BBC Radio 4 LW

My Favourite Things

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Music: Jazz & Blues

BBC Radio 4 - My Favourite Things

Andrew McGibbon explores why John Coltrane's version of My Favourite Things became a hit.

Andrew McGibbon explores how John Coltrane's interpretation of My Favourite Things turned a charming waltz from the The Sound of Music into a hit record for discerning jazz lovers.

Andrew McGibbon explores how the song My Favourite Things from Rogers and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music gained greater popularity through the intervention of jazz artist and pioneer John Coltrane.

Coltrane's version elevated the song to a stand alone masterpiece, contributing to the evolution of the jazz genre and bringing a new audience to the saxophonist's unique, progressive and electrifying sound.

Together with Chick Corea's bass player John Patitucci, BBC Jazz Musician of the year Xhosa Cole, Music Academic Lewis Porter, British jazz saxophonist Iain Ballamy and fellow musicians, Andrew examines how My Favourite Things was made into a hit by John Coltrane. The song was known to Broadway audiences from the late '50s but Coltrane’s 1961 recording sold millions and introduced both the song and his soaring and ineffable interpretation of it to wider audiences, long before the musical had become a household name.

The song represents a significant milestone in the evolution of John Coltrane’s musical legacy. from where he would continue to be inspired to greater heights of improvisation in his restless search for the presence of love found through the pursuit of musical perfection. Later in the '60s, fans would find it hard to keep up with his astonishing experimentation during live performances of My Favourite Things as he pushed the boundaries of the saxophone with his relentless curiosity.

The artists heard in the programme and on the specially recorded version of My Favourite Things are...

Iain Ballamy - Soprano Saxophone
Xhosa Cole - Tenor Saxophone
Trish Clowes - Soprano Saxophone
Duncan Lamont - Clarinet
Gareth Williams - Piano
Lewis Porter - Piano
Jules Jackson - Acoustic Bass
John Patitucci - Acoustic Bass
Andy Paresi - Drums

Written and Presented by Andrew McGibbon
Produced by Nick Romero
 
A Curtains For Radio production for BBC Radio 4

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