Last week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed comedian Leanne Morgan for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Leanne grew up in a town in Tennessee near the Kentucky border, and her mother was a charmer. As Leanne said, her mom wanted to go to Hollywood but instead helped raise a family. Her ambitions rubbed off on Leanne, whose first husband tried to get her to drop her Tennessee accent. Leanne is glad she didn't. It's now part of her stand-up charm. [Photo above of Leanne Morgan, courtesy of Leanne Morgan]
Here's Leanne in action...
Documentary on Dave Grusin. PBS just put up an hour-and-a-half-long documentary on Dave Grusin. The 89-year-old pianist, composer and arranger has won an Oscar and 10 Grammys. His films include The Graduate (1967), The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), Three Days of the Condor (1975), Absence of Malice (1981), Tootsie (1982), The Firm (1993) and Random Hearts (1999), to name just a handful. On the LP side, he played and arranged dozens of albums, including LPs by Sergio Mendes & the Brasil '66, Quincy Jones, Howard Roberts, Peggy Lee, Lee Ritenour and many others plus albums as a leader. [Photo above of Dave Grusin, courtesy of LA Phil]
To watch the documentary, go here.
Here's Dave Grusin's full soundtrack for The Friends of Eddie Coyle....
And here's Grusin's arrangement of I Say a Little Prayer for Sergio Mendes and the Brasil '66...
John Stein—No Goodbyes (Whaling City). Two years ago, John Stein was diagnosed with a rare autoimmune disease that forced him to give up the guitar. The disease was myasthenia gravis, in which antibodies destroy the communication between nerves and muscle, resulting in weakness of the skeletal muscles. Long story short, John miraculously recovered and began playing again. The result is his new album. Backed by bassist Ed Lucie and drummer Mike Connors, with Cindy Scott on vocals, John plays mostly originals here: Zip Line (John Stein), Falling Grace (Steve Swllow), Dig Blues (Stein), What If Love Never Dies (Stein and Cindy Scott), Courage (Stein), Triste (Antonio Carlos Jobim), No Goodbyes (Stein and Scott), Jardin Del Turio (Stein), Our Love Will See Us Through (Stein and Ron Gill), Every Stepping Stone (Stein and Scott) and Groundswell (Stein). His playing is measured and swinging, with a warm feel that makes great use of delicate runs and thick chords. The difference between John's playing before and after his ailment seems to be a newfound patience while playing and joy in digging in and letting his articulation ring. There are also touches of Jim Hall in his playing. What a journey! For more on John's battle, go here. You'll find his album here.
Here's Falling Grace...
Maci Miller—Nine (MaciMusic). Vocalist Maci Miller's new album is named for the number of songs and musicians on the date: Aaron Graves (piano, organ and arranger); Mike Boone (bass); Byron Landham, Josh Orlando and Leon Jordan Sr. (drums); Jeremy Pelt (trumpet); Larry McKenna (tenor saxophonist) and Victor North (soprano saxophone). Maci and Aaron co-composed six of the nine songs, and their originals are jazzy and smart. Maci's voice is strong—hitting high notes with ease and low notes with an earthy cool, and her phrasing is coy and playful with a hip ease. I listened to this one about five times, enjoying it more each time. The three covers are Chick Corea's High Wire, Cedar Walton's Firm Roots and the standard The Nearness of You. The rest are Maci's in partnership. A solid collection of music, singing and playing. You'll find her album on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube and on CD here.
Here's Walton's Firm Roots...
Dave Thompson. Here's Dave at work on I Loves You Porgy...
And finally, here are Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1966...
One more. Here's Frankie Valli in the studio singing Who Loves You...
