In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed actor Liev Schreiber for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Liev grew up with a single parent—his mom, who left his dad when he was 3. A free spirit, Liev's mom moved them around quite a bit, from one hippie community and ashram to another. Once settled on New York's Lower East Side, Liev played the bass clarinet in middle school and then began acting before heading off to Hampshire College. By the early 1990s, he was one of the finest Shakespearean actors of his generation, performing at New York's acclaimed Public Theater before moving on to film. He currently stars in Showtime's Ray Donovan. [Photo above of Liev Schreiber courtesy of Showtime]
Here's Liev in The Last Days on Mars (2013), one of my favorite space movies...
Phil Lynott. Last week, Martin Colyer sent along the above photo that he took in Dublin, Ireland, of Thin Lizzy songwriter, lead vocalist and bassist Phil Lynott. Here's a thought. One way to avoid politically charged debates in the U.S. over historical figures memorialized in stone and metal is to permit only artists, musicians and poets to be celebrated with statues. Who's going to complain about a Dizzy Gillespie statue on 52nd Street or a statue of Frank O'Hara, Mark Rothko or Stan Getz in Central Park?
Terry Gibbs composed the wonderful bebop instrumental Peaches in the late 1940s. Nat King Cole recorded it as an instrumental in 1949. Surprisingly, no one added lyrics to this melodic tune. Here's George Shearing playing the song in 1995...
Des and Bird. In 1954 while on tour in Boston, alto saxophonists Paul Desmond and Charlie Parker were brought together for a conversation on WHDH hosted by John Fitch. A special thanks to pianist Dave Thompson. Here's the audio...
Burt, Dionne and Glen. Last week, I came across this one: In 1969, on a CBS Chevrolet Special, Dionne Warwick and Glen Campbell, with Burt Bacharach at the piano, sang a Bacharach medley. Here it is...
Sheer perfection. Another one found last week: Here's Erroll Garner playing It's the Talk of the Town. Dig the thrilling intro. And see if you can catch Garner's tag of Leroy Anderson's The Syncopated Clock...
Bonnie Raitt's 70th birthday was Nov. 8. Happy birthday, Bonnie. Here's a clip that will choke you up...
Step up to the bars. Jimi Mentis in Athens sent along two intriguing video clips that feature the evolution of popular music styles from 1910 to 2019 and best-selling artists between 1969 and 2019. I'm a tad suspect: what exactly is the definition of certain categories (chanson, ballad, Hindustani in 1911)? Can classical really be toward the bottom of the list in the 1940s even though that's how record companies paid their bills? And how come U2 never appears on the artist list? Still fun to watch. Here's the former clip...
And here's the latter...
Houston Person radio. On Sunday, Nov. 10, WKCR's Sid Gribetz will spin a three-hour tribute to tenor saxophonist Houston Person. The show will run from 2 to 5 p.m. (EST). You can listen from anywhere in the world on your computer, photo or iPad by going here.
Here's Person playing Underground Soul in 1966 with Charles Boston (org) and Frankie Jones (d)...
Podcasting Til Dawn. Director Raymond De Felitta has posted two more podast interviews, with director Peter Bogdanovich and actor Griffin Dunne at his site, Movies Til Dawn. Film insights from a movie insider. Go here. [Photo above courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica]
Vanda King. Last week, I posted a video of Vanda King, queen of Canadian variety shows in the 1960s and '70s. Here are a bunch of other clips by the vocalist with crystal clear intonation:
Here's Talk to the Animals...
Here's Poppa Won't You Let Me Go to Town, with flutist Moe Koffman...
Here's Happy Together...
Here's I Love to Love...
And here's The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down...
What the heck. Here are the Stylistics performing You Make Me Feel Brand New (1974)...
Oddball album cover of the week.
A grim image of what may be ghostly dancers two-stepping atop smog or cotton candy resting on the New York skyline. And the tallest building appears to be transparent!
