In The Wall Street Journal last week, I interviewed comedian and actor Nick Kroll for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Nick is a one-man entertainment machine. Currently, he has a stand-up special on Netflix (Little Big Boy), he's in the film Don’t Worry Darling and season 6 of Big Mouth, the Netflix animated comedy series he co-created and co-stars in with his voice and depiction starts Oct. 28. Growing up, Nick was in a tailspin until he was handed a flyer in college for a campus standup competition. He bombed but, as he noted, "I bombed funny” and was invited to join an improv group. The rest is history. [Photo above of Olivia Wilde and Nick Kroll in Don't Worry Darling, courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures]
Here's Nick recently on Late Night With Seth Meyers...
More about me. Here's Part 5 of Bret Primack's recent on-camera interview of me...
If you've missed any parts of the interview series, you can find the previous four episodes here.
Latin in Manhattan. If you missed hearing me last week on Lou Pomales's Fifty Shades of Jazz radio show on WRTW-FM in Hartford, Ct., you're in luck. Lou asked me about growing up in Manhattan's Washington Heights in the 1960s and my exposure to the boogaloo and my passion for Latin music in general. You can listen to our conversation for free by going here (move the time bar to 29:16).
You're gonna love it. My upcoming book, Anatomy of 55 More Songs (Grove Press) is going to knock you out. Not only is it a followup to my 2016 Amazon bestseller, Anatomy of a Song, but it also contains fresh history and one column that never appeared in The Wall Street Journal—my interview with Arthur Brown on the writing and recording of his hit, Fire, which inspired Alice Cooper and many other shock rock bands in the ealry 1970s. Pre-order now by going here.
While you're at it, grab my last book, Rock Concert, an oral history of live rock events that began in 1951 and became a muti-billion-dollar phenomenon. The book is now No. 9 in Amazon's "Interviews" category and has been as high as No. 2. Go here.
Twyla Tharp. In New York in two weeks? Two of her ballets will be performed at the New York City Center—Nine Sinatra Songs and In the Upper Room. The performances will run from October 19 to 23. Best of all, Twyla will be there at each performance. For more information and to buy tickets online, go here.
Ed Soph, a powerhouse drummer who played with Woody Herman's band in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and recorded with Clark Terry, Bill Watrous, Walter Bishop Jr., Joe Henderon, Chris Connor and others is a JazzWax fan. Three albums to check out with Ed Soph on drums are Marvin Stamm’s Alone Together (2006), Matt Criscuolo’s Headin’ Out (2014) and Kevin Brunkhorst’s Otherwise (2015). Early yesterday, Ed sent along the photo above and the following:
Marc, attached, my morning practice routine. I’m using my new Signature Brushes, available at a supermarket near you!
Here's the Woody Herman band with Ed on drums playing Giant Steps in 1973...
And here's Ed on drums with Marvin Stamm (tp), Bily Mays (p) and Rufus Reid (b) playing Gemma's Eyes in 2006...
Nicki Leighton-Thomas—One Good Scandal. On her new album, Nicki Leighton-Thomas takes on the inventive music of Simon Wallace set to lyrics by the late Fran Landesman, with one song exclusively by Landesman and another by the late Tommy Wolf, her longtime writing partner. Nicki's vocal approach has cabaret warmth and tenderness, leading you to feel you're listening to an album of lost Stephen Sondheim songs. Of particular note, Simon plays piano throughout and there's superb tenor saxophone blowing by Dave O'Higgins. It's Only a Movie is by Landesman and This Little Love of Ours is by Wolf. Go here.
Here's the title track...
Say She She—Prism (Colemine). If you love smart disco as much as I do, you'll swoon over Prism by Say She She. The Brooklyn-based female pop trio's new dance release is lush and hypnotic, with flecks of Samantha Sang, Jenn Cuneta, Tom Tom Club, Philadelphia's Saphires and The Three Degrees. Singers Nya Gazelle Brown, Piya Malik and Sabrina Mileo Cunningham front a seven-piece band and rekindle the essence of disco purity, with smartly produced dance beats and vocals that have a somnambulistic sophistication. Go here.
Here's the title track...
The !!! Beat. Perhaps the hippest music TV show in 1966 was The !!! Beat, which aired in syndication for 26 episodes. The Nashville, Tennessee, broadcast was hosted by local DJ Bill "Hoss" Allen and a house band led by Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. Bill Kirchner reminds me that Blues in Hoss Flat by Count Basie was dedicated to Hoss Allen, after Frank Foster initially named it Blues in Frankie's Flat. On this particular show, Hoss welcomed Sonny Rollins's favorite saxophonist, Louis Jordan, with his Tympany Five, and blues guitarist Freddie King. Go here...
Sax for sale. Up for auction by Bonhams in Los Angeles is an alto saxophone played by John Coltrane on Gene Ammons' All Stars: The Big Sound for Prestige in 1958. Coltrane borrowed the Buescher alto saxophone from jazz critic-writer and amateur player Ira Gitler, who was at the session with his horn. Ira had coined the phrase "sheets of sound" to describe Coltrane's unique style. The saxophone is expected to fetch between $50,000 and $70,000. The starting bid is $40,000 and the auction ends on October 19. For more information and bidding, go here. [Photo above of John Coltrane playing Ira Gitler's alto saxophone by Esmond Edwards/CTSImages]
Here's the full album, with Coltrane on alto on The Real McCoy...
New Jersey. Short notice, but this Sunday (October 9), there will be a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the New Jersey Jazz Society. The program will be a tribute to bassist Bill Crow and tenor saxophonist Houston Person. Among those performing will be Larry Fuller (co-music director and piano), Matthew Parrish (bass), Jason Tiemann (drums), Don Braden (co-music director and saxophone/flute), Warren Vache (cornet), Lucy Wijnands (vocals) and Leonieke Scheuble (organ/piano). For more information, go here. To order tickets by phone: (973) 229-0543.
Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Jazz Institute and director Ken Poston will celebrate the great arranger, composer and tenor saxophonist Bill Holman from October 20 to October 23 at the Sheraton Four Points near Los Angeles International Airport. There will be 14 concerts covering Bill's amazing career as well as rare films, panels and special presentations. There's even a pre-festival event, Jazz Party at the Lighthouse, to be held at the famed Hermosa Beach club. Here's your opportunity to experience first-hand the sound of West Coast jazz. For more information and tickets, go here.
Here's Bill's composition and arrangement of Bags, featuring Stan Kenton bassist Don Bagley in 1953...
New York. Birdland will host the Django Reinhardt N.Y. Festival, produced by Pat Philips, from November 1 to November 6. Start times for sets on
November 1- 3 are at 7 and 9:30 p.m.; on November 4- 6, at 8:30 and 10:30 p.m. For the first time, vocalist Stefi Schmitt and guitarist Stenli Schmitt—daughters of lead guitarist Samson Schmitt—will join the group on stage. For more information and reservations, go here.
Thelonious Monk radio. New York's WKCR-FM will present its annual "Thelonious Monk Birthday Broadcast" on Monday October 10, playing his music for 24 hours on the radio. The Monk-a-thon starts Sunday night at 11:59 p.m. (ET) and lasts until midnight on Monday. Listen from anywhere in the world by going here.
And finally, here's guitarist Kenny Burrell playing Autumn in New York with Bobby Timmons (piano), Sam Jones (bass) and Art Blakey (drums)...
