In The Wall Street Journal last week, I interviewed movie director Michael Mann for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Michael talked about growing up in Chicago, the film class in college that inspired him to become a director and the family photo that haunts him to this day. Among Michael's films are “Thief,” “Heat,” “Last of the Mohicans,” “Insider,” “Ali” and “Collateral,” and he was a producer on “The Aviator,” “Hancock” and “Ford v Ferrari.”[Photo above of Michael Mann, courtesy of Wikipedia]
Here's Michael with Robert De Niro and Al Pacino talking about the famed coffee shop scene in Heat (1995)...
Pre-order now. My new book is a perfect holiday gift for those who loved listening to the radio from 1964 to 1995. The stories behind 55 huge hits you know and love—plus I've provided a way for you to listen to all of them for free, in order, at my website. Listen while you read!!! Pre-order here.
Rock Concert, my oral history of how live rock went from sweaty wrestling arenas to a multi billion-dollar industry over the course of 35 years came out last fall, can be found in two formats here.
Last week, bassist Brian Torff, who for 3 1/2 years in the late 1970s and early 1980s performed as a duo with pianist George Shearing, last week sent along a photo of Rock Concert high atop a display at RJ Julia in Madison, one of Connecticut's best independent bookstores. Brian's 2021 album, Running with Scissors, can be found here. Order all of my Grove books from RJ Julia here.
Meet the press. Part 3 of Bret Primack's seven-part, on-camera interview series with me conducted a few weeks ago can be found here...
Shave-o-Rama. What a week it was last week for shaving. Thank you for your many emails and for those who had less interest but patiently put up with it. Five days of posts that tell you everything you need to know about double-edge shaving based on my last two years' of exploration and research, plus interviews with three major players. John Scott sent along an email that just about sums it up...
Marc, if anyone gives you s*** for this week, tell them there’s a musician in Berkeley, Calif., who really needed this information!!!
Speaking of shaving, Brett Gold sent along the following...
Marc, I'm not a razor fanatic (I have not been clean-shaven in more than 45 years), but I have been reading your shaving posts with interest. Have you seen Buster Keaton's classic "Sherlock Jr.?" In the film, Keaton has an assistant named Gillette. I could never figure out why he named his assistant after a razor. But I recently rewatched the film with my son (a special request for Father's Day this year) and realized that the assistant's name was part of a pun that worked-in several brands of razors and blades from the 1920's. See the image above. Gem still makes one-sided razor blades, but Ever Ready is out of business. I did notice that the Razor Emporium offers a 1920's model for sale.
Well, since Brett mentioned it, let's watch Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. Go here...
The Diving Fool. Speaking of comedy, Larry Griswold, co-inventor of the trampoline who was known professionally as "The Diving Fool," made a splash on the Frank Sinatra Show in 1951. A special thanks to director Raymond De Felitta, whose blog is here. Go here to watch Larry Griswold...
Ahmad Jamal. Last week I heard from Bill Kirchner...
Marc, if I had to pick my favorite Ahmad Jamal album, it would be "The Awakening." To me, it’s one of the finest recorded piano trio albums I’ve ever heard. The selections and playing are terrific. The trio: Ahmad Jamal (p), Jamil Nasser (b) and Frank Gant (d). The album was recorded in 1970. Here’s a transcription of Jamal’s playing on Oliver Nelson’s “Stolen Moments” from the album. The transcriber is Rowan Hudson...
More David Allyn. Paul Cammarata just put up additonal clips of singer David Allyn and his big band at New York's Red Blazer, Too in 1992...
Here's The Best Is Yet to Come...
And here's A Night in Tunisia...
Gary Smulyan, the great baritone saxophonist, sent along an email last week about a new site he helped launch. If you dig the baritone saxophone, dig in...
Hi Marc! Hope all is OK with you! I wanted to let you know of our new grass-roots organization dedicated to all things baritone saxophone, Low Blow Music. We have a website here where you can see our mission and what we are doing. We have a kickoff event on October 8, Pepper Adams's birthday, at Ornithology in Brooklyn, N.Y. It will feature 10 baritone-led bands from noon to midnight. The entire event will be live at the club for those who want to come see us and streamed online.
PS: Gary's latest album is Tough Baritones (SteepleChase), with baritone saxophonist Ronnie Cuber. Go here.
RIP Allan M. Siegal. The New York Times is partly the great paper it is today thanks to Allan M. Siegal, who died on September 21 at age 82. For decades, toiling behind the scenes, he was in charge of style, bringing writers and editors to task for errors or lazy prose, sloppy editing and weak headline writing, and pushing everyone on staff to adhere to high standards. Or else. When I worked at the paper from 1976 to 1985, editors and writers lived in dread of receiving a note from him in a ginger-colored inner-office envelope with holes in it. Known as "a greenie from Siegal," his missives were always written with a green Flair pen. In fact, you could see his green handwriting through the holes before you even opened the envelope. As a young journalist, I was in awe of his news judgment. Then again, I had the privilege of working there at a time when there was an abundance of newspaper legends and superb journalistic judgment. A life-changing experience for me, both as an NYT intern while studying in college and after. Even if you have no idea who Allan M. Siegal was, you'll enjoy Todd S. Purdum's obit here.
And finally, here's my favorite fall song—Sarah Vaughan singing Moonlight in Vermont backed by the Count Basie band, minus Basie, with Ronnell Bright on piano. I'm guessing the arrangement was by Johnny Mandel...
