In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed best-selling novelist Tayari Jones for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Tayari is the author of An American Marriage, and we talked about her growing up in Atlanta and in Nigeria in the 1970s and how her crush on her school's marching-band drummer resulted in her becoming a writer. [Photo above of Tayari Jones at her Atlanta home by Fernando Decillis for The Wall Street Journal]
Here's Tayari last year on CBS This Morning when Oprah Winfrey picked her novel for her book club...
Michael Caine. When I interviewed Michael Caine a few weeks ago, I asked him how he learned to deliver his lines slowly. If you listen carefully to Michael, he talks...like this...in many...of...his films. Michael told me he developed his pace by watching Marlon Brando movies. As Michael noted, "He took forever, didn't he?"
Les Block sent along links to Michael teaching master classes in acting. Fascinating clips. Here they are:
Here's Michael teaching a master class, circa late 1990s...
And here is Michael in a quasi parody of a master class on film acting in the 1980s...
Other clips featuring Michael Caine on acting can be found at YouTube by typing in "Michael Caine + master class."
Dave Thompson is a marvelous pianist who plays in the style of Bill Evans. Here's a Soundcloud of Dave playing an Evans medley...
Three horn-player pianists. Here's cornetist Bix Beiderbecke playing his In a Mist on the piano in 1927...
Here's Dizzy Gillespie on piano behind Charlie Parker and His ReBoppers in 1945 playing Billie's Bounce. The group included Miles Davis (tp), Charlie Parker (as), Dizzy Gillespie (p), Curly Russell (b) and Max Roach (d). If I recall the story correctly, pianist Argonne Thornton (also known as Sadik Hakim) had trouble with the bop feel so Gillespie sat down and played piano on Billie's Bounce, Warming Up a Riff and Now's the Time. Here's Billie's Bounce...
And here's baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan at the piano in 1952 playing George Wallington's Godchild at Phil Turetsky's house in Los Angeles, with Red Mitchell on bass and Chico Hamilton on drums...
What the heck: Here are the Crystals in the early 1960s singing He's a Rebel...
Oddball album cover of the week.
Day dreaming means to be deep in thought about a fantasy during the morning or afternoon. Most day dreams end with someone screaming your name and insisting you snap out of it. Being shaken by the lapels often follows if the person's loud voice fails. By contrast, our cover model above seems to be despondent at midnight. And if I read her correctly, all hope is lost. Perhaps this cover was shot for Music for Despairing Insomniacs, with the orchestra of Les Snoring. Cover courtesy of Greg Giuliano.
