At The Wall Street Journal this week, I had just hours to write a David Crosby appreciation for the Arts in Review section following reports of his death. And I did so with a heavy heart. Over the past 10 years, I interviewed David five times, twice in person and once at his home in California (above). David launched California folk-rock in the Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash,and was reckless with his health over the years. But deep down, he was a beautiful cat. He loved folk music because it was emotional and about people, he was passionate about Bill Evans and John Coltrane, and he was everything the 1960s and early '70s stood for and more. To read my essay on David and why he was significant, go here.
Also in the WSJ, I interviewed actor James Cosmo for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). If you are watching the Prime Video series "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan," James plays Luka Gocharov, the Russian spymaster. When I first saw the character, I was certain the actor was Russian or Ukrainian. Nope, Scottish. That's the magic of acting at a high level. The artist can actually make you believe he's the person he's playing. Astonishing. [Photo above of James Cosmo, right, as Luka Goncharov, with John Krasinski in Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, by Attila Szvacsek/Prime Video]
Sonny Rollins. Last week, I came across Sonny's fabulous standard Paul's Pal performed in Stockholm in 1959. Figured you'd want a taste. Go here...
Denny Zeitlin sent along his recent solo piano recording of pianist Jimmy Rowles's The Peacocks. As Denny noted:
It's one of those compositions I have admired from afar but only happened to listen to up close last month. I learned that Rowles first recorded his ballad in the mid-1970s, notably on "The Peacocks”—a 1975 album—as a duet with Stan Getz. It soon became a jazz standard, and in 1993, Norma Winstone recorded her lyric version, “A Timeless Place,” on an album with Rowles. There are now multiple recordings of this hauntingly mysterious ballad on the internet. I felt drawn into my studio to explore this piece, and here is the result, with beautiful peacock video provided by Bret Primack. Go here...
Another reason to love Mexico. Here's Big Band Jazz de Tamaulipas playing Sammy Nestico's arrangement for Count Basie of Basie Straight Ahead...
Only in France. Gilles D'Elia, a terrific photographer in Paris, took the image above of the city in winter. He also sent along a video of Jonathan Mathis and Patrick Mathis, two brothers, who got together and programmed music for two mechanical organs to play Miles Davis's So What. Go here...
FM Radio Archive. Kim Paris sent along two Stan Getz broadcast recordings to share. The first is from the 1980 Chicago Blues Festival, and was recorded from NPR's WBEZ in Chicago by Mark Rabin. The second is from a 1987 concert at Montmartre, and was broadcast on Radio Jazz Copenhagen. Go here.
Audio interviews galore. Carl Woideck sent along links to an archive of blues and jazz players. Go here for blues and here for jazz.
Antonio Carlos Jobim radio. On Wednesday, January 25, WKCR-FM in New York will present its annual Antonio Carlos "Tom" Jobim broadcast for 24 hours. Listen from anywhere in the world here. [Photo above of Antonio Carlos Jobim]
And finally, French pop-soul from Laure Briard singing The Smell of Your Hair. French pop always has so much style and intelligence. A smartly directed video, great fashion and a terrific original song by Briard, especially the wind-down. Love that Boogie Oogie Oogie bassline on the outro! Go here...
