Sunday Wax Bits

The Jazz Journalists Association has graciously nominated JazzWax and me for two of its prestigious 2010 awards. As they say, it's an honor to be honored by my peers. What's more, I'm in esteemed company. The winners will be announced on June 11. Wish me luck!

The categories...

The Helen Dance-Robert Palmer Award for Review and Feature Writing

• Ben Ratliff
• Larry Blumenfeld
• Marc Myers
• Nate Chinen

Blog of the Year

• A Blog Supreme, by Patrick Jarenwattananon
• Do The Math, by Ethan Iverson
• JazzBeyondJazz, by Howard Mandel
• JazzWax, by Marc Myers
• Rifftides, by Doug Ramsey

Art Pepper. I don't know how long this clip is going to be up at YouTube, so hurry and get there fast. It's a powerful 50-minute documentary on Art Pepper and an interview with the late alto saxophonist...

Bill Evans. Reader Greg Lee sent this one along. I hadn't seen it before Greg brought it to my attention...

Erroll Garner. You've heard Erroll Garner play American Songbook classics. Here he is playing Ron Miller and Orlando Murden's 1967 song For Once in My Life made famous first by Stevie Wonder. Given Garner's near-casual expressions, it seems as though he was a guest at his own performance...

New York World's Fair. When I went to the 1964 World's Fair as a kid, I was awestruck. Not only were the exhibits larger than life, everything was gleaming and focused on the future, and how convenient and sweet tomorrow would be. In hindsight, of course, what they left out is that all that the new technology would actually compel us to work more, not less. But heck, the today is pretty good just the same. So was yesterday. Here's an odd film on the fair...

Two for the blues. Reader Stephen Feldman sent these blues beauts along. The first is Freddie King...

The second clip is Johnny Winter...

 

Bob Mintzer. Here's Bob Mintzer conducting the Thornton Jazz Orchestra, which is part of the University of Southern California's jazz program. They're playing Neal Hefti's Cute, and the video was filmed and produced by Bret Primack...

CD discoveries of the week. Melody Federer's voice is a hip throwback to the 1930s, with a touch of Alicia Bridges (I Love the Nightlife) thrown in for good measure. But what makes An American in Paris work is Federer's musical intelligence, sly romanticism and originality. As you listen, you realize that Federer's quirky voice isn't a  Silly Putty gag but a serious study. There's determination behind the neo-croon. Many of her originals are nifty, unorthodox packages with melody lines and lyrics that unwrap just right. And that's what makes this CD compelling and different from the flood of Songbook me-toos. Hi on WiFi is one example of Federer's cutting-edge humor. Also sample Standing Still and Sweet Dreams. You'll find this one at iTunes and here. She's a pretty sharp pianist as well. For a videoclip of the album's Leadbelly, go here.

If you dig the Hammond B3, take a listen to Jared Gold's All Wrapped Up. He's hardly a babe in the woods. This is his fourth CD since 2008. Gold also can handle the foot pedals, which means a bassist wasn't needed here. Instead, he has Ralph Bowen on saxophone, Jim Rotondi on trumpet and Quincy Davis on drums. This isn't late night talk-show organ stuff. Gold is a serious student of the instrument, and you can hear traces of Larry Young and Melvin Rhyne trickling through. You'll find this one at iTunes or here.  

One of my favorite guitarists is Royce Campbell. (You can read my interview with him here.) I dig Royce's enormous technique and hushed, melodic style not to mention his chord voicings. Now Royce has reissued some of his recordings from the '90s. One of them is Make Me Rainbows (1995), with drummer Jimmy Cobb and organist Melvin Rhyne. Dig what Royce does with You Go to My Head and Could It Be You. You'll find this one here.

Oddball album covers of the week. Back in the '50s, when record companies first discovered the color orange (or so it seems), they loved to wash the entire front of the LP in the sunny hue. They also liked to use white and yellow type on top of the orange, as evidenced here. These two covers are from different labels, so clearly one designer came up with the concept while the other went down to the local record store looking for ideas and found one. Which one came first? Janis Martin (billed as "the female Elvis") recorded this one in 1957. And the one by Charlie Ventura for Norman Granz's Norgran label? Well, it would have to be between 1953 and 1956, when Norgran was in operation. So, the "Big Lift" Award goes to...RCA.

Comments

[Paul Wood]

.....and when I was a kid my friend Walter Moser and I went to the 1939 World's Fair where we drank nickel cokes and ate ten cent hot dogs, marveled at Jimmy Lynch's Daredevils stunt drive for B.F. Goodrich tires, were awestruck by the flash of electric arcs and sparks at Steinmetz Hall and were convinced that General Motors' had the right idea what the world of tomorrow would look like. Woody Herman, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey etc. were all playing the big movie houses downtown, the Yankees were unbeatable and, best of all, the subway was a nickel. I leave it to you to decide if the quality of life is better today than it was then. We had a blast.

[J. Carmo]

Regarding oddball cover of the week, Norgran continued the orange color theme, and with interesting results, for the 1956 Anita O'Day "Pick Yourself Up" cover art.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pick_Yourself_Up_with_Anita_O'Day

Thanks for your excellent blog and congratulations on your award nominations.

[Jery Rowan]

Congrats on the "noms", Marc. Well deserved.

Looking forward to pics of you holding the hardware.

[Han Schulte]

Charlie Ventura made at least 5 vinyl albums for the Norgran label in the fifties(source: Goldmine Jazz Album Price Guide):
1 Charlie Ventura Quartet MGN 8 (10 inch) 1953; 2 Charlie Ventura's Carnegie Hall Concert MGN 1041 LP 1955; 3 Charlie Ventura in a Jazz Mood MGN 1073 LP 1956 (see Marc's picture above); 4 Blue Saxophone MGN 1075 LP 1956; 5 Charley's Parley MGN 1133 LP 1956.

[Ray]

Congratulations Marc about Awards!Ciao from Milan,Ray

[David]

The Bill Evans clip is from the excellent "Jazz Icons" series.