In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed actor Ernie Hudson for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Ernie is best known for co-starring in Ghostbusters (1984) and now stars in The Family Business, L.A.’s Finest and NBC’s Quantum Leap. Ernie's childhood story is amazing. He never knew his mother or father. Raised by his grandmother, he was set aside in school with other minority students as "unlearnables." It wasn't until he was a senior that a teacher realized how bright he was and pulled him out. By accident, Ernie saw a play in Detroit and realized that acting was what he was born to do and ran with it. [Photo above of Ernie Hudson, courtesy of Ernie Hudson]
Sirius XM. If you missed me on Sirius XM last week, you can listen to the hour-long show on Black Sabbath's Vol. 4 and how the album, which turned 50 this month, changed rock history. Go here...
Interview, Part 2. Bret Primack (above) has posted Part 2 of his on-camera interview series with me a few weeks back. There will be seven parts in all. Go here...
If you missed Part 1, go here.
Rock Concert in San Francisco. A special thanks to my dear friend Rob Hyman, songwriter (Time After Time) and keyboardist for The Hooters, for sending along a photo taken by his son, Nicky, and his girlfriend at San Francisco's City Lights bookstore. Looks like I'm in good company! Thanks Nicky!!
Pre-order now! My new book out December 6 is perfect for holiday gifts. Make sure you send the recipients of your gift to my new website, where you'll find a Spotify playlist with all 55 of the book's songs so you can read and listen at the same time. Order here.
Rock Concert last night was No. 2 in Amazon's Interviews category and will be out in paper this fall. Order here.
Marcos Valle and Paula Morelenbaum (both pictured above, photo by Marc Myers) were fabulous on Wednesday night. By the end of the set, the audience was mentally on the beach in Rio. Glorious to catch up with Marcos and the band backstage after. It has been too long.
Ramsey Lewis (1935-2022), a pioneer of soul-jazz piano, died on September 12. I last interviewed Ramsey for The Wall Street Journal in 2015 (go here). To read pianist Joe Alterman's memories of Ramsey, go here. In tribute to Ramsey, here's his trio's biggest hit, The 'In' Crowd, a 1965 cover of Billy Page's hit for Dobie Gray a year earlier...
Billie Holiday slept here. Have $14 million, excluding costs and renovations? You can own Billie Holiday's brownstone in Manhattan. The 6,300-square-foot, seven bedroom, six bath multi-family townhouse at 26 West 87th St. dates back to 1900 and was once home to the jazz singer. Unclear whether she owned the entire building or owned or rented an apartment and on which floor. If you buy the building, I'm sure you'll find out soon enough. Take a photo tour here. [Photo above of Billie Holiday's former residence by Evan Joseph Photography]
Joe Kennedy Jr. Last week, following my post on violinist Joe Kennedy Jr., I heard from singer Nancy Harrow (you can read my interview with Nancy here):
Hi Marc. Joe Kennedy Jr. was John Lewis’s cousin. He played on my album, "The John Lewis Album for Nancy Harrow (1981)." It was a treat to see him perform one of his impassioned solos. I have a vivid image still in my mind of how he looked and sounded playing.
Antonio Carlos Jobim. Last week, Carl Woideck sent along a note informing me of the Instituto Antônio Carlos Jobim website. There, you can choose Jobim scores, parts, photos and other categories. As Carl notes, "It’s not the most intuitive site, but trial and error will guide you." To access the archive part of the site, go here.
Sarama Joy's album, Linger Awhile (Verve), is out today here. Here's Misty from the album...
Mike Jones, the wonderful jazz pianist who performs nightly with Penn & Teller at Rio Las Vegas, is out with a new album, Some Strings Attached. He's joined by guitarist Graham Dechter and bassist Alex Frank. As Mike noted, "The album is a tribute to the piano-bass-and-guitar trios of yore! Of course, our inspiration was the Oscar Peterson Trio albums with Barney Kessel and Ray Brown, and the Nat King Cole Trio recordings with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince."
To listen and order, go here.
Here's Gone With the Wind...
Prestige All Stars radio. On Sunday, Sid Gribetz of WKCR-FM in New York will be spinning the many late '50s records by the so-called Prestige All Stars and talking about them from 2 to 7 p.m. As Sid notes, "Back then, Prestige Records produced a series of albums with ad hoc arrangements of medium sized bands playing extended improvisations. Some of these sessions included sophisticated original compositions and arrangements by Teddy Charles and Mal Waldron, while others would more directly be free-wheeling jam session-styled workouts on standards and the blues." Listen from anywhere in the world by going here.
John Coltrane radio. On September 23, WKCR will be presenting its annual "John Coltrane Birthday Broadcast," playing the music of the tenor saxophonist for 24 hours. The broadcast starts on Thursday night, September 22, at 11:59 p.m. (ET) and continues until Friday at midnight. Listen from anywhere in the world by going here.
And finally, Oliver Dowling in Dublin turned me on to a tremendous jazz guitarist last week—Hugh Buckley. Here's Hugh playing an original composition called Kindred Spirit. I do hope someone out there asks me how to get in touch with Hugh to record him on a solo album...
