In The Wall Street Journal this week, my "Anatomy of a Song" column this month is on Spandau Ballet's True from 1983 (go here). I interviewed the band's co-founder and True's sole songwriter Gary Kemp. You'll never believe the role the Beatles' Dig a Pony played. Here's the song...
Also in the WSJ, I interviewed pop singer Johnny Mathis for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). John, as he prefers to be called, talked about growing up in San Francisco, the person who helped him most to become a singer and the trick she taught him. Sony Legacy has just issued all of John's albums in a 68-CD box set (go here). Here's a clip from 1959...
And finally, I interviewed William H. McRaven, the retired four-star U.S. Navy admiral who commanded all U.S. Special Operations Forces, for my "Playlist" column (go here). His most meaningful song is Off We Go (Into the Wild Blue Yonder). As a child, he saw and heard his father sing the song at the NATO officers' club outside of Paris. Admiral McRaven is the author of the nifty book, Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life...And Maybe the World (Grand Central).
Kenny Harris, a British drummer who recorded in the 1950s with the British Jazz Trio and pianists Ralph Sharon and Gene Harris (the British Gene Harris), and was known for his exquisite brushwork, died on Dec. 10. He was 90. [Photo of Kenny Harris, above, courtesy of the photographer, John Foster]
A long-time JazzWax reader, Kenny was a session player for RCA, Capital and Atlantic Records in the decades that followed. For more on Kenny, go here. Two days before Kenny's passing, he sent along an email commenting on my post on John Plonsky...
"Marc, I played with John (Plonsky or Parker) on a couple of club dates in New York in the 1950's. Then a summer season (1959) in the Catskills, at the White Roe Hotel and Livingston Manor. The band was a quintet. The only other person in the band that I can recall was Hy Kletzel (tenor saxophonist and clarinetist). On Sunday evenings we played jazz concerts, and John would explain to the audience what we were doing. John and I became great friends and I saw him a several of times in California and Arizona."
I miss Kenny's emails already. A special thanks to Keith Hart, Kenny's long-time friend, for alerting.
Here's Kenny with his brushes backing Gene Harris (p) and Ben Tucker (d) in London in 1952...
Sonny Rollins (above) with Hampton Hawes (p), Leroy Vinnegar (b), Shelly Manne (d) and Barney Kessel (g) at the Sonny Rollins and the Contemporary Leaders session at Contemporary Studios in Los Angeles in October 1958. Courtesy of Hugo Dusk's Facebook page.
Charles Mingus. Jimi Mentis sent along this glorious link to Beneath the Underdog: Charles Mingus Revisited, a recent BBC program on the music of bassist and bandleader Charles Mingus. Why television in the States fails to embrace the music of our very own jazz greats in this spectacular fashion is beyond me. I suspect it has something to do with state sponsorship of the arts in the U.K. that is non-existent here. Some things have gotta change. Here's the BBC on Mingus...
Vocal-harmony radio. Last week I checked in on Marv Goldberg, the dean of vocal-harmony groups, too see what was coming out of his speakers. He said he was listening to Billy Williams & the Charioteers. Familiar with them? If not, tune into Marv's upcoming show on Sunday, January 7. You don't have to worry about a specific time. He posts on Sunday and you can access the podcast show as you wish. Go here to access the show and listen to more than 150 previous broadcasts. Here are the Charioteers...
Stephen Feldman, a Los Angeles pal, sent along the following video clip of him playing George Harrison's Here Comes the Sun. Steve says he recorded the song in the studio, where he double-tracked the guitar part, "except for the closing Clapton-esque riff. Then I did my best lip-and-strum sync at a nearby park." For more on Steve, go here. Here's the clip...
What the heck. Here's R&B pianist Little Willie Littlefield (K.C. Loving) in Germany at the Baden-Baden Boogie Festival playing Every Day I Have the Blues in 2009...
Oddball album cover of the week.
Maybe I watch too many Law & Order reruns, but whatever Tony did for Maria, it can't be good based on this cover. When I checked into the song, turns out I wasn't too far off...
