We all have a Walt Disney cartoon tune or melody in mind, reminding us of magic afternoons spent with our parents when we were kids or with our own children now that we are grown-ups.
It is a bit of this special feeling and pleasure that artists such as Gregory Porter, Melody Gardot, Stacey Kent, Jamie Cullum and other leading music stars share with us on the new project produced by Jay Newland and arranged and directed by Rob Mounsey, as they perform big band jazz covers of songs that are part of every kids heritage.
Whether they come from Scandinavia, Andalusia, North Americas big cities or the Balkan plains, 21st century kids have the Disney magic in common, an imaginary world where both soft and wild tunes are closely linked to cult scenes from Uncle Walts animation classics.
Walt Disney loved jazz and paid great attention to the writing of the music accompanying his heroes adventures. Teams wrote and played the songs that at some point acted as catalysts of the emotions and personalities of unique characters such as Jiminy Cricket, Baloo, Tinker Bell or Toy Storys cowboy Woody. Several of these tunes have either been nominated for or won Academy Awards, a true acknowledgment of the quality of such beloved and enchanting future standards, which many jazz and pop stars - Louis Armstrong, Peggy Lee, Johnny Mathis, Bette Middler, Linda Ronstadt, Los Lobos, Robbie Williams …- have covered at some point in their career.
Jazz Loves Disney was recorded between Paris, London and Los Angeles by a dream cast. It is incredibly coherent, as if all participants had agreed to pay a rightful tribute to the most beautiful and symbolic tunes of Walt Disneys magic world, as if nothing was too good for the stars when they revisited the classics and the sweet childhood memories connected to them.
This is the ultimate proof of the impact Disney has had on generations of jazz musicians, including the ones taking part in Jazz Loves Disney.