In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed Mike McCartney, brother of Paul McCartney, for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Mike talked soulfully about his mother, Mary, and the impact her 1956 death had on him emotionally when he was 12. I last interviewed Mike in 2012, when I flew to Liverpool and spent two days with him and received the ultimate Beatles tour (go here). Back in the 1960s, Mike was a member of the performance trio The Scaffold, when he was known as Mike McGear. His 1974 album, McGear, was reissued in the U.S. on Friday (go here). In many ways it's a lost Wings album, since it was produced by Paul, and Mike was backed by Wings. [Photo above of Mike McCartney and me in Liverpool in 2012]
Here's Leave It from McGear...
Here's the Queen's favorite song, Thank You Very Much by the Scaffold...
And here's Mike in the All You Need Is Love video at 1:07 sitting directly in front of Paul and John...
Readers often write that they are frustrated about not being able to read my WSJ articles for free. While I get your grousing, please don't complain about it. JazzWax is free; I pay my bills by writing for the WSJ. So if you like JazzWax and want the WSJ material, please pay for an online subscription. It's a great way to spend money. The news side of major media works hard to report the truth and inform and entertain you. A subscription supports that effort, so it's a noble expense. I read five papers a day—The WSJ, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New York Post and The Daily News—and gladly pay for all of them. It's money well spent. I understand that some of these papers might not suit your political leanings on the editorial pages, but the news and arts sides don't have political leanings. It's also good to read all sides from smart writers. A small price to pay considering what you get at JazzWax for free, six days a week, year in and year out. And you'll have complete access to my entire 850 articles. Just sayin'.
João Gilberto. Here's a fascinating clip of João Gilberto sent along by pianist Leslie Pintchik. Gilberto is performing Insensatez in Rome in 1983. The camera-person had the good sense to come in tight and stay close. Watch how each nuance of the vocal requires different facial muscles and expressions by Gilberto...
Nenette Evans, who was married to pianist Bill Evans from 1973 until his death in September 1980, sent along a wonderful article on Nardis by Steve Silberman last year (go here). Nardis is a tumultuous work composed by Miles Davis in 1958 that Evans played routinely and often used to stretch out. I'm not a huge fan of Nardis, but the article brings the song to life thanks to Silberman's fine writing and research.
Here's one of the more gentle and poetic renditions of the song in 1965, with the great Chuck Israels on bass and Larry Bunker on drums. I'll say this for Nardis: it's probably the song that best reflects Evans's mood and temperament on any given night on stage or in the recording studio. By the way, this was a spectacular trio (Evans, Israels and Bunker) that doesn't get nearly enough credit...
Slim Gaillard was extraordinarily talented. He was a singer, composer, guitarist and a stunning pianist. He also was a brilliant entertainer. Following my mention of Gaillard last weekend, Aurin Primack, the son of one of the original Birdland owners, sent along the following;
Hi Marc. Saw your mention of Slim Gaillard and thought I would send along a photo Slim and me taken at Birdland around 1951. My dad thought it would be nice if the patrons at the club that night joined Slim in singing Happy Birthday for my 11th birthday. I remember being a bit terrified in the glare of the stage's hot lights. But Slim leaned down and said, "Relax, we'll get through this together, Aurin O'rooney." I asked him later where he got these words/sounds, such as o'rooney, vowtee, mcreeney, etc. Slim said he had to learn other languages as a youngster and he loved the sounds of the languages before he could really understand the words. He was a very talented man and a kind and gentle soul.
Here's Slim and Slam Stewart plus others in 1941..
Another Bill Evans video from 1965, so you really appreciate the trio's genius at this point in time. Here it is...
Jacob Collier. Anthony Mulcahy sent along this clip. Just let the music wash over you. For more on Jacob Collier, go here.
What the heck. I have no idea why, but at 8:30 last night, while writing this post, I had a craving for the Beatles' The Long and Winding Road. So here's a taste of my sudden obsesson...
Oddball album cover of the week.
Wow, this isn't so much an oddball as a shocker. I had no idea Capitol released Prologue as a single. Here's the dynamic showcase track from New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm...