Three female trumpeters who stand out for me in pop and jazz are Cynthia Robinson, who played in Sly & the Family Stone; Valaida Snow, who began recording in 1933; and Clora Bryant.
Born in 1927 in Denison, Texas, Bryant started on piano and sang in church. Not until her brother, Fred, joined the military and left his trumpet at home did Bryant pick up the horn. She learned to play in school and was in the marching band.
After high school, in 1943, she attended Prairie View College in Houston. She joined the Prairie View Co-Eds jazz ensemble, which toured regionally in Texas and wound up in New York at the Apollo Theater in 1944. Her father, a day laborer, relocated to Los Angeles and got her a job there.
Bryant transferred to UCLA in 1945, and on Central Avenue, she heard bebop for the first time. Many playing jobs followed, including stints with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, and she backed Billie Holiday and Josephine Baker.
Her first and only album was Gal With a Horn, recorded for Mode in L.A. in mid-1957. She played trumpet solos and sang, and was accompanied by Norman Faye (tp), Walter Benton (ts), Roger Fleming (p), Ben Tucker (b) and Bruz Freeman (d).
Now Fresh Sound has issued the album with 24-bit remastering plus three bonus tracks, one recorded live with a big band at L.A.'s Jazz City in 1957 and two recorded with Dick Jacobs & His Orchestra for Coral in 1960.
As a trumpeter and singer, Bryant was good but not amazing. She also was better than many men who had more recording and touring opportunities. The liner notes by Jordi Pujol are superb.
Bryant is important, because through her approach and her vocals, we get a sense of the female contribution to jazz and the enormous struggle she and many women endured to be taken seriously as artists.
Clora Bryant died in 2019 after suffering a heart attack. She was 92.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Clora Bryant: Plays and Sings (Fresh Sound) here. Save 8% on all Fresh Sound purchases with the JazzWax discount code: JAZZWAX_DISCOUNT
Type it 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.
Over the weekend, I watched an interesting BBC documentary on singer, pianist and composer Nina Simone that was posted three months ago. Instead of handling the subject the traditional way—talking heads and historical footage—Simone's story is told by Laura Mvula, a British singer-pianist. [Photo above of Nina Simone]
Mvula has been recording since 2013, when she released her first album, Sing to the Moon (go here). Laura talks about Simone from the musician and singer's perspective, offering cogent insights.
Guitarist Pat Metheny is a seductive storyteller. During his career, his musical stories have been elaborately rendered with beauty and grace. Letter From Home (1989) comes to mind and is a stunning articulation of soft fusion and Brazilian music. I must have worn out several copies of the LP over the years. [Photo above of Pat Metheny]
Frankly, it's puzzling that the record hasn't been re-mastered and re-issued on 180-gram vinyl. In 1990, the album won the Grammy for Best Jazz Fusion Performance and sold a half-million copies by July 1998. It still sounds great.
Now, Pat has released MoodDial (BMG), a solo album. Here are his thoughts posted at his site:
Some years back, I asked Linda Manzer, one of the best luthiers [note: craftsperson who builds guitars] on the planet and one of my major collaborators, to build me yet another acoustic baritone guitar. But this time I wanted one with nylon strings as opposed to the steel string version that I had used on the records "One Quiet Night" and "What's It All About." [Photo above of Pat Metheny and Linda Manzer, courtesy of Linda Manzer]
My deep dive into the world of the baritone guitar began when I remembered that as a kid in Missouri, a neighbor had shown me a unique way of stringing where the middle two strings are tuned up an octave while the general tuning of the baritone instrument remains down a 4th or a 5th. This opened up a dimension of harmony that had been previously unavailable to me on any conventional guitar.
There were never really issues with Linda's guitar itself, but finding nylon strings that could manage that tuning without breaking or sounding like a banjo was difficult.
Just before we hit the road, I ran across a company in Argentina (Magma) that specialized in making a new kind of nylon string with a tension that allowed precisely the sound I needed to make Linda's baritone guitar viable in my special tuning.
It has happened to me a few times along the way where an instrument instantly peeled open a whole new range of possibilities. The initial moments spent with the Roland guitar synth of the late 1970s/early '80s comes to mind as another example.
Literally, minutes after finally finding nylon strings that could handle this tuning and placing them on the Manzer guitar, I again experienced one of those revelatory flashes.
There was suddenly a whole new palette of sound under my fingers, just like that.
This all occurred just three days before my tour was set to begin. But there was no doubt that this was something I could jump right into on the bandstand.
Across the first 50-plus concerts of the tour, I gradually introduced this new instrument. At first, it was just one tune. Then two. By the time the tour's first leg ended, Linda's nylon-string baritone guitar could be 20 or 25 minutes of the concert. It is a beautiful, rich, almost infinite feeling new world for me.
As soon as that first part of the tour went to break, I headed into the studio. I wanted to capture the magic of this new sound as quickly as possible and build on the immediate experiences that emerged from playing it every night for several months while it was all still fresh.
The result of this journey is this recording; "MoonDial."
The tracks:
MoonDial
La Crosse
You’re Everything
Here, There and Everywhere
We Can’t See It, But It’s There
Falcon Love
Everything Happens To Me/Somewhere
Londonderry Air
This Belongs To You
Shōga
My Love And I
Angel Eyes
MoonDial (epilogue)
The album is a wondrous second-half-of-summer listen, as our thoughts begin to turn to autumn. Pat plays solo throughout on the baritone guitar, which requires him to find new ways to fill space with harmony as he works through the 12 pieces. It's this ruminative quality of Pat's artistry that grabs me. He makes you think.
PS: Moondials are time pieces similar to sundials. The most basic moondial is accurate only on the night of the full moon. More advanced moondials include charts showing the exact calculations to find the correct time, as well as dials designed with latitude and longitude. You're better off with a watch, but their antiquity has romantic merit.
JazzWax tracks: Pat Metheny's MoonDial (BMG) can be found here and on most major streaming platforms.
Last week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed the great Ellen Burstyn for my House Call column in the Mansion section (go here). The actress was in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (for which she won an Oscar), The Last Picture Show and The Exorcist. The opening line of my column: My mother had four husbands, but I never had a father. A dramatic narrative about a harsh childhood, a near murder and how she made her way to the stage and then the movies and TV.
Here's Ellen in Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), with Kris Kristofferson. The little girl at the counter eating an ice cream cone is a very young Laura Dern. Her mom, Dianne Ladd, co-starred in the movie...
And here's Ellen in a scene from Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971), with Cybill Shepherd in her first film role...
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What I'm watching.
Babylon Berlin (2017-2024). I'm wrapping up Season 3 of this stunning series that takes place in Germany between the wars and Nazism's rise. Terrifying and visually beautiful at the same time. In German, with English subtitles. (MHz via Prime Video)
My Brilliant Friend (2018-2024). Still powerful and deeply feminist, this trip back to post-war Naples and the story of two best friends struggling to break free of poverty is unrivaled. The series will end after the upcoming season, due to start September 9. Teen actresses Margherita Mazzucco ( Elena "Lenù" Greco ) and Gaia Girace (Raffaella "Lila" Cerullo) have been replaced by Alba Rohrwacher and Irene Maiorino, who play them in adulthood. My WSJ interview with both Margherita and Gaia a few years ago is here. (HBO)
Wilder (2017). I'm still working my way through this terrific series. It's a contemporary Swiss detective-suspense drama that takes place in a small town in the German Swiss Alps, ensuring amazing cinematography. Intriguing and captivating. (MHz via Prime Video)
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)
Killing Eve—(2018-2022/Netflix)
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)
Under the Banner of Heave—(2022/Hulu)
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)
TheBricklayer—(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)
Ruthless—(2023/Hulu)
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
Miles Ahead. Following my post on Miles Davis's Miles Ahead: Miles Davis +19, I heard from Bill Kirchner:
Hi there. Interesting that you posted on Dave Brubeck’s “The Duke” and the Davis/Evans "Miles Ahead” two days in succession. Great job on both.
A couple of points that no doubt will interest you:
1. While Bernie Glow was the primary lead trumpet player, the lead trumpet book was a split lead among Glow, Ernie Royal, and Louis Mucci. (This was also true for the Davis-Evans collaborations on “Porgy and Bess,” “Sketches of Spain" and “Quiet Nights.”) Royal played the super-high-note passages, and Mucci, who had played lead on the Claude Thornhill band, played the “classical” passages.
I’ve seen Gil’s original score—that’s how I know this. Earlier, I wrote a major part of the liner notes for the Miles & Gil Evans Sony box set, along with George Avakian, Bob Belden and Phil Schaap. We won a Grammy for them in 1997. Later on, I saw Gil’s original scores for "Birth of the Cool" and all the Miles and Gil albums. Wish I had seen them earlier.
2. At 29:05 in your Backgrounder on YouTube, Gil Evans quotes from one of his favorite orchestral works, the Alban Berg "Violin Concerto." Here, Evans uses the pyramid from the "Concerto." And at 37:00, Evans uses an inversion of that same pyramid to end the album.
Eddie Wasserman.Following my post on woodwind player Eddie Wasserman, I heard from Bruce Klauber:
Hi Marc. What a beautiful piece on Eddie Wasserman. It's long overdue. I interviewed Eddie for "The World of Gene Krupa," my first book on the drummer (when I had no idea what I was doing). Eddie was such a terrific guy. If one revelation emerged from that book, it was Eddie's comments on the Krupa/Rich "Burnin' Beat" album of 1962:
"I contracted the band for the Krupa/Rich 'Burnin' Beat' album for Verve Records in 1962," he told me. "No, there was no rivalry between them in the studio and nothing really interesting went on. Because Buddy Rich wasn't even there! Buddy overdubbed his part. Nobody believes it! The spaces were there in the arrangements for Buddy's parts, and Buddy came in later and recorded his parts, after Gene had already done his with the band. Yeah! The drum battles on that record? Well, as far as I know, Buddy just wasn't there at all. He did that—taping it over later--by putting on earphones and playing that part."
Drummers still don't believe it. However, if you listen to the two unreleased tracks from that session—"Wham!" and "Flyin' Home"—you'll hear Buddy struggling with the time and with the "holes" left for him in the chart.
Bruce's book,The World of Gene Krupa, can be found here or at Amazon here.
Denny Zeitlin. On July 28 and August 4, KCSM's Richard Seidel will interview pianist Denny Zeitlin for an hour on each morning, from 9 to 10 a.m. (PT). Richard hosts The Jazz Legacy on the Bay Area FM radio station. Listen from anywhere in the world by goinghere.
The Dave Brubeck Octet Project. Following my post featuring my interview with Jon De Lucia, I learned that Jon now has a website. Go here.
Books...
Gigi Gryce. Noal Cohen and Michael Fitzgerald collaborated on an excellent biography of alto saxophonist and arranger Gigi Gryce. Their book, Rat Race Blues: The Musical Life of Gigi Gryce (Current Research in Jazz) was first published in 2014, and the second edition came out in 2018. The biography is smartly written and includes a chapter on why Gryce left the music business so early. A shooting star who still has not been given his due. Rat Race Blues fills in the gaps. To buy the second edition, go here.
Here's Art Farmer and Gigi Gryce playing Gryce's Social Call in 1955, backed by Freddie Redd (p), Addison Farmer (b) and Art Taylor (d)...
Playing the Changes (University of Illinois Press). Out now is a book by Darius and Catherine Brubeck on their 1983 move to South Africa, why they left the U.S. and the jazz program they built at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Considering that apartheid didn't end until May 4, 1990, their move was a dangerous one. The book is a story of obstacles, risks and beautiful music. To buy, go here.
Roni Ben-Hur—The Abraxas Sessions, Vol. 2 (Live) (Dot Time). A swinging date by the incomparable guitarist Roni Ben-Hur. An inventive approach to mostly songbook standards. Buy here or listen at most major streaming platforms.
Lucy Yeghiazaryan—Beside The Golden Door (La Reserve). The vocalist's latest album is a mix of songbook standards and Armenian folk songs. An important voice on all songs. Buy here or listen at most major streaming platforms.
Andy Scott/Kelsley Grant 5—Horizon Song (Cellar Live). A tight, confident and swinging album that unites the beauty of Andy's guitar and Kelsley's trombone. They are joined by Amanda Tosoff (p), Neil Swanson (b) and Terry Clarke (d). Buy here or listen at all major streaming platforms.
Free live music. Kim Paris at the FM Radio Archive sent along the following links to performances by artists I posted about in the past week:
Dave Brubeck—is featured in a 2008 episode of NPR's Jazz Profiles, hosted by jazz vocalist Nancy Wilson. Go here.
Gabor Szabo—appeared in a 1978 TV concert broadcast from the Hilton Budapest by Magyar Televizio in Hungary. Go here.
Tony Bennett—performed with Bill Evans in a 1976 CBC TV broadcast in Canada, to promote their album, Together Again. Go here.
Tina Brooks—is featured in a 2017 Jazz Profiles episode about his life and music on WKCR, hosted by Sid Gribetz. Go here.
Count Basie—has two broadcast recordings on FM Radio Archive, one from the 1981 Chicago Jazz Festival (shared by Mark Rabin), and also in a 2008 episode of NPR's Jazz Profiles, hosted by Nancy Wilson. Go here.
And finally,here's the Vince Guaraldi Trio with Brazilian guitarist Bola Sete playing Irma Rodriguez's bossa nova Outra Vez...
Miles Davis's Miles Ahead: Miles Davis +19 for Columbia is one of jazz's most exquisite orchestral albums. Recorded in May and August of 1957, the LP was arranged by Gil Evans, who, with Davis, selected nine jazz songs plus an Evans-Davis original and dressed them up in a modernist, Thornhillian style.
The result is spectacular. Davis on flugelhorn is gentle and at times even meek as Evans's orchestrations descend on him like a violet mist. It's pure musical poetry.
One should note that Evans and Davis were together on Davis's Birth of the Cool recording sessions in 1949 and 1950. In some ways, Miles Ahead is an expanded articulation of the airy feel on those earlier nonet recordings.
Back in 2009, I posted on the inspiration for each song on Miles Ahead (go here). It's fun to listen to the originals on YouTube, so you can hear how Evans dressed them up.
The Miles Ahead personnel: Miles Davis (flghn); Bernie Glow (lead tp); John Carisi, Taft Jordan, Louis Mucci and Ernie Royal (tp); Joe Bennett, Jimmy Cleveland and Frank Rehak (tb); Tom Mitchell (bass tb); Jim Buffington, Tony Miranda and Willie Ruff (Fr hn); Bill Barber (tuba); Lee Konitz (as); Danny Bank (bass cl); Sid Cooper and Romeo Penque (fl,cl); Paul Chambers (b), Art Taylor (d); Wynton Kelly (p) and Gil Evans (arr,conductor).
The tracks, with their composers...
Springsville (John Carisi)
The Maids of Cadiz (Léo Delibes)
The Duke (Dave Brubeck)
My Ship (Kurt Weill, Ira Gershwin)
Miles Ahead (Davis, Evans)
Blues for Pablo (Evans)
New Rhumba (Ahmad Jamal)
Medley Pt. 1: The Meaning of the Blues (Bobby Troup, Leah Worth)
Medley Pt. 2: Lament (J. J. Johnson)
I Don't Wanna Be Kissed (By Anyone but You) (Harold Spina, Jack Elliot)
Here's the complete Miles Ahead: Miles Davis +19 without ad interruptions...
Dave Brubeck first recorded his composition The Duke during a live performance at New York's Basin Street East on October 13, 1954. His quartet at the time consisted of Paul Desmond (as), Dave Brubeck (p), Bob Bates (b) and Joe Dodge (d). The song had an almost childlike melody and a jaunty feel, and the the bass line was sensual and hip.
When I interviewed Dave for JazzWax in 2010, I asked him about his composition:
JazzWax: How did you come to write The Duke in 1954? Dave Brubeck:The Duke I wrote after taking my son, Chris, to nursery school. On the way home, it was raining and I was watching the windshield wipers. They were loud and sounded like a cushioned metronome [sings "boom-chung, boom chung, boom chung" to mimic the sound]. That's when I started to sing the melody that had come to mind as I listened to the beat. It fit perfectly with the bump-bump of the wipers.
JW: What kind of car was it? DB: A Kaiser Vagabond. Back then, after the war, Kaiser, a boat company, made a great car from parts left over from scrap. The melody line just popped into my head.
JW: Did you like the version that Miles Davis recorded with Gil Evans in 1957 on Miles Davis +19? DB: I loved it. They invited me to the playback session. I thought it was great. At the date, Miles introduced me to Gil [Evans, the arranger], and Gil said, “Brubeck… do you have a brother named Henry?” I said, “Yeah.” Gil said, “He played drums in my first orchestra, and he was a great drummer.” Isn’t that something? My oldest brother played with Gil. In those days, there was so much coming out of Stockton, Calif. Gil’s first band was out of Stockton.
JW: The Duke is pretty remarkable, and it set the tone for your quartet's sound. DB: I was playing The Duke at a college concert once, and the head of the jazz department came up to me and said, “I love how you use a 12-note tone row in The Duke." That's when all 12 notes of the chromatic scale are used in a composition with equal significance.
JW: What did you say? DB: I said, “I didn’t know I was using a tone row. Where did you read that?” I thought a writer or reviewer had incorrectly come up with it. He said, “I didn’t read it. Check out the bass line.” So I did, and sure enough he was right. I must have done that unconsciously. Pianist Marian McPartland has said The Duke’s bass line is the best one ever written in jazz.
Dave dedicated the song to Duke Ellington.
As you listen to it on Dave's Columbia album Red, Hot and Cool, think of those windshield wipers. Here's the first recording of Dave's The Duke...
And here's Dave's slightly slower solo version from his next album, Brubeck Plays Brubeck (1956), which Miles Davis heard and brought to the attention of Gil Evans for Davis's 1957 album Miles Ahead: Miles Davis +19...
Other Perfection tracks in this ongoing series...
Paul Desmond and Jim Hall: Any Other Time,go here.
Michael Howell is a little-known soul-jazz fusion guitarist, but those who are familiar with his music love him. One of my favorites is his album In the Silence. Recorded for Milestone in April 1974, the LP features Bennie Maupin (ts,saxello,b-cl,alto-fl,pic), Michael Howell (g), Henry Franklin (b), Leon "Ndugu" Chancler (d) and Kenneth Nash (perc,cga).
Born in Kansas City, Howell was taught by his father and guitarist Herley Dennis Howell. Michael Howell studied classical guitar at the Music and Arts Institute of San Francisco and received a music degree from Lehman College in New York.
Howell recorded as a sideman on many other artists' recordings and then performed and recorded with his own group. He recorded three albums as a leader: Looking Glass, In the Silence and Alone—the first two on Milestone and the third on Catalyst.
In addition to Howell's fingerstyle guitar technique, In the Silence features Maupin's moaning, meditative bass clarinet and other reed instruments. The album's tracks shift neatly from fusion to straight-ahead jazz. Franklin on bass plays compelling lines, while Chancler and Nash run terrific Afro-jazz polyrhythms. [Photo above of Bennie Maupin in 2009 on bass clarinet by David Tallacksen, courtesy of NPR]
The tracks (all by Howell except where noted):
The Call
Don't Explain (Billie Holiday)
Ebony King
In the Silence
Althea
Circles
Think On Me (George Cables)
What I love most about this album is how Howell changes up what he's doing on each track and how Maupin's bass clarinet and other reeds slide in to create a mood. Howell's songwriting also is first-rate. The album takes you back (or it did for me) to the mid-1970s if you lived through them.
JazzWax tracks: This album was released only as a vinyl LP and is rare and hard to find.
JazzWax clips: Fortunately, someone has uploaded the entire LP to YouTube. Here's the complete In the Silence...
Hungarian guitarist Gábor Szabó, in some respects, is a forefather of jazz fusion. In the mid-1960s, his rhythmic, gnawing guitar style and avant-garde feel paved the way for sophisticated rock experimentation by young jazz guitarists. In most cases, his interpretations of hit pop-rock and soul songs produced a more interesting listen. [Publicity still above of Gábor Szabó]
Szabó left Budapest when he was 20, in 1956, after the Hungarian Uprising. The revolution was an attempt to rid the country of a Soviet puppet government, an event that lasted 12 days before Soviet tanks and troops rolled in to crush the rebellion.
Settling in California, Szabó attended Boston's Berklee College of music, from 1958 to 1960. The following year he began playing with Chico Hamilton and then Charles Lloyd. By the mid-1960s, Szabó started to take on pop with Gary McFarland. In 1968 he co-founded Skye Records with McFarland and vibraphonist Cal Tjader.
In August 1966, Szabó recorded Jazz Raga for Impulse Records, produced by Bob Thiele. The music wasn't interpretations of Indian folk music but groovy swinging tracks that featured Szabó on sitar for Indian flavoring and the inclusion of Indian percussion instruments. He was backed by Bob Bushnell (g on tracks 1–3, 5, 7 and 9), Johnny Gregg (b) and Bernard Purdie (d).
The tracks (all composed by Szabó except where noted):
Walking on Nails
Mizrab
Search for Nirvana
Krishna
Raga Doll (Gary McFarland)
Comin' Back
Paint It Black (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards)
Sophisticated Wheels
Ravi
Caravan (Juan Tizol)
Summertime (George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward)
Unfortunately, many of Szabó's albums weren't perfectly produced and feature sluggish song choices and pop interpretations that range from brilliant to disappointing. Jazz Raga is an exception.
His playing and compositions here are uniformly excellent, creating a terrific sound toned by the sitar and Indian percussion. Best of all, Szabó's guitar reflects the swinging sound of the 1960s, proving that no other jazz artist was more in tune with the music ushered in by the British Invasion and its impact on the youth culture. [Photo above of Gábor Szabó courtesy of YouTube]
Gábor Szabó died in 1982 on a trip home to Budapest when he succumbed to long-time liver and kidney problems. He was 45.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Gábor Szabó's Jazz Raga (Impulse) here or at major streaming platforms.
JazzWax clips:Here'sPaint It Black, by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards...
Eddie Wasserman wasn't a star but he could have been. Strangely, he never was a leader on his own recording session. Instead, he spent the bulk of his career playing woodwinds in top big bands. His first recording session was with Benny Goodman in December 1948 and he remained with the King of Swing into 1948. Going forward, he was a favorite of many bandleaders. But who was Wasserman and what did he sound like? Big band recordings tell you little about individual players unless they solo long and often. [Photo above of Eddie Wasserman on tenor saxophone and Gene Krupa]
To find the answers to these two questions, I did some research, and I zoomed in on Wasserman's late-1950s quartet recordings with Gene Krupa. As you'll hear, Wasserman was remarkable, being able to triple fluidly on tenor saxophone, clarinet and flute. Though his discography lacks a leadership album, his Krupa Quartet sessions can be considered leadership dates, since he was the featured instrumentalist.
First, who was Eddie Wasserman? In addition to playing with Goodman, he was in big-band live and studio recordings led by Artie Shaw, Manny Albam, Stan Kenton, Louie Bellson and Chico O'Farrell, with whom he co-led a big band in 1953.
By 1955, big band work on the East Coast was starting to dry up. In an obit written by Elliot Pinsley for New Jersey's Bergen Record in June 1992, after Wasserman's death on May 27, 1992, an agent asked O'Farrell and Wasserman if they would form a small group to play Latin music in Miami Beach. They did, and O'Farrell likened the experience to "going to hell."
Given the youth-culture explosion in 1966, jazz clearly wasn't an ideal way to earn a living. So Wasserman gave up the road and became an assistant director of the concert band at Clifton High School in New Jersey. He continued to play club dates and find work in Broadway pit bands. [Cover photo above of Eddie Wasserman on flute with Gene Krupa]
Wasserman was born in Smackover, Ark., in 1923. He told friends he had played the saxophone with many black kids in the area growing up. After his father died, Wasserman moved with his mother to Tyler, Texas. That's where he fell in love with jazz. His first paid job was at age 14, in a dance band.
At the onset of World War II in 1941, Wasserman attended New York's Juilliard School for a couple of years but he was soon drafted and wasn't discharged until 1946. He returned to Juilliard to complete his studies and graduated in 1948, when he started playing with Goodman.
Wasserman later earned a master's degree in education from Columbia University. His wife at the time, Romaine Wasserman, said, "It was really quite a difficult decision for him to make. The motivating force was the hope of doing something that was more reliable in terms of a living."
Wasserman died after suffering a heart attack in May 1992. He was 69.
Let's listen to small-group tracks that feature Wasserman:
Here'sFingerpoppin' Blues on clarinetist Tony Scott's album Scott's Fling in 1955. The band featured Jimmy Nottingham (tp), Billy Byers (tb), Tony Scott (cl), Eddie Wasserman (ts), Danny Bank (bar), Milt Hinton (b) and Osie Johnson (d)...
Here'sLucky to Be Me from the same recording session...
Here'sThere Will Never Be Another You in March 1958 with Gene Krupa's Men of Jazz, featuring Eddie Wasserman (ts,cl,fl), Ronnie Ball (p), Jimmy Gannon (b) and Gene Krupa (d)...
Here'sDrum Boogie from The Swingin' Gene Krupa Quartet at Chicago's London House in 1959, featuring Eddie Wasserman (fl,cl,ts), Ronnie Ball (p), Jimmy Gannon (b) and Gene Krupa (d)...
And here's two parts of Tony Bennett with the Gene Krupa Quartet in 1962 for the National Guard, featuring Tony Bennett (vcl), Eddie Wasserman (ts,cl,fl), John Bunch (p), Dave Perlman (b) and Gene Krupa (d)...
Last week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed Chace Crawford for my House Call column in the Mansion section (go here). Best known for his role in TV's Gossip Girl, Chace is a villain in Amazon Prime Video's series The Boys. [Photo above of Chace Crawford in The Boys, courtesy of Amazon Prime Video]
What I'm watching.
Babylon Berlin (2017-2024). I'm up to Season 3 of this stunning series that takes place in Germany between the wars and during Nazism's rise. Terrifying and beautiful at the same time. In German, with English subtitles. (MHz via Prime Video)
My Brilliant Friend (2018-2024). Easily one of my favorite series of all time, this trip back to post-war Naples and the story of two best friends struggling to break free of poverty is unrivaled. The series will end after the upcoming season, due to begin September 9. Teen actresses Margherita Mazzucco ( Elena "Lenù" Greco ) and Gaia Girace (Raffaella "Lila" Cerullo) have been replaced by adult actors, as the girls in Season 4 have grown up and are dealing with adult issues. I'm re-watching the series and have viewed a bunch of episodes for the new season. My WSJ interview with both Mazzucco and Griace a few years ago is here. (HBO)
Wilder (2017). I'm still working my way through this terrific series. It's a contemporary Swiss detective-suspense drama that takes place in a small town in the German Swiss Alps, ensuring amazing cinematography. Intriguing and captivating. (MHz via Prime Video)
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)
Killing Eve—(2018-2022/Netflix)
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)
Under the Banner of Heave—(2022/Hulu)
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)
TheBricklayer—(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)
Ruthless—(2023/Hulu)
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
Dave Brubeck Octet. Last week following my post on the Dave Brubeck Octet,. I heard from Robert Garfias, the esteemed ethnomusicologist and musicologist:
Hi Marc. The revisit to the old Brubeck Octet stuff was for me nostalgic. As I recall at the time, AM radio was it, there was nothing on TV, and pop music was largely white noise. Hearing these octet sides even rarely—so rarely—on the radio was exciting and refreshing.
I heard the octet live couple of times but venues were rare. Although at the time I was more interested East Coast bop—Bird and Miles—the Brubeck stuff was exciting and refreshing, Over time I got to know most of the octet members.
I jammed and rehearsed with the Collins Brothers. I took private theory lessons from Dave Van Kriedt. I had studied theory and harmony in a mathematically oriented music system, the Ziehn system, also used by Busoni and Shillinger.
Studying with Dave Van Kriedt was quite different. It was very French. For example, he would say you can’t use any 6-4s, and I asked why. He said they weren't dissonant or unpleasant. Dave also said, "Milhaud says no 6-4s, OK?"
At 18, right out of high school, I got a job playing on an ocean liner sailing for Asia. I had learned bass just to get more work. I later played piano. In any case, on this band, the drummer was Lloyd Davis, who had been in the octet. We spent a lot of time together.
Later at the University of Washington, in Seattle, I was colleagues with Bill Smith for many years. When bassist Gary Peacock was in town, we once did a jazz seminar—me, Bill Smith and Gary. Great fun.
It was held on Rosario Island, one of those beautiful spots out in Puget Sound. From Gary, I heard stories about Paul Bley, who had married Gary’s former wife, and stories about Miles Davis and Bill Evans.
The one member I knew least was Paul Desmond, a fellow alto sax player. One time during the beatnik era, as I was getting into the world of ethnomusicology, I was jamming someplace. There were African and Cuban drums, and I played flute, improvising on so much music I had been listening to.
Then Paul Desmond breezed in and listened for a while. Then he said to me, “You're really good." I just said thanks and let him think I was some primitive exotic and not an alto player trying to play like Lee Konitz. Nice to remember all that. Thanks!
Bob Newhart (1929-2024). Interviewing Bob Newhart for the WSJ was great fun (go here). He was relaxed, and his humor was wonderfully dry. Here's my favorite Bob Newhart routine, which always cracks me up [photo above of Bob Newhart by Gerald Smith/NBC]...
Mickey Rooney.Here's Martin Short, in character as Jiminy Glick, interviewing Mickey Rooney in the 2000s...
Ben Paterson has a new album out, Just the Way We Are. Here he is with bassist Luke Sellick playing Billy Joel's Just the Way You Are (which features Phil Woods' alto saxophone solo)...
Contrasts. Here are two versions of It's a Lovely Day Today—the original and a cover by Astrud Gilberto...
Here's the original from the 1953 film Call Me Madam, with Donald O'Connor and Vera-Ellen...
Here's Astrud Gilberto with Walter Wanderley's organ...
Ray Bolger (above). Such a lovely clip from The Judy Garland Show in the early 1960s...
Tina Brooks radio. On Sunday this weekend, WKCR's Sid Gribetz will host a five-hour radio program spotlighting the music of tenor saxophonist Tina Brooks, from 2 to 7 p.m. (ET). To listen from anywhere in the world, go here.
Marc Myers writes regularly for The Wall Street Journal and is author of "Anatomy of 55 More Songs," "Anatomy of a Song," "Rock Concert: An Oral History" and "Why Jazz Happened." Founded in 2007, JazzWax has won three Jazz Journalists Association awards.