JazzWax

Robby, Clifford and Zacherle

In The Wall Street Journal last week, my latest "Anatomy of a Song" column was on Journey's Don't Stop Believin' (go here). While the 1981 song only reached No. 9 on Billboard's pop chart, it has gone on to become a massive selling underdog anthem. It's a staple at professional sports events, karaoke bars and weddings and crossed over to TV in 2007 when it ended the last episode of The Sopranos and then was used by Glee in 2009. Journey members and co-writers Jonathan Cain and Neal Schon talked about creating the hit and its phenomenon.

Here's the last few minutes of The Sopranos...

And here's Journey performing in Houston in 1981...

Also in the WSJ, my "House Call" interview with Doors' guitarist Robby Krieger (go here). Robby talked about growing up in California and how he went from being a neighborhood miscreant in Los Angeles's Pacific Palisades community to a member of one of rock's most important 1960s rock bands. For those who are interested in the Doors, Robby has a great memoir out (go here).

Here are the Doors in 1968 performing Robby's Touch Me on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour...

Miss me—on TalkShop Live with Steve Harkins (above) last week, that is? Steve interviewed me on my new book, Rock Concert (Grove Press), being published on November 9 in the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia simultaneously. Steve's TalkShop Live show is on Ingram's Rock 'n' Roll Channel. Steve did an excellent job asking me about key turning points in the book. Watch the interview anytime for free here.

Speaking of Rock Concert, be sure to order your copy now. Given all of the supply-chain issues, the earlier you pre-order, the more assured you are of receiving a copy. Go here.

RIP Bob Edmondson. Last week, Bill Kirchner sent along the following:

Hi Marc. Just discovered that Bob Edmondson (1935-2021) died May 29, presumably of natural causes (go here). Though few knew him by name, Edmondson (above, lower left) was, in the 1960s, probably the most visible and heard trombonist in the world. He was a member of Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass, which was hugely successful in pop music. He also, as you’ll read, had extensive jazz and recording credentials. Edmondson was one of several jazz musicians who achieved phenomenal success through association with the Tijuana Brass. Others were guitarist John Pisano, drummer Nick Ceroli, bassist Pat Senatore and pianist Lou Pagani.

Here's Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass listening back to their recording of Lollipops and Roses...

Early Autumn. Following my post on Early Autumn, I heard from Alan Matheson, who mentioned a version I also love and should have included. Here's Les Double Six de Paris...

Since we're in France, let me add one more, Jean-Paul Mengeon's version...

Oscar. Not Peterson. If you love the movies and Hollywood as much as I do, check this out from the 2003 Academy Awards...

Herbie Hancock radio. Last week, I heard form Kim Paris of the FM Radio Archive:

Marc, thanks for enlightening us about Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi Sextet and his 1973 performance with this band in Paris. I've been a big fan of Herbie's and have attended two of his concerts, but I hadn't heard of this band before. He's performed with so many over the years. I'm happy to share four of his concerts and bands on FM Radio Archive with you and your readers. The earliest is a recording with Miles Davis at Salle Pleyel in Paris in 1967, and the most recent is with his HSHB04 quartet in the French Alps in 2004. In between are two concerts in Japan, one with Carlos Santana in 1981 and the other with his legendary VSOP quintet in 1977. Go here. [Photo above of Herbie Hancock by Francis Wolff (c)Mosaic Images]

Duduka Da Fonseca. Go hear or stream live from anywhere Brazilian-American dummer Duduka Da Fonseca at Keystone Korner Baltimore on November 12, 13 and 14. He'll be with his Duduka Da Fonseca NYC Trio, featuring Maucha Adnet (vocal), Helio Alves (piano), Peter Washington (bass) and special guest Billy Drewes (sax and flute). They will be playing samba and bossa nova. Sets for the first two nights (Friday and Saturday) are at 7:30 & 10 p.m. The Sunday gig will be at 5 and 7:30 p.m. Buy tickets for the gig or a streaming pass (just $11.20) here.

Sonny Greenwich biography. Last week I heard from author Mark Miller in Toronto:

Hello Marc, I just noticed your post about Sonny Greenwich and I wonder if you are aware of my book, "Of Stars and Strings: A Biography of Sonny Greenwich," which I self-published last year. There are excerpts here. To buy, go here.

CD you should know about:

Eliane Elias—Mirror Mirror (Candid). I last interviewed Eliane Elias in 2017 on her passion for Elis Regina and Antonio Carlos Jobim's recording of Jobim's Waters of March. Now, the accomplished pianist has released an album featuring tracks from two duet sessions—one with Chick Corea and the other with Chucho Valdés. The four tracks with Chick are Armando's Rhumba, Blue Bossa, Mirror Mirror and There Will Never Be Another You. The three with Chucho are Esta Tarde Vi Llover, Corazón Partío and Sabor A Mi. While it is hard at times to tell which pianist is which, it almost doesn't matter since the two together create beautiful and supportive improvisation. Go here.

Here's There Will Never Be Another You....

Clifford Brown radio. On Saturday (October 30), WKCR-FM in New York will be hosting its annual "Clifford Brown Birthday Broadcast," playing his music for 24 hours (ET). You can listen from anywhere in the world by going here..

And finally, in honor of Halloween, here's an early 1960s episode of New York Channel 11's Chiller Theater, featuring the macabre host John Zacherle. I still love those moments when Zacherle would appear briefly in the film he was showing by cutting in. I'm not sure why Playtex thought a kids' show was ideal to buy time for a bra ad, but that was the '60s. You had to be there. I'm guessing that they figured most little kids watching on Saturday nights were chaperoned by their sister or mom...

And here's how it all started...

Documentary: Billie Holiday

It's Friday. Time for a superb jazz documentary. Here's an hour-long profile by the BBC of singer Billie Holiday...

Ginny Mancini (1924-2021)

Ginny Mancini, the wife of the late composer-arranger Henry Mancini, a polished singer who was one of the original Mel-Tones, and an elegant and graceful woman who was as down to earth as she was charming, died on October 25. She was 97. [Photo above of Ginny Mancini courtesy of Ginny Mancini]

Ginny was a child of post-war optimism in Los Angeles and the hip, improvisational jazz emerging in the city and New York in the mid-1940s. Through her husband, she was a link between the sunny film and West Coast music scenes that blossomed with the arrival of the long-playing album and technicolor film at the dawn of the 1950s. An ardent JazzWax reader, Ginny's last email to me arrived in May, in response to my post on Brazilian singer Elis Regina: "Dear Marc, I fell in love with Elis when we were in Rio in 1964 for Brazil's International Song Festival. An incredible performer gone way too soon. Thanks for bringing her back to life. xox Ginny." [Photo above of Henry and Ginny Mancini on their wedding day on September 13 1947, in Hollywood]

I first met Ginny about seven years ago, following a Wall Street Journal piece I had written about her husband. She invited me over to her gorgeous Art Deco apartment overlooking the Museum of Modern Art's sculpture garden. Over cookies and tea, we had a wonderful time talking about Hank and his music and Ginny's own superb career, at first with the Mel-Tones and then with Tex Beneke, where she met, dated and married the band's pianist and arranger. She also sang background harmony on Hank's Breakfast at Tiffany's soundtrack in 1961 and on Stan Kenton's Artistry in Voices and Brass in 1963. [Photo above of Ginny Mancini courtesy of Ginny Mancini]

A short time later I accompanied Ginny to a jazz concert. Even at 90, heads turned as she entered the theater, moving with assured Hollywood poise and glamour, and a smile that left you staring. Periodically, Ginny would write to comment on a JazzWax post or a WSJ piece, often offering a related story or insights into her own musical tastes.

A big fan of the early Mel-Tones, I persuaded Ginny in 2014 to let me interview her on that period of her career. She agreed. In tribute to Ginny, here is my original post, which I left in Ginny's voice following my introduction:

Some of Artie Shaw and Mel Torme's finest recordings came in 1946, when both were signed to the Musicraft label in Los Angeles. Torme at the time fronted a vocal quartet known as the Mel-Tones. What set the Mel-Tones apart was their with-it updating of big band vocal groups popular at the time. Torme wrote the vocal arrangements, and their jazz sensibility impressed Shaw. The Mel-Tone who sang the "hot notes," giving the group its hip harmony, was Ginny O'Connor, who later would marry Henry Mancini.

When I had an opportunity to interview Ginny on her husband for a recent Wall Street Journal piece, I couldn't help but ask her about her Mel-Tones days. Ginny was taken aback: "How do you know about the Mel-Tones?" she asked with bemused surprise. When I told her how much I admired her and the group and told her about the Mel-Tones' Soundies up on YouTube, she was flattered and wanted to see them. I sent them along and our chat began. [Above, Mel Torme and the Mel-Tones in 1946. Clockwise from center, front: Mel Torme, Bernie Parke, Ginny O'Connor, Betty Beveridge and Les Baxter]

Here are Ginny's recollections of the her recordings with Mel Torme and Artie Shaw:

"The early 1940s was a pretty innocent time in Los Angeles, even though there was a war going on. The city was so alive and everyone was on the same page with the war effort. I attended Los Angeles City College, where four of us started a vocal group in our senior year called the School Kids. We sang around town, anywhere we could get attention. It was me, Bernie Parke, Diz Disruhd and Betty Beveridge. In 1944, we worked with Harry Schooler, a bandleader who was known as the Swing Shift Dance King.

"During the war, when people worked shifts at plants around the clock, Harry had figured out that by holding dances at midnight or later, you’d attract all the young single people in their early 20s who were just getting off in the early morning hours and had nothing to do. We worked with him at the Aragon Ballroom on the Lick Pier in the Ocean Park section of Santa Monica. One night in early ’44, while we were singing, he was arrested for statutory rape and that was the end of him.


"In college, I loaded up my schedule in the morning with heavy courses so I could be in mixed chorus in the afternoon. We sang traditional choral music in the class, and we loved it. It’s hard to explain why but it was everything for us. It made us feel so good.

"When the School Kids performed outside of school, our arrangements were written by Tom Kenny, a singer and vocal arranger. At the time, we were singing lots of patriotic songs for the war effort. All four of us hung out together all the time. We couldn’t get enough of each other. Then Tom was drafted.


"In the early 1940s, orchestra leader Ben Pollack had heard us sing and convinced Mel Torme’s family to move out to Hollywood from Chicago. Ben sensed Mel was a talented youngster and should be where the action is. Mel finished high school at Los Angeles High and then at 18 was cast in Frank Sinatra’s first film, Higher and Higher (1943).


"Ben arranged for us to meet Mel in ’44 and we hit it off. Mel took us on at face value based on Ben Pollack’s say-so. Mel arranged our vocals, and we started doing more sophisticated stuff. We loved singing Mel’s arrangements of hot tunes of the day. [Photo above of Ben Pollack]


"Then Diz was drafted in ’44. We replaced him with Les Baxter, who later became a bandleader and recorded all those exotica albums in the ‘50s. Les was pretty worldly, even then. He was a saxophonist who had played with Freddie Slack on Cow Cow Boogie and had traveled and was knowledgeable. He turned us on to that world of music. After we’d rehearse, he’d tell us to lie on the floor and close our eyes, and he’d put on Ravel or Debussy. He introduced us to classical music. [Above, Les Baxter]


"We were enamored of Mel and his talent. He could do everything and do it all so well: sing, play, arrange, write—everything. We began recording tighter in 1944, things like Where or When and A Stranger in Town. Around this time, with Mel on board, we made a couple of movies, including Let's Go Steady. There was one for Columbia and one for Universal. They were cute teenage kind of movies. It was a very innocent time. [Here's a clip from Let's Go Steady...]

 
"We were up for any opportunity that came along. In 1945, we recorded a series of Soundies, including Lullaby of Broadway, which were early music videos. Mel wasn’t in them. He had just signed with Musicraft Records, and the label wouldn’t let him appear. So Bernie pretended to be Mel and lip-synced to Mel’s vocal. [Here's Lullaby of Broadway, with Ginny in the middle with dark hair...]

 
"Actually, now that I think about it, those Soundies were done on Aug. 14, 1945, VJ day. I remember we were in the studio and after we were done, we walked out on Sunset Blvd. and saw throngs of people. We asked what was going on. Someone told us that the Japanese had surrendered. People were everywhere celebrating.


"In early ’46, Mel told us about the Artie Shaw opportunity. It sounded like a good idea to us. Sonny Burke was Artie’s arranger and he was a wonderful guy. He was a great musician and had a wonderful sense of humor and a great attitude. [Above, Mel Torme and Artie Shaw in the studio in 1946]

"All four of us could read music, but Mel preferred to figure out the arrangements with us sitting around the piano. He’d play a five part-chord and whichever note we were supposed to sing we learned.


"I was the hot note in the middle, the one that gave us the jazz sound. There’s three-part harmony, which is pure, and when you add the hot note in the middle, that makes it fun. We learned Mel’s arrangements very quickly and nailed them before we recorded. We were always well prepared. Mel’s arrangements were so original and hip. [Photo above of Ginny O'Connor, left, and Betty Beveridge]


"The first time I met Artie was at the old Capitol Studios. Those Musicraft dates were recorded at Capitol and Radio Recorders. I remember that Artie’s mother was there. She and Artie were very close. She was such a grand lady and such a presence. She’d just sit there quietly. Artie had one of the best bands around. It was tight and smartly arranged. He was the first one to use strings with a big band, and his music was hugely optimistic. It was happy stuff to listen to and to sing. [Photo above of Artie Shaw at the Musicraft sessions]


"Each of the songs for Artie was done pretty quickly. There were three takes at the most, and that was usually because someone in the band blew a note. Singers didn’t blow notes. Back then, before tape, you had to record without a mistake. There was no cutting and pasting. If someone in the band hit a clinker, you’d have to take it from the top.


"We recorded out in the studio with the band. That’s how it was done then. Mel had his own mic, and the rest of us stood at a two-sided mic, which was typical then. It had two mics on one side and two on the other. It was set up that way so we could sing toward each other, which was ideal. By doing this, you could adjust your blend accordingly and watch each other. [Above, from left, Mel Torme, Bernie Parke, Betty Beveridge, Ginny O'Connor and Les Baxter]


"My favorite song from the Artie Shaw sessions was What Is This Thing Called Love. It was an interesting arrangement by Mel, and Artie’s solo was great. It was a different way to treat that song. By then, we were part of the Hollywood scene and always were invited to parties, where we’d sing.


"Artie was a nice guy back then. He was happening, handsome, married to Ava Gardner, and he was a great musician. He seemed to have it all. Later in life, he was miserable to be around. I never met someone so mean-spirited and full of himself. I’m not sure what happened to him along the way to cause such a change. [Photo above of Artie Shaw and Ava Gardner]


"Around this time, Carlos Gastel, who managed Mel, said to him, “You do a lot of things really well. You want to be a star, so you’re going to have to focus.” Mel had to make a career choice and in 1947 he decided to go out on his own. We all knew it was time. Actually I was the one who left first. I saw the writing on the wall. Mel never told us what he had planned. He never said, 'Hey kids, it’s over.' He used to call us 'kids.' He just let it go and you could see it coming. [Above, Mel Torme in the late 1940s]


"I had an opportunity to audition for the Tex Beneke Orchestra in 1946 so I went. Tex had taken over Glenn Miller’s Army Air Force Band and was touring cross-country. When the band arrived in Hollywood, the band’s vocal group, the Crew Chiefs, decided they wanted to stay in California. Tex was stuck for a vocal group. I was hired and sang with the Mello-Larks— Tommy Hamm, Bob Smith, Jack Bierman and me. It was fun. Talk about divine intervention. If it hadn’t been for Mel’s ambition, I wouldn’t have auditioned for Tex’s band. That’s where I met the piano player and arranger—Henry Mancini." [Above, Tex Beneke in 1947; below, Henry and Ginny Mancini at home in the 1980s]

JazzWax clip: Here's Ginny with the Mel-Tones on Back Home Again in Indiana...

 

Here's Artie Shaw with Mel Torme and the Mel-Tones in 1946 on What Is This Thing Called Love?...

Here's Guilty...

Here's Ginny with Tex Beneke's Mello-Larks in 1946, with Henry Mancini on piano, singing It Might Have Been a Different Story...

Here's Breakfast at Tiffany's from the 1961 soundtrack, with Ginny singing in the vocal choir...

And here's Ginny in the mix on Stan Kenton's It's Love, from Artistry in Voices and Brass...

Video: Herbie Hancock in 1972

A year and a half before keyboardist Herbie Hancock recorded his seminal Headhunters album in the fall of 1973, he was in Paris performing with his Mwandishi Sextet. Mwandishi is Swahili for composer and it's a name Hancock adopted for himself in the late 1960s and early '70s. Members of his group followed suit: Mganga ("doctor," whose traditional functions include exorcism, prophecy and the removal of spells) was for flugelhornist Eddie Henderson, Pepo Mtoto ("demon baby") was for trombonist Julian Priester, Mwile ("body") was for reed player Bennie Maupin, Mchezaji ("player," someone who plays a game) was for bassist Buster Williams, Jabali ("strong as a rock") was for drummer Billy Hart, and Ndugu ("brother") was for drummer Leon Chancler. 

His sextet in Paris in '72 featured Herbie Hancock/Mwandishi (keyboards), Eddie Henderson/Mganga (flugelhorn), Bennie Maupin/Mwile (bass clarinet, alto flute, curved soprano saxophone), Julian Priester/Pepo Mtoto (trombone), Buster Williams/Mchezaji (bass) and Billy Hart/Jabali (drums).

Fortunately, this early Mwandishi group was taped on March 23, 1972 performing Toys, Water Torture and Sleeping Giant. A couple of weeks ago, the French tape was colorized and uploaded to YouTube. A special thanks to Chris Cowles for finding it and sharing the link.

Here's Herbie Hancock and his Mwandishi Sextet...

The Early Autumn Story and 10 Faves

In 1946, at the height of Stravinsky's and modern classical's influence on big band jazz, arranger Ralph Burns brought a three-part suite to bandleader Woody Herman called Summer Sequence, Parts 1-3. Herman recorded the three parts in September '46, when saxophonist Flip Phillips was the band's chief saxophone soloist. But in the 78 era, three parts of anything was doomed. Four sides of two records needed to be filled, so Columbia, Herman's label at the time, shelved the masters.

A year later, in the fall of '47, Herman formed a new band, commissioning arrangements that emphasized his reed section. The five saxophones featured Sam Marowitz (as), Stan Getz, Zoot Sims and Herbie Steward (ts) and Serge Chaloff (bs). When Marowitz left shortly after, Herman stepped in to play the alto part. Burns was commissioned to write Part IV of Summer Sequence, which the band recorded on December 27, 1947, just days before the start of the second American Federation of Musicians' recording ban.

My guess is that with a paralyzing recording ban bearing down on the music industry that fall, Columbia exhumed everything it had in the vaults and prepared it for market. This included Summer Sequence, for which Burns was asked to write a fourth part.

The big surprise in Part IV came two minutes into the recording, when Getz (above) took a beautiful, yearning eight-bar solo that was considered revelatory at the time. And the melodic reed writing by Burns that followed Getz's solo hinted at a new song waiting to be born.

By the time the recording ban ended in the fall of 1948, Herman had left Columbia for Capitol. Struck by the second portion of Summer Sequence Part IV, Herman had Burns re-arrange it as a new reed-centric song called Early Autumn. with Getz as the featured soloist.

In 1952, Herman asked Johnny Mercer to write lyrics, and Herman wound up with a co-writing credit on the vocal version. Jo Stafford was first pop vocalist to record the song on June 24th, with Ella Fitzgerald coming next, two days later, on the 26th. Herman recorded his vocal version in July. Early Autumn quickly became a jazz standard.

Here's Summer Sequence Part IV with Stan Getz's solo about two minutes in 1947...

Here's Woody Herman and Ralph Burns's Early Autumn in 1948...

Here's Johnny Mathis in 1956, with an arrangement by Percy Faith...

Here's Anita O'Day with the Marty Paich Orchestra in 1958...

Here's Stan Kenton in 1958...

Here's Bill Holman's arrangement for Charlie Barnet in 1958...

Here's Les Brown from his Swing Song Book in 1959...

Here's Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Arkestra off of his Holiday for Soul Dance album in 1960, with Ricky Murray on vocal and a tenor saxophone solo by John Gilmore...

Here's the George Shearing Quintet in 1960...

And here's the VIP Trio from their Standard Album in 1988, featuring Cedar Walton (p), Pat Senatore (b) and Billy Higgins (d)...

Bonus: Here's my favorite Stan Getz solo on Early Autumn, from the 40th anniversary Carnegie Hall Concert in 1976. Move the sound bar to 25:24. The alto solo is Woody Herman's followed by Ralph Burns's piano and then Getz...

And here's Ella's Early Autumn with Nelson Riddle from Bill Kirchner...

Here's Carol Sloane with the late Mike Renzi on piano from Peter Sokolowski...

Colorized Video: Mingus and Dolphy

In April 1964, bassist Charles Mingus was on tour in Liège, Belgium, and recorded for the Belgian TV show, Jazz Pour Tous. This 30-minute broadcast was recently colorized using Deoldify. The songs performed are So Long Eric, Carlye Goodbye and Meditations. The group featured Mingus on bass; Dolphy on alto sax, bass clarinet and flute; Clifford Jordan on tenor saxophone; Jaki Byard on piano and Dannie Richmond on drums. Two months later, Dolphy would be dead in Germany after falling into a diabetic coma. His diabetes had gone undiagnosed. [Photo above of Eric Dolphy from YouTube]

Here's the show...

Jamie, Creed and Mina

Last week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed actor, musician, singer, standup comedian Jamie Foxx for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Jamie and I spoke by video Zoom and talked about his early years and being adopted by the same couple that had adopted his mother 13 years earlier. As anyone who has watched Ray, the Ray Charles biopic, Foxx is an extraordinary talent—and he never took an acting lesson. As he told me, "I've always been acting." Jamie has a memoir out (go here).

Here's Jamie in Ray...

Also in the WSJ last week, my essay on the Grateful Dead's Skull and Roses live double album that came out 50 years ago on October 24, 1971 (go here). The album's impeccable sound, extended jamming and an entire side devoted to a fusion jazz piece revolutionized the live rock album by showing how the format could be maximized. The Dead also used the album to pull of a marketing coup. Here's the full album...

Seventeen days to go until my book, Rock Concert: An Oral History as Told by the Artists, Backstage Insiders, and Fans Who Were There (Grove Press) is published. Remember, JazzWax is free, and for the past 14 years it has been my gift to you. Give me a gift and buy my book. It reads like a dart. And it's the only rock concert experience this fall that doesn't require a mask.

In the U.S., go here.

In the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand where the book is being published simultaneously, please visit Amazon.

John Dennis. Weeks after my post on John Dennis, a little-known jazz pianist, Charlie Berg sent along a wonderful discovery:

Hey Marc. Check out this vocal group. I compared pictures, and I think that's the same John Dennis on piano and here singing bass/baritone. Here are a bunch of recordings:

Here are the Caldwells' It's Like Taking Candy From a Baby in 1948...

Here's I Do What I Wanna Do in 1948...

Here's I Don't Worry Anymore and I Gotta Move in 1947...

And here's Marv Goldberg on Dennis's bio (go here).

Ira Sullivan. Following my post on Ira Sullivan and Red Rodney last week, I heard from Kim Paris of the FM Radio Archive:

Marc, I enjoyed reading your article about Ira Sullivan and Red Rodney. I believe you'll be interested in hearing this set of the Rodney-Sullivan quintet in concert at the 1980 Chicago Jazz Festival. This recording is courtesy of Mark Rabin's collection, like so many others. Go here.

Homeless hands. Irving Greines, a stunning photographer who I last posted about here, has assembled a page at his site of hands that belong to the homeless. Go here. [Photo above of a homeless person's hands by Irving Greines, courtesy of Irving Greines]

Shock: Music in Hi-Fi. In 1958, producer Creed Taylor formed the Creed Taylor Orchestra with Kenyon Hopkins and released a handful of albums on ABC Paramount. They were the audio equivalent of horror comics popular with teens then. One of them was Shock: Music in Hi-Fi. Mark Cathcart, who hosts a Creed Taylor tribute site, researched the woman who appears shrieking on the cover down to her fingernail polish. Just kidding, but he got pretty close. For more, go here.

René Thomas. Last week, Jean -Luc Gautier send along a video clip of René Thomas and Bobby Jaspar in 1962 on Belgian TV. Go here.

Mina. From Belgium, let's fly down to Rome and listen to a bossa nova medley in 1968 by Mina, the Italian pop singing sensation...

In New York next week? Check out the Django Festival All Stars at Birdland from October 26 to 30. It's part of Birdland's Django Reinhardt New York Festival. The French group is sensational, and the festival, produced by Pat Philips, is celebrating its 21st year. The All Stars—Samson Schmitt, Pierre Blanchard, Ludovic Beier, DouDou Cuillerier and Antonio Licusati—will be playing all five nights and will be joined by special guests:

• October 26: Ken Peplowski — clarinet
• October 27: Samara Joy — voclaist
• October 28: Ingrid Jensen — trumpet
• October 29 & 30: Anais Reno — vocalist

The Django Reinhardt All Stars then head out on tour:

October

• 31: Townecrier, Beacon, N.Y.

November

• 4: Keystone Korner, Baltimore
• 5: James Moody Festival, Chase Room, NJPAC
• 6: Perelman Theatre, Kimmel Center for Performing Arts, Pa.
• 7: Armenian Church, Wayne, N.J.
• 11: Outpost Jazz, Albuquerque, N.M.
• 12: Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix
• 13: Taos Jazz Bebop Society Festival, N.M.
• 15 & 16: Dazzle, Denver, Colo.
• 18: Center For The Arts, Grass Valley, Ca.
• 19: Blue Note Jazz, Napa, Ca.
• 21: Torrance Cultural Arts Center, Torrance, Ca.
• 22: Kuumbwa Jazz, Santa Cruz, Ca.

Art Pepper. Want to listen to the audiobook of Art Pepper's memoir, Straight Life? Co-author Laurie Pepper narrates. Go here.

And finally. Pianist Dave Thompson sent along Bill Evans playing Detour Ahead in 1965, joined by bassist Neils Henning Orsted Pederson and drummer Alan Dawson. Go here...

Documentary: Sonny Greenwich

Canadian guitarist Sonny Greenwich (above) is still with us. He has performed with musicians such as Charles Lloyd, Wayne Shorter, Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner, Chick Corea, John Handy and Sun Ra. So I was excited last week when I received the following from Matt LeGroulx in Montreal:

Hi Marc. First, thank you and Brigitte Berman for making her "Bix" documentary available to your readers. What a great film. Second, I just came across "It Ain't All Jazz," a documentary about guitarist Sonny Greenwich by his son, though it's equally about pianist Wray Downes and drummer Archie Alleyne, all Canadian jazz legends. Great performances and stories from all three.

They don't sugarcoat their experiences as Black men in North America. It's an essential watch for fans of Montreal jazz and Canadian music in general. Archie passed away in 2015, but Wray only left us last year. Canadian jazz sometimes may seem to begin and end with Oscar Peterson, but scratch the surface and there's so much depth.

Here's the documentary, It Ain't All Jazz...

Count Basie in London in 1977

There were two TV arts programs called Omnibus. One aired in the U.S. from 1952 to 1961 and was sponsored by the Ford Foundation. The point of the 44 episodes was to raise American taste with educational programming. The show aired on Sunday afternoons at 4 p.m. (ET) on CBS and again on ABC that evening. Hosted by Alistair Cooke, the series won more than 65 awards, including eight Emmys and two Peabodys.

In the U.K., Omnibus was a British series that aired from 1967 to 2003 on BBC 1, broadcasting on Sunday evenings. Here's an Omnibus episode in 1977 with the spotlight on Count Basie. Dig the fabulous rendition of Body and Soul by Jimmy Forrest and other band highlights and analysis for those interviewed...

Franco Cerri (1926-2021)

Franco Cerri, one of the world's finest jazz guitarists whose records and reputation escaped most American jazz aficionados due to his desire to spend his career in Italy, died on October 18. He was 95. [Photo above of Franco Cerri]

Ruggedly handsome with a joyous sense of swing and impeccable taste, Cerri (pronounced "Cherry") was one of Italy's best kept jazz secrets, making nearly all of his recordings in Milan starting in 1945. Touring American jazz stars knew him and that he could play bass as proficiently as the guitar. He often accompanied them on Italian TV and in clubs. Over his long career, Cerri gigged with Chet Baker, Buddy Collette, Dizzy Gillespie, Johnny Griffin, Stéphane Grappelli, Lars Gullin, Billie Holiday, Lee Konitz, Gerry Mulligan, Lou Bennett, Bud Shank, Tony Scott, Django Reinhardt, Phil Woods and the Modern Jazz Quartet. [Photo above of Franco Cerri and Chet Baker]

Prepare yourself, because once you hear my favorite tracks and albums, you're going to want to own everything Cerri ever recorded...

Here's Cerri live in 1967 on Italian television. Move the space bar to 3:29...

Here's Cerri's eighth album from 1964...

Here's Cerri playing Brazil. How impossibly gorgeous...

Here's Omaggio a Bill Evans from 1981...

Here's In Punta di Cerri from 2017...

And here's the full album of Cerrimedioatutto from 2011...

A special thanks to Edo Olivari in Italy.