In The Wall Street Journal last week, I interviewed actor Bill Pullman for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Bill developed instincts for character study as a child by observing his father, an alcoholic, and his mother, who began having psychiatric problems when she was 49. Growing up, Bill watched and sensed when their moods and personalities would shift. [Photo above of Bill Pullman courtesy of IMDb]
Bill's films include The Ballad of Lefty Brown, The Coldest Game and Independence Day. But you really must see him as Alex Murdaugh in Murdaugh Murders: The Movie. An astonishing performance. Parts 1 and 2 can be found at Lifetime here.
Here's the trailer...
Reality check. Every so often, I like to repeat my policy at JazzWax. I do not receive payment to review albums. Music is provided to me for free either because I requested it or because the music was sent by labels and artists with hopes I'll listen and review. And finally, I only write about music I love. Art is hard enough, and artists don't need me having fun at their expense in a critique. Which works out just fine, since readers really care only about what I'm passionate about and why. Zero agenda, zero conflicts of interest and zero shilling for labels or artists. Just music that I endorse and recommend to you.
Under the Banner of Heaven (2022)—A true-crime miniseries that follows two detectives as they investigate a brutal murder and its connections to Mormonism. Truly astonishing acting performance. (Hulu)
Here's the trailer...
Killing Eve (2018-2022)—Now working through Season 4. An incredible series with sterling acting. Dark, comedic British spy thriller starring Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer, who is easily one of today's finest actresses. I don't know how I missed this during the pandemic, but I did. Stunning series. (Netflix)
Here's the trailer to Season 4...
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)
- The Veil—(2024/Hulu-FX)
- WPC 56—(2013-2015/Britbox)
- 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)
- Blackout (2022/Netflix)
- The Bricklayer—(2024/Netflix)
- The Commuter (2018/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)
- Manchester by the Sea—(2016/Prime Video)
- 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)
- The Beach Boys—(2024/Disney)
- Carole King: Live in Central Park—(2023/PBS)
- The Comeback—(2005 and 2014/Max)
- Cunk on Earth—(2022/Netflix)
- Cyndi Lauper: Let the Canary Sing—(2023/Paramount+)
- Facing Nolan—(2022/Netflix)
- Five Came Back—(2017/Netflix)
- Kate Hepburn: Call Me Kate—(2023/Netflix)
- The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari—(2022/Netflix)
- 'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris—(2007/go here
Al Harewood. Following my post last week on Stan Getz, which included a video clip with drummer Al Harewood (above, courtesy of Blue Note), I heard from pianist Harold Danko:
Hi Marc. What a great surprise to see and hear Al Harewood on video and to discover the great Tommy Williams on bass. What joyous quarter notes they played, making my day! And they really made Stan (and Steve Kuhn) shine.
I had the good fortune to play with Al and bask in his beautiful Barbados-Brooklyn beat, teaming up with many great bassists, including Jimmy Rowser, Lisle Atkinson, Reggie Johnson, Rufus Reid, Marc Johnson, Todd Coolman and Michael Moore. Along the way I convinced Lee Konitz to build a quartet with Al as our anchor. He was a wonderful human being and remains a true unsung rhythm-section hero.
I almost shed tears when I heard those first notes of the Getz video, recalling the first time I heard Al at the uptown Half Note on West 54th and then having the privilege of playing with him regularly at the old Angry Squire Pub in Chelsea. Sweet times.
Jazz Loft. After posting about a super documentary on W. Eugene Smith's Jazz Loft from 1957 to 1965, I heard from bassist Chuck Israels:
Hi Marc. A nostalgic note: It was in a dark loft (one floor below Gene Smith’s) that I learned to write music with Hall Overton’s perfectly attuned guidance. Hall was fully equipped in classical music and jazz, and a better teacher for me than any school—both more personal and more efficient.
Just across the street from the dismally dark lofts, on a top floor with lots of windows and good natural light above a wholesale flower shop on the corner, sculptor Herb Kallem and actor/painter Zero Mostel—both friends of my family—had a studio where I’d sometimes visit after my lessons.
It’s hard to fully remember the richness of that experience. Imagine being around Zero who, on one occasion, when I was about 10, entertained me by blowing himself up like a balloon and then deflating himself. Next up for Zero was becoming a percolating teapot.
Because of my stepfather’s connections—some a result of shared political convictions—I had some exposure to Zero and Danny Kaye, two monumental figures in American theater. They weren't larger than life, just enormously full of life. There are irretrievable encounters I experienced as normal then that were rich beyond most of what I have access to today.
Note: Don't forget, Chuck will be celebrating his 88th birthday by performing at Dizzy's in New York on August 11 and reading from his memoir. I'm sure he'll have plenty to say about pianist Bill Evans, since Chuck was the bassist in the second Bill Evans Trio. For more information, go here. Check out Chuck's memoir, Bass Notes, here.
Fresh Sound's JazzWax discount! Fresh Sound owner Jordi Pujol has generously made an 8% discount available to JazzWax readers. To take advantage of this discount, simply enter the code JAZZWAX_DISCOUNT in the space provided on the Fresh Sound payment page. Once you've typed in the code, the discount will automatically appear on the total purchase. JazzWax readers are grateful, Jordi. Thank you.
Françoise Hardy (1944-2024), a French singer-songwriter and actress who was thrust into the limelight in Paris in 1962 after the release of her first melancholy recordings and whose shy sensuality captivated the European youth culture in the 1960s and '70s, died on June 11 of cancer. She was 80.
You can read my precious 2018 WSJ interview with Françoise about her childhood years here: wsj.com/articles/franc
Greetings from Paris. Last week, Gilles D'Elia sent along an image of Sacré-Cœur in Montmartre that he took at midnight, despite the clock operating on its own schedule. Click to enlarge.
Joe Alterman. Last week, pianist Joe Alterman appeared at New York's Mezzrow club with his trio—Nathaniel Schroeder on bass and Marlon Patton on drums. Fortunately you can see and hear the group's two sets for free at the Mezzrow site. Joe sounds better than ever. Go here...
Brazil calling. Kurt Kolstad sent along this clip of the Samba Jazz Syndicate performing Antonio Carlos Jobim's A Felicidade. Phil DeGreg (p), Kim Pensyl (tp), Rusty Burge (vib), Aaron Jacobs (b) and John Taylor (d)...
And finally, here's Paul Desmond and Jim Hall playing Alone Together...