Last week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed Oscar-winning actress Laura Dern for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). She has just published a joint memoir with her mom, actress Diane Ladd. A fascinating read, with each writing openly about their career twists and turns and relationships. The idea for the book came after her mother was misdiagnosed with pneumonia and given a short period of time to live. [Photo above of Laura Dern, courtesy of Netflix]
Laura wouldn't hear of it and took her to specialists. It turned out her mother's ailment wasn't pneumonia but a reaction to pesticides sprayed on farms around her one-time home in California. To help her mother get her lungs going, she pushed her to take walks. She knew that the only way her mother would agree is if they talked. Then Laura started taping the conversations for her children. When the transcriptions were put together, her agent suggested it might be a book.
Laura starred in one of my all-time favorite films, Inland Empire (2006). Here's the opening of the David Lynch masterpiece, with Grace Zabriski, as the creepy neighbor...
Here's Laura in Marriage Story (2019), a performance that won her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Laura plays Nora Fanshaw, a divorce attorney representing Nicole Barber (Scarlett Johansson)...
And here's Laura in David Lynch's Wild at Heart (1990) with her mother, Diane Ladd and Nicolas Cage...
Also this week in the WSJ, I wrote an appreciation for the late Gordon Lightfoot, whom I interviewed twice for the Journal (go here). Here's more than 80 minutes of Gordon live...
Julius Wechter. Following my post on Julius Wechter's quartet and quintet recordings of 1956 and '57, I heard from pianist, composer and arranger-conductor Alan Broadbent.
Hi Marc. Thanks for this post. Some time back, I conducted a session that included Julius as percussionist. Many people may not realize that he suffered from Tourette’s Syndrome, which made his success in Hollywood all the more impressive. Also, as I'm sure you know, Jerry Williams appears as a percussionist on all of the movies scored by his brother, John Williams."
And this from Carl Woideck...
Marc, JazzWax readers who want to know more about Wechter should read James A. Harrod’s post (go here). If they’re interested in the Jazz:West record label, there’s plenty more on Jazz Research, including this book on Art Pepper on Jazz:West (go here).
Bill Evans in Argentina, 1979. Last week, Dave Thompson sent along a link to the following short clip on the Bill Evans Trio's appearance in San Nicolas, Argentina, in 1979. Go here.
Jon Burlingame. Last weekend, I posted on Jon's new book, Music for Prime Time: A History of American Television Themes and Scoring (Oxford). Bill Kirchner sent along a video interview Jon conducted with Earle Hagen, a composer of music and themes for TV shows. Go here.
Lawrence Welk. Last week, I stumbled across this fascinating and endearing video clip of Lawrence Welk on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in 1974 and Welk conducting the Tonight Show band in a tasty Hefti-esque number called Nifty Riff. Go here...
Staci Griesbach, a superb Los Angeles vocalist I last posted about in 2021 (here) when she released My George Jones Songbook, is now re-imagining Carole King and Gerry Goffin's One Fine Day as a ballad. More on Staci at her site here and dig her recordings here.
For One Fine Day, go here...
Champian Fulton—Meet Me at Birdland. Champian has just released a live album of her singing at Birdland in September 2022 while accompanying herself on piano, backed by Hide Tanaka on bass and Fukushi Tainaka on drums. This collection of standards includes Phineas Newborn's Theme for Basie, Ray Bryant's I Don't Care and her own Happy Camper. No matter what song she takes on, Champian has fun, and her joy is infectious. Here's Every Now and Then by Abner Silver, Al Sherman and Al Lewis...
Lucky Thompson. Here's the tenor saxophonist playing Just One More Chance in Los Angeles in 1947, with Neal Hefti (tp), Benny Carter (as), Bob Lawson (bs), Dodo Marmarosa (p), Barney Kessel (g), Red Callender (b) and Lee Young (ds)...
Don Byas. Here's the tenor saxophonist playing Tenderly in Paris in 1965, with Earl Hines (p), Jimmy Woode (b) and Kenny Clarke (d)...
Gene Ammons. Here's the tenor saxophonist playing My Foolish Heart in Chicago in 1950, with Charles Bateman (p), Eugene Wright (b) and Wes Landers (d)...
Jazz radio. Last week, Kim Paris sent along clips from his FM Radio Archive for Eliane Elias, Bill Evans and Tina Brooks:
Eliane Elias—played at Jazz a Vienne in 2014, broadcast on France's Culturebox. Go here.
Bill Evans—performed with his trio in Épalinges, Switzerland, in 1975, broadcast on Radio Suisse Romande. Go here.
Tina Brooks—was featured in a 2017 episode of Jazz Profiles on WKCR-FM hosted by Sid Gribetz. Go here.
And finally, here are the Three Degrees performing When Will I See You Again in 1975...
