Toward the end of last summer, vibraphonist Ed Saindon sent a message alerting me to video of a duo concert he and fellow vibist Joe Locke had just played at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. Saindon has been a professor at Berklee since 1975. I made a mental note to post one of their collaborations. As mental notes have a way of doing, it sank into the murky depths, where it lurked until it found its way to the surface this morning. So, belatedly, here are Saindon and Locke. They play “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams.†Harry Barris, one of Bing Crosby’s partners in The Rhythm Boys, wrote the song in 1931. Crosby’s record of it was a hit. Over the years, it has been a favorite of jazz musicians, with many recordings including splendid ones by Hampton Hawes with Harold Land and Bill Evans with Freddie Hubbard. As Locke and Saindon demonstrate, the bridge section has hidden little challenges that make the piece great fun to play. Locke is on the left.
To see and hear more from Saindon’s and Locke’s encounter, go here.
As for Harry Barris, he also wrote “I Surrender Dear†and “Mississippi Mud,†among a handful of other less well-known songs. When they were all still alive, I had a fantasy of making a record by Harry Barris, Barry Harris, Clark Terry, Terry Clarke, George Russell and Russell George.