In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed British actress Naomi Watts for my House Call column in the Mansion section (go here). The star of Mulholland Drive, 21 Grams, Birdman and Feud: Capote vs. The Swans has a new book out: Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I’d Known About Menopause (Crown, here). [Photo above of Naomi Watts by JUANKR, courtesy of Naomi Watts]
Here's the Mulholland Drive trailer...
Here's Naomi and David Lynch on casting...
Here's Naomi in Feud, as socialite Babe Paley with Treat Williams as her husband, Bill Paley, in one of the series' most dramatic scenes...
And here's Naomi in 21 Grams...
Chuck, Frank and me. This Sunday—at 2 p.m. (PT)/5 p.m. (ET)—I'll be on Chuck Granata's Sinatra Standard Time for two hours on KSDS-FM in San Diego (streaming live at Jazz88.org). We'll be chatting about a pair of epic Frank Sinatra LPs for Capitol—Songs for Swingin' Lovers and A Swingin' Affair! Both albums will be played in full. Listen from anywhere in the world by going here.
Here's Chuck's promo...
My favorite streaming series, ranked...
- Babylon Berlin
- My Brilliant Friend
- Killing Eve
- The Crown
- The Americans
- Younger
- Band of Brothers
- Landman
- Friday Night Lights
- The Old Man
- Feud: Bette and Joan
- Downton Abbey
- The Blacklist
- Goliath
- The Gentlemen
- Turn: Washington's Spies
- Unbelievable
- Justified
- Voiceless (Bella da morire (2020/MHz)
- Black Doves
- Web Therapy
Just viewed and highly recommend...
Younger (2015-2018)—I'm still working through this fantastic series. Trust me, just start watching it. Since I mentioned Younger last week, it's now the No. 1 series at Netflix. Created and produced by Darren Star (Sex and the City, Emily in Paris), Younger's premise is genius. Set in New York City, the comedy focuses on the personal and professional life of Liza Miller (Sutton Foster), a 40-year-old divorcee and mom who has trouble getting back into the workforce—until she says she's 26. The series follows her struggles to hide her real age from her boss and co-worker, and to adapt to the lingo and mores of a new and confusing generation. (Netflix)
Here's the trailer...
Stuff I liked that just started or will soon...
- American Primeval S1 (now/Netflix)
- Back in Action (now/Netflix)
- Zero Day (Feb. 20/Netflix)
- Long Bright River (March 13/Peacock)
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)
- 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)
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)
- 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)
Bill Evans. Last week, following my post on guitarists covering songs recorded by Bill Evans, I heard from José Enrique:
Marc, thank you!! Great covers of Evans' songs. JazzWax readers, I'm sure, will want to know about an exceptional album of Bill Evans' covers. The album is PAZ, by guitarist Niño Josele. I'm a great fan of your work here in Mexico City. Thank you for all the effort and time dedicated to it. Go here.
Here's guitarist Niño Josele playing Evans's Waltz for Debby...
Hank Mobley. Last week, following my Backgrounder post on tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley's Hank Mobley Quartet (1955), I heard from Bill Kirchner...
Hi Marc. Thanks for featuring this gem. My favorite Mobley records are ones where his is the only horn—the one you featured, "Soul Station," "Workout" and "Another Workout." To me, Mobley was not by nature a competitor, and trumpeters often tend to be competitive due to the nature of their instruments. Of course, saxophonists and other horn players tend to be competitive as well. So when Mobley was the only horn, he could relax and just play with a hip rhythm section.
I was lucky to hear Mobley in concert at the New York Jazz Museum in the early 1970s. Other groups I heard there included those led by Howard McGhee, Jimmy Giuffre, Rashied Ali, Bobbi Humphrey and Thad Jones and Mel Lewis (with a quintet). To invoke a Bob Brookmeyer composition, “Days Gone By, Oh My!"
93 KHJ, Los Angeles. Following my post last week on 93 KHJ in L.A., I heard from Mark Sudock:
Hi Marc. In the 1960s, you couldn't live in Southern California and not be aware of 93 KHJ. The word “juggernaut” describes the station’s power and influence.
Did you notice the photo of the KHJ facade you posted (above)? That streamline-Moderne structure at 5515 Melrose Ave. had many tenants prior to KHJ. Among them, NBC in the 1930s and '40s and then Capitol Records in the 1950s. In fact, that’s the building where Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle recorded their earliest and greatest material, from 1953 to '56. Swing Easy, Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin’ Lovers and Where Are You? are among the Sinatra titles recorded there. Once Capitol's famed round tower on Vine Street was completed in 1956, the label moved out of 5515 Melrose and KHJ moved in. Today, Paramount owns the building.
8-Bit Big Band. The last video game I played was Ms. PacMan in a coin-fed console, about 25 years ago. So video-game music isn't in my wheelhouse. When Mark Rabin sent along the following clip, I was all set to dispatch it to the trash. Then I began listening and was thunderstruck how smartly arranged and tight this band is. Give it a spin. Go here...
So Very Hard to Go. Here's Tower of Power, with Lenny Williams on lead vocal, in the 1970s...
Dominyka Mauliūtė. Speaking of young guitarists, dig Dominyka (above)...
Here's Wes Montgomery's D-Natural Blues, as arranged by the late guitarist Emily Remler. And yes, like Wes, that's Dominyka's thumb, not a pick...
Here's Dominyka on Windy, with the original Montgomery backing track arranged by Don Sebesky...
Here's Dominyka on The Shadow of Your Smile, from the same album, Montgomery's A Day in the Life...
And here's Dominyka covering Montgomery's Days of Wine and Roses...
Who is Dominyka? Go here.
More Artie Shaw. At the dawn of the 1950s, there was a secluded hotel in Scotland called the Westerdunes, run by Pete Chilver. Pete was a British guitarist who backed many touring American pop and jazz musicians. He passed in 2008, but his son, David, is in touch with me regularly from the U.K. Here's a story David passed along last week [photo above of Artie Shaw and Doris Dowling, wife #7, in 1952]:
Hi Marc. I very much enjoyed your recent posts about Artie Shaw. In 1951, Dad retired from being a London-based jazz musician and moved to Scotland, where he embarked on a very different career.
He managed a restaurant in Edinburgh and a hotel in North Berwick, which was then a sleepy and small golfing town some 25 miles away. This was at a time when there were hardly any commercial flights into Edinburgh and when tourist numbers were minimal compared to later years.
Sometime in 1952, my Dad noted a booking in the hotel's register under the name of Mr. and Mrs. Shaw. He thought nothing of it—until they checked in. He immediately recognized them as Artie Shaw and his then wife, Doris Dowling. Dad was very surprised, to say the least.
But so was Shaw when Dad introduced himself as "Benny Goodman's guitarist." Dad had played in Benny's quartet alongside Buddy Greco during their 1949 England visit.
Shaw explained that he wanted to get away from it all for a week or so and had chosen North Berwick for its remote location, where the risk of him being recognized was slim. So much for that, then.
Anyway, the two of them hit it off and became friends--so much so that in the years that followed, my parents spent two vacations with the Shaws at their villa in Spain, although by then "Mrs. Shaw" was Evelyn Keyes.
After Dad passed in 2008, I discovered a box of his correspondence, including the hotel brochure and Shaw's complimentary comments about his stay (above).
It also has contributions by the British bandleader Ted Heath (who my dad had played with in the 1940s) and the great classical conductor, composer and pianist Dimitri Mitropoulos, who you'll recall from your very interesting interview with George Avakian.
The hotel must have been a cool place to stay back in the day. Apparently, when Artie Shaw visited, I was "introduced" to him, and Doris Dowling gave me a kiss, according to my mother. I was only 2, however, so unfortunately have no recollection of that nice moment.
Roy Eldridge radio. WKCR-FM in New York will present its annual "Roy Eldridge Birthday Broadcast" on Thursday, January 30. The station will be playing the trumpeter's (above) records for 24 hours, starting at 11:59 p.m. (ET) on January 29. You can listen from anywhere in the world by going here.
And finally, here's the R&B maestro Barry White explaining how he and engineer Frank Kejmar mixed his hit It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me, in 1977, for the album Barry White Sings for Someone You Love...