Soupy Sales' jazz legacy
Apart from Soupy Sales' obvious contributions to the comedy of anarchy that helped usher in the '60s as we know it, Soupy also presented some of the best jazz performers on the planet when he hosted a nighttime jazz/talk show out of Detroit in the mid-'50s.
Acts like Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Jackie Wilson -- the cream of touring jazz musicians and many great Detroit-based stars -- would appear on Soupy's show.
The movie about Motown's Funk Brothers, "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" featured a brief clip from Soupy's nighttime show, of Motown guitarist Joe Messina playing in Soupy's house band.
I dream that somewhere, on an alternate planet, there are tapes of Soupy's entire show, for us to enjoy. Maybe it's out there somewhere.
There's one other clip from the nighttime show -- the only known clip of trumpet great Clifford Brown performing. Brown, who was the yin to Miles Davis' yang in terms of trumpet style, died tragically in a car crash, at 25 in 1956.
Give thanks to Soupy's lifelong jazz fandom and the freedom afforded him by Detroit TV bosses in the '50s...here is that Clifford Brown clip:
