Blog Profile / JazzWax
| URL : | http://www.jazzwax.com/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | Music / Jazz | |
| Posts on Regator: | 1612 | |
| Posts / Week: | 6 | |
| Archived Since: | March 31, 2008 | |
Blog Post Archive
Weekend Wax Bits
Last week, the Jazz Journalists Association announced the nominees for its 2013 JJA Awards. Winners will be named on June 19 at the Blue Note in New York. I was nominated in three categories—"Writing of the Year," "Blog of the...
Young Rascals: "Groovin' "
I grew up in Manhattan's Washington Heights and had the best of both worlds. My family lived in the city—which meant pizza shops, candy stores and movie theaters. But P.S. 187 was a short bike ride to Fort Tryon Park—home...
Creed Taylor on Phil Ramone
Producer Creed Taylor deserves enormous credit for the American bossa nova movement of the early 1960s. Instead of recording jazz artists interpreting the new Rio de Janeiro sound—as many jazz producers at the time were doing—Creed [pictured above] carefully blended...
Antonio Adolfo: "Finas Misturas"
Brazilian pianist, arranger and composer Antonio Adolfo became a professional musician in Rio de Janeiro at age 17 and has since recorded 25 albums as a leader. His teachers were Eumir Deodato and Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Adolfo's songs have...
Breakfast at Tiffany's: Better Theme
Like many of you, I love the glitter and shimmer of 1961 New York in Breakfast at Tiffany's. But I must confess I've never cared much for Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer's Moon River, the movie's official theme. Oh, it's...
Hal and Sammy: After Dark
After doing some research last week, I unearthed two more Playboy After Dark episodes. One is from May 1970 and features singer Hal Frazier with Buddy Rich, a pianist and a possibly a soundtrack—since we never see the band. The...
Weekend Wax Bits
On Monday (April 1) I will be at Richard Stockton College in Galloway, N.J. for a talk about the unlikely reasons why jazz styles shifted so often between World War II and Watergate. I also will be presenting images and...
Edward Bland: 'Cry of Jazz'
Edward Bland died of cancer at his home in Smithfield, Va. on March 14 at 86. Bland was a musician, composer and arranger, according to the New York Times's obit, but he also made one film—Cry of Jazz. When the...
David Amram on Gregory Corso
David Amram [pictured] is one of the last surviving members of the Beat Generation scene and a forefather of the countculture movement of the '60s. Not only was the French hornist and composer there in the '50s, he was part...
Beverly Kenney After Dark
As you'll soon see, only Playboy's Hugh Hefner could pour out champagne and then rest his forearm across the top of the bottle. On Hef's Playboy's Penthouse TV show in late 1959 or early 1960, one of his guests was...
At Home With Smokey Robinson
A couple of weeks ago I was in Los Angeles for the Wall Street Journal to interview (go here) Smokey Robinson at his home north of the city. At age 73, Smokey is a charming, gregarious guy who generates enormous...
Astrud Gilberto: Holland '65
In the summer of '65, Astrud Gilberto made a fast trip to the Netherlands to appear on Dutch TV. The show—See Jazz—was produced by pianist and host Pim Jacobs. Flush off the release of Getz/Gilberto and the success of her...
Weekend Wax Bits
I snapped this image in Paris last year. The metal sign was bolted to the wall of a building, about knee-high. So much for posters and tape. Ça fait du bien means "It feels good." Indeed it does. Urbie Green,...
Philippe Petit: At Home
You may think that a wire-walker has little or nothing to do with jazz or art. But to me, wire-walking is all about rhythm, balance and expression. In the case of Philippe Petit—perhaps the world's most famous wire-walker and juggler—there's...
Maria Bacardi: "Deseo"
Cuban boleros are a specialty all to themselves. Performed well, they are languid ballads with stories illustrating love gone wrong. To be convincing, a bolero requires a voice with a humid, husky timbre and a feeling that neatly combines grief...
Aaron Diehl: Trio and Quartet
I spent the day yesterday writing and listening to pianist Aaron Diehl's new album, The Bespoke Man's Narrative (Mack Ave.). I love Diehl's chord voicings and acute sense of drama. In his playing, you can hear the suspense of Red...
Sam Most: "East Coast Jazz"
A long-forgotten Sam Most album on the Bethlehem label has just been remastered and reissued. Recorded in 1955, I'm Nuts About Most...Sam That Is! was the ninth and final album in the series of "East Coast Jazz" LPs that Creed...
Urbie Green: Trombone Master
If you love the jazz trombone, imagine getting a private lesson with Urbie Green. Well, in the summer of 1968, students of Willowbrook High School in Villa Park, Ill. were lucky enough to have that opportunity when Green—on tour to....
Weekend Wax Bits
On Monday April 1, I will be at Stockton College in Galloway, N.J. to talk about the evolution of jazz from World War II to Watergate—and the unlikely reasons jazz styles changed so often over that 30-year period. I was...
Duane Allman: Studio Picker
The name Duane Allman makes you think of the Allman Brothers Band and the birth of Southern rock—which uses the blues to create long, improvised electric guitar solos. But as I write in today's Wall Street Journal—in a preview of...