In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed actress Rhea Perlman for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Rhea reflected on life growing up in the Coney Island and Bensonhurst sections of Brooklyn, N.Y. She also talked about what she would scream when she needed change for ice cream while playing in her building's inner courtyard. Readers will likely be surprised that in her spare time, Rhea plays the xylophone. [Photo above of Rhea Perlman at her home in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles by Maarten de Boer for The Wall Street Journal]
Here's a clip from my favorite Rhea Perlman film, Matilda (1996). Its absolutely wonderful if you can see the entire film...
Dueling pianos. Here's Billy Taylor and Tommy Flanagan playing Tadd Dameron's Our Delight, courtesy of Bret Primack...
Henri Salvador. Last week, I posted about French pop singer Henri Salvador and his 1963 recording of Count Basie. The song is Neal Hefti's Li'l Darlin' with French lyrics. I received the following from Kurt Kolstad...
Morning Marc. This is really great! I Loved it! I printed out the French lyrics and handed them to my wife, Cindy. As I played the clip, she sang along because she speaks French. What could be better on a Thursday morn than to hear Neal Hefti’s music, performed in French, by your wife! A lovely way to start the day.
Here's Salvador in 1973 playing guitar and singing Duke, Basie & Louis...
And while we're at it, here's the Double Six's vocal version of Gerry Mulligan's Westwood Walk...
Sticking with French vocals, here's Camille Bertault, with Nelson Faria on guitar, scatting along to John Coltrane's Giant Steps...
Here's the Avalon Jazz Band, a New York ensemble that has embraced Parisian Hot Jazz...
And here's one of my favorite young French singers, Zaz, whom I came across at YouTube some years ago...
Easy listening. Seems strange, but here's a medley performance in Germany by Bert Kaempfert, c. early 1970s. Strange, because except for a couple of pops orchestras here, easy listening was never performed in the U.S. in concert, except perhaps for Barry White's Love Unlimited Orchestra...
Pharoah Sanders. Here's a beautiful piece I came across last week by Pharoah Sanders, Memories of Lee Morgan...
Here's Stanley Turrentine (ts) with Jimmy Smith (org), Kenny Burrell (g) and Grady Tate (d) performing The Jumpin' Blues...
Own an electric guitar? It may be worth big money. Brian Morris turned me on to an article on the subject. As he wrote in his email, "We interviewed top experts to find out how much electric guitars are worth, how to find the value of any electric guitar and where to sell them. It’s a great resource for guitar players, collectors and anyone who wants to know how much their guitars are worth or are thinking about cashing in." Go here.
A Salute to Randy Brecker. If you're in New York on Thursday, May 16, Highlights In Jazz will feature a tribute to the dynamic trumpeter at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center in Manhattan. You'll hear saxophonists Peter and Will Anderson, singer Veronica Swift, pianist George Cables, bassist Buster Williams, drummer Chuck Redd and the man himself, Randy Brecker. For more information, go here.
What the heck. Here's the Fifth Dimension singing California Soul on The Ed Sullivan Show. The person who uploaded it dropped out the original vocal and added a remastered recording. Still, great to see the fashion and the optimistic spirit that was the Fifth Dimension...
Oddball album cover of the week.
The "kids" look like they're 55.
