The following YouTube video will likely be familiar to you, but chances are you've seen it in black and white. A couple of weeks ago, the footage was uploaded colorized. The concert featured the Miles Davis Quintet at the Teatro dell'Arte in Milan, Italy, on October 11th, 1964. When I saw the clip—thanks to Gilles D'Elia in Paris alerting me to it—a funny thing happened. The music became more important and gripping. Mind you, I tend to despise colorized films, but a jazz clip of historic significance seems somehow richer and more dimensional colorized. Your brain magically pays closer attention to the music.
See for yourself. Here's Autumn Leaves, My Funny Valentine, All Blues, All of You and Joshua. The quintet featured Miles Davis (tp), Wayne Shorter (ts), Herbie Hancock (p), Ron Carter (b) and Tony Williams (d)...
In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed actress Kathleen Turner for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Our conversation about childhood opened with an earthquake and ended with a sad realization about her father. Kathleen has a great voice—way low and gritty, and she was so much fun. She's in the new season of Netflix's The Kominsky Method, opposite Michael Douglas. [Photo above of Kathleen Turner, left, on The Kaminsky Method, courtesy of Netflix]
Here she is in Prizzi's Honor (1985) with Jack Nicholson...
Here's Kathleen in the trailer of War of the Roses (1989), with Michael Douglas...
And here she is in a clip from Body Heat (1981), her first film role. Shades of Lauren Bacall...
Speaking of Jazz 625, which I posted about last week when I featured the Thelonious Monk Quartet's appearance on the British TV series in 1965, Jim Eigo of Jazz Promo Services sent along a link with many of the episodes. Go here.
Benny Goodman on tenor saxophone? You bet. Les Johnston in Australia sent along a link to a YouTube clip...
Charles Lloyd documentary. Last week, Bruno Vasil sent a link to a documentary on saxophonist Charles Lloyd (above) filmed by his wife, Dorothy Darr. Go here.
Gotta Be This Or That. Most readers are probably familiar with the 1945 Benny Goodman hit of this song. You may be less aware of this version by Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra on the Danny Kaye Show in the same year...
And for kicks, here's Goodman's hit, with a vocal by Goodman...
The live 1958 version? Why not. Here it is, on TV's Swing Into Spring, with guests Jo Stafford, Harry James, Teddy Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald, Red Norvo and the McGuire Sisters...
Congratulations to vocalist Esther Bennett in London, who now has a new and vastly improved website. Go here.
Mike Jones, who plays jazz piano with Penn & Teller at Caesars' Rio Las Vegas, recorded himself solo at home during the pandemic on his splendid piano. Now, all of those songs are on a new CD. You'll find the album here.
Dara Tucker—Dreams of Waking: Music for a Better World (Green Hill). On this album, Dara brings fresh life and meaning to songs of social awareness from the 1960s and '70s as well as originals that reflect on contemporary struggles. She's backed by trumpeter Giveton Gelin, saxophonist John Ellis, pianists Cyrus Chestnut and Sullivan Fortner, bassists Dezron Douglas and Vicente Archer, and drummers Johnathan Blake and Joe Dyson. Born in Tulsa, Okla., Dara began singing harmony at age 4 with her six siblings and at age 8 shifted to the piano. She spent much of her childhood traveling and singing with her family. In college, Dara received a degree in international business and German studies. After graduating, she worked for a few years in international business before moving to Interlaken, Switzerland, to study German while working as an au pair. In Switzerland in 2003, she began writing songs, moving to Nashville the following year. This album is so beautiful, and Dara sings with conviction and optimism. Songs include Stevie Wonder's You Haven't Done Nothin', Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Make Someone Happy, What's Going On and You've Got a Friend. There's a comforting, lullaby quality about Dara's penetrating voice that is both aware and assuring. Go here.
George Wallington radio. This Sunday, May 30, Sid Gribetz at WKCR-FM in New York will be hosting a Jazz Profiles special from 2 to 7 p.m. (ET) on jazz pianist George Wallington. To listen to the five-hour show from anywhere in the world, go here.
Here's Wallington playing his composition Godchild, backed by Teddy Kotick (b) and Nick Stabulas (d)...
By the way, Gerry Mulligan's Ontet was influenced by Godchild. Here's the Gerry Mulligan Tentet playing the song, with Mulligan on piano, Chet Baker taking the trumpet solo and Bob Enevoldsen soloing on valve trombone...
RIP Milva. Milva, an Italian singer whose appearances on radio and TV in the 1960s and beyond won the hearts of a generation still weary from home-grown fascism, Nazi occupation and the brutal liberation by Allied forces during World War II, died on April 23. She was 81.
Unlike many of her Italian pop contemporaries, the singer tended to stick to traditional Italian songs and songs of protest rather than those bound for the jukebox. In the process, she became a diva, which in Italy simply meant a female singer with outsized talent and reputation who held herself in high regard, compelling others to do so, too. The word has a different meaning here.
Lesser known outside of Italy than pop stars such as Mina, Patty Pravo, Ornella Vanoni and Mia Martini, Milva in Italy was larger than life. Charismatic with a cultivated approach to theatrical and operatic singing, her voice was sufficiently powerful for any musical genre. Her songs of protest and her personal support for Italian Communism also touched many Italians who suffered under fascism.
And here she is a year later on Italian TV in a more pop-operatic setting. My goodness, I love those post-modern Italian studio sets of the 1960s, don't you?...
Ruud Jacobs was a Dutch bassist who recorded prolifically in Europe in the 1950s and beyond. His brother, Pim Jacobs, was equally busy. In April 2004, Ruud Jacobs brought together some of Holland's finest jazz musicians for a Superjam performance at The Otter Restaurant in Loosdrecht, the Netherlands. The artists were Ferdinand Povel (ts), Sjoerd Dijkhuizen (ts), Paul Poulussen (fl hrn), Hans Vroomans (p), Ruud Jacobs (b) and Gijs Dijkhuizen (d). Fortunately it was taped. Ruud Jacobs died in 2019.
A special thanks to Bill Kirchner for sending these clips along:
My favorite Thelonious Monk Quartet featured Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone, Monk on piano, Larry Gales on bass and Ben Riley on drums.The group was recorded extensively on tour and in the studio from 1964 to 1968. On March 14,1965, they were at the Marquee Club in London before a live audience for the BBC2's Jazz 625. The TV show's title refers to the BBC2's broadcast on 625-lines UHF rather than the 405-lines VHF system used by the other channels at the time. [Photo above of Thelonious Monk and Larry Gales courtesy of Spotify]
Here's the Thelonious Monk Quartet on the hour-long show:
Elis Regina was one of Brazil's most beloved singers. Born in Porto Alegre, a major port city in the southern part of the country, Regina was a child singing star on local radio. In her teens she moved to Rio de Janeiro to record her first album. When she was 20, she competed in her first festival singing contest, where she sang an impassioned rendition of Arrastão (by Edu Lobo and Vinícius de Moraes). Because the 1965 festival was broadcast on TV, her intense performance sent her popularity soaring. The album on which the song was recorded became a major national hit. Her second album, Dois na Bossa with Jair Rodrigues, sold over a million copies, the first Brazilian album to hit that mark. The media began to call her the Little Pepper, for her energy and exuberance.
But despite a broad smile that narrowed her eyes and a voice that easily won a nation's heart, Regina's escalating recording, travel and performing obligations in the 1970s and a series of failed marriages took a toll on her emotionally. To weather the stress and anxiety, and to manage her sleeping and waking patterns, she became addicted to drugs and alcohol. In January 1982, she died from cardiac arrest after a sizable combination of vermouth, cocaine and tranquilizers. She was only 36 years old.
Here are 11 clips of Regina performing live. Watching her, it's easy to see why so many in Brazil fell in love with her and eagerly awaited her smile, which reflected the country's soulful spirit and optimism, despite living under a military dictatorship that seized power in a coup in 1964 and lasted until 1985:
Here's Elis Regina singing Arrastão on Brazilian TV in 1965 during the first Música Popular Brasileira or MPB...
Guitarist Eddie Duran was best known as a member of vibist Cal Tjader's groups from 1954 forward and in pianist Vince Guaraldi's ensembles from 1962 onward. What all three musicians had in common was a San Francisco upbringing and marvelous musical taste. Unlike Tjader, Guaraldi and Dave Brubeck, another Bay Area native, Duran preferred to work as a sideman and accompanist, since work in that capacity was plentiful. A licensed barber, he also liked to stick around the Bay Area, accompanying many jazz artists who passed through the city. In the late 1940s and early '50s, he performed with his brothers, Manny and Carlos. By the late 1950s, he played in the CBS Radio Orchestra in San Francisco on radio station KQW. Duran then toured with Benny Goodman in the 1970s and early '80s.
In 1957, Duran recorded one of his three leadership albums—Jazz Guitarist (Fantasy). You may recognize the name and album cover, since I mentioned both recently when I posted on Herbie Steward's Three Horns. On Jazz Guitarist, we hear Duran out in the open, and his playing is spectacular. He was backed by Howard Dudune (cl,ts), Dean Reilly (b) and John Markham (d). The tracks are My Inspiration, Soon, Rise 'n' Shine, My Shining Hour, Taking Life Easy, Why Not, A Room With a View, Skyliner, It Could Happen to You and Sugar.
Also included on the Fresh Sound release of this album are tracks from Ron Crotty's Modern Music From San Francisco in 1955. Crotty was a bassist, and the trio featured Crotty, Duran and Guaraldi. Crotty, of course, was the Dave Brubeck Quartet's early bassist who had to leave the group in 1954 after he came down with hepatitis.
Also included on the Fresh Sound album are the four tracks made by the Ree Brunell Trio in 1956, with Dean Reilly on bass and Duran on guitar backing Brunell, a Bay Area jazz vocalist. These appeared on a compilation from Jazz Records called Intro to Jazz.
What you hear in Duran on all of these recordings is a clear, strong, swinging guitarist who knew where he wanted to go on solos and delivered with a spectacular technique and sound akin to Tal Farlow. Duran should be better known today. It's a shame there aren't many more leadership recordings by him.
Eddie Duran died in 2019.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Eddie Duran's Jazz Guitarist (Fresh Sound) here.
JazzWax clips:Here's Duran on Taking Life Easy, with Howard Dudune on clarinet...
Here's Duran in 1980 performing an astonishing Prelude to a Kiss with Benny Goodman loitering, watching and then being blown away...
Here's Duran backing Goodman on Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered...
Bonus:Here's Duran on guitar in the 1950s with leader Luis Miranda on congas, Manny Duran on organ, Carlos Duran on bass and Benny Velarde on timbales...
A couple of weeks ago while flying through Facebook, I saw on photographer John Abbott's page that he'd just finished a shoot with bass trombonist Jennifer Wharton. I've known John for years. In addition to being a great guy, he's a marvelous portraitist. When I asked him about Jennifer, he wrote back, "Jen Wharton is a fantastic musician and a cool person. I’ve done her last two covers for her and her band, Bonegasm. She’s probably a great interview." He was right on both counts—cool and a great interview. Thanks, John! [Photo above of Jennifer Wharton by John Abbott, courtesy of John Abbott]
Jennifer's latest album, Not a Novelty (Sunnyside), backed by her group, Bonegasm, is everything you'd want from a four-trombone frontline. If you love the brassy, jaunty sound of trombones soloing and harmonizing together, this album will knock you out. The tracks are all originals by members of the band: BonGasmo, Face Value, Ice Fall, Blue Salt, Union Blues, Twinkle, Manta Rays, La Otra Mano, Little Cupcake and The Day I Tried To Live.
Jennifer is on bass trombone throughout and she's joined by trombonists John Fedchock (her husband), Nate Mayland and Alan Ferber, with Mike Eckroth on piano, Evan Gregor on bass, Don Peretz on drums and Samuel Torres on percussion. Vocalist Kurt Elling sings on The Day I Tried To Live. [Photo above of Jennifer Wharton and John Fedchock courtesy of a The Jazz Cruise video]
Superb playing by Jennifer and the band. They shoot for the combined trombone sound you want to hear—high energy, tight collaboration, solid low notes, wailing chops and a passion for four-part harmony. [Photo above of Jennifer Wharton by John Abbott, courtesy of John Abbott]
Naturally, Not a Novelty (go here or here) made me curious, so I reached out to Jennifer:
JazzWax: Where did you grow up? Jennifer Wharton: I grew up in Pittsburg, Ca. No one played instruments at home, but my dad had a huge record collection. My school district started kids off in middle school with choir and recorders, and I did both. When I got to junior high, I wanted to play sax but Danielle, my older sister, said I was copying her, so sax was out.
JW: The trombone was a second choice? JW: Yes. The second year I was in band, I missed the day they held auditions for trombone chairs, so I got stuck in the last one. The music teacher handed me a bass trombone, and I actually dug it.
JW: Were there hurdles to overcome? JW: I actually quit playing when I started high school. My parents said only nerds played in band. So obviously a lack of parental support was a huge thing to get over. About halfway through my junior year at Pittsburg High School, I decided I missed playing.
JW: What happened? JW: The band director remembered I’d played bass trombone in junior high and put me on the instrument and pushed me to learn tuba. I played in the concert and jazz bands for two semesters and the marching band for one.
JW: When did you realize music was going to be a career? JW: One day I was lamenting to Orrin Cross III, my high school music teacher, that I wasn't good enough to be a music major in college. He said, "Yes, you are." It was the first time an adult believed in me. That was all I needed.
JW: Where did you study after high school? JW: First at Los Medanos Junior College in Pittsburg, Ca., and then at the New England Conservatory in Boston. Now I’m getting my long overdue masters at New Jersey City University in Jersey City, N.J. I was lucky that most of my mentors and band directors saw something special in me. I don't know if they truly did, but it seemed like they thought I had potential. The first time I didn't get that from a teacher was a giant drag.
JW: How have you maintained your powerful breath control? JW: I used to compete in triathlons, so I was swimming, biking and running multiple times a week for about 12 years. I never had to do any kind of breathing exercises. My left hip hates me now, so all I can do is light biking and swimming. Pools closed when Covid arrived in March 2020.
JW: You have extraordinary credentials. What was your first big break? JW: Being hired to play the pre-Broadway run of Wicked in San Francisco. Once I got my foot in the musical-theater door, I added more shows to my resume and moved to New York to try my luck. I was playing in the pit band of West Side Story before Covid struck. I hope we reopen this year. All along the way, I also played in big bands, so that was my happy place.
JW: What is it about the bass trombone in particular? JW: The low notes are so cool. I love the meatiness of the instrument. It’s endlessly appealing to me.
JW: As a woman, were you given a hard time in the bass trombone chair? JW: Yes, but mostly when I was starting out professionally. I’d run into people who believe the trombone was a man’s instrument and that you needed “balls” to play the bass trombone. I’d like to think I’ve proven myself quite a few times, and this stuff doesn’t happen much anymore
JW: What was your response in those situations? JW: There’s not much you can say. Success is always the best revenge. That’s when I get to shove preconceived notions down their throats.
JW: You got to know bass trombonist George Roberts? JW: In college, I spoke with him by phone for my own gratification. He was the one person who had mastered what I wanted to do. He wasn’t classical or jazz. He just was a great instrumentalist. When I called him up, we talked for over an hour. He was so giving of his time and so encouraging. This was especially kind of him since he didn’t know me and we had never met. In turn, I’ve tried to be as giving of my time and as supportive as I can be for musicians coming up who reach out. My theory is George sounded beautiful because he was a beautiful person.
JW: What are some of your favorite bass trombone tracks? JW: Off the top of my head, here are five:
Makin' Whoopie by George Roberts from Meet Mr. Roberts.
'Round Midnight by Max Seigel from his Bluebird album.
Teen Town by George Flynn from John Fedchock’s New York Big Band: On the Edge.
In the Eighties by Dave Taylor from Bob Mintzer's Camoflage album.
Without a Song by Douglas Purviance from the Joe Henderson Big Band album.
JazzWax tracks:Here'sLittle Cupcake from Jennifer's new album...
Last week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed actor Matthew Rhys for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (here). For those who can't put a face to the name, he most recently starred in FX's The Americans series, the film A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, the current HBO Perry Mason series and now the Starz series Death and Nightingales. Matthew is Welsh, and it was glorious to hear his accent so many years after I hitchhiked throughout Wales for a month in 1979 along with the rest of Europe, fresh out of college. [Photo above of Matthew Rhys in Perry Mason courtesy of HBO]
Here's Matthew and his real-life wife, Keri Russell, in a trailer for Season 1 of The Americans (now on Amazon Prime)...
Here's Matthew in the film trailer for A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood...
And here's the the trailer for the three-episode Starz mini-series, Death and Nightingales...
Meredith d'Ambrosio. Last week, after posting on Meredith d'Ambrosio's new album, Sometime Ago, I heard from vocalist Giacomo Gates:
Marc, at some point in the early 2000's, I was doing a gig for the Gold Coast Jazz Society in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. It was my second or third time working with pianist, Eddie Higgins. He suggested we get together at his place the afternoon before the gig, just to get reacquainted and run a few tunes. I was certainly aware of Eddie's wife, vocalist Meredith d'Ambrosio, but I'd never met her until that day. It was a short rehearsal and a nice hang. Meredith gave me a tune, on paper, that she had written but not yet recorded. She said she thought I would like it. I did the gig with Eddie's trio, and he was wonderful to work with. Shades of Hank Jones. A singer's dream pianist. As you know, he worked with everyone.
I took Meredith's tune home, sat down and played it, learned it, and dug it very much. I called Meredith and told her I thought it was a haunting, beautiful ballad. I also asked for her permission to record it. She responded, "Of course! Please know I wrote it as a medium-up swinger, but you do what you want with it."
So, I recorded it with the first chorus rubato. The lyrics are beautiful and the melody and harmonies are very different and slightly dissonant. Then I respected Meredith's take on the tempo. The song was "Melodious Funk."
Tommy Smothers' spot-on imitation of Johnny Carson in 1992...
Dave Thompson sent along his rehearsal of Yesterdays...
Misty in Paris. Last week I heard from photographer Gilles D'Elia in Paris:
Hi Marc, How are you my dear friend? Today I went to visit Alain Marquet at the Jazz Museum in Paris. Alain says hello to you and warmly thanks for your last article. He told me a story related to the article you devoted to his store, the Jazz Museum. Following your post, a Parisian woman and a JazzWax reader, went to visit him and asked if he had the original pressing of "Misty" by Erroll Garner. She told him this anecdote, the authenticity of which I cannot confirm but which I found very pleasant:
The woman loves the song and always wondered why it was called "Misty." At a jazz festival, she met Erroll and dared to ask him the question. Garner, she said, replied: "I entitled the song 'Misty' because when I composed it, I was staying in Le Touquet, France, in a house called the Villa Misty." Subsequently, thanks to the royalties of the song, he said he bought the house that had brought him luck. Thanks to JazzWax's ability to bring two people together, a great jazz mystery was clarified!
So, how is Paris? Gilles continued:
In Paris, we are gradually finding freedom. We still have the curfew, but next week the outdoor areas of cafes and restaurants will reopen. The following week will be the cultural venues, cinemas, concert halls, theaters. And finally, at the end of June, everything will be as before, no more curfews and no more restrictions. Vaccinations seem to be producing good results. We are starting to see the end of the tunnel. But we must remain vigilant and not let our guard down too quickly, if we really want to get out of it for good. As for masks, the authorities tell us that this obligation may also be removed during the summer. [Photo above in Paris by Gilles D'Elia]
Louise Alexandra, a superb Dutch jazz vocalist whose album, Today, I posted about in January, sent along links to two videos.
The first is a loving tribute to her brother, Rutger, backed by Chain of Life from Louise's album:
And the second features Louise and her beautiful daughter, Mae, who was 14 at the time, singing a Nat King Cole favorite together during a drive. The video is absolutely precious and will make your weekend...
Donovan. Last week, singer-songwriter Richard Barone alerted me to a new song and video Donovan put out for I Am the Shaman. To read my "Anatomy of a Song" interview with Donovan on Sunshine Superman, go here.
Here's the new video for I Am the Shaman directed by David Lynch...
Steve Cropper radio. Recently, Chris Cowles hosted a radio broadcast on WRTC-FM in Hartford, Ct., on guitarist and songwriter Steve Cropper, a member of the Stax Records house band in Memphis and a member of Booker T. and the MGs. Plenty of music and an interview with Crop, whose new album is Fire It Up. You can listen to Chris's Greasy Tracks show for free here.
Marvin Gaye. New York cultural institution 92Y is hosting a muti-day, 50th anniversary tribute to Marvin Gaye's 1971 album, What's Going On. A concert that streamed on Friday can be found here.
Going forward, other streaming Gaye events:
May 23—A roundtable conversation featuring Christian McBride, Janis Gaye, David Ritz, Nelson George, Angelika Beener and Steven Reineke is here.
June 4—A listening party with Christian McBride is here.
June 5—A concert featuring Victory Boyd, vocals/guitar; J Hoard, vocals; Peter Collins, guitar/vocals; Casey Benjamin, saxophone; Jeffandy AllTogether, guitar; Ray Angry, piano/music director; Ben Williams, bass; and Marcus Gilmore, drums. Go here.
In Sweden, pianist Jan Lundgren alerted me to the May 10th passing of Svante Thuresson (above), one of the country's most beloved jazz-pop vocalists. Known best as a founding member of Sweden's vocalese group Pals and Gals in 1963, Thuresson also had a solo career. From Svante Thuresson's 1968 album, Du Ser En Man, here's Burt Bacharach's This Guy's In Love With You, as sung with Swedish lyrics by Thuresson...
And here's Sweden's Pals and Gals singing a vocalese rendition of Oliver Nelson's Miss Fine...
Johnny Mercer radio. On Sunday, May 23, from 2 to 7 p.m. (ET), Sid Gribetz at WKCR-FM in New York will host a five-hour radio program on jazz interpretations of Johnny Mercer's music. You can listen from anywhere in the world by going here. [Photo above of Johnny Mercer]
Surf's up. I'm a big follower of surfing social media groups on Facebook. Don't ask. One day I'll explain. At any rate, here's an example of what distracts me each day. Looks to me like the video is from Shipstern Bluff at the southern tip of Australia's Tasmania, where the baddest of the bad surf, despite what the YouTube posit...
And finally, relax with guitarist Paulinho Nogueira by going here. Have a great weekend!
Tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan is probably best known for the eight live and studio recordings he made in 1964 with the sextet led by bassist Charles Mingus. And his recordings with Eric Dolphy. But there was much more to Jordan. A prolific recording artist, Jordan had a big, round sound from the start in March 1957, when his Blowing in From Chicago album was released on Blue Note. Jordan played as a sideman on the albums of several dozen jazz greats and recorded more than 35 albums as a leader. Rather than distinguish himself with a signature attack, like Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stitt, John Coltrane and other saxophonists in the '50s and '60s, Jordan focused more on perfecting a beautiful tone that seemed to linger in the air.
Royal Ballads was recorded late in Jordan's career at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey two days before Christmas in 1986. His album was the last of three recorded for Criss Cross, a Dutch jazz label. Jordan was backed by Kevin O'Connell (p), Ed Howard (b) and Vernel Fournier (d), who spent years tenderly backing pianist Ahmad Jamal, mostly on brushes. The album's tracks are Billy Strayhorn's Lush Life, Thelonious Monk's Panonica, Jordan's Royal Blues, Rodgers and Hart's Little Girl Blue, Vernel Fournier's Aramando, Duke Ellington and Bob Russell's Don't Get Around Much Anymore, Tom Adair and Matt Dennis's Everything Happens to Me and Monk's 'Round Midnight.
Interestingly, this album is perfect for those who are unfamiliar with Jordan and want to get a feel for his horn. Then I'd jump to his first ablum, Blowing in From Chicago with tenor saxophonist John Gilmore, and work forward. Royal Ballads has Jordan's silky sound, his lyrical improvisation and his full-range approach on the saxophone, reaching to the bottom of the register and the top on the same song. As I've written before, Jordan is often overlooked, largely because he didn't have a distinguishing and recognizable style and tone. Just an ever-smooth huskiness and rock-solid confidence.
Last week I posted on Nara Leão, one of Brazil's best kept vocal secrets. This week, I want to share with you Eliana Pittman, also a Brazilian treasure who today still tours moderately and acts on TV. [Photo above of Eliana Pittman]
Pittman is a singing star who started recording in 1962, when she teamed with her stepfather, Booker Pittman, the grandson of Booker T. Washington and a clarinetist who moved to Brazil from the U.S. in 1937. Richly photogenic with a vocal ease and a dazzling smile, Eliana Pittman started singing bossa nova, but by the early '70s she shifted to the more rhythmic and festive samba. With her supper-club persona, rounded voice and vast knowledge of songs, she toured globally and wound up on TV in France, the U.S. and many other countries. [Photo above of Eliana Pittman]
Here are 10 clips that illustrate her beautiful style and compelling voice:
Here she is in 1962 with stepdad Booker Pittman...
Marc Myers writes regularly for The Wall Street Journal and is author of "Anatomy of 55 More Songs," "Anatomy of a Song," "Rock Concert: An Oral History" and "Why Jazz Happened." Founded in 2007, JazzWax has won three Jazz Journalists Association awards.
