Bryan, Faye and Tony

In The Wall Street Journal last week, I interviewed Roxy Music's Bryan Ferry for my House Call column in the Mansion section (go here). Bryan talked about his work ethic as a kid with the area's largest paper route, reading Melody Maker along the way and studying in college with Richard Hamilton, the father of pop art. [Photo above of Bryan Ferry, courtesy of Bryan Ferry]

Always a joy interviewing Bryan. A lovely, smart and cutting-edge artist. His new album coming, Loose Talk, is a collaboration with artist Amelia Barratt. Here's a trailer...

Note to readers. I will no longer be reviewing CDs on the weekends. As much as I loved writing reviews, the Saturday-Sunday post has become too time consuming on Friday evenings given all that I must do for work and want to do for myself. Instead, I will share clips from new albums that I think readers should explore on streaming platforms or on purchase sites, which will give you a taste. There will be links to buy included.

My favorite streaming series, ranked...

1. Babylon Berlin
2. My Brilliant Friend
3. Killing Eve
4. The Crown
5. The Americans
6. Younger
7. Band of Brothers
8. Landman
9. Friday Night Lights
10. The Old Man
11. Feud: Bette and Joan
12. Downton Abbey
13. The Blacklist
14. Goliath
15. The Gentlemen
16. Turn: Washington's Spies
17. Unbelievable
18. Justified
19. Voiceless (Bella da morire (2020/MHz)
20. Black Doves
21. Web Therapy

Stuff I loved that just watched and will start soon...

• American Primeval S1 (now/Netflix)
• Back in Action (now/Netflix)
• Zero Day (Feb. 20/Netflix)
• Millers in Marriage (Feb. 21/film)
• Long Bright River (March 13/Peacock)
• Dark Winds S3 (March 9/AMC)
• The Better Sister (May 22/Prime)

Recently watched...

The Night Agent S2 (2023-present). The action thriller series centers on an FBI agent whose job it is to be on standby to extract key people worldwide whenever the call comes in. Fast-paced and suspenseful. (Netflix)

Here's the trailer for season 2...

Recommended series, films and documentaries...

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)
• Black Doves (2024/Netflix)
• 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)
• The Dropout (2022/Hulu)
• Elizabeth 1 (2005/Max)
• Emily in Paris—(2020-present/Netflix)
• Feud (S1): Bette and Joan—(2017/Hulu)
• Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans—(2024/FX, with streaming on Hulu)
• Fisk—(2021/Netflix)
• Friday Night Lights (2006-2011/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)
• Lioness—(2023-current/Paramount+)
• 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/Max)
• The Night Agent—(2023-present/Netflix)
• 1923—(2022-present/Paramount+)
• 1883—(2021-2022/Prime)
• The Old Man—(2022/Hulu)
• On Call—2025/Amazon Prime)
• Outlander—(2014-present/Netflix)
• The Perfect Couple—(2024/Netflix)
• Poldark—(2015-2019/Prime)
• Reacher—(2016-present/Netflix)
• Ripley—(2024/Netflix)
• Scott & Bailey (2011-2016/Prime)
• The Spy—(2019/Netflix)
• Turn: Washington's Spies—(2014-2017/Prime)
• Unbelievable—(2019/Netflix)
• Under the Banner of Heave—(2022/Hulu)
• Veronica Mars—(2004 to 2019/Hulu)
• Voiceless (Bella da morire—(2020/MHz)
• 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)
• Web Therapy—(2011-2015/Fandango)
• Wilder—(2017-current)
• WPC 56—(2013-2015/Britbox)
• Yellowstone—(2018-present/Paramount Network)
• Younger—(2015-2021K/Netflix)

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)
• The Great Lillian Hall—(2024/Max)
• The Family Man—(2000/Netflix)
• Fury—(2014/Netflix)
• God's Country—(2022/Hulu
• Guy Ritchie's The Covenant—(2023/Prime)
• I Used to Be Funny (2023/Netflix)
• Jack Reacher (the movie)—(2012/Paramount+) 
• Just My Luck (2006/Paramount+)
• Kill Chain—(2019/Max)
• Killers of the Flower Moon—(2023 (Apple+)
• La Palma (2024/Netflix)
• Knight and Day—(2010/Roku)
• Last Night in Soho—(2021/Prime)
• Last Seen Alive—(2020/Netflix)
• The Little Things—(2021/Netflix)
• Lonely Planet—(2024)/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)
• Nobody Wants This—(2024/Netflix)
• Ordinary Angels—(2024/assorted platforms)
• The Pledge—(2011/Peacock)
• Purple Hearts—(2022/Netflix)
• The Queen—(2006/(Paramount+)
• 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)
• Some Girl(s)—(2013/Amazon Prime)
• Somewhere in Queens—(2022/Hulu)
• Spy(ies)—(2009/Prime)
• The Stranger—(2022/Netflix)
• Toscana—(2022/Netflix)
• The Two Popes—(2019/Netflix)
• Up in the Air—(2009/Max)
• Woman in Gold—(2015/Max)
• 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 Only Girl in the Orchestra—(2023/Netflix)
• Suzi Q: Suzi Quatro—(2019/Prime)
• The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari—(2022/Netflix)
• 'Tis Autumn: The Search for Jackie Paris—(2007/go here)

Pablo Records. Following my post on Acoustic Sounds remastering Norman Granz's Pablo Records on vinyl, I heard from Bob Waldman:

Hi Marc. Your post today about Pablo brought back memories of the label. In 1974, I was so excited to hear that Norman Granz was returning to the record industry that I wrote him a letter. I wanted to know if his records would be available in stores or only by mail. His first Pablo release, Jazz at the Santa Monica Civic, had been only available by mail.

A few weeks after I sent my letter, Norman replied that they would be sold in record stores. A few years later, on my first trip to Los Angeles, I made a pilgrimage to 451 North Canon Drive. There was nothing glam about the place. The lobby directory was on a black felt board with cheap white plastic letters. But sure enough, “Pablo Records, 2nd Floor” was spelled out.

I took the stairway (there was no elevator) and told the receptionist that I loved the label so much I had to visit and thank the office for all the great albums they made. I then asked her if there was a list of upcoming releases.

“I’ve got a list right here,” she said. I looked over the titles and my heart skipped. “Oh wow! Two albums of Milt Jackson with the Count Basie Band. I can’t wait!”

“Yeah, they’re good,” she said. “I’ll be looking out for them," I said. "Well, I just wanted to say thanks for all the great music. Have a great day.”

“Wait a second,” she said.  The receptionist disappeared then returned with both albums for me to take home. “Here you go. Enjoy the rest of your trip.” I did, but I couldn’t wait to get back to New York and play them!

Bill Evans. Following my post last week on albums to ease the mid-winter blahs, I heard from Bill Kirchner:

Hi there. Interesting choices, a number of which are new to me. I’ll have to spend some time on these.

I have a special spot in my heart for the Bill Evans box. Jeff Levenson and I co-produced the box for Warner, and Jeff basically delegated the musical choices to me.

I spent several months listening to all that music at the Village Vanguard and making choices. As you know, there are four versions of “Nardis,” all superb. I’ve told students over the past 30 years that if they want to do a great music doctoral dissertation, transcribe and analyze those four Evans solos.

All in all, that project is a highlight of my career. I envy you and Harold Danko (whom I hired, along with Bob Blumenthal, to write part of the liner booklet) for having been at the Vanguard while the trio was recording.

Chinatown. In the summer of 1974, between graduating from high school and heading off to college, I worked as a ticket-taker and usher at a two-screen General Cinema multiplex. The theater was a stand-alone building on the property of a suburban mall near my parents' home in northern Westchester County. [Photo above of Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in a film still from Chinatown]

Work typically began at 11 a.m. and ran into the evening. Everyone who worked there became so chummy, that we went in seven days a week and stayed until the theater closed watching movies in the two theaters. Then we hit a local bar where fake IDs were honored.

The summer of '74 was a great time for New Hollywood. Films then included Harry and Tonto, Death Wish, Gone in 60 Seconds, Bank Shot, California Split, The Great Gatsby and Conrack. But the movie that swept me away along with the other ticket-takers and candy-counter gals was Chinatown.

That summer, I saw the film in parts or complete more than 50 times. On weekday afternoons when the theater was empty, all of us filled a row and recited the lines from memory, as if we were in the film. One of the gals had a great time exuberantly screaming Faye Dunaway's lines in one of the film's climactic scenes: "She's my daughter, she's my sister, she's my daughter, my sister, my daughter. She's my sister and my daughter!"

As a result, the soundtrack has always been the score to that amazing summer and the feeling of films by directors who broke from the studio system to shoot movies their way. When I hear the theme now, I'm taken back to that summer in that theater, our legs up on the seats in front of us, running lines to Chinatown.

So this clip that I found last week was especially transportive. I only wish there was another 45 minutes...

John and the other Paul. This clip comes from 1975, when John Lennon and Paul Simon co-presented the Grammy for Record of the Year. It's uncomfortable to watch but hang in there, because it gets way more uncomfortable as the minutes pass. A frozen moment in time...

Soundtrack. Western Electric in 1962 made equipment, cable wire and parts needed for telephones to work. The subsidiary eventually became Bell Telephone Labs. In '62, they released Wire for Sound, a promotional film directed by Paul Cohen laying out what the company does and its importance.

The reason I'm showing you this short—sent along by Mark Rabin—is so you can hear the film's score composed by someone named George Forrell. Unfortunately, the arranger and musicians weren't credited, but they're all clearly seasoned studio players with a jazz sensibility. Go here...

Here's Lili Anel singing Not Enough from her new album, You Have a Visitor...

And here's Judy Wexler singing No Wonder, the title track of her new album...

And finally, here's Tony Bennett in March 1965 singing If I Ruled the World, backed by Woody Herman's band and cornetist Bobby Hackett. Watch how he uses his mouth to add color to the notes. If this rendition doesn't move you, check your pulse...