorite film of Michael Caine's would be the 1972 classic Sleuth, co-starring none other than Sir Larry Olivier. No spoilers allowed here - just see it!
Finishing today's post, which has celebrated a multitude of mindblowingly amazing 20th century accomplishments, we jump a few decades forward into the 21st century and pay tribute to one of our current greats. This young man, knowing his dad's rep for making impossible long-range shots began shredding the hoops as an elementary schooler way back in the 20th century, has come to define the art of 21st century roundball over the past decade. That would be the one, the only Steph Curry.
Often found in unrelentingly brutal 2020 and the first few stressful weeks of 2021 that Steph's can-do spirit and eloquent expression of the joy of playing restored my flagging faith in humanity. Curry has brought joy to sports and life in a way few All-Stars on the court, diamond or gridiron have.
Happy Birthday, Steph and lots of love to you and yours from the aficionados of hoops, good will, best practices and a positive outlook around the world. Bravos, Cheers and Mazel Tov!
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