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...
Have a comment on a post? Go to Marc JazzWax Myers at Facebook and leave a comment on a daily post. Please note, I am no longer posting to X (formerly Twitter).
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)
Here's the trailer to S3...
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 Teen actresses Margherita Mazzucco ( Elena "Lenù" Greco ) and Gaia Girace (Raffaella "Lila" Cerullo) have been replaced by Alba Rohrwacher and Irene Maiorino, who play them in adulthood.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)
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
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 going here.
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.
A documentary is forthcoming: Go here.
New albums to check out...
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...