A month after saxophonist and dear friend Hal McKusick died in April, the jazz band at The Ross School in East Hampton, N.Y., where Hal taught for many years, performed a tribute concert in his honor. If you're familiar with Hal's sound, you can hear his light, airy touch and voicings in the pieces as well as his influence on the students. Hal is sorely missed...
Jazz Samba radio. My boy "Symphony" Sid Gribetz will slip on his black Wayfarer sunglasses and pointy black patent leather shoes for his "Jazz Profiles" feature this Sunday honoring Jazz Samba, the first major bossa nova album in the U.S. recorded 50 years ago this year (February 13, to be exact). The album featured Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd and was produced by Creed Taylor. Five hours devoted to the album and its influences. Tune in on your computer from anywhere in the world from 2 to 7 p.m. (EDT). Go here.
Booker's Place: A Mississippi Story. Director Raymond De Felitta's powerful documentary Booker's Place: A Mississippi Story—which explores the 1960s murder of a black club owner in a Southern town—will be featured on NBC's Dateline this Sunday, hosted by Lester Holt. Time: 7 p.m.(EDT). It's a chilling work by the director of 'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris. Here's the trailer...
Jackie DeShannon. Singer-songwriter Jackie DeShannon (Put a Little Love in Your Heart) emailed last week to chat and tell me about her latest work—a project to raise awareness and funds to help end drought in Africa. Her moving piece, with enormous vocals, is called For Africa, in Africa (it's available at iTunes and here, and Jackie says a portion of the proceeds will go to Water.org). Here's the video...
Pauly Cohen. Bret Primack is embarking on a documentary that will focus on jazz trumpeter Pauly Cohen. But first, he has to raise some cash. Here's more on Bret's venture at Kickstarter.com...
Michael Ybarra (1966-2012), the Wall Street Journal's extreme-sports correspondent, an author and a friend of mine since the mid-1990s, died over the weekend of June 30 and July 1 on a recreational rock climb in Yosemite National Park. He was 45. In our many e-mail exchanges, Mike routinely expressed his love for the wilderness, the thrill of pushing oneself physically and, most of all, his awe of nature's raw beauty—particularly when dwarfed by its size and power. I'll miss Mike, a graceful writer and one courageous guy. For a selection of his Wall Street Journal columns, go here.
Art Pepper. Another free download from Laurie Pepper, Art's widow. This month, Mambo Koyama. Go here.
Music and echo. For those unfamiliar with what reverb is, as it pertains to recording, reader Greg Lee sent along a link to a fabulously informative article in the Atlantic by William Weir. Go here.
Herb Snitzer—on sale. Photographer Herb Snitzer is moving out of his studio. Bad for him, but good for you. He is selling silver gelatin prints of his works (like the one above of Thelonious Monk) at 70% off. Visit his site here. Then give him a call directly at (727) 692-7646.
Coleman Hawkins. Last week, Will Friedwald had a fine piece in the Wall Street Journal on tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins and the new Mosaic box set. To read it, go here.
Oddball album cover of the week. There are a million stories in Gotham and a broken heart for each and every one of them. Here, the cover of an album by bebop vocalist Babs Gonzales features one of those stories and bit more than just a broken heart. I'm not sure what tale this is or why it illustrates "cool philosophy." Also unclear is whether our model is getting into the car or was just booted out.
