In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed Ron Howard and his brother Clint Howard for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). How do two kid actors in the 1960s who can't read or write memorize scripts and deliver lines with emotion? It's a process. Ron and Clint tell all. Ron and Clint's new memoir above is here. And if you haven't seen the four-part Gossip documentary series on Showtime that Ron Howard recently co-produced, be sure to watch. Here's the trailer...
Countdown. Just 3 1/2 weeks to go until my next book, Rock Concert, is published by Grove Press. How the small R&B revues of 1951 held in boxing arenas evolved to become an $8 billion industry, all in the words of those who were part of the changes. Pre-order now so you get my book early. Go here.
007. Last week, I heard from many readers on my James Bond post. Here's an email from Mark Rabin...
Hi, Marc. I enjoyed your post on the new James Bond set. While I was too young to see the films at first, I could watch "I Spy," "The Avengers," "Secret Agent," "The Saint" and others on TV. The James Bond themes and TV spy music became ear worms for me in my teen years. One album that made it into our house was by Roland Shaw And His Orchestra—"The Return Of James Bond In Diamonds Are Forever and Other Secret Agent Themes." Shaw sold millions of copies of spy theme instrumental albums. His dynamic performances combined with London Records' Phase 4 stereo mix were entertaining, especially on a cheap stereo. For a little more insight with some samples of the Roland Shaw/London Records Phase 4 sound, go here.
John Dennis. After my post last week on lost pianist John Dennis, I heard from dozens of you. Here's bassist Harvie S...
Marc, I can’t stop listening to John Dennis. Thanks for hipping me to him.
Wish we knew what happened to him. He would have been a major cat. Harvey Pekar mentions somewhere that he died in 1963 at the age of 33. In doing some research on Dennis, I found this interview of Walt Dickerson, Dennis's friend, by Dmitry Zhukov that touched on him. Go here.
Jelly Roll Morton. Last week I heard from director Raymond De Felitta who sent along a great clip of Jelly Roll Morton's music...
Hey man. I’ve been reading Gunther Schuller’s book, "Early Jazz." It led me into a deep dive into the Jelly Roll Morton discography, specifically his Red Hot Peppers sides. Schuller’s point is that the sophistication of Morton’s orchestrations, which he did himself and which predate Ellington, clearly shows him as a guide to all jazz arrangers who followed by only a few years. Jelly’s New Orleans sound made him obsolete by the late 20s, but to my ears he was as modern as Duke in that era and perhaps a little ahead of him.
Then I ran across the following YouTube compilation. Every one of his records from the New York years (1928-30) are astonishingly tight and polished. I think they kick hard, and I had never given much thought to him to be honest. Thought you and JazzWax readers would dig. Here's a lot of Jelly...
CDs you should know about.
Denise Donatelli—Whistling in the Dark: The Music of Burt Bacharach (Savant). Having interviewed Burt several times, once at his home in Los Angeles, I can tell you that Denise on this album totally gets his music. Singing Burt's melodies is back-breaker business. They aren't easy by any stretch, nor are his changing keys and time signatures. Take the title track, for example, from his album Blue Umbrella, with lyrics by Daniel Tashian. Or Toledo, with lyrics by Elvis Costello. Denise sings the nine tracks with the ease and the sound of dreamy desperation that Burt loves. Instead of the Dionne Warwick blast or Cilla Black hysteria, Denise's voice is soft and caressing, bringing a new level of sophistication and conviction to the music. Dig Walk On By, with Denise's pauses in just the right places. Here are the tracks, with arrangements by Larry Klein: Whistling in the Dark, The Look of Love, In Between the Heartaches, Toledo, Anyone Who Had a Heart, Walk On By, In the Darkest Place, Mexican Divorce and A House Is Not a Home. My only hope is that Denise has Part 2 on the way. Go here.
Ray Charles—True Genius (Tangerine). The tracks on this six-CD retrospective were smartly chosen. Every post-1960 album is represented here and, when combined in a musical narrative, provide a fabulous cross-section of one of soul's forefathers. Released on Charles's Tangerine Records, the set includes a previously unreleased live concert from Stockholm in 1972. The set also doubles as a coffee table book, since the CDs are housed inside a 46-page hardback with rare photos and narratives by multiple authors. A marvelous holiday gift for those who woudl love to load up an Apple Music folder with the Genius and listen to tracks carefully selected for their emotion and significance. Go here.
Sammy Price radio. On Sunday, Sid Gribetz will host a five-hour show on WKCR-FM in New York celebrating the boogie-woogie of pianist Sammy Price. To listen from anywhere in the world, tune from from 2 to 7 p.m. (ET) here.
Bernard Purdie radio. Recently Chris Cowles devoted three hours of his Greasy Tracks show on WRTC-FM in Hartford, Ct., to the music of Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, one of the most recorded studio drummers. To listen to the show in the archives, go here.
And finally, here's Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga singing Cole Porter's Love for Sale from their new album of the same name...
