The Jazz Real Book

“Good Evening Mr. & Mrs. America & All the Ships at Sea” and Tom Scott (135)
“Good Evening Mr. & Mrs. America & All the Ships at Sea” was composed by drummer John Guerin and recorded by Tom Scott and the L.A. Express for the 1975 album Tom Cat. The title references broadcaster Walter Winchell’s famous opening line. The track is a great example of 1970s jazz fusion, combining jazz harmony and improvisation with funk and rock rhythms. It is also a tune you rarely hear called at a jam session—and for good reason. Compared with most jazz standards, its form, melody, harmony, and rhythms are unusually demanding. The arrangement moves through several contrasting sections, including an extended solo form. Much of the piece is built around a funky bass line and unique chord movement. Later sections introduce dominant chords loaded with tensions, shifting meters of harmonic activity, challenging sixteenth-note figures, and unexpected movement. Guerin’s driving backbeat and Scott’s saxophone ultimately hold the complicated arrangement together. 
Tom Scott and L.A. Express 
The Jazz Real Book Podcast Vol. 2

Ben Allison Interview
Ben Allison is an American jazz bassist, composer, bandleader, and educator known for bringing a distinctive contemporary voice to the acoustic bass. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1966, Allison studied jazz at New York University before becoming an important figure in New York’s downtown jazz scene. In 1992, he co-founded the Jazz Composers Collective, an influential organization that provided musicians with opportunities to perform and develop original music outside the traditional jazz-club system.
As a bandleader, Allison blends jazz with rock, funk, folk, and contemporary classical influences. His playing emphasizes groove, melodic invention, and interaction rather than simply serving as a traditional rhythm-section foundation. He has recorded numerous albums, including Buzz, Cowboy Justice, Little Things Run the World, and Action-Refraction. Allison has also championed the music of overlooked jazz composer Herbie Nichols. His work demonstrates how the modern bassist can function equally as accompanist, composer, bandleader, and musical innovator.

“Golden Lady” and Stevie Wonder 
Stevie Wonder’s “Golden Lady,” from his landmark 1973 album Innervisions, represents everything that makes Wonder such an extraordinary musician. On the surface, it is a warm and uplifting love song, but underneath it is a sophisticated mixture of soul, funk, pop, rock, and jazz influences. Wonder’s inventive harmonies, memorable melodies, rhythmic feel, and use of keyboards and synthesizers give the song a sound that remains remarkably fresh.
“Golden Lady” also demonstrates Wonder’s strong connection to jazz. Although he has never been primarily considered a jazz musician, jazz harmony, improvisation, and musical experimentation have always been important parts of his work. That connection began early with The Jazz Soul of Little Stevie and continued throughout his career, including collaborations with major jazz artists. More than fifty years later, “Golden Lady” remains a great example of Wonder’s genius: sophisticated music that never sounds complicated, combining remarkable musicianship with an immediately memorable song.
Stevie Wonder 
Soulive
The Jazz Real Book Playlist Vol 2

Boris Kozlov Interview
Boris Kozlov’s connection to Charles Mingus runs far deeper than simply directing the Mingus Big Band. Growing up in the Soviet Union, Kozlov first encountered Mingus through photocopied music, playing “Pussy Cat Dues” before he had even heard Mingus’s recordings. After moving to New York, hearing Mingus Ah Um proved transformative—Kozlov describes it as such a perfect recording that it could be sent into space as a representation of “what human jazz is.”
Kozlov joined the Mingus Big Band in 1998 as a last-minute substitute and quickly earned Sue Mingus’s confidence. Within weeks, she entrusted him with creating what became Charles Mingus: More Than a Play-Along. Now the band’s frequent musical director, Kozlov brings that nearly three-decade relationship to the group. His philosophy remains wonderfully Mingus-like: don’t imitate the master—use his music to find your own voice.

T.S. Monk Interview
T.S. Monk has built a remarkable career both as a musician and as the steward of his father Thelonious Monk’s extraordinary legacy. A respected drummer, bandleader, composer, and recording artist, he performed with his father as a young musician before establishing his own career, eventually devoting significant energy to preserving and expanding awareness of Monk’s music.
Today, T.S. Monk is helping lead an important new chapter through the Thelonious Monk Estate and Rhythm-A-Ning Entertainment. The newly unearthed and fully restored Monk Live in Paris, 1967 Volume One represents the first official release from the Monk Estate and launches a series devoted to reclaiming rare and previously unauthorized archival recordings.
The Paris recording captures Monk with Charlie Rouse, Larry Gales, and Ben Riley, joined by guests including Phil Woods, Jimmy Cleveland, Ray Copeland, and Johnny Griffin. Volume Two, featuring Clark Terry, is scheduled for October 9, 2026. For T.S. Monk, these releases are about more than rediscovery—they represent preserving, protecting, and reintroducing his father’s revolutionary music for future generations.