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Interview: Mike Stoller (Part 1)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
A few weeks ago I traveled to Los Angeles for the Wall Street Journal to interview Mike Stoller at his home in the Hollywood Hills. My conversation with rock 'n' roll's first successful songwriter—with hits dating back to 1951—appears in today's paper (or go here). [Photo of Jerry Leber and Mike Stoller by David Attie for Vogue's “People Are Talking" in July 1959] On June 14, the Songwriter's Hall of Fame will honor Ben E. King, Mike and his late writing ...
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Burt Bacharach: Top of the Pops
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
When I visited with Burt Bacharach at his home back in October for my Wall Street Journal interview, we spoke about the Gershwin Prize he was due to receive in May. Burt seemed a bit stunned by the enormity of the award and generous in praise of the others who had won previously. On May 8, the esteemed composer and singer was presented with the award at the White House. He also was entertained by artists singing and playing his ...
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An Interview With Rashell
Source:
Lauren Rogers
Q: When did you decide to become a singer? A: When I was a little girl I was often exposed to music of many genres. I had music all around me; a lot of my family members are musically inclined. One summer I went on an overnight camp to help my grandfather. He was a preacher and was dedicated to helping people in his community and surrounding areas. It was in Tulsa, Oklahoma that I spent the night at a ...
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Putting Gil Evans in His Place
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Gil Evans was a slow arranger. He tended to agonize over charts—at times missing deadlines as he pushed to make bigger impressionistic statements, set off more romantic contrasts or simply wound up entangled in revisions. In some cases, his focus on the music overshadowed the need to keep an eye on the clock. Hal McKusick's and Creed Taylor's separate experiences with Evans are cases in point. But Evans' tortured experiments produced magnificent results, and what wasn't recorded over the years ...
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Artist Interview: Adedeji, From West Africa To The World
Source:
Lauren Rogers
Q: When would you say triggered your passion for music? How old were you at the time? A: My passion for music was triggered as far as I could remember; I was probably 5-years-old then. I seriously cannot remember how or when it started but I was teaching my sister and brother how to sing in different parts at that age so when i joined the choir, the only thing I could remember was I did not do audition like ...
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Gil Evans at 100
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Rifftides by Doug Ramsey
Gil Evans, who enriched the art and craft of jazz arranging, was born 100 years ago today. National Public Radio this morning ended one of its hours on Weekend Edition Sunday with a remembrance of Evans and his work. To listen to it, go here and click on “Listen Now.” Here are three pieces arranged by Evans for an all star orchestra featuring Miles Davis on a 1959 Robert Herridge CBS-TV special. They are from the 1957 Davis album Miles ...
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Tom Teasley's Expanded Global Viewpoints
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The Independent Ear by Willard Jenkins
When the DC-area based multi-instrumental wizard and all around percussion renaissance man Tom Teasley asked me to write liner notes for his latest global percussion release All The World’s A Stage it got me wondering about the evolution of one who self-identifies as a jazz percussionist, yet has so successfully broadened his base to include theater, teaching across far reaches of the planet, and seemingly all manner of expressions in the percussion universe. I mean, what kind of brain exercises ...
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Hal Blaine on Karen Carpenter
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Maybe it's because I came of age in the early '70s. Or because my parents had a “burnt orange" car. Or that I had an apple-green Schwinn Stingray. Or that our home was painted redwood. Whatever the reason, the Carpenters always take me back to a time when everything was changing, and not always for the better. But through it all—the striped bellbottoms, the tough kids in the suburbs and the gloomy news—Karen Carpenter's voice made everything sound just right. ...
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