In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed former Doors drummer John Densmore (far right, above) for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). The bossa nova beat that John plays on Light My Fire would not have existed if not for his orthodontist. Because he wore braces growing up, John could not play a reed instrument or a horn in the school band. So he took up the drums. One thing led to another and he wound up in one of the most influential album-rock bands of the late-1960s. John's latest book is The Seekers: Meetings With Remarkable Musicians (and Other Artists).
Here's John and the Doors on Touch Me in 1968...
CD you should know about. Today (Lavana) by Louise Alexandra. The last album singer Rebecca Parris produced before she passed in 2018 was this one for singer-songwriter Louise Alexandra. Anyone who was friendly with Rebecca or heard her sing live or has her albums knows how exquisite her taste was. Her musical decisions on this album, recorded between 2015 and 2018, resulted in a beautiful recording by Louise. I love her voice. Louise's backing band here featured Paul McWilliams and Doug Hammer on piano, Fernando Huergo on bass; Martin Vazquez on drums and percussion; Mike Turk on harmonica; and Bill Vint on saxes and flute. Louise is joined on vocals by Miriam Waks on #1 and 11, Mae Van Aarsen on #13 and backing vocalists Debbie Lane and Sue Sheriff on #10. Louise wrote all of the songs except #3, 6, 9, 11 and 13, and she co-wrote #5 with Miriam Waks. Give a listen. Her voice is a wonderful way to kick off the new year. Go here.
PS: Louise is from the Netherlands and, when she isn't singing, she's a research scientist with a PhD in cancer biology. For more on Louise, go here.
Here's Desafinado...
And for more on Louise's day job, here she is singing Desafinado with a new set of lyrics...
JazzWax Film Festival. This weekend marks the end of the second annual JazzWax Film Festival. I hope you enjoyed my movie choices. A special thanks to my friends in Europe, who are locked down due to the virus and were especially appreciative. Stay safe. We love you here and can't wait to get back over there to visit. To close the festival, here's one of my favorite romantic films, Un Homme et Une Femme (A Man and a Woman) (1966).
Shot in color and black and white, the film is perfect in every way, from Claude Lelouch's (above) direction to star performances by Anouk Aimée and Jean-Louis Trintignant, and the original score by Francis Lai. If that wasnt enough, there's even a few squareback Ford Mustangs, a white Ford GT40, a white Ford Formula car, 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Monte Carlo Rally.
The film is super rare and hard to find streaming or on DVD in the U.S. So enjoy the film while it remains up online. The film won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1967, and Lelouch won the 1966 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or. In addition, the film won a Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign-Language Foreign Film and Aimée won a Golden Globe as well. I can watch A Man and a Woman over and over. For me, it's always new and remarkable. [Photo above of Anouk Aimée]
And here's Part 2...