Dionne, Tomasz and Buddy

This week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed Dionne Warwick for my “House Call" column in the Mansion section. There's nothing like picking up the ringing phone and hearing, “Mr. Myers? Dionne Warwick." Dionne's voice is unmistakable—like a long wooden match being drawn slowly and seductively across a flint. We talked about childhood and growing up in East Orange, N.J. And yes, I asked whether she sings her Hal David/Burt Bacharach hits in the shower. The answer will surprise you.

Here's Dionne Warwick singing one of my favorites, I Say a Little Prayer, in 1967...



And if you love this song as much as I do, here's a brilliant extended version that I found at YouTube...



Tomasz Stańko, a Polish free-jazz trumpeter, died on July 29. He was 76. Here's an hour of Stańko at Jazz Baltica in 2005...



More West Side Story. Following my post last week on Bobby Sanabria's amazing new album, West Side Story Reimagined (Jazzheads), Bobby sent along a couple of video clips he thought JazzWax readers would enjoy.

Here's a promo for the project, which includes comments from Jamie Bernstein, one of Leonard Bernstein's daughters...



And here's Bobby discussing the project on BronxTalk with Jamie Bernstein and host Gary Axelbank...



What the heck. Here's the Buddy Rich Big Band playing his West Side Story Medley on TV in 1967. The suite was arranged by Bill Reddie and first recorded in 1966...



Oddball album cover of the week.

This one came out in 1963. Turning Bernstein's high-tension score into a bossa nova must have been quite a trick. Not even Liberace or Percy Faith dared record an album devoted to the soundtrack. Next up for Bill Barron could have been Is Paris Burning Bossa Nova...