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's the trailer:
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.
Here's Mike at home playing Fly Me to the Moon...
CD you should know about:
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.
Here's Milva on Italian TV in 1965...
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?...
