Just before I went away came the news that songwriter Richard Sherman had died. He and his brother Robert wrote some of the most well-known songs from the mid to late twentieth century in their work for Disney and others.

Consider the beautifully constructed Feed the Birds from Mary Poppins.

Julie Andrews: Feed the Birds

For me though their masterpiece is I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song) from The Jungle Book.

The best bit is of course when Baloo the bear comes in with his scat singing, starting at “Da zap dan roani” with the crowning glory of the whole sequence his ecstatic cry of, “Take me home , Daddy.”

Louis Prima, Phil Harris: I Wan’na Be Like You (The Monkey Song)

Richard Morton Sherman: 12/6/1928 –  25/5/2024. So it goes.

I heard today that jazz trumpeter Kenny Ball has died.

My eldest brother was into trad jazz in the early 1960s and had several of Kenny’s singles. Some of those songs were in the run of early 1960s singles I included in this category about two years ago.

Here’s the band playing I Wanna Be Like You, one of the songs from the Disney version of The Jungle Book. I remember seeing them perform this on television – probably before I ever saw the relevant clip from the film.

It has to be said this performance is of its time.

Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen: I Wanna Be Like You

Kenny Ball (Kenneth Daniel Ball): 22/5/1930-7/3/2013. So it goes.