An Open Letter To Leslie Hunt
Dear Leslie,
Caught your “farewell” performance on American Idol tonight, just as I caught your whole performance last night. Listen, that mouthing off thing during what will most likely be your very final time on national TV? It was juvenile. You had a chance to be memorable — you certainly began singing your farewell song infinitely better tonight than last night — but now? I’ll remember you as a mouthy, immature twit.
Oh, and as for your comment — you know, the one you interrupted your song to spew? — that “America’s not ready for scat”? Do the names Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Scatman Crothers, Anita O’Day and Sarah Vaughan ring a bell? America’s fine with scat. Americans don’t like bad scat.
Buh-bye.
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but now? I’ll remember you as a mouthy, immature twit.
Quite hypocritical of you.
From VK: Eh, I’m not on national TV. And this isn’t my “farewell song.”
Leslie, you were unique. Loved her jazz style. American Idol is too much a Pop Idol show, and it was actually refreshing to hear a voice that was different. Too bad you had to leave so soon.
Speaking of Anita O’Day, there is a great group on Yahoo called Billie Holiday And The Disciples Of Swing. The group features audio files of classic Jazz Vocalists. This past month they have been celebrating Girl Singer’s Month and this weeks playlist includes a great unreleased track of Skylark performed by Aretha at the Detroit Music Hall in 1986.. Here is the link to the group and the current playlist.
Billie Holiday And The Disciples Of Swing
01 And This Is My Beloved.mp3 Gloria Lynne at Basin Street 912 K
01 As Long As I Live.mp3 Peggy Lee (rehearsal, 1962) 989 KB
01 Darktown Strutters Ball.mp3 Alberta Hunter, 1978 2532 KB
01 I Didn’t Know What Time It Was.mp3 Sarah Vaughan, 198X 1938 KB
01 Manhattan.mp3 Lee Wiley 1627 KB
01 S’Wonderful.mp3 Ella Fitzgerald and Sammy Davis Jr. 1320 KB
01 They Raided The Joint.mp3 Helen Humes at the Pasadena Auditorium, 1952 836 KB
02 Loud Talkin’ Woman.mp3 Helen Humes at the Pasadena Auditorium, 1952 1385 KB
02 The More I See You.mp3 Keely Smith, studio session, 6/20/1985
2791 KB
02 Willow Weep For Me.mp3 Billie Holiday, Toronto, 8/57 1939 KB
03 Flying Home.mp3 Ella Fitzgerald, Carnegie Hall, 9/18/1949 2602 KB
03 I Only Have Eyes For You.mp3 Billie Holiday, Toronto, 8/57 955 KB
03 I’ll Get Along Somehow.mp3 Nancy Wilson 2581 KB
03 Mood Indigo.mp3 Lena Horne and Tony Bennett 1217 KB
04 Billie’s Blues.mp3 Billie Holiday, Toronto, 8/57 1614 KB
04 Lucky Day.mp3 Annie Ross,1959 1051 KB
04 One Night Stand.mp3 Janis Joplin, 1970 1468 KB
04 Why Don’t You Do Right.mp3 Linda Hopkins, 6/18/82 1572 KB
05 After You’ve Gone.mp3 Kay Starr, 1975 1177 KB
05 Azure-te.mp3 Ernestine Anderson, studio session, 1958 1395 KB
05 Lover Come Back To Me.mp3 Billie Holiday, Toronto, 8/57 1088 KB
05 Miss Brown to You.mp3 Carmen McRae, studio session, 6/29/1961 1172 KB
06 Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby.mp3 Ann Richards, studio session, 1960 1272 KB
07 I’d Rather Go Blind.mp3 Etta James live at Memory Lane, 1986 3213 KB
07 Influences.mp3 Billie Holiday 432 KB
07 The Way We Were.mp3 Peggy Lee (1974 Academy Awards) 1997 KB
08 My Funny Valentine.mp3 Anita O’Day at Carnegie Hall, 1986 3213 KB
08 No Ways Tired.mp3 The Barret Sisters, 1983 2535 KB
08 You’ve Changed.mp3 Shelby Lynne, studio session, 2006 1706 KB
09 But Not For Me.mp3 Gladys Knight 1885 KB
09 Influences part 2.mp3 Billie Holiday, Toronto, 8/57 2278 KB
09 Porgy.mp3 Nina Simone at Westbury Music Fair, 1968 1634 KB
09 Skylark.mp3 Aretha Franklin, Detroit Music Hall 1986 1799 KB
10 Mean Way Of Loving.mp3 Helen Humes at the Pasadena Auditorium, 1952 1095 KB
13 He Brought Us.mp3 The Barret Sisters, 1983 2927 KB
13 My Funny Valentine_The Gentleman is a Dope.mp3 Peggy Lee and Lena Horne, 1978 912 KB
15 I Wish You Love 1.mp3 Barbra Streisand, JFK Stadium 1966 1408 KB
15 More.mp3 Baby Jane Dexter 1300 KB
15 Only The Lonely.mp3 Aretha Franklin, studio session, 7/16/64
2306 KB
17 I Cried For You.mp3 Helen Humes at the Pasadena Auditorium, 1952
868 KB
17 You Turned The Tables On Me.mp3 Anita O’Day on the BBC, 1964
1382 KB
18 Medley.mp3 Anita O’Day and Chris Connor at Michaels Pub, 1989
3253 KB
19 If I Were A Bell.mp3 June Christy Live At The Dunes 856 KB
20 It Don’t Mean A Thing.mp3 June Christy Live At The Dunes 1045 KB
21 Jeepers Creepers.mp3 june Christy Live At The Dunes 817 KB
22 Too Marvelous.mp3 June Christy Live At The Dunes 826 KB
25 Mixed Emotions.mp3 Dinah Washington Live At Basin Street, 7/10/55
1480 KB
26 Come Rain Or Shine.mp3 Dinah Washington Live At Basin Street, 7/10/55 798 KB
Ooops, here is the link:
http://launch.groups.yahoo.com....._Of_Swing/
I thought her singing about how American doesn’t like jazz at the end of her song was hilarious. I love it. It was a whole lot better than watching Alaina Alexander cry the entire time during her song. I’ll miss Leslie, she was one of my favorites.
I do agree about Alaina, but I would’ve loved to have heard Leslie finish her song. (And I do like her voice.)
Maybe I’m looking at it from a different perspective — these kids are on their way to becoming music professionals, and the mark of a professional is to put on an excellent performance, each and every time. I felt that Leslie’s outburst was just that, and that it was extremely self-indulgent.
Having said that, I completely sympathize with how she must’ve been feeling at the time. I just wish she hadn’t given in to it.