In The Wall Street Journal last week, I interviewed Former President George W. and Laura Bush for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). As you can imagine, the Bushes were a great deal of fun as we talked about his paintings and her passion for reading and details about their childhoods growing up in Midland, Texas. In the 1950s, Midland was a magnet for young entrepreneurs just back from World War II who moved their families there to capitalize on the energy boom. The former president shared the pain of his mother and father losing a child and Mrs. Bush shared her own mother's difficulties with miscarriages and Mrs. Bush's wish for a sister. A touching love story that's peppered with the Former President's quips and talk about his portrait painting, which is remarkably excellent. [Photo above of former President Bush in his studio with his portrait of Roya Mahboob, CEO of an Afghan software company, by Trevor Paulhus for The Wall Street Journal]
Here's the cover of his new book of paintings—portraits of exceptional immigrants...
Natalia Lafourcade. Following my post on the Mexican pop singer, I received this from Brett Lehocky:
Marc, thank you so much for introducing Natalia Lafourcade to all of us. She is wonderful. What really caught my ear was Omara Portuondo. I had never heard of her so I looked her up. She's a Cuban national treasure. Here is a concert by her with a full orchestra when she was 78 years old that you might want to share. We do not often get to hear Cuban music with such authenticity. Omara owns the stage:
And while I have you, I have to pass along this great video performance of Sarah Vaughan with the Boston Pops in 1976...
More Picasso. Here's a four-minute video of Picasso creating a masterpiece in Le Mystère Picasso, for French director Henri-Georges Clouzot [Photo above of Picasso courtesy of Britannica]...
Zoot Sims Plays 4 Altos. Imagine if an entire reed section sounded like Zoot. The album was recorded In January 1957 for ABC-Paramount and produced by Creed Taylor. For more on this session, go here. Here's J'espere Enfin, with Zoot overdubbing alto parts on a George Handy arrangement backed by Handy (p), Nabil "Knobby" Totah (b) and Nick Stabulas (d)...
Ella Fitzgerald radio. WKCR-FM in New York will spin Ella's records for 24 hours in honor of her birthday on Sunday, April 25, starting at 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Saturday night. To listen from anywhere in the world, go here.
And Duke Ellington radio. WKCR-FM also will present its annual "Duke Ellington Birthday Broadcast" Thursday, April 29, playing his music on the radio for 24 hours (ET). To listen listen from anywhere in the world, go here.
And finally, here's Marvin Gaye performing What's Going On and What's Happening Brother in 1973 (we also get a bird's eye view of legendary bassist James Jamerson)...