In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed Henry Winkler for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Henry currently is starring in HBO's Barry series. He reflected on his childhood growing up on New York's Upper West Side and his early struggles with dyslexia. Henry's parents grounded him for months at a time, insisting that he sit at his desk and improve his grades while Henry didn't have a clue about how to get his brain to memorize what he read, nor could he write clealry. Dyslexia was largely unknown then. Then Henry discovered that when his emotions were involved, he had a razor sharp memory and could memorize lines flawlessly. Henry is a spectacular actor, and Barry makes full use of his talents as an acting coach to a hit man. [Photo above of Henry Winkler at his Santa Monica home by Jessica Sample for The Wall Street Journal]
Here's a montage of scenes with Henry Winkler in Barry...
Here's the trailer for Season 2; Season 3 is coming this winter...
SiriusXM. Here's my appearance on SiriusXM last week with Nik and Lori on Feedback. We talked about my recent interview with Linda Ronstadt and my "Anatomy of a Song" on Sheryl Crow and Jeff Trott's 1996 hit, If It Makes You Happy. Photo of Sheryl and Jeff above...
Gene Rodgers. Following my post last week on pianist Gene Rodgers, I received the following email from Peter Vacher...
Hello Marc. I was delighted to read your tribute to Gene Rodgers, and it was good to hear the recordings you cited. I came to know Gene quite well when he came to London, first with Al Vollmer’s rather marvelous Harlem Blues and Jazz Band and then as a soloist. He had been in London in the 1930s with the vaudevillian Frank Radcliffe and had recorded with King Oliver and Clarence Williams. I interviewed him for a piece that eventually came out in Jazz Times about his association with Coleman Hawkins and Body and Soul, and that piece is collected in my book Soloists and Sidemen: American Jazz Stories (Northway, London, 2004). It’s quite revealing and well worth your readers’ attention. My more complete account of his career appeared in the Mississippi Rag in 1983 and my obituary of him in Jazz Journal in in 1988. Howard Rye’s entry on Gene in Grove is comprehensive and accurate, as is John Chilton’s entry on Gene in his Who’s Who of Jazz. Of further note is Gene’s appearance, alongside the equally mercurial Dorothy Donegan, in "Sensations of 1945, "directed by Andrew Stone in 1944 for United Artists and also featuring the Woody Herman and Cab Calloway bands. Gene appeared in two other Hollywood movies and in in no less than three solo soundies. He had quite a run in Hollywood, also playing solo residencies in upmarket clubs. A physically imposing man and a formidable player in person, my impression of Gene was of a man who knew his own worth. We kept up a correspondence and I was sorry to of his death in 1987. I’ve attached a scan from my collection showing Rodgers and Donegan in "Sensations of 1945" (above). Keep up the good work. Greeting from sunny Surrey.
Here's another one from Jim Gerard...
Dear Mr. Myers: Thanks for devoting a column to Gene Rodgers, who, if he did nothing more than provide that luminous, incandescent opening on Hawkins's "Body and Soul," would rate a high place in the jazz pantheon. I'm not sure if you know this, but Rodgers spent some time in Europe in the 1930s. In fact, he's the pianist on another historic recording: Benny Carter's recording in Holland on "When Lights Are Low," which I think was made in 1936. Thanks again for all your hard work. If it makes any difference, I'm a writer myself, and I read and enjoyed your book "Why Jazz Happened."
Gap Mangione, the extraordinary jazz pianist, sent along a recent Wall Street Journal "Pepper... and Salt" cartoon that featured his brother, Chuck Mangione (above). A good intro to the Mangione Brothers can be found here.
What the heck: Here's Brenda Holloway in 1967 with the original version of You've Made Me So Very Happy, which was covered by Blood Sweat & Tears and David Clayton Thomas a year later...
Oddball album covers of the week.
The famous Jackie Cain and Roy Kral album cover below is from 1957. I'm not sure about the other one.
