Don, Frank and Dalida

This past week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed actor Don Johnson for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Don, of course starred in TV's Miami Vice and Nash Bridges and now he's in the Netflix film Rebel Ridge. [Photo above of Don Johnson in Miami Vice, courtesy of Universal TV]

Here are my first two paragraphs based on our Zoom conversation...

When you come from an incredibly dysfunctional and abusive childhood as I did, you learn to embrace challenges.

My parents were very young when I was born—my mother was 16 and my father was 19. In effect, we grew up together.

Here's the trailer for Rebel Ridge...

What I'm Watching

Top 11 favorite series, ranked...

Babylon Berlin
My Brilliant Friend
Killing Eve
The Crown
The Americans
Band of Brothers
Downton Abbey
The Gentlemen
Turn: Washington's Spies
Unbelievable
Justified
The Blacklist

Viewing now...

Voiceless (Bella da morire) (2020—This Italian miniseries features English subtitles and, for a change, you'll see actors you won't know. It centers on a female detective and her partner as they try to solve a murder in Italy's Lake District. A big thanks to Don Frese for turning me on to it. (MHz)

Here's the 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)
Babylon Berlin (2017-2024/MHz via Prime Video)
Band of Brothers—(2001/Netflix)
The Bay (2019-current/BritBox)
The Blacklist (2013-2023/Netflix)
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)
My Brilliant Friend—(2018-current)
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)
Wilder—(2017-current)
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)
Jane Fonda in Five Acts—(2024/Max)
Kate Hepburn: Call Me Kate—(2023/Netflix)
The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari—(2022/Netflix)
'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris—(2007/go h

Herbie Mann. Following my post on the flutist, I received the following from Bill Kirchner on baritone saxophonist and bass clarinetist Danny Bank:

Hi Marc. On this track, "Manteca," Danny Bank played baritone saxophone, not bass clarinet. I sat next to Danny in saxophone sections and he was a superb player of both instruments—and one of the loudest. Which is why Gil Evans used Danny on bass clarinet, not baritone, on the Gil Evans-Miles Davis albums. Gil knew that Danny’s bass clarinet could cut through the entire band—unusual, because bass clarinet is usually a mezzo forte instrument at most.

Paul Quinichette. Following my post, I received the following from bassist Brian Torff, best known for his 3 1/2 years with George Shearing and his many other albums:

Hi Marc. Thank you for this piece on Paul Quinichette. I was lucky to work with Paul at the West End Cafe in the 1970's near New York's Columbia University. Paul was a gentle and kind man with a beautiful sound.

More Paul Quinichette. Jan Olsson in Sweden sent along the above photo that he took, and he wrote the following:

Hi Marc. Thank you for your fine Paul Quinichette reminder! Above is a photo I took at jazz club Gungan in Malmö, Sweden, in 1976. It's Paul (left) with Dexter Gordon, who lived in Copenhagen at the time just a half hour from Malmö. All the best from the Kingdom of Sweden (we have a King but no Prez in our country). [Photo above of Paul Quinichette and Dexter Gordon by Jan Olsson]

Gene Ammons. After I posted about Gene Ammons (above), I heard from photographer Norm Snyder:

Hello, Marc. As always, you came up with some gems. It incentivized my digging though files of my old negatives looking for a shot I remembered taking of Gene Ammons at The Minor Key in Detroit in 1961.

I was still in high school, and this was the first jazz performance I'd ever photographed. If I recall correctly, since not everyone was old enough to drive, a buddy took his dad’s car and we went, as he was the only one if my friends who had a driver’s license.

It was a late-night place, but nobody bothered us kids, since they realized we were there to hear the music. Some great bands came through that club.

I’m uncertain of the personnel in the above photo, but I think that’s Doug Watkins on electric bass and perhaps Richard Wyands on piano. I'm not sure who the trumpeter is. The drummer is hard to make out (Art Taylor was with the band during that period, I know, but I am not sure that’s him).

You can see the ringside tables were right at the foot of the stage, and I recall audiences being very much engaged in the performances I attended there.

One O'Clock Jump. Following my post last week featuring Paul Quinichette soloing in an all-star band playing O'Clock Jump, I figured you should hear the real deal in 1965. A monster band in London. Go here...

Frank Rosolino. Last week, as I was rummaging around YouTube and came across a most astonishing audio clip from 1968. At the site, Elaine Mylius, the person who posted it, wrote:

Frank Rosolino is one of my favorite trombonists of all time, and this recording has been a huge part of my life for several years. A trombone player gifted me this CD which had "Frank Rosolino Navy Pool of Mucus... (Huh?) 1968" written on the front. I hope you enjoy listening to this recording as much as I do!

Be sure you're sitting down when you listen to the band's ferocious arrangement by Phil Field. Go here...

Jacqueline François (above) was a French pop star in the 1950s and '60s. Here she is on French TV in 1966 signing Lola, a French take on Lullaby of Birdland...

More? Here she is singing L'âme Des Poètes in 1956...

Greg Reitan—The Bounding Line (Sunnyside). On his new album, recorded in 2023, jazz pianist Greg plays with bassist Jack Daro and drummer Dean Koba. The Path, Summer Days, The Bounding Line, Starting Point and Rock Hill are by Greg; My Love Is an April Song is by Earl Zindars; Rising Sun is by Dave Brubeck; Love No. 1 is by Keith Jarrett; and Down a Country Lane is by Aaron Copland. All three musicians exhibit enormous sensitivity and skill. And Greg's originals are wonderful. A beautiful introspective album for this time of year. To listen to the tracks, go here.

Here's My Love Is an April Song. For me, the true quality of a jazz pianist is always tested on songs by Earl Zindars, and Greg passes with flying colors...

Here's The Path...

Free music. Kim Paris of the FM Radio Archive send along links to artists I've written about in the past week:

The Average White Band—is featured in Ellis Hall at Boston College in 1978, in a WBCN broadcast. Go here.

Tessa Souter—performed at the San Jose Jazz Summer Fest in 2016, in a KCSM broadcast shared by Mark Rabin. Go here.

Count Basie—has two recordings on FMRA, at the 1981 Chicago Jazz Festival and a NPR Jazz Profiles episode, hosted by Nancy Wilson. Go here.

Russell Malone—(above) is featured with the CTI All Star Band in a concert at Jazzwoche Burghausen in Germany in 2010. Go here.

And finally, a look at an Italian song that was a huge hit in Italy in 1957—Come Prima. As readers know by now, I love French and Italian pop before pop-rock and yé-yé singers took over.

Come Prima (in English, As Before) was composed by Vincenzo Di Paola and Sandro Taccani with lyrics by Mario Panzeri. The power ballad was first made popular by Tony Dallara in Italy in 1957, but it was recorded by dozens of Italian singers.

Here's Dallara in 1966 singing his breakthrough hit. Makes me wish Tony Bennett had recorded an album of Italian love songs...