Last week in The Wall Street Journal, my "Anatomy of a Song" column was on Al Stewart's Year of the Cat, a mystifying soft-rock hit in 1976 with nine influences (go here). Al and I talked about the roles that the following played in the song's creation: Bob Dylan (two influences), the films Casablanca and Last Tango in Paris, English comedian Tony Hancock, a piano riff played during sound checks, a book on Vietnamese astrology, novelist W. Somerset Maugham and Queen Anne's horse. Here's the hit, but I warn you, Year of the Cat is a ferocious earworm...
Also in the WSJ, I interviewed actress Elizabeth Perkins for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Elizabeth is precious and as fine a dramatic actress as she is a comedian. You probably remember her in Big (1988), as Tom Hanks's girlfriend. She's currently in The Moodys, a Fox TV comedy. Much of her childhood was spent isolated, which worked wonders on her imagination. First her parents divorced, then her mother remarried and they moved to a remote Vermont farm 4 1/2 miles from the main road and 2 miles from the nearest neighbor. Then her two older sisters left for boarding school. She was left at home with her youngest stepbrother to deal with alcoholic parents. She coped by compartmentalizing. [Photo above of Elizabeth Perkins courtesy of Elizabeth Perkins]
Here's Elizabeth in Big. She a master of facial expressions and gets to use a lot of them in this film...
Here she is in Curb Your Enthusiasm at the head of the table, bringing just the right level of tension and controlled disgust...
And here's the trailer for The Moodys...
Bill Evans. Following my post on Bill Evans at the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, N.Y. in April 1977, I heard from writer Tonino Vantaggiato in Italy. Tonino writes on Evans and pointed out that there weren't two concerts, just one, on April 12. He reminded me that Evans's mother, Mary Soroka Evans, died on April 5, 1977. As a result, the April 8 concert and the classroom time the trio planned to spend with Eastman professor Bill Dobbins had to be cancelled and rescheduled. While bassist Eddie Gomez fully expected to make the April 8 concert date, he was already obligated to record with Jack De Johnette on April 11 and 12 in Berkeley, Calif., on McCoy Tyner's album Supertrios. So Bill asked if Chuck Israels could make it. He could.
On April 12, the concert was videotaped for At the Top, a series of jazz concerts produced for Rochester's WXXI, a PBS TV station. In addition to the video being broadcast on TV on Thursday, July 21, 1977. Tonino notes, the music also aired on WXXI-FM. In addition, he said there were two sets at the concert separated by an intermission. The video is likely the first set. I've updated the post to incorporate all of this new information. Thank you Tonino. Stay safe!
Lucy Yeghiazaryan. If you weren't able to catch Emmet's Place on Monday night, with the Emmet Cohen Trio and vocalist Lucy Yeghiazaryan and tenor saxophonist Grant Stewart, you missed one swinging scene. The gig was so hot it lasted nearly two hours and was sensational. As close to going out to hear music as it gets. But you're in luck. Here it is in full on YouTube (remember, Emmet's Place can be viewed every Monday, worldwide, starting at 7:30 p.m. (ET) or on YouTube days after...
Buddy Deppenscmidt died on March 20. He was 85. Deppenschmidt was the drummer on Jazz Samba, the first Grammy-winning bossa nova session in 1962 featuring Stan Getz (ts), Charlie Byrd (g), Gene Byrd (g,b), Keter Betts (b) and Deppenschmidt on drums. Matt Schudel of the Washington Post wrote a beautiful obit. To read, go here.
Virginia MacDonald. Cruising through Facebook before signing off last week, I came across clarinetist Virginia MacDonald playing along with Charlie Parker and his reinterpretation of Embraceable You. Here she is...
Tina Brooks radio. On Sunday, April 11, from 2 to 7 p.m. (ET), Sid Gribetz will be spinning Tina Brooks and talking about the tenor saxophonist for five full hours. Listen from anywhere in the world by going here.
Dreaming of an album? A boxed set of CDs? Jim Eigo's Original Vinyl Records in Warwick, N.Y., likely has it. He has a ton of mint jazz plus rock, pop, soul, you name it. Email him to see if he has what you want at [email protected]. Or call him at 917-755-8960.
WNEW. Each spring I play this seasonal jingle from the '70s for the now-defunct WNEW-AM. Even if you're not from New York, you'll feel like you are after you listen to it...
Here's a compilation of jingles used by WNEW...
And if you want to know the story behind the WNEW jingles, read my two-part interview with Larry and Toni Greene here and here.
