A few years before Artie Shaw returned from a hiatus in Mexico to launch his Frenesi big band in 1940, he fronted a group in 1937 and '38 called the Rhythm-Makers. The band was sub-billed as Art Shaw and His New Music. This is the band that Shaw fronted to record Any Old Time with Billie Holiday.
The early Shaw-led band was a mixed bag, but one of the best recording sessions by this fox-trot ensemble came on October 17, 1937, when it recorded for the NBC Thesaurus transcription service in New York. Thesaurus provided stations with discs of around 17 inches that held upward of 20 songs at roughly 3 minutes each, lasting an hour. A sponsor typically picked up the tab of its broadcast. Transcription discs eliminated the need by stations to change 78s, and the large discs were approved by the musicians union.
Shaw's Rhythm-Makers in October 1937 consisted of Chuck Peterson, Tommy DiCarlo and Malcolm Crain (tp); George Arus and Harry Rogers (tb); Artie Shaw (cl); Les Robinson and Hank Freeman (as); Tony Pastor and Jules Rubin (ts); Les Burness (p); Al Avola (g); Ben Ginsberg (b); Cliff Leeman (d) and Jerry Gray (arr). The vocalists on the following tracks are less clear.
What made this Shaw band special was its cool, swinging approach and a modernism that he would perfect a few years later. In some respects, many of the tracks recorded on the October 1937 session now seem like sketches or demos for Shaw's 1940 vision.
Here are seven tracks from the 1937 Thesaurus session:
JazzWax tracks: You can hear Artie Shaw and the Rhythm-Makers in full across three volumes of The Complete Rhythm-Makers Sessions 1937 - 1938. Or you'll find them on Spotify and other streaming platforms.
In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed actress Julia Stiles for my House Call column in the Mansion section (go here). She grew up in a loft in Manhattan's SoHo district, and her mom was and is a ceramic artist and novelist. Julia is most famous for her co-starring role in the Bourne film series. Now she has directed Wish You Were Here, a romantic drama film due Jan. 17. She also appeared in the movie 10 Things I Hate About You and and Netflix's Dexter. [Photo above of Julia Stiles courtesy of MTV Films/Paramount]
Here's Julia with Matt Damon in The Bourne Supremacy, one of five Bourne films that changed the action genre. Julia was in four of the five...
Here's the trailer for 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), a hit film that put her on the map...
And here's the trailer for the upcoming film she directed, Wish You Were Here...
My favorite streaming series, ranked...
Babylon Berlin
My Brilliant Friend
Killing Eve
The Crown
The Americans
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...
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)—Directed by Martin Scorsese, the film last year garnered 10 Oscar nominations and walked away with 0. An outrage. In this Western about the murders of members of the Osage Nation, who became rich when oil was discovered on their land, Robert De Niro delivers one of his finest career performances. Lily Gladstone and Leonardo DiCaprio also were deserving. A long film at 3 1/2 hours, it's worth every minute, and you'll never even look at the clock. (Apple TV+)
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)
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)
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)
TheBricklayer—(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)
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)
The Spy—(2019/Netflix)
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
Morgan Ames (above), the great composer and lyricist who has lived in Los Angeles and Palm Desert forever, sent along the following last night after receiving my Jack Sheldon post yesterday:
Marc, thank you especially for the first two paragraphs of your Jack Sheldon post. I read them several times for comfort. L.A. holds my life’s history, other than the New York years.
Many friends in L.A. have evacuated or have suitcases by the door. I've been told by musicians who have lost their homes that everything in Malibu is up in smoke. The winds have been unbelievable.
I live in Palm Desert where this morning the sky was silky blue and the mountains sharp and clear. I feel a California split for the first time. And while I love your optimism, I don’t know. Not just the houses but the landscape is gone and even the roads by the ocean. I’m sad today, but nobody I know is dead, which I'm grateful for given what has been going on.
Thanks for Jack Sheldon, who is synonymous with the West Coast jazz scene. I first met him in Burbank, where we both lived when I was 14. My first big band rehearsal. He was an old dude to me, but he had a pack of Lucky Strikes in the sleeve of his T-shirt, which I thought looked so cool. He was a goofball even then—until he played his trumpet.
Love all your work, every obsessive word about jazz.
Royce Campbell, one of my favorite jazz guitarists and who recorded with Henry Mancini, sent along an email:
Hi Marc: Back in 2007, I recorded a solo guitar CD. For some reason, I got it in my autistic mind that nobody would be interested in a solo guitar CD. So I never promoted it. I didn't even send a copy to radio stations. Recently, I went back and listened to it again. Now I think it's one of the best albums I've done. Fans have told me they like my solo stuff best of all. It does give me a chance to show my knowledge of advanced harmony. I hope you enjoy it.
Here's Royce's wonderful The Art of Chord Solo Guitar. You'll land on the first track, In a Sentimental Mood. Let YouTube play and you'll hear the rest of the songs, which are in the right-hand column. Dig Royce's juicy chords and harmony...
Bess Bonnier was a jazz pianist, composer and educator who was born in Detroit and remained there throughout her career. Blind from birth, she raised three children as a single mother. Bonnier began her recording career in 1958, when her trio was featured on Theme for the Tall One (Argo). She was 30 then and backed by Nick Fiore (b) and Bill Steen (d). Born in 1928, she died in 2011 at age 83.
Last week, Bil Kirchner sent along a link to her marvelous album Love Notes (Noteworks), from 1997, backed by Cary Kocher (vib), Paul Keller (b) and Pete Siers (d). As Bill notes, "Bess was considered a peer by fellow DetroitersTommy Flanagan, Roland Hanna, and Barry Harris." Go here...
Artie Shaw recorded Tadd Dameron's bop-hued composition and arrangement of Fred's Delight, in 1949, with an all-star band: Don Fagerquist, Don Paladino, Dale Pierce and Victor Ford (tp); Sonny Russo, Porky Cohen, Fred Zito and Bart Varsalona (tb); Artie Shaw (cl); Herbie Steward and Frank Socolow (as); Al Cohn and Zoot Sims (ts); Danny Bank (bar); Gil Barrios (p); Jimmy Raney (g); Dick Nivison (b); Irv Kluger (d). [Photo above of Artie Shaw]
If you think this chart is easy to play, listen again and then check out current bands on YouTube trying to play it.
Speaking of Shaw and Chick Webb. In my Chick Webb post, I neglected to mention that Stephanie Stein Crease has authored Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat That Changed America (Oxford/2023), a biography of the drummer that's loaded with information about his brief but influential career and the era in which he thrived.
Also in 2023, Barnett Singer and Jesse Read authored Artie Shaw: Icon of Swing (McFarland), which is less about nitty-gritty biography and more focused on impressions of Shaw's recordings, with Shaw widely quoted from Singer's interviews with the masterful clarinetist, bandleader and arranger.
Music to your eyes. Three videos I came across last week:
Here's Tony Bennett on TV's What's My Line in October 1964...
Here's Dinah Shore and Frank Sinatra in the early 1960s. No one, except perhaps Pearl Bailey, beat these two for cracking up during a song and keeping track of the lyrics when they picked it up again a few bars later...
Nat King Cole appeared on the BBC special An Evening With Nat King Cole that aired in the U.S. in October 1963. Composed by Joe Sherman and George David Weiss that year, That Sunday, That Summer was a No. 12 Billboard Hot 100 hit for Cole in 1963. A month later, Kennedy would be assassinated, sending the country into a spiraling depression that wouldn't lift until February 1964, when the Beatles arrived in New York following the release of their album Meet the Beatles during the Christmas holiday week. Music for pre-teens and teens would quickly dominate the marketplace going forward. Go here...
And finally, a tribute to L.A. Here are five trumpet solos that have always reminded me most of Los Angeles and now sound like a fitting salute to the torn city. Heartbreaking to watch on TV and hear about the destruction and loss from friends who live there. [Photo above of Malibu in the 1950s]
Given the misery in Los Angeles, I thought today's Backgrounder would cause us to take a moment and reflect on a period when the city and county were just coming into their own and to hope for the region's speedy return to its former glory.
Los Angeles was, is and will always be the world's epicenter of dreams, fame, sunshine and eternal youth. We need the homes, lives and that optimism leveled by fire to be rebuilt as soon as possible. We depend on Southern California to be a place of hope and possibility.
My Backgrounder today is classic West Coast jazz of the late 1950s, with its relaxed contrapuntal sound and upbeat feel. Jack Sheldon was a top West Coast jazz and session trumpeter starting in the 1950s and a favorite of arrangers such as Johnny Mandel and John Williams. His enormous appeal was his enormous talent, firm and straight-ahead tone, self-deprecating good cheer and reliability.
When Jack's Groove was released in 1962 on GNP Crescendo Records, it featured two different dynamic recording sessions. Side 1 was recorded in July 1957. The second side was recorded in March 1959. I'm guessing that the personnel on the first side was so busy with work that they couldn't regroup for the next date. So the LP lingered, half-fiinished, until it could finally be mopped up in 1959.
The tracks, arrangers and players:
Side A (1957)
Green Dolphin Street (arr./Lennie Niehaus)
I'm Also A Person (arr./Niehaus)
I Had The Craziest Dream (arr./Niehaus)
Arrividerci (arr./George Wallington
Brown Cow (arr./Tiny Kahn)
Jack Sheldon and Conte Candoli (tp), Stu Williamson (v-tb), Vince DeRosa (fhn), Red Callender (tuba), Lennie Niehaus (as), Billy Root (bs), Pete Jolly (p), Buddy Clark (b) and Mel Lewis (dr)
Side B (1959)
Anyhow (arr./Paul Moer)
Julie Is Her Name (arr./Paul Moer)
Aplomb (arr./Paul Moer)
Sunset Eyes (arr./Paul Moer)
J.S. (arr./Paul Moer)
Jack Sheldon and Chet Baker (tp), Stu Williamson (v-tb), Herb Geller and Art Pepper (as), Harold Land (ts), Paul Moer (p), Buddy Clark (b) and Mel Lewis (d)
Now, here's the music (ignore the dates in the embedded clips):
In 1953, Duke Ellington recorded a solo piano piece that was lush, dreamy and introspective. The song was composed in the key of D, and Ellington called it Reflections in D. Ten years later, dancer Alvin Ailey choreographed an expressive modern dance for a solitary dancer set to the Ellington ballad. Ailey created the brief dance as an interlude to hold the audience's attention as the company's other dancers changed costumes between ballets.
In early 1978, pianist Bill Evans decided to record Reflections in D for the first time on his album New Conversations—a follow-up to his Conversations With Myself (1963) and Further Conversations With Myself (1967). On these albums, Evans overdubbed himself, as if he were two pianists engaged in a duet.
The exception on New Conversations was Reflections in D, a solo track without overdubbing. It is one of Evans's most beautiful solo pieces and a rich tribute to Ellington. Don't bother comparing the versions in a search for the "better" expression. They are equally romantic and meditative. Ellington's is more ruminative and hesitant in places, as if he's weighing up thoughts while reflecting. Evans's rendition is more organic and stirring—a poetic seascape, with the tide pushing and pulling and building steadily. Both are perfect for different reasons.
Here's Bill Evans's New Conversations version of Reflections in D in 1978...
Here's Duke Ellington's original solo piece in 1953...
And here'sVernard J. Gilmore performing Alvin Alley's Reflections in D interlude...
Other Perfection tracks in this ongoing series...
Paul Desmond and Jim Hall: Any Other Time,go here.
I've known Roberto Magris since the start of this blog in 2007. Roberto is an Italian pianist-composer who was born in Trieste, and fell in love with jazz after hearing Oscar Peterson's 1977 album, The Way I Really Play. As many readers know, all it takes is one superb album for jazz to win you over.
Roberto's new hard-bop album is Freedom Is Peace (JMood), recorded live in Bad Goisern, Austria, in April 2024. The artists on stage were a rough and tough bunch—Roberto Magris (p), Lukáš Oravec (tp), Tony Lakatos (ts,ss), Florian Bramböck (bs), Rudi Engel (b) and Gašper Bertoncelj (d). These guys come to play. [Photo above of Roberto Magris]
If there's a patron saint hovering over the album's music, it's McCoy Tyner. The music churns with Roberto delivering Tyner's modal flourish and bombastic attack, and the arrangements follow suit. But the music isn't wild and wooly; it's tight and superbly arranged, and comes with a wailing edge. Smart liner notes by Bill Milkowski.
The tracks
Freedom Is Peace (Roberto Magris)
The Island of Nowhere (Magris)
Malay Tone Poem (Hotep Idris Galeta)
Laverne (Andrew Hill)
Something to Save From EU (You) (Magris)
When You Touch Me (Boaz Sharabi)
Loose Fit (Magris)
Hip! For the Conference (Magris)
What makes Roberto special is his high energy level and tender heart. On Freedom Is Peace, he balances muscle with a delicate feel, and the musicians in his Europlane sextet are equally ferocious and poetic. Roberto's album is a reminder that some of the world's most serious jazz is now being made outside of the U.S. A must own.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Freedom Is Peace (JMood) here or on streaming platforms.
Dutch drummer Eric Ineke has just released a tremendously exciting new album that is easily one of my favorites—The Eric Ineke JazzXpress Plays the Music of Cannonball Adderley (Timeless). It's a gorgeous tribute to the esteemed alto saxophonist, composer and bandleader.
Among Eric's many jazz accomplishments in the Netherlands was being a member of the Frans Elsen Septet. Born in 1934, Elsen was one of the first bebop pianists in Holland who was much in demand in the early 1950s, when he began playing professionally there with with American tenor saxophonist Don Byas. [Photo above of Eric Inike]
In the 1970s, Elsen also was the first in Holland to introduce jazz in classical music schools and conservatories, and he helped organize the jazz departments at the Netherlands' main conservatories. He taught piano, arranging and theory, and held ensemble classes at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague.
He also was an early European champion of the Fender Rhodes electric piano. His masterpiece was The Norwegian Cycle, performed and recorded with his septet—Elsen on Fender Rhodes, Piet Noordijk on alto saxophone, Eddie Engels on trumpet and flugelhorn, Wim Overgaauw on guitar, Rob Langereis on bass guitar, Eric Ineke on drums and Wim van der Beek on percussion.
But The Norwegian Cycle suite wasn't released in the early 1970s. It only surfaced in 2021 when exhumed by the Netherlands Jazz Archive and released as Norway. Eric's playing on there is sensitive and engaging.
Long a favoite pick-up drummer by touring American jazz legends, Eric delivers a fitting tribute to Cannonball Adderley. The arrangements of the songs recorded by the Cannonball Adderley Sextet are by Rob van Bavel, Marius Beets and Sjoerd Dijkhuizen. All are sophisticated, driving and true to the originals.
The band
Eric Ineke (d), Tineke Postma (as), Sjoerd Dijkhuizen (ts), Nico Schepers (tp), Rob van Bavel (p) and Marius Beets (b).
The tracks
Azule Serape (Victor Feldman)/arr. Rob van Bavel
Planet Earth (Yusef Lateef)/arr. Marius Beets
P. Bouk (Yusef Lateef)/arr. Beets
Jessica's Birthday (Quincy Jones)/arr. Beets
Domination (Cannonball Adderley)/Beets
Gemini (Jimmy Heath)/van Bavel
Dizzy's Business (Quincy Jones)/van Bavel
Work Song (Nat Adderley)/van Bavel
The Chant (Victor Feldman)/Sjoerd Dijkhuizen
Unit 7 (Sam Jones)/van Bavel
What makes this album special, in addition to the superb musicians and arrangements, are the high standards and intimacy of the music. The sextet is way inside the music and retains Adderley's soulful and cohesive qualities. Every track is tight and reflects Adderley's high standards and swinging charm.
As for Eric, he is one of the greats—always stirring up the music with just the right amount of energy and encouragement.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find The Eric Ineke JazzXpress Plays the Music of Cannonball Adderley (Timeless) here. If you want the album, just buy it. You won't be sorry.
If you want to give all of the tracks a full listen at YouTube, go here.
Bonus:Here's the Eric Ineke JazzXpress performing a tribute to Dexter Gordon, with tenor saxophonists Gideon Tazelaa, left, and Sjoerd Dijkhuizen playing two songs at once—Gideon is playing Miles Davis's Half Nelson and Sjoerd is playing Tadd Dameron's Lady Bird. The former is based on the latter's chord changes...
And here'sThe Chase, originally a lengthy tenor saxophone battle between Dexter Gordon and Wardell Gray...
Like vocalist Carol Sloane, Nancy Harrow came up just as the music world flipped upside down. Jazz was out, rock and soul were in and that was that. But like Carol, Nancy powered forward.
In the early 1960s and again beginning in the late 1970s, Nancy recorded 16 albums with Buck Clayton, Dick Katz, Jim Hall, John Lewis, Phil Woods, Connie Kay, Gary McFarland, Frank Wess, Bob Brookmeyer, Roland Hanna and Clark Terry. Throughout this period, Nancy explored songs with a Billie Holiday lilt. [Photo above of Nancy Harrow]
Last year, at 93, Nancy went into two studios for a new album—Second Thoughts (Benfan Music). First, in April, she recorded at Teaneck Sound in New Jersey, backed by Ted Rosenthal (p), Rufus Reid (b) and Dennis Mackrel (d), who also wrote the arrangements.
Then in July, she recorded with just Ted accompanying at Eastside Sound in New York. The results are wonderful. Ted's piano accompaniment for both sessions are exquisite and loving.
The album features both originals and well-chosen standards, and Nancy handles them all with style. Eight of the 11 songs are by Nancy (words and music), who previously recorded five of them on earlier CDs. As she said in an email:
"The title song was never recorded before. I just wrote it this year (2024). "Can’t Say Goodbye" was also never recorded before. It was written for the theater piece "About Love" that was based on a Turgenev short story and sung by the actor in the show, but never recorded. "Dear Max" was sung by Grady Tate on my "Winter Dreams" CD, but I had never sung it before."
It takes courage to record at any age, but most especially when retirement is the easier option. But that's not Nancy. She's always been a worker and lover of music.
What's more, Nancy's music lyrics have a fun feel, reminiscent of Mose Allison, Dave Frishberg, Bob Dorough and Blossom Dearie. Dear Max, Life Is Short and The House on the Low Round Hill come to mind. All have a girlish feel that makes them especially engaging.
Second Thoughts is a playfully serious reminder that life is lived in stages, and if you think you have it rough now, just you wait. Hopefully this isn't a swan song album, just a seasoned pro having another go at what she loves to do most.
The tracks:
Am I Beautiful (Nancy Harrow)
Somebody Loves Me (George Gershwin-MacDonald)
I Am Too Shy (Nancy Harrow)
I Thought About You (Van Heusen-Mercer)
My Ship (Weill-Ira Gershwin)
Dear Max (Nancy Harrow)
Life Is Short (Nancy Harrow)
Self-Esteem (Nancy Harrow)
The House on the Low Round Hill (Nancy Harrow)
Can't Say Goodbye (Nancy Harrow)
Second Thoughts (Nancy Harrow)
To read my 2015 JazzWax interview with Nancy, go here.
JazzWax tracks: You'll find Nancy Harrow's Second Thoughts (Benfan) here and on streaming platforms.
FYI, Fresh Sound has Nancy's Wild Women Don't Have the Blues (1960) and You Never Know (1962) on one CD here.
Bonus:Here's a photo of Nancy in the studio, as the clip features her singing Second Thoughts, with Ted Rosenthal accompanying on piano...
Here's Nancy with the Buck Clayton Jazz Stars in 1960, with Buck Clayton (tp, arr); Dickie Wells (tp); Tom Gwaltney (cl,as); Buddy Tate (ts); Danny Bank (bs); Dick Wellstood (p); Kenny Burrell (g); Milt Hinton (b) and Oliver Jackson (d). How's that lineup for a New York session?...
And here'sSong for the Dreamer, with the Gary McFarland Orchestra, featuring Willie Dennis (tb); Phil Woods (cl); Sol Schlinger (bs); Dick Katz (p); Jim Hall (g); Tommy Williams (b); Connie Kay (d); and Gary McFarland (arr,cond)...
In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed actor Taylor Kitsch for my House Call column in the Mansion section (go here). You probably know Taylor best from Friday Night Lights, in which he played football player Tim Riggins. An amazing childhood story with a kicker that took place just before Christmas, a week or so ago. He stars in a spectacular and gripping new Western miniseries, American Primeval, that starts January 9 on Netflix. [Photo above of Taylor Kitsch courtesy of Netflix]
Here's Taylor as the long-haired Tim "Riggy" Riggins in Friday Night Lights...
The Perfect Couple (2024)—A tad Hallmark-y and wooden, the mystery series about a murder the evening before a wealthy family's son is to marry is still fetching, thanks to Donna Lynne Champlin and Eve Hewson, two less familiar faces. An all-star cast that includes Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber and Meghann Fahy. (Netflix)
The Pledge (2001)—Superb acting by Jack Nicholson in this gripping psychological drama. He would appear in only six more films before retiring in 2010. (Peacock)
The Dropout (2022)—A biographical miniseries about Elizabeth Holmes, a Stanford University dropout who goes on to found healthcare startup Theranos. Amanda Seyfried plays nerdy and brazen Holmes flawlessly. In 2022, Holmes was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 11 years and 3 months in prison. Her net worth went from $4.5 billion to zero (Hulu)
The Queen (2006)—The predecessor of The Crown by 10 years, this examination of Queen Elizabeth II's detached reaction to Princess Diana's death in 1997 still stings and stuns. Sterling performances by Helen Mirren as the Queen and Michael Sheen as Prime Minister Tony Blair. (Paramount+)
Elizabeth 1 (2005)—Helen Mirren as Elizabeth I (1533-1603) is one of the 21st century's finest series performances by any actor or actress. The story unfolds in two lengthy parts. (Max)
Woman in Gold (2015)—Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer (1907) was looted by the Nazis at the home of a Jewish family in Austria during World War II. This film depicts the efforts by a surviving heir to get the family's painting back from Austria. Once again, Helen Mirren delivers a compelling character as she stoically works the legal system with her nephew, a green lawyer and grandson of Arnold Schoenberg. (Max)
Have viewed and will start soon...
No Good Deed S1 (Now/Netflix)
American Primeval S1 (Jan. 9/Netflix)
Back in Action (Jan. 17/Netflix)
Zero Day (Feb. 20/Netflix)
Long Bright River (March/Peacock)
Recommended series, films and documentaries...
TV series
TheAffair—(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)
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)
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)
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)
TheBricklayer—(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)
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)
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)
Some Girl(s)—(2013/Amazon Prime)
Somewhere in Queens—(2022/Hulu)
The Spy—(2019/Netflix)
Spy(ies)—(2009/Prime)
The Stranger—(2022/Netflix)
Toscana—(2022/Netflix)
The Two Popes—(2019/Netflix)
Up in the Air—(2009/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
Chick Webb. Last week, following my post on Chick Webb, I heard from Woody Herman drummer Ed Soph [photo above of Chick Webb]:
Hi, Marc. Great post. As is well known, Chick greatly influenced Buddy Rich. I call it the “staccato” style of big band drumming: Webb, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich, Louie Bellson, Sonny Payne. A contemporary of Webb’s, Davey Tough, laid the groundwork for the “legato” style: Tiny Kahn, Mel Lewis, John Von Ohlen and Jeff Hamilton. Then there’s the missing link, the Roy Eldridge of drummers—Big Sid Catlett. This brings wishes for a peaceful, fulfilling and healthful New Year! Looking forward to your 2025 posts!
Jimmy Smith and Willie Bobo. Last week, Jim Eigo, of Jazz Promo Servies and Original Vinyl Records, sent along great clips of Jimmy Smith and Willie Bobo iin action.
Sammy Davis Jr. could be silly and oily at times, but no one could hip up a song the way he did. Sammy could spin Mary Had a Little Lamb into pure gold if he had to. Here he is swinging Burt Bacharach and Hal David's This Guy's in Love With You...
Billie Holiday.Here's one of my favorites by Lady Day, You Turned the Tables on Me, recorded in May 1952, with Flip Phillips (ts), Oscar Peterson (p), Barney Kessel (g), Ray Brown (b) and Alvin Stoller (d)...
In Memoriam. One of the sad scenes about writing JazzWax for 17 years are the many jazz fans I've corresponded with who have since passed on. This week, I learned that one of Ireland's finest, Ollie Dowling, died unexpectedly on Christmas Eve morning. Not a week went by without hearing from dear Ollie in Dublin. He was always excited about jazz he'd heard or read about at JazzWax. One of the most touching reports from Ollie years ago was telling me about sharing JazzWax with his client, Irish jazz guitar great Louis Stewart. Ollie was his manager. What an honor for me.
Though the weather report from Ollie was often glum, the gray skies never dampened his enthusiasm for people and music. Though I could hear the rain hitting the window panes when Ollie wrote, I also could feel the warmth of the hearth and the poetry of a noble guy. He's with Louis now and I'm sure they're sitting someplace enjoying a pint and a record on the turntable. Miss ya, Ollie.
Here are words from his sister. I feature them here because they are so touching and gloriously Irish in their passion and soulfulness...
Marc, forgive me your time in advance. Chantell here, kid sister of Ollie Dowling, who sadly passed Christmas Eve morning. A gentleman by the name of Andrew Carroll, a friend of Ollie's, who contacted you about my brothers' sad and unexpected death, relayed to me tonight an email you wrote about Ollie.
Consumed by grief this past week, the misfortune (or fortune) falls to me, in my family, to be the one who holds it all together. We had a funeral to arrange, I had a fitting eulogy to try to write and our 83-year-old parents to console. It has been a hell of a time, but I felt compelled to reach out and thank you for your kind words.
We have been truly overwhelmed at the outpouring of love and respect for my brother from so many, far and near. But in the vein of real Irish honesty, I had a proper good salty cry tonight when I realized he was known to you. He really was the real deal. Thank you for knowing him.
Here's my eulogy, if you care to read it:
Christmas had a very different plan for us this year. We would all converge on home, but under awful circumstances. We lost a tribesman Christmas Eve morning, a brother, my big brother, a first-born son and the cool uncle. He had a kind heart and a soul full of music.
Born February 1963 in Altrincham, to Irish parents, rescued out of Bowden at 10 and brought home across the sea to Ireland, he paved the way for the rest of us.
We knew the women he loved down through the years, all beautiful creatures, the most precious being Noelle. Make him take you on that date up there now.
We know we are all having a pint of Smithwicks today.
Residing in Dublin for most of his life, he moved in music circles we knew little of but he knew everything about. Ollie was a private man but a mover and a shaker in the music world: the founder of JazzFM in the mid 1990s, which he ran for nine years. It was an iconic radio station that paved the way for so many.
Some knew him as co founder of Def Row hip hop night club that gave Dublin debuts to so many. There are people who knew him from the Pink Elephant, the Trocadero, the Dublin Funk Collective or his work as promoter of that home grown Jazz great, Louie Stewart.
As a family we have all recounted our fond memories and anecdotes about Oliver in the past few days. It helped us through the shock and grief.
With Ollie's passing we have become the proud custodians of an online radio station—HeadWaxFM, which I will promote to within an inch of its life—and the biggest collection of white label vinyl you have ever seen.
Everyone has their own Ollie story. All have merit, all need to be cherished, stitched and woven together.
And so to quote from the very heart of it: Death is not the end, death is the road to awe.
Safe travels, Ol. Stand at ease.
Chantell
And from Andrew Carroll in Wicklow, Ireland...
Marc, I bring you sad, unexpected news.
Ollie Dowling, the founder of Ireland's pirate station JazzFM, Headwax Radio and friend and manager of Louis Stewart, died on Christmas Eve morning. I understand that the cause is as yet undetermined.
He was a huge JazzWax fan and very much valued your correspondence with him over the years. He was particularly impressed by the way you introduced Louis to a whole new audience.
I know he would join me in thanking you for the continued stream of jazz insights and new discoveries.
Wishing you the very best for 2025.
Free jazz broadcasts. Last week, I heard from Kim Paris of the FM Radio Archive with links to jazz artists featured at JazzWax who gave performances over the radio [photo of the Modern Jazz Quartet]:
Eliane Elias—is featured in a CultureBox TV broadcast from Jazz a Vienne in France in 2014. Go here.
George Cables—is featured in five broadcasts with different bands between 1972 to 2012. Go here.
Bill Evans—has two recordings in the archive, with his trio in 1975 and with Tony Bennett in 1976. Go here.
Paul Desmond—played with Dave Brubeck and Gerry Mulligan on Berliner Jazztage in 1972. Go here.
Modern Jazz Quartet—has three recordings, ranging from 1964 in London to 1991 in Monterey, Cal. Go here.
Grant Green radio. On Sunday, Sid Gribetz will host a five-hour "Jazz Profiles" retrospective of guitarist Grant Green's recordings from 2 to 7 p.m. (ET) on WKCR-FM. Listen from anywhere in the world by going here.
Max Roach radio. WKCR-FM will feature its 24-hour Max Roach Birthday Broadcast starting on Thursday night, January 9, at 11:59 p.m. (ET) through to the same time the following evening. Listen from anywhere in the world by going here
And finally, I have three roses for you—three sunshine pop hits with with "rose" in the chorus:
Here's The Flying Machine singing Geoff Stephens and Tony Macaulay's Smile a Little Smile For Me (1969)...
Here's Edison Lighthouse performing Tony Macaulay and Barry Mason's Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes) (1970)...
And here's Lynn Anderson singing Joe South's Rose Garden (1970)...
Loren Schoenberg is senior scholar of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem and on the faculty at Juilliard. He has taught at the Manhattan School of Music and the New School and played tenor saxophone in Benny Goodman's band in the 1980s. Last week, he posted to YouTube two silent black-and-white clips from two classic recording dates for Norman Granz's Verve label.
The footage was found by filmmaker Christopher Seufert, who, Loren says, was permitted to share excerpts, Loren smartly added music from the record, without trying to match the audio to the visual. As he says, "It helps with the ambience."
Unclear is where Christopher found the film, how much more there is, who filmed it and how did Christopher manage to come across it. Can we expect a Granz documentary?
The first film clip is from the recording of Sonny Side Up, with Dizzy Gillespie (tp); Sonny Rollins and Sonny Stitt (ts); Ray Bryant(p); Tommy Bryant (b) and Charlie Persip (d), recorded in December 1957.
The second is from the recording of Ben Webster and Associates, featuring Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins and Budd Johnson (ts); Roy Eldridge (tp); Les Spann (g); Jimmy Jones (p), Ray Brown (b) and Jo Jones (d), recorded in April 1959.
Hank O'Neal and I have known each other since I started JazzWax in 2007. He's a jazz hero, not only as an esteemed record producer and collector but also as an author, photographer, networker and a board member of the Jazz Foundation of America, which among other things provides jazz musicians in need of health care with financial assistance. [Photo above by Berenice Abbott, courtesy of Hank O'Neal]
On New Year's Eve day, Hank sent along an email to see how I was doing and to share what he's been up to of late. He also wanted to let me know how much he enjoyed the Chick Webb post. Then he mentioned that he had an image of the Chick Webb band in 1929 taken by Berenice Abbott at the Savoy Ballroom—a photo he said is likely the first image of a dance band in action vs. posing for a still. Hank studied photography with Abbott. [Photo above of Hank O'Neal by Ian P. Clifford]
The Abbott photo is at the top of this post. I'll let Hank fill you in on the rest:
Hi Marc. Above is the Chick Webb photo Berenice Abbott took at the Savoy in 1929. This is how I described it in my 1982 book, "Berenice Abbott: American Photographer" (McGraw-Hill):
"[The late 1920s] was a time to experiment, to try to make things look new and exciting in Abbott's photographs. One evening in 1929, a friend took her to the Savoy Ballroom, probably the most popular place in Harlem at the time, and she was captivated. Abbott thought the dancers were the best she had ever seen and wanted to photograph them.
"Permission to take a photograph was granted and she returned to the Savoy a few nights later. She set up her camera, guessed at the exposure, set off a magnesium flash and froze a moment in time at the Savoy, almost starting a riot in the process. She had taken what was probably the first live photograph of a jazz band in action, in this instance Chick Webb's.
"The friend may have been Lelia Walker (Madame C.J.'s daughter) or Jane Heap from the 'Little Review.' She never told me who. But Abbott was part of that uptown crowd. She said the dancers went nuts when the flash went off. You can see little Chick along with the trumpet players singing with megaphones. I used the picture again in my 2013 book, 'The Unknown Abbott: New York' (Steidl), where it is reproduced much larger and far better.
"Abbott took only a single picture that night, a 5" x 7" glass plate and made but one contact print that she kept for herself. It was sold at auction many years ago in the late 1980s or maybe early 1990s to photo-historian Cheryl Finley. I'm glad I copied it before it went away. Berenice loved to dance and even supported herself in Berlin in the early 1920s by giving dancing lessons."
Here's Chick Webb in 1929 playing Dog Bottom, with Ward Pinkett (tp,vcl); Edwin Swayzee (tp); Bob Horton (tb); Hilton Jefferson and Louis Jordan (as,cl); Elmer Williams (ts,cl); Don Kirkpatrick (p); John Trueheart (bj,g); Elmer James (tu) and Chick Webb (d)...
Marc Myers writes regularly for The Wall Street Journal and is author of "Anatomy of 55 More Songs," "Anatomy of a Song," "Rock Concert: An Oral History" and "Why Jazz Happened." Founded in 2007, JazzWax has won three Jazz Journalists Association awards.
