In The Wall Street Journal last week, I interviewed legendary Italian actress Claudia Cardinale and her daughter, Claudia Squitieri, via Zoom for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Claudia Cardinale has been in more than 100 films, among them Girl With a Suitcase, Il Bell'Antonio, 8 1/2, The Pink Panther, Once Upon a Time in the West and The Professionals. Her beauty in film remains staggering and unrivaled. [Photo above of Italian actress Claudia Cardinale in the 1960s]
Here's a tribute to Claudia...
Meredith d'Ambrosio last week wrote me after I posted on John Coltrane's Like Sonny...
Hi Marc, you got me! Loved it all. It brings me back to the night after John Coltrane finished a great concert at George Wein's Storyville club in Boston. On their break, Elvin Jones walked through the audience with his two Doberman Pinschers and out the front door. Later that evening John Coltrane and his manager and I met at Ken's at Copley coffee shop for breakfast. Coltrane, who never laughed, was very amused at a lot of what I was saying. He asked me to sing a song at the table. After he heard me, he immediately invited me to sing with his group on his concert tour in Japan. My new baby wasn't a year old yet, so I wasn't ready to go. Thanks for jogging my memory! [Photo of Meredith d'Ambrosio playing and singing in Boston in the 1970s]
Billy Taylor. Following my post on Billy Taylor (above), I heard from pianist Dave Thompson, who told me a wonderful personal story:
Marc, I started listening to Billy back when he was bandleader on TV's The David Frost Show. I still have that album and a few others of his. Years later, in 1981, I was living in Rego Park, Queens. I had been sick with the flu for about 10 days, but decided I needed to force myself to get out and hear some good music. I headed into Manhattan to hear Billy play at the Knickerbocker. I got off the subway and started walking toward the club but I kept getting lost and walked in circles for nearly an hour before I arrived at about 12:30 a.m.
I came through the front door and Billy was there playing. I went up to the bar and ordered a glass of milk, thinking I wasn’t up to alcohol given the way I was feeling. Sitting two chairs down from me at the bar was this beautiful woman who caught my eye. She was there after having been stood up for a dinner date. We started talking, and nearly two hours later we went out for French toast.
After another hour of early morning talk, she dropped me off at the subway. When I asked her if she was free the following weekend, she told me that that she was free for the rest of her life. That was nearly 42 years ago, and Marjorie and I are still together.
Dave also sent along his solo recording of Waltz for Marjorie, a song he wrote 20 years ago for his wife. Go here...
Carol Sloane. Bill Kirchner sent along a live clip of Carol (above) singing You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To, remarking how much she sounded like Anita O'Day on this song. She was backed by pianist Stef Scaggiari, bassist John Lockwood and drummer Colin Bailey. Go here...
David Crosby. Brett Lehocky sent along a video last week following my appreciation of David Crosby of David and Graham Nash. Photo above of David Crosby by Henry Diltz, courtesy of Henry Diltz] Go here...
FM Radio Archive. Last week, Kim Paris of the FM Radio Archive, a platform of live performances that were broadcast over the airwaves, sent along links to concerts by artists I covered recently:
Freddie Redd—Two recordings are courtesy of Mark Rabin, who recorded them from KJAZ FM in 1990 and 1991. [Photo above of Freddie Redd during the Connection recording session, by Francis Wolff (c)Mosaic Images.] Go here.
Sonny Rollins—A 1985 concert recording is from Jazz Festival Bern in Switzerland, and was broadcast on German TV network. Go here.
Milt Jackson—This set is from a 1999 JazzBaltica TV broadcast and also features Bobby Hutcherson. This is one of the last broadcasts of Milt in concert, as he died later that same year. Go here.
Billy Taylor—Like Nancy Wilson, Taylor also had a long career as an announcer and radio host for NPR. Thanks mostly to Mark Rabin, I have more than 20 broadcast recordings of Taylor hosting NPR's Jazz Alive series and Chicago Jazz Festival sets from 1980 to 1982, plus a 2021 Jazz Night in America. All of these recordings can be found here.
Thelonious Monk—His last broadcast concert from Avery Fisher Hall at New York's Lincoln Center in 1975 was broadcast by WBGO. Monk's health was declining at the time, and he was coaxed into playing this show by Gerge Wein. There are no known Monk performances after this set. Go here.
Roy Eldridge Birthday Broadcast will air on WKCR-FM in New York on Monday January 30. The station will play the music of Little Jazz around the clock for 24 hours (ET). [Photo above of Roy Eldridge in 1952.] Listen from anywhere in the world by going here.
Phil Schaap Memorial Broadcast will be presented by WKCR-FM in New York in a 48-hour marathon next Thursday and Friday, February 2 and 3. A jazz historian and broadcaster, Schaap was a vital figure in New York jazz for over 50 years, until his untimely death in 2021. To keep his legacy alive and continue to spread his jazz knowledge, the station has set aside this time to honor him by playing archival recordings of his shows around the clock. [Photo above of Phil Schaap.] Listen from anywhere in the world by going here.
And finally, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon playing Le Coiffeur (The Hairdresser), with pianist Barry Harris, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, bassist Bob Cranshaw and drummer Billy Higgins from Getting Around, released in 1966. Go here...
