In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed crime novelist Karin Slaughter for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). If you liked Netflix suspense series Pieces of Her, it was an adaptation of Karin's book of the same name. Her new novel is Girl, Forgotten. For my column, Karin spoke about growing up south of Atlanta and how her deep fear of the Atlanta child murders between 1979 and 1981 led to her dark sense of humor and passion for writing suspense novels. She also was among the funniest subjects I've interviewed this year. [Photo above of Karin Slaughter by Alison Rosa, courtesy of NPR]
Here's the trailer to Netflix's Pieces of Her...
And here's Karin discussing her inspiration for the novel...
Pre-order! Don't forget to pre-order my next book, Anatomy of 55 More Songs, the much requested follow-up to Anatomy of a Song (2016) from Grove Press. It will be published on December 6, but you can reserve a copy now. My last book, Rock Concert, will be out in paperback in early December as well. You can order the hardback or pre-order the paperback here.
Sirius XM. Miss my on-air appearance with Nik Carter and Lori Majewski on Sirius XM's Feedback a few weeks back where I break down the music and importance of Curtis Mayfield's 1972 Superfly soundtrack? Listen for free here...
Don Goldie. After my post on trumpeter Don Goldie, I heard from trumpeter and bandleader Mike Vax:
Marc, Don was like my adopted uncle. We loved playing together and sometimes would have long phone conversations about anything and everything. I was supposed to go visit him that last time in the hospital. They basically told him that he was not going to recover fully and then let him out of the hospital too early because they "needed the room." When I found out what happened, I called the hospital and reamed out one of the administrators for what they did.
Dick Haymes. Paul Cammarata sent along the following YouTube clip of Dick Haymes and his then wife Fran Jeffries on the Ed Sullivan Show in April 1961. The first song they chose must have been murder to pull off as a duet; the second is A Lot of Livin' to Do by Jeffries and the last is You Are Too Beautiful by Haymes. Then they come back for a reprise of the duet. Here's the clip...
And here's Frank Sinatra's hand-off to Dick Haymes when he left Tommy Dorsey's orchestra in 1942 to begin his solo career...
The Jazz Parade in Ystad, Sweden, traditionally kicks off the Ystad Jazz Festival, and this year was no different. Itta Johnson of the festival sent along the following clip, featuring Gunhild Carling and her musical family...
And here's vocalist Rachelle Jeanty singing Night and Day...
Creed Taylor radio. Last week, Kim Paris of the FM Radio Archive sent along five radio broadcasts of CTI artists. The broadcasts are:
- 1972: CTI All Stars - Chateauvallon France (French radio broadcast)
- 1973: CTI All Stars - Paramount Northwest, Seattle (FM broadcast)
- 1974: CTI All Stars - Paramount Northwest, Seattle (TV broadcast of CTI Spectacular)
- 1975: George Benson - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco (FM broadcast)
- 1975: George Benson - Carnegie Hall, New York City (FM broadcast)
You can access them by going here.
In addition, on his Melting Pot radio show on Freeform Portland this Sunday from 8 to 10 a.m. (PT), Kim will be celebrating Creed's CTI recordings. In the last hour, he will be playing the broadcasts above. To listen from anywhere in the world, go here and click "listen now" in the upper left-hand corner.
If you miss the live show, you can always listen anytime after the show airs here. Kim's past Melting Pot shows can be found here.
Freeform Portland is a nonprofit, independent, community-driven radio station broadcasting live at KFFP-LP 90.3 FM, KFFD-LP 98.3 FM & KYQT-LP 101.5 FM in the Portland metropolitan area and streaming online at freeformportland.org/listen.
For more on Creed, visit Mark Cathcart's Creed Taylor Produced tribute site here. It's loaded with great information and photos.
NYO Jazz—We're Still Here. Led by artistic director Sean Jones, the NYO Jazz big band has just released its debut album, We're Still Here. It was recorded during the ensemble’s summer 2021 training residency at Purchase College, part of the State University of New York, while the pandemic was still a major threat. The Carnegie Hall–commissioned works feature songs such as Quincy Jones's Pleasingly Plump, Bobby Scott's A Taste of Honey and plenty of originals. Go here.
Here's the band in July playing Pleasingly Plump, written and arranged originally for Count Basie...
Ben Webster radio. On Sunday, Sid Gribetz of WKCR-FM in New York will host a five-hour Jazz Profiles broadcast featuring Ben Webster's recordings in the 1950s. The show will air from 2 to 7 p.m. (ET). Listen from anywhere in the world by going here.
And finally, here's Anita O'Day (above, courtesy of IMDB.com) singing Early Autumn in 1958, from her Sings the Winners album with the Marty Paich Orchestra. The band featured Bill Catalano, Jules Chaiken, Phil Gilbert, Lee Katzman and Sam Noto (tp); Jim Amlotte, Bob Enevoldsen, Kent Larsen, Archie LeCoque and Kenny Shroyer (tb); Lennie Niehaus and Bud Shank (as); Richie Kamuca and Bill Perkins (ts); Jack Dulong (bs); Marty Paich (p,arr); Red Kelly (b); and Mel Lewis (d)...
