This week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed actor Dylan McDermott for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Dylan talked about his jagged childhood and strange twists of fate growing up. His mother had him when she was 15 but was strangled several years later, most likely by her live-in boyfriend. Dylan lived with his grandmother and younger sister in a rough part of town, confronted a house burglar at 11, and found himself on the wrong track at 14. Then his father married Eve Ensler, who went on to write The Vagina Monologues. At 25, she adopted Dylan and set him on an acting path. [Photo above of Dylan McDermott on the set of TV's Hollywood, courtesy of Netflix]
Here's the Hollywood trailer. Season 1 began at Netflix on Friday...
Lee Konitz. After my appreciation post on Lee Konitz, I received this one from Paul Acton in the U.K.:
Hi Marc. With regard to Lee Konitz, he did a gig with pianist John Taylor in the U.K. back in the mid-1980s. It was in the coastal town of Hull. He came on stage wearing a strange pair of wide-fitting, white silk trousers that looked like they'd come straight out of a scene from The Arabian Nights!
After Lee played his first number, he paused to explain a bit about his music and improvisation. He then wrapped up by asking if anyone had any questions. A guy sitting two rows behind me shouted out, "Yeah, where'd you get the trousers?" It took a few minutes before everyone, including Lee, had finished laughing and composed themselves sufficiently for him to continue. He said that he and the band had just come from Japan.
Andrea and Carla Motis, the Barcelona sisters and jazz musicians, recently entertained the world during a lockdown performance on YouTube. A special thanks to Joe Lang for sending along...
Tito Rodriguez. Let's go back 65 years to New York's Roseland, the Paladium or the Palm Gardens to hear Tito Rodriguez and marvel at the dancing. Here's an extraordinary mambo, plus watch for the early break-dance influence...
And from the same Mambo Madness documentary, an exquisite cha-cha-cha...
Joan Jett last week performed I Hate Myself for Loving You while she and band members sheltered in their respective spaces...
Here's Booker T. and the M.G.'s playing Groovin'...
Tommy LiPuma was a five-time Grammy-winning jazz and pop record producer whose passion for music and musicians resulted in seminal albums for a range of artists, including Randy Newman, George Benson, Bill Evans, Natalie Cole, Paul McCartney and Diana Krall. He died on March 13, 2017 at age 80. Now musician Ben Sidran has published a biography of Tommy—The Ballad of Tommy LiPuma (Nardis). Recollections from taped interview sessions include Tommy's many albums with Barbra Streisand, George Benson, Diana Krall, Paul McCartney and others. Go here.
Count Basie. Here's the Basie band playing Freddie Green's Corner Pocket...
In Prague, at the train station, a team in the Czech Republic took the sounds of trains entering and leaving the main station and created a Pachelbel-like piece. Thanks to Michael O'Daniel for sending...
What the heck. Here's Daryl Hall (right) and Todd Rundgren (left) playing Todd's I Saw the Light on Live From Daryl's House in 2011...
