Bob Dorough: Devil May Care
Bob Dorough wrote and performed this jazz standard and worked with Miles Davis, Blossom Dearie, and beat poet Allen Ginsburg, among others. While working in Los Angeles, he played piano during Lenny Bruce's set breaks. Bob wrote the lyrics and sang Blue Xmas, Miles Davis's contribution to the Christmas album Jingle Bell Jazz. Outside of the jazz scene, he is best known for writing and performing songs for Schoolhouse Rock!
I met him at one of his shows in 2017, a year before he died. He was 94 years old at the time and played and sang very well. He graciously signed my copy of Jingle Bell Jazz and a friend's DVD case for Schoolhouse Rock! and took some selfies with us. I asked him if he'd ever played piano on a Miles Davis record, to which he replied with a grin: "Miles wouldn't let me play piano." He was a national treasure.