In 2009, saxophonist Bill King rounded up some of San Antonio’s finest jazz musicians together to raise medical funds for drummer Gerry Gibbs. When they were done with the show, the King William Jazz Collective decided to stay together. King explains that the band exists today not to make a ton of money, but to commission new work. On this show (link below), the opening song, “Lunacity” was written for the band by Los Angeles-based composer Paul Baker.
In this episode, you’ll also hear arrangements of pop songs like “At Seventeen,” (Janis Ian), “Manic Depression,” (Jimi Hendrix), and “I Can’t Make You Love Me,” recorded by Bonnie Raitt on her 1991 album, “Luck of the Draw.”
“It was back in the late ‘90s,” King remembers, “when I first ended up covering that tune with a band. At the time when I was doing it was a completely different arrangement, [but what] I always thought in the back of my mind was that that tune—if done the correct way—could be timeless, and it could be used in a jazz setting, because it has a very strong melody and it has some interesting chord changes.”
Hear for yourself in the show audio below, or tune in to Texas Public Radio on Saturday night at 7:00 for Live At Jazz, TX.
