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]
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)
Here's the trailer to S3...
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 Teen actresses Margherita Mazzucco ( Elena "Lenù" Greco ) and Gaia Girace (Raffaella "Lila" Cerullo) have been replaced by adult actors, as the girls in Season 4 have grown up and are dealing with adult issues.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)
Here's the Season 1 trailer...
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)
Here's the Season 1 trailer...
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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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.