Jazz trumpeter and bandleader Doc Severinsen was born on this day in 1927. If the opinion of the fellow on the right is any indication, he seems to have been very good at his job. In the following clip from a little more than a year ago, Severinsen, still in his 80s, talks about his upcoming birthday:
He looks in great shape for his age, but I don't think I've ever seen Severinsen that casually dressed before. He usually looks something like this:
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.
--Genesis 37:3
(Actually, Doc's real first name is Carl, not Joseph.)
In the following clip, Doc gets high:
Anything to please the boss.
Now for some Cole Porter, but first, in case you're not familiar with the term:
be·guine
(bĭ-gēn′)
n.
1. A ballroom dance similar to the foxtrot, based on a dance of Martinique and St. Lucia.
2. The music for this dance.
[French (West Indies) béguine, from French béguin, hood, flirtation, from beguine, Beguine; see Beguine.]
And just think, Doc managed that not in Martinique and St. Lucia, but a TV studio in Burbank.
For those of us who were around back then, here's the beginning we most associate with Severinsen:
Just think, Doc had to play that theme five nights a week and still make it sound fresh. He succeeded.
