Lemony, Jutta and Brett

In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed acclaimed novelist and children's book author Lemony Snicket, the pen name of Daniel Handler (go here). In the interview, for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section, we talked about why Daniel grew up in an attic in San Francisco and why people today look at his house and think he's uptight (he's not). [Photo above from YouTube]

Also in the WSJ, I interviewed novelist Diane Ackerman, author of The Zookeeper's Wife, for my "Playlist" column in the Review section (go here). She chose Simon & Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water, which she first heard after marrying Paul West, her college professor. It's a song she listened to often with him after he had a stroke in 2004 and she cared for him until his death in 2015. [Photo above courtesy of the Poetry Foundation]

Audition at RCA. Following my post last week on D.A. Pennebaker's 15-minute jazz masterpiece, Audition at RCA, featuring Dave Lambert and his group of vocalese singers, many readers wondered why Old Folks didn't make it into the film. After all, it was one of the lost audio tracks I included in my post. I posed the question to Frazer Pennebaker, Penny's son. His answer made perfect sense:

"It probably wasn't used because it wasn't written by Dave Lambert and therefore would have had to have been licensed from the song's publisher, which would have been expensive. Or during the editing process, the song may have made the film feel too long. That's what happened with Monterey Pop, which had two performances cut at the last minute because the film seemed to sag a bit in the middle."

 

Louis Armstrong. I see that Louis Armstrong's The Complete Decca Singles 1935-1946 is now available as a download from Verve/Universal here. Of course, if you prefer seven CDs and extensive liner notes, then the Mosaic box is for you (here).

 

Jutta Hipp. Back in 2013, I posted (here and here) on Jutta Hipp, the German jazz pianist who died in 2003. This past week, Ian Mackenzie brought to my attention a rather extensive article on Hipp (go here).

 

Here's Hipp with Zoot Sims playing Violets for Your Furs in 1956...

From the Facebook page of Julie Holtzman, a photo (from left) of Harry Belafonte, Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. and Tony Bennett at the conclusion of the third Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, march on March 25, 1965.

 

Mack the Knife. The story of how the song entered the pop music sphere and became a jazz standard was the subject of Terry Teachout's "Masterpiece" column in The Wall Street Journal last weekend (go here).

 

And by the way, Terry's newest play will premier in Palm Beach, Fla., on December 8 at the Don & Ann Brown Theatre. Billy and Me looks at the tempestuous friendship between playwrights Tennessee Williams and William Inge. For more information, go here. Terry's Satchmo at the Waldorf was sensational.

Over in England, John Guerrasio wrote to tell me that The Odd Couple at the Frinton Summer Theatre in Essex, England, has completed its successful run. John played Oscar Madison, the sloppy sportswriter. Now, he says, there's talk of a tour. Curious, I asked if the British cast used New York accents. Here's John's reply...

"We had a few Yanks in the cast and the others used either Standard American or their best attempt at New York. Conversely, I cringe when I think of productions of British plays in which I've appeared in the States. Productions and actors on both sides of the Atlantic often get the other culture spectacularly wrong. Seeing The Odd Couple TV and film versions doesn’t seem to help.

In the States, American actors think everyone in Britain is either a Cockney or a Royal. British actors think all Americans are Snuffy Smith or Joe Pesce. British actresses play every American as Miss Adelaide in Guys & Dolls. I once read a memoir on BBC radio written by an Italian-American of my age from Brooklyn. One listener wrote in to complain about my phony New York accent (bang, zoom!). The BBC cleverly used this to make a short feature explaining that Brits find genuine American accents odd because they hear the bogus ones so often."

By the way, Sammy Cahn wrote a lyric to Neal Hefti's The Odd Couple theme that appear on the album soundtrack and in the early TV show intro. Here's Marlene VerPlanck singing a demo of the lyric in the 1970s...

The Brett Gold New York Jazz Orchestra — Dreaming Big (Gold Fox). Brett wrote and arranged 11 pieces and conducted an 18-piece big band to play them. Skillfully executed with warm, beautiful solos, particularly flugelhornist Scott Wendholt. Go here or listen at Spotify.

What the heck. Here's Rhode Island's own Tavares and lead singer Chubby Tavares performing Who Done It in 1977. Chubby was one of the great voices of the soul-disco era...

Oddball album cover of the week.

More like music for a first acid trip.