Last week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed actor John Lithgow for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). John will be appearing in a PBS show called Art Happens Here With John Lithgow, in which he joins classes in Los Angeles in dance, ceramics, silk-screen printing and vocal jazz ensemble as a novice to learn and demonstrate the vital importance of arts education. [Photo above of John Lithgow courtesy of Wikipedia]
Here's the trailer...
Also in the WSJ, I wrote on Blue Öyster Cult's Secret Treaties LP for my "Album@50" column in the Arts in Review section. The LP was released in April 1974 and deeply influenced the direction of heavy metal. Go here.
What I'm watching.
Last week...
WPC 56—(2013-2015). I'm still watching this terrific series. In the English Midlands of the 1950s, a woman becomes the first female police constable and has to navigate a gauntlet of chauvinism, sexual harassment and crime. The TV series thus far is superb in every way. It's gentle, smart and British. And addictive. (BritBox) [Photo above of Jennie Jacques as Constable Gina Dawson]
Previously watched and recommended...
TV series
- The Affair—(2014-2019/Hulu)
- Alaska Daily—(2022/Prime)
- The Americans—(2013-2018)/Prime)
- Anatomy of a Scandal—(2022/Netflix)
- Apples Never Fall—2024/Peacock)
- Band of Brothers—(2001/Netflix)
- The Bay (2019-current/BritBox)
- Belgravia—(2020/Prime Video)
- Blue Lights—(2023/BritBox)
- Bosch—(2014-2021/Prime)
- Bosch: Legacy—(2022-current/Prime)
- The Crown—(2016-2023/Netflix)
- Cherif—(2013-2019/Prime)
- Dark Winds—(2022/AMC)
- The Diplomat—(2023/Netflix)
- Downton Abbey—(2020-2015/Prime)
- Feud (S1): Bette and Joan—(2017/Hulu)
- Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans—(2024/FX, with streaming on Hulu)
- Fisk—(2021/Netflix)
- The Gentlemen—(2024/Netflix)
- Godless—(2017/Netflix)
- Goliath—(2016-2021/Prime)
- The Gilded Age—(current/Max)
- High Water—(2022/Netflix)
- Homeland—(2011-2020/Showtime)
- Jane Eyre—(2006/Britbox)
- Justified—(2010-2015/Hulu)
- Life & Beth—(Seasons 1& 2, 2022-present/Hulu)
- Lincoln Lawyer—(2022-present/Netflix)
- Loudermilk—(2017-2020/Netflix)
- MI-5, the Series—(2002-2011/BritBox)
- Monsieur Spade—(2024/AMC)
- Murdaugh Murders: The Movie, Parts 1 and 2—(2023/Lifetime)
- 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)
- Ripley—(2024/Netflix)
- Scott & Bailey (2011-2016/Prime)
- Turn: Washington's Spies—(2014-2017/Prime)
- Unbelievable—(2019/Netflix)
- Veronica Mars—(2004 to 2019/Hulu)
- The Watcher—(2022/Netflix)
- The Way Home—(2023-current/Peacock)
- Who Is Erin Carter—(2023/Netflix)
- The Woman in the Wall—(2024/Showtime)
- Yellowstone—(2018-present/Paramount Network)
Films
- The Accountant—(2016/Hulu)
- American Gangster—(2007/Max).
- Armageddon Time—(2022/Prime)
- The Ballad of Buster Scruggs—(2018/Netflix)
- The Ballad of Lefty Brown—(2017/Netflix)
- The Bricklayer—(2024/Netflix)
- The Dig—(2021/Netflix)
- Eiffel—(2021/Prime)
- Enola Holmes 1 and 2—(2022/Netflix)
- The Equalizer 1, 2 and 3—(2014-2024/Prime)
- Fury—(2014/Netflix)
- God's Country—(2022/Hulu)
- Guy Ritchie's The Covenant—(2023/Prime)
- Jack Reacher (the movie)—(2012/Paramount+)
- Kill Chain—(2019/Max)
- Knight and Day—(2010/Roku)
- Last Night in Soho—(2021/Prime)
- Last Seen Alive—(2020/Netflix)
- The Little Things—(2021/Netflix)
- Man on Fire—(2004/Max)
- MI-5—(2015/Max)
- The Mule—(2018/Netflix)
- The Night Agent—(2023/Netflix)
- Nobody—(2021/Prime)
- Ordinary Angels—(2024)
- Purple Hearts—(2022/Netflix)
- The Queen's Gambit—(2020/Netflix)
- Queenpins—(2021/Pluto TV)
- Reptile—(2023/Netflix)
- The Secret: Dare to Dream—(2020/Netflix)
- Self Reliance—(2023/Hulu)
- Seraphim Falls—(2006/Netflix)
- Somewhere in Queens—(2022/Hulu)
- The Spy—(2019/Netflix)
- Spy(les)—(2009/Prime)
- The Stranger—(2022/Netflix)
- Toscana—(2022/Netflix)
- The Two Popes—(2019/Netflix)
- Wonder Wheel—(2017/Prime)
Documentaries
- Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake—(2022/Netflix)
- Carole King: Live in Central Park—(2023/PBS)
- The Comeback—(2005 and 2014/Max)
- Cunk on Earth—(2022/Netflix)
- Facing Nolan—(2022/Netflix)
- Five Came Back—(2017/Netflix)
- The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari—(2022/Netflix)
- 'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris—(2007/go here)
Weather Channel. A special thanks to the Weather Channel and hosts Alex Wilson and Mike Bettes for having me on to promote my book and quiz them on little known wows about contemporary pop songs with the word rain in their title. Go here.
Joan Rivers. Back in 1985, Johnny Carson invited comedian Joan Rivers to a dinner party in Las Vegas and agreed to fly her from Los Angeles to Nevada on a private jet. Here's what happened when Joan reached the airport lounge [publicity still above of Joan Rivers in 1967]...
To read my 2014 WSJ interview with Joan Rivers and her daughter Melissa, go here.
Grant Green. Here are four guitarists playing favorite solo transcriptions of Grant Green recordings [photo above of Grant Green by Francis Wolff (c)Mosaic Images]...
Here's Cool Blues...
Here's Jean de Fleur...
Here's No. 1 Green Street...
Here's Blues for Juanita...
Duke Ellington radio. All day today, Monday, April 29, WKCR-FM in New York will be celebrating the anniversary of Duke Ellington's birth by playing his music on the air. You can listen from anywhere in the world by going here. [Publicity still above of Duke Ellington]
And finally, here's French pop vocalist Mireille Mathieu (above) singing New York, New York in the early 1980s, giving the song a different feel...
