Yair, Barney and Jo

Last week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed Yair Elazar Glotman for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Yair is an Israeli avant-garde experimental-sound artist and film composer who now lives in Berlin. If you've watched the 2023 murder mystery movie Reptile on Netflix, then you know the power of his electroacoustic score.

Here's the Reptile trailer...

Here's A Path from Yair's latest album, Speculative Memories...

And here's Yair at work on the album...

Just days remaining to buy loved ones a copy of my new paperback, Anatomy of 55 More Songs, which includes three new hits, bringing the total to 58. Go here.

CBS News in New York had me on-set last week to talk about my book and to give hosts Cindy Hsu and John Elliott a holiday song quiz. Go here...

What I'm watching now. Here's what I streamed last week and really enjoyed (I spare you the junk). Past recommendations appear in the list below the new entries:

The Woman in the Wall (2024)—Powerful upcoming BBC miniseries focuses on an emotionally damaged woman who survived the cruelty of a Magdalene Laundry in Ireland and her search for the child who was taken from her. It begins in the U.S. in January. (Showtime)

Here's the trailer...

The Affair (2014-2019)—TV drama series set in Montauk, N.Y., as a happily married husband with four children has an affair with a local waitress. (Hulu)

Jane Eyre (2006)—TV miniseries adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel. (Britbox)

Past recommendations...

TV series

• The Americans—(2013-2018)/Prime)
• Band of Brothers—(2001/Netflix) 
• The Crown—(Netflix)
• Dark Winds—(2022/AMC)
• The Diplomat—(2023/Netflix)
• Downton Abbey—(2020-2015/Prime)
• Fisk—(2021/Netflix)
• Goliath—(2016-2021/Prime)
• Justified—(2010-2015/Hulu)
• Lincoln Lawyer—(2022-present/Netflix)
• 1923—(2022-present/Paramount+)
• 1883—(2021-2022/Prime)
• Outlander—(2014-present/Netflix)
• Pieces of Her—(2022/Netflix)
• Poldark—(2015-2019/Prime)
• Reacher—(2016-present/Netflix)
• Turn: Washington's Spies—(2014-2017/Prime)
• Unbelievable—(2019/Netflix)
• Veronica Mars—(2004 to 2019/Hulu)
• Yellowstone—(2018-present/Paramount Network)

Films

• The Accountant—(2016/Hulu)
• Armageddon Time—(2022/Prime)
• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs—(2018/Netflix)
• The Ballad of Lefty Brown—(2017Netflix)
• Eiffel—(2021/Prime)
• Enola Holmes 1 and 2—(2022/Netflix)
• The Equalizer 1, 2 and 3—(2014-2018/Prime
• God's Country—(2022/Hulu)
• Guy Ritchie's The Covenant—(2023/Prime)
• Kill Chain—(2019/Max)
• Last Night in Soho—(2021/Prime)
• Last Seen Alive—(2020/Netflix)
• Man on Fire—(2004/Max)
• MI-5—(2015/Max)
• The Mule—(2018/Netflix)
• The Night Agent—(2023/Netflix)
• Nobody—(2021/Prime)
• Purple Hearts—(2022/Netflix
• The Queen's Gambit—(2020/Netflix)
• Queenpins—(2021/Pluto TV)
• Reptile—(2023/Netflix)
• Somewhere in Queens—(2022/Hulu)
• The Spy—(2019/Netflix)
• Spy(les)—(2009/Prime)
• The Stranger—(2022/Netflix)
• Wonder Wheel—(2017/Prime)

Documentaries

• Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake—(2022/Netflix)
• The Comeback—(2005 and 2014/Max)
• Five Came Back—(2017/Netflix)
• The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari—(2022/Netflix)

George Frideric Handel. Following my post on the German composer who invented English popular music, I heard from Jim Eigo:

Marc, check this out. Handel Hendrix House cares for and presents to the public the homes of two of the greatest musicians ever to have lived in London—Handel and Jimi Hendrix. Go here.

Even more Concorde. Last week, following my posts here and here on the Concorde SST, I heard from Malcolm Walker in the U.K.:

Hi Marc. I lived in South West London for over 40 years, in an area called Battersea. We were on the flight path of incoming planes to Heathrow, and sometimes I'd stand in the back garden watching them coming in to land. Quite a good view, one after the other, some noisy but bearable.

One day when I was working as a freelance graphic artist, I got a call for a few days' work from a studio in Twickenham, England, that was much closer to Heathrow. One lunchtime, a few of us were heading for a pub lunch when the most God-awful noise started.

It was completely deafening and quite a scary sensation. It turned out to be Concorde just leaving Heathrow. Such a beautiful looking creature but such a noisy brute.

Barney Wilen. Last week, Carl Woideck sent along a link to a clip by tenor and soprano saxophonist Barney Wilen. Go here...

Jo Stafford. Last week, Bill Pauluh turned me on to Fil Henley, who fronts an English band called Wings of Pegasus. In fact, Fil is the band and handles all aspects of the music, vocals and guitar. He also runs a YouTube channel and does keen analysis of pop, rock and soul songs. [Photo above of Jo Stafford in 1946]

In a recent episode, Fil turns Jo Stafford's approach inside out. Love his passion, his historical curiosity and the technology he uses to breakdown why Stafford was special. He also has a hell of a voice. Thanks to Bill for forwarding. Go here...

Bob Dorough radio. On Sunday, December 17, Sid Gribetz on WKCR-FM New York will present a five-hour tribute to pianist, vocalist and songwriter Bob Dorough on the station's "Jazz Profiles." The show will air from 2 to 7 p.m. (ET). You can listen from anywhere in the world by going here.

And finally, John Oates, of the embattled Hall & Oates, just released Get Your Smile On. It's easy to forget just how good John is on his own. Here's the official music video...