Michael, Roger and Buster

In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed actor Michael Gandolfini, son of the late James Gandolfini, who played Tony Soprano on TV's The Sopranos, for my House Call column in the Mansion section (go here). Michael is in Warfare, one of the most powerful and gripping anti-war movies I've ever seen. [Photo of Michael Gandolfini as Lt. McDonald in Warfare, courtesy of A24]

Here's Michael as the teenage Tony Soprano in The Sopranos' prequel film, The Many Saints of Newark...

And here's Warfare...

What I'm watching

Currently...

• The Four Seasons
• Deep Cover
• Mobland
• Bosch Legacy

Worthwhile stuff that has started or will start soon...

• Bosch Legacy S3 (Prime)
• 1923 (Paramount+)
• Mobland (Paramount+)
• Dark Winds S3 (AMC)
• Long Bright River (Peacock)
• Good American Family (Hulu)
• Alto Knights (film)
• The Four Seasons (May 1/Netflix)
• The Better Sister (May 22/Prime)
• Deep Cover (June 12/film)

My favorite streaming series, ranked...

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

Past 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)
• Enlightened—(2011-2013/Max)
• 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)
• Il Commissario Manara (Inspector Manara) (2009-2011/MHz)
• 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)
• The Promised Life—(2018/MHz via Prime Video)
• 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)
• Enrico Piaggio - Un Sogno Italiano (An Italian Dream) (2019/MHz)
• 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).
• Sicario (2015/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)

Roger Kellaway on Sonny Rollins. Following my post on a new British jazz box from Cherry Red, I heard from legendary pianist Roger Kellaway:

"Hi Marc. I remember playing with several players from the box your posted about along with tenor saxophonist Ronnie Scott in the 1960s and '70s at the Half Note in New York. I had this glorious experience again in 1978 when I lived in London for a year.

"I also loved your reference to Sonny Rollins’s Alfie album from 1966—one of my favorites that I had the pleasure of playing on. On the track Transition Theme for Minor Blues, I wound up taking two piano solos when I was just supposed to take one. During the session, I took my first and I could see Sonny from across the room. Sonny then soloed until he suddenly stopped and squatted down, as if to rest. I knew immediately there was going to be dead space on the track, so, I jumped in with another solo. I have no idea why he did that.

"Just after recording Alfie, I was playing a jazz concert at Lincoln Center's Philharmonic Hall. As I stood backstage, an elevator door opened. The only person in there was Sonny, in the far-left corner, squatting down. I guess he did that a lot either to rest or to think.

"That same year, I was playing a gig at New York's Half Note in Greenwich Village with the Clark Terry/Bob Brookmeyer Quintet. On a break, I was outside the club when an Alfa Romeo pulled up. It was Sonny, wearing a cowboy hat. He looked at me and I looked at him. He said, 'Hey, Kellaway!' I said,'Hi, Sonny.' Those two greetings add up to our entire verbal relationship to this day. The rest was communicated through music."

Here's Transition Theme for Minor Blues, from the Alfie soundtrack, with two solos by pianist Roger Kellaway...

Jimmy Mundy. After my post on swing arranger-composer Jimmy Mundy, I heard from Alan Matheson, a jazz pianist and trumpeter as well as an educator at the University of British Columbia in Canada [photo above of Paul Whiteman]:

"Hi Marc. Many thanks for your great tribute to Jimmy Mundy, an absolute master. Your post included Mundy's arrangement of Tea for Two for Artie Shaw. Listening to it, I realized that Mundy had recycled part of an earlier arrangement for the Shaw chart.

"Back in 1995, we performed Mundy's arrangement of A Zoot Suit during a tribute concert at CBC Vancouver’s Studio One. He had written it for Paul Whiteman in 1942. After listening to the Artie Shaw clip, I realize Mundy had used part of his shout chorus for A Zoot Suit as the shout chorus for his arrangement two years later of Tea For Two.

"By the way, Mundy wrote a number of excellent arrangements for the 1940-42 Whiteman band, including: Tangerine and Take the A Train, which weren’t recorded, and Travelin’ Light and I’m Old Fashioned, which were. Whiteman had hired Mundy to modernize his book of arrangements during this period. We played them all back in 1995, and they sounded great."

[Editor's note: A shout chorus is when the entire band plays together on a chorus, often loud and with high energy.]

Here's Mundy's arrangement of Tea for Two, played by the Artie Shaw Orchestra in 1944 (the shout chorus comes at 2:33)...

And here's Mundy's arrangement of A Zoot Suit, played by the Paul Whiteman Orchestra in 1942 (the shout chorus comes at 2:27)...

Bonus: Here's Mundy's arrangement of Travelin' Light for Whiteman in 1942...

And here's Mundy's arrangement of I'm Old Fashioned for Whiteman in 1942...

Maynard Ferguson. Bret Primack recently sent along a link to a live radio broadcast of the Maynard Ferguson Big Band at Birdland on December 31, 1963 [photo above of Maynard Ferguson]. Go here...

Buster Keaton was one of the funniest and most daring of all the comic silent-film stars. Here's an impossibly clever scene from Keaton's Sherlock Jr. (1924) [photo above of Buster Keaton]...

Julia Child. I can totally relate to the following. I often feel tears coming on when something creative is overwhelmingly beautiful and perfect—whether that's music, writing, acting, art or food. Here's Julia Child (above), choking up and on the verge of crying over a perfect dessert. Watch the entire episode—or move the time bar to 21:12, when Nancy Silverton's tart comes out of the oven...

Charles Mingus radio. WKCR-FM in New York will present its annual Charles Mingus Birthday Broadcast on Tuesday, April 22, presenting the music of the legendary bassist and composer. The radio tribute will last for 24 hours and will start at 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday night. You can listen from anywhere in the world by going here. [Photo above of Charles Mingus, courtesy of Spotify]

And finally, move this video clip to 34:30 and enjoy two of the world's greatest jazz-pop vocalists singing together on a duet in London in 1961...