JazzWax

Carly, Bruce and Barbara

With two full weeks of JazzWax devoted to film, you may be behind in your WSJ reading. To bring you up to speed, my three "House Call" column interviews during this period were with Michael Kelly, who co-stars in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan; Don Cheadle who starred in Miles Ahead and now White Noise; and lyricist Jeff Barry, who, with the late Ellie Greenwich and Phil Spector, wrote hit after hit in the early 1960s, including Be My Baby and Chapel of Love. You'll find these columns here, here and here. [Photo above of Don Cheadle as Miles Davis in the film Miles Ahead, courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics]

As for my monthly WSJ Arts in Review essay on game-making albums celebrating a 50-year anniversary, I wrote on Carly Simon's No Secrets in December and Bruce Springsteen's Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. last week for January. You'll find these essays here and here.

Book talk. On Saturday, March 4th at 1 p.m., I'll be speaking outdoors to an audience of 300 at the Tucson Festival of Books in Tuscon, Ariz., about my book, Anatomy of 55 More Songs. If you plan on attending the festival, please stop by and say hi after. For more information, go here.

Readers' snaps. Here are the latest photos from readers who kindly purchased my new book, Anatomy of 55 More Songs:

Bassist Brian Torff snapped my new book along with Rock Concert at Warwick's Bookstore in La Jolla, Ca....

Steven Schindler, author of the novel Fallout Shelter, shared his copy of my book in the trees of Fallbrook, Ca., the "avocado capital of the world"...

Dr. Laura Fisher, a friend of a dear friend, hunkered down in New York with a great book...

And from Marc Freeman...

The Cannonball Band. Kurt Kolstad sent along a terrific clip of the Cannonball Band playing Sonny Stitt's solo on There Will Be Another You, which went up at YouTube late last week. The band features Tevis Laukat, lead alto saxophone; Randal Clark, solo alto saxophone; Ryan Lillywhite, tenor saxophone; David Halliday, solo tenor saxophone; Daron Bradford, baritone saxophone; Steve Lindemann, piano; Kenji Aihara, guitar; Denson Angulo, bass; and Jay Lawrence, drums. The music was arranged by Vince Norman and recorded live on the Cannonball Stage at The Villa in Sandy, Utah. Go here...

And I'll raise Kurt with a clip of the Cannonball Band playing Tower of Power's So Very Hard to Go. The band features Gerald Albright, solo tenor saxophone; Randal Clark, alto saxophone; Ryan Lillywhite, tenor saxophone; Tevis Laukat, baritone saxophone; Howard Summers, trumpet; Rayse Biggs, trumpet; Kenji Aihara, guitar; Melanie Shore, piano; Matt Larson, bass and Joel Stevenett, drums. Arranged by Vince Norman. For more information about Cannonball Instruments, go here. Here's So Very Hard to Go...

Maynard Ferguson. Following my post on Maynard Ferguson, I heard from Bob Miller:

Hi Marc, thanks for the Maynard Ferguson post. I first saw him live in New York in 1959, as a 17 year old. Back then, I was on a high school Easter weekend trip, and saw him at the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre and was hooked. Consequently, every time he was performing within driving distance of Hamilton, Ontario, you can be sure I was there. Perhaps the most enjoyable show ever, was catching his English band at Massey Hall, in Toronto, probably in 1972. A jazz-loving buddy and I sat in the middle seats of the first balcony and were totally blown away by the dynamics of such a great band.

The last time I saw Maynard live was at Buffalo’s The Tralf, owned by his former sax player Bobby Militello. Needless to say, Bobby joined the band for a few tunes on that special night. Maynard was quite heavy, couldn’t really hit those triple high “C’s” any more, but had a superb nonette and took the roof off the club. I believe that was in 2005, just a year prior to his passing. As a fellow Canadian, I always took a bit of national pride in this exceptional Montreal-born musician, a city that has given the jazz world many exceptional artists, including Oscar Peterson, Paul Bley and Oliver Jones

Thank you again for constantly bringing forward such terrific, informative and educational daily postings. It's hugely appreciated.

New Year's Eve, 1961. Carl Woideck sent along the poster above. For those not in the know, George Crater was actually Ed Sherman, then editor of Down Beat magazine, who fancied himself a jazzed-up Lenny Bruce. Then again, nearly all comedians in the early 1960s sounded like Bruce-ian hipsters. Much of the comedy on Crater's sole album, Out of My Head (Riverside), now falls flat and is a great example of why some art is timeless and and the rest winds up a big question mark.

Chuck Israels. Recently, I heard from the fabled bassist:

Hi Marc, thanks for your post on big-band video clips. So few of these people are still alive. Trombonist Phil Wilson is still with us in Boston. Eddie Daniels is in Santa Fe. Not many others. I’ve worked with many of them—for example, the two fine tenor players in Woody’s band, Joe Romano and Sal Nistico, and several of the players in Thad Jones's band, and many of the drummers. I miss them all. Jake Hanna was not only a fine drummer, but also a funny guy. After moving to California, someone asked him, “What part of L.A. do you live in?" Jake answered, “L.” Maybe you had to be there, but he had a dry, quick wit and was always bitingly funny. Thanks for posting all this.

Joyce Bryant (1927-2022), a 1950s torch singer and nightclub entertainer, passed away in November. Here's an excerpt from a documentary...

Barbara McNair. Jim Eigo sent along an episode of the Barbara McNair Show that aired on October 3, 1970, with Della Reese and the Rascals. For more on McNair, go here. Here's the clip...

The Spinners. Mark Rabin sent along an episode of TV's Soul!, featuring the Jimmy Castor Bunch and the Spinners. Unfortunately I can't embed, so go here.

Ali Ahmed Aslam (1945-2022). If you love a good, savory chicken tikka masala as much as I do, you'll take a minute to think about Ali Ahmed Aslam, who is credited as having invented the recipe. His New York Times obit is here. [Photo above of Ali Ahmed Aslam courtesy of Shish Mahal, Ali Ahmed Aslam, Newsquest Archive]

Jim Stewart, co-founder of Stax Records, died in December at age 92. Chris Cowles, host of Greasy Tracks on WRTC-FM in Hartford, Ct., celebrated the visionary with a three-hour radio broadcast featuring interviews and Stax recordings. Dig Steve Cropper on the opening! Go here. (Note that each hour has its own play bar.) [Photo above of siblings Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton, co-founders of Stax, a label name that combined  their last names, courtesy of the Stax Museum of American Soul Music]

Max Roach radio. On Tuesday, January 10, WKCR-FM in New York will present its annual "Max Roach Birthday Broadcast," playing the music of the legendary drummer for 24 hours. Listen from anywhere in the world by going here.

And finally, here's Jo Stafford singing How High the Moon, from Swingin' Down Broadway (1958) with an ingenious arrangement by husband Paul Weston...

I could listen to Weston's vocal arrangements all day long. Few could frame singers with drama, wit and a hip swing style. Dig this nifty one for Frankie Laine in 1957. Note the reeds against the strings on the opening and the rundown at the end...

'Priceless' (2006)

I saved Priceless (2006) for last, because I wanted to end the JazzWax Film Festival with a film that's as light as parfait. Directed by Pierre Salvadori, the French romantic comedy stars Audrey Tautou and Gad Elmaleh, with Marie-Christine Adam as Madeleine, Vernon Dobtcheff as Jacques, Jacques Spiesser as Gilles and Annelise Hesme as Agnès.

You really can't beat French comedies for pure feel-good fun and mischief. In many ways, Priceless is White Lotus without the acid reflux. It's just a fabulous French farce with romance, love and great hotels. I don't want to tell you the plot or the gimmick, because that would spoil what you will experience watching it.

So until the end of this year, that's all for film. I'll be back to a roundup this weekend and music posts next week. I hope you enjoyed watching a bunch of my favorite films as much as I enjoyed sharing them. [Photo above of Audrey Tautou and Gad Elmaleh]

Here's Priceless...

Here's a recap of the movies I screened for you during the JazzWax Film Festival over the past four years:

2022

• Woman of the Year (1942)
• Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)
• Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (1966)
• Il bell'Antonio (1960)
• I Was a Male War Bride (1949)
• The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)
• Il Sorpasso (1962)
• Bay of Angels (1963)
• The Swimmer (1968)
• The Killing (1956)
• Priceless (2006)

2021

• Killer B3 (2013)
• Summertime (1955)
• Yellow Canary (1943)
• All Night Long (1962)
• L'Avventura (1960)
• Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)

2020

• Dangerous Liaisons (1959)
• Lola (1961)
• The 400 Blows (1959)
• Cléo From 5 to 7 (1962)
• Young Girls of Rochefort (1967)

2019

• His Girl Friday (1940)
• Strangers When We Meet (1960)
• The Driver's Seat (1974)
• Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
• Eva (1962)
• Pushover (1954)
• La Notte (1961)
• C'était un Rendezvous (1976)
• Journey to Italy (1954)

'The Killing' (1956)

Director Stanley Kubrick's second feature film was The Killing. Released in 1956, the film noir—also written by Kubrick—stars Sterling Hayden as Johnny Clay, Coleen Gray as Fay, Vince Edwards as Val Cannon, Jay C. Flippen as Marvin Unger, Elisha Cook Jr. as George Peatty and Marie Windsor as Sherry Peatty.

Shot in Los Angeles, the film centers on a racetrack heist and its aftermath. The art for me rests in Kubrick's suspenseful direction, Lucien Ballard's cinematography and Hayden's portrayal of the ringleader. What's most interesting about the film is the modernity of the shots. [Photo above of Sterling Hayden]

Apparently, the Hollywood cinematographers' union prohibited Kubrick from serving as both the director and cinematographer. So Ballard was hired, but he and Kubrick clashed over shots as well as the camera's lens and proximity to the actors. Kubrick wanted tight shots, Ballard longer ones. Kubrick won out. As a result, the film doesn't look dated to the eye now, despite being shot 66 years ago. To Ballard's credit, he was also responsible for the terrific lighting. [Photo above of director Stanley Kubrick and Sterling Hayden on set of The Killing]

Note: Rodney Dangerfield was cast as an uncredited onlooker. I'm guessing he's in the crowd watching the fight at 56:47.

Here's The Killing (1956)...

'The Swimmer' (1968)

On July 18, 1964, John Cheever published a short story in The New Yorker magazine entitled The Swimmer. The story was optioned and made into a movie released in 1968. The masterful screenplay was written by Eleanor Perry and the film was brilliantly directed by her husband, Frank Perry. The couple had already been nominated for an Oscar for their independent film David and Lisa (1962) and would go on to work on five more films together, including The Swimmer and Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970). The couple divorced in 1971, and Frank Perry later directed Mommie Dearest (1981).

The Swimmer's cast included Burt Lancaster as Ned Merrill, Janet Landgard as Julie Ann Hooper, Janice Rule as Shirley Abbott, Joan Rivers as Joan (her film debut) and Kim Hunter as Betty Graham. The film takes place on a warm Sunday afternoon in wealthy Westchester County of the 1960s, An aging but well-built Ned is over at the house of friends when he realizes he can swim home by following a river of friends' pools. [Photo still above of Janice Rule and Burt Lancaster]

We sense something is slightly off from the start, given the expressions on the faces of his friends. As Ned travels from house to house, we begin to sense there are many issues left unsaid, that the trail is a scorched path of unforgivable and ruinous indiscretions. And that's as much as I'll tell you. Ned's pool-hopping journey is a metaphor for suburbia's self-absorption, narcissism, egomania, alcohol consumption, garish taste and marital woes. None of that is discussed in the film, only insinuated in the reactions to Ned in successive scenes. [Photo still above of Burt Lancaster]

The Swimmer remains one of my favorite films for the off-beat way in which Lancaster plays the thriving and then dissolving Ned. Though the movie wasn't praised by critics initially, The Swimmer clearly was ahead of its time and above the heads of most theater audiences and many of those who reviewed it. [Photo still above of Janet Landgard and Burt Lancaster]

Notes: Cheever has a brief cameo (29:37) greeting Lancaster and Landgard at a pool party. The music is by Marvin Hamlisch.

Here's The Swimmer (1968)...

'Bay of Angels' (1963)

The precarious intersection between gambling and love quickly turns dangerous in the French new wave film Bay of Angels (La Baie des Anges). Directed and written by Jacques Demy, the film was shot in 1962 between two of Demy's masterpieces—Lola, his first film, and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. 

Bay of Angels co-stars Jeanne Moreau (above), as Jacqueline "Jackie" Demaistre, and Claude Mann, as Jean Fournier. Jackie is a hard-core roulette addict who uses her sexual appeal to raise cash during losing streaks. Jean is new to the game and falls hard for the wheel and Jackie.

The movie is a tale of addition and obsession, but the film's direction and Moreau should be your point of focus. From the opening credits, with the camera mounted on the back of a vehicle pulling away from Moreau to the interior and exterior scenes shot from various angles in Monte Carlo, the sophisticated film unfolds with suspense and nothing is telegraphed in advance. [Photo above of Jeanne Moreau and Claude Mann]

As for Moreau, she plays her part brilliantly—manic during winning streaks and manipulative and craven during deep lows. What begins glamorously soon becomes seedy, and a choice must be made. [Photo above of Jeanne Moreau]

A few notes: The costumes are by Pierre Cardin, and the music is by Michel Legrand. [Photo above of Jeanne Moreau behind the scenes in Monte Carlo while shooting Bay of Angels in 1962]

Here's Bay of Angels (1963)...

'Il Sorpasso' (1962)

Released in Italy in 1962, Il Sorpasso (The Overtaking or The Easy Life) is one of the finest examples of commedia all'Itliana. The Italian neorealist film genre mixed biting satire with irony and social criticism, and was popular in Italy between the late 1950s and 1970s. Il Sorpasso is full of life and action, slipping into documentary style at points, with real people and situations serving as extras and backdrops.

Il Sorpasso is one of my favorite buddy films. Directed and co-written by Dino Risi, it stars Vittorio Gassman, Jean-Louis Trintignant and Catherine Spaak. French film lovers will recognize Trintignant as the co-star of Claude Lelouch's A Man and a Woman (1966). [Photo still above of Vittorio Gassman and Jean-Louis Trintignant]

The Risi masterpiece is many things at once—a coming of age film, a complex portrait of a man unable to grow up, a look at Italian life at the dawn of the 1960s, the widening gap between the middle class and new Italian industrial wealth, Italian popular culture just as it was being invaded by American pop music, and a snapshot of Italian sexuality. [Photo above of the film's Lancia Ariel Sport]

What makes this film special, in addition to its restless mobility, is Gassman's masterful portrayal of a ruggedly handsome winner who always lands sunny side up and is completely at ease with women, as if they share some secret language. And Trintignant's portrayal of a more timid man trying to keep up. In many ways, Trintignant represents the safety of Italy in the 1950s while Gassman is the daring and dangerous 1960s, hurtling into the unknown. [Photo still above of Vittorio Gassman in Il Sorpasso]

The two-day countryside and seaside odyssey of Bruno Cortona (Gassman) and Roberto Mariani (Trintignant) is a modern Canterbury Tale of sorts. The pair encounter all types of scenarios and characters as Trintignant finds himself torn between a desire to return to his studies in Rome and and the magnetic pull to remain with his cool new friend, Bruno and convertible Lancia Ariel Sport in which they travel. The car tops out at 120km per hour. [Photo still above of Catherine Spaak]

Constantly in motion and never dull, Il Sorpasso is at once energetically upbeat and deeply sad as Bruno relentlessly seeks a good time and Roberto can't seem to break out of his shell. The film features original jazz scored by Riz Ortolani, most famously known for composing More for the film Mondo Cane (1962). It's also peppered by Italian jukebox pop of the day. If you wind up digging the score as much as I do, you'll find it at Spotify here. [Photo still above of Jean-Louis Trintignant]

Here's Il Sorpasso (1962)...