Yesterday, I mentioned how the song “Birdland” was an inextricable part of my college experience. Here are two of my favorite renditions of that song. First, the immortal Maynard Ferguson:
Maynard Ferguson was my first jazz hero, going back to the first time I played “Chameleon” back in middle school. His band just flat-out jammed. Here’s my other favorite version of this song, by The Manhattan Transfer:
As I recall, they wrote the lyrics for “Birdland” because they loved the song and decided it needed lyrics. Works for me.