Elizabeth Taylor (1932-2011). In the 1950s, Elizabeth Taylor was a raven-haired beauty in a decade of blonde bombshells. Despite her perfect features, Taylor's fans sensed she was one of them. Perhaps it was how she managed her eyes, dipping her lids in humility every so often. Her vulnerability allowed the average movie-goer to feel the roles she played while her tormented bad luck with husbands off screen elicited sympathy. Above all, Taylor also had a girlish sense of humor, as this clips shows...
Martin Trumpet. Filmmaker Randy Cole sent along a link to his latest video—Painting Jazz: The Martin Committee Trumpet. The clip looks at the horn model that was favored by nearly all jazz greats...
Greenwich Village. Director Raymond De Felitta sent along this clip of Rickie Lee Jones singing Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues. Most important, dig the footage and stills of New York's Greenwich Village in the early '60s...
Classic TV, movies and baseball. Otto Bruno, the writer and radio host, writes two fabulous blogs. The first features essays on movies and television and the other is on baseball. I took a look and didn't leave until a half hour later. The first blog is here, the second is here. Just make sure you leave yourself some time.
Charlie Parker. Radio legend Phil Schaap informs me that his daily Birdflight program, which has aired daily on WKCR in New York for several decades, is available as podcasts online. This is great news, since so much great radio has been lost over the years. Gratifying to know that Phil's Birdflight soliloquys and frame-by-frame analysis of Parker's playing and history is available for free with a click, 24 hours a day. Makes for great background while you work or swing online. Go here.
CD discoveries of the week. This one's going to knock you out. Pianist Noah Haidu's Slipstream has a mid-'60s hardbop feel, and it comes together perfectly, track after track. All of the compositions except one by Cole Porter are Haidu's. Hats off to Jeremy Pelt on trumpet and Jon Irabagon on alto sax. A fabulously tight front line. I urge you to sample Where We Are Right Now and Break Tune, which gives you a chance to hear Haidu's strength and majesty on piano in a trio setting. You'll find Slipstream (Posi-Tone) at iTunes or here.
Live albums are rarely this pretty. Pianist Kenny Werner on Balloons (Half Note) was joined at New York's Blue Note by trumpeter Randy Brecker, saxophonist David Sanchez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Antonio Sanchez. With such heavy hitters, it's no wonder that this is a tightly wound and moody hardbop heavy-breather. Dig Diena or the title track, which actually does sound like balloons. You'll find this one at iTunes or here.
Oddball album cover of the week. As far as I can tell, the Palm Garden Orchestra was an early easy-listening ensemble that specialized in what used to be known as mood music. Here, on what appears to be a mid-50s Halo release, the orchestra takes on material for kicking back and letting your mind go. Which is fine. But can these ice queens really hear the strains of these strings in the middle of nowhere? And who relaxes on their axis in sub-freezing weather? A pair of stiffs.
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Good to hear Phil is podcasting "Birdflight".
I'll load a few episodes into my player and go for a l-o-n-g walk!
the album cover may be even more oddball than the music although I doubt it. my wife says she wishes everyone would still dress as tastefully and stylishly on the hill as these two. anybody seen the snowboarders' wardrobe lately? makes one want to give up skiing.
Nothing really oddball about the album cover, Marc -- other than it's on a record album. Just one of those magic winter moments when there's no breeze and the sun bakes the valley.
But hooking up your skis and poles to make an incline board that doesn't collapse on you, now THAT'S the trick.
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Marc Myers writes frequently on music and the arts for the Wall Street Journal. He is author of "Why Jazz Happened" (University of California Press). In 2012, JazzWax was named the Jazz Journalists Association's "Blog of the Year."
Good to hear Phil is podcasting "Birdflight".
I'll load a few episodes into my player and go for a l-o-n-g walk!
Posted by: Doug Zielke | March 27, 2011 at 09:44 AM
the album cover may be even more oddball than the music although I doubt it. my wife says she wishes everyone would still dress as tastefully and stylishly on the hill as these two. anybody seen the snowboarders' wardrobe lately? makes one want to give up skiing.
Posted by: paul wood | March 28, 2011 at 04:50 AM
Nothing really oddball about the album cover, Marc -- other than it's on a record album. Just one of those magic winter moments when there's no breeze and the sun bakes the valley.
But hooking up your skis and poles to make an incline board that doesn't collapse on you, now THAT'S the trick.
Posted by: Jery Rowan | March 28, 2011 at 11:03 AM