This past week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed former Detroit Lion Barry Sanders for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Barry won the Heisman Trophy, is the No. 4 rushing leader in NFL history and is an NFL Hall of Fame inductee. Barry is the subject of Bye Bye Barry, a worthy documentary now airing on Prime Video.
Here's the documentary's trailer...
And here's why I wanted to interview Barry...
Time is running out. The December holidays are drawing near, which means you need the perfect gift for people you love. My book, Anatomy of 55 More Songs (Grove Press), is due out December 5, and is an ideal, low-cost show of kindness for family and friends. There are actually 58 songs in the paperback, not 55. I added three more to the book just for you. Best of all, you can send the gift with just a few clicks at Amazon or your favorite bookseller. The book will bring music to their eyes—or yours. Go here.
JazzWax streaming guide. Here are the TV series and films I recently watched and a list of others I highly recommend...
The Crown, Season 6 (2023)—This beautifully acted saga of Queen Elizabeth's reign continues with the events leading up to Princess Diana's death on August 31, 1997. Marvelously written and shot, with only a few casting glitches, the royal story unfolds with drama and bits that may come as a shocker. In particular, a stunning performance by Elizabeth Debicki (above) as Princess Diana as well as Salim Daw as Mohamed Al-Fayed and Imelda Saunton as the Queen. Dominic West, who plays Prince Charles, seems a bit raffish as the bookish heir apparent, Prince Charles. The final season's first four episodes are up now; the final six will go up December 14. (Netflix)
The Night Agent (2023)—Actor Gabriel Basso plays an FBI agent who works at the White House as a night agent, the person who works the overnight shift in front of a special phone that rings only when American special agents need emergency assistance fast. Nonstop action and intrigue. (Netflix)
Last Seen Alive (2020)—An action thriller, the film stars Gerard Butler, whose wife goes into the convenience store of a gas station and vanishes. Suspected by the police of staging her disappearance, Butler spends the film trying to solve the mystery as he struggles to find her. (Netflix)
The Ballad of Lefty Brown (2017)—A compelling Western, despite the slight shortcomings of the storytelling and plot arc. Most interesting is the lead character, Lefty Brown, played by Bill Pullman, who has a strange knack for survival. The film is set in 1889, when those with power who settled Old West were increasingly being paid off by East Coast robber barons eager to expand their mining and railroad interests to feed industrialization. (Netflix)
Past recommendations...
TV series
- Reacher—(2016-present/Netflix)
- Band of Brothers—(2001/Netflix)
- 1923—(2022-present/Paramount+)
- 1883—(2021-2022/Prime)
- Yellowstone—(2018-present/Paramount Network)
- Dark Winds—(2022/AMC)
- Fisk—(2021/Netflix)
- Justified—(2010-2015/Hulu)
- The Diplomat—(2023/Netflix)
- Outlander—(2014-present/Netflix)
- Poldark—(2015-2019/Prime)
- Turn: Washington's Spies—(2014-2017/Prime)
- The Americans—(2013-2018)/Prime)
- Goliath—(2016-2021/Prime)
- Lincoln Lawyer—(2022-present/Netflix)
- Downton Abbey—(2020-2015/Prime)
- Pieces of Her—(2022/Netflix)
- Unbelievable—(2019/Netflix)
Films
- Queenpins—(2021/Pluto TV)
- Wonder Wheel—(2017/Prime)
- The Mule—(2018/Netflix)
- The Stranger—(2022/Netflix)
- Somewhere in Queens—(2022/Hulu)
- Spy(les)—(2009/Prime)
- God's Country—(2022/Hulu)
- MI-5—(2015/Max)
- Guy Ritchie's The Covenant—(2023/Prime)
- Kill Chain—(2019/Max)
- Reptile—(2023/Netflix)
- Man on Fire—(2004/Max)
- Nobody—(2021/Prime)
- Eiffel—(2021/Prime)
- The Equalizer 1, 2 and 3—(2014-2018/Prime)
- Armageddon Time—(2022/Prime)
- Enola Holmes 1 and 2—(2022/Netflix)
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs—(2018/Netflix)
- The Spy—(2019/Netflix)
- The Accountant—(2016/Hulu)
- The Queen's Gambit—(2020/Netflix)
- Last Night in Soho—(2021/Prime)
- Purple Hearts—(2022/Netflix)
Documentaries
- Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake—(2022/Netflix)
- The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari—(2022/Netflix)
- Five Came Back—(2017/Netflix)
Paul Quinichette. Following my Backgrounder post on Paul Quinichette last week, I heard from jazz journalist Jan Olsson in Sweden:
Hi Marc. In 1976, I had the great pleasure to hear Paul and Dexter Gordon together in Malmö, Sweden—45 minutes from Copenhagen, Denmark. It was a night to remember. Glad I brought my camera. [Photo above of Paul Quinichette, left, and Deter Gordon in 1976 by Jan Olsson]
Les McCann. Following my post last week on Les McCann, I heard from pianist Joe Alterman:
Hi Marc. Loved your post on the new Les McCann release on Resonance ("Never a Dull Moment!”). You included an audio clip of Les playing his own "Could Be." I wanted to share a little-known fact about the song that Les shared with me: He and Johnny Mercer worked together on some lyrics for the song, which, if released, would have come out under the title "Papa Good Times."
Les remembered the first line of the lyrics: "Look at what love done done/took away all my fun." Les's wife at the time had an issue with "done done," and the song never moved forward. Les is still hoping to track down the rest of the lyrics Mercer wrote.
Here's Joe performing Could Be at New York's Birdland in May, with Nathaniel Schroeder on bass and Marlon Patton on drums...
You'll find the song on Joe's new album Joe Alterman Plays Les McCann: Big Mo & Little Joe, here.
Maynard Ferguson. Back in June 2020, I posted a video of Maynard Ferguson backing a showcase of talent in the late 1950s. The opening number is Al Cohn's composition and arrangement of "The Wailing Boat." According to Noal Cohen's Herb Geller Discography (here), the video was taped on December 18 and 21, 1956, at the Universal Lot in Universal City, Ca.
Last week, Jordi Pujol of Fresh Sound in Barcelona, Spain, emailed to say he was able to identify all of the musicians in Ferguson's band. As Jordi notes, the short may be the only one in existence that features Herb and Lorraine Geller playing together on stage before her sudden death in October 1958. Here's Jordi's email regarding the personnel:
Hi Marc. Here are the musicians in Maynard Ferguson's band in the video of "Swingin' and Singin' ": Maynard Ferguson (tp;vtb); Joe Burnett (tp solo), Edd Ledd (tp, second from the left); Tom Slaney (tp); Bob Burgess (tb solo); Bob Fitzpatrick (tb); Herb Geller (as); Richie Kamuca (ts, left); Nino Tempo (ts; right); Willie Maiden (bs); Lorraine Geller (p); Red Kelly (b) and Mel Lewis (d).
Here's the video...
If you want Herb and Lorraine Geller's complete recordings, go here.
And finally, here's one of my favorite Candid Camera episodes from the 1960s...
