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Interview

Herbie Nichols Interview in 1962

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
December 22, 2021

If you combined records by Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and Duke Ellington and played the result backward, you'd wind up with Herbie Nichols. Just kidding, but the flavors of all three pianists permeate the essence of Nichols's original music. In truth, Nichols's sound was distinct and robust, and a terrific adventure. [Photo above of Herbie Nichols by Francis Wolff (c)Mosaic Images] Here's the full Prophetic Herbie Nichols Vol. 1. Listen to as much or as little as you wish... Now ...

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Interview

The Story Behind 'Quiet Now'

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
December 7, 2021

I have known and admired pianist-composer Denny Zeitlin for many years. My admiration dates back to the early 2000s, after I heard for the first time his four albums for Columbia recorded in the mid-1960s. I was blown away. Our friendship dates back to 2009, when I did a multipart JazzWax interview with him. We've been email penpals ever since. Last week, Denny sent along an email urging me to give a listen to vocalist Suzi Stern sing his composition ...

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Interview

Interview: Cyrille Aimée

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
December 1, 2021

Born and raised in France, Cyrille Aimée is a jazz singer who now lives in New Orleans. She won the Montreux Jazz Festival Competition in 2007, was a finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in 2010 and won the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition in 2012. She has recorded 13 albums, including Move On, an album of songs by the late Stephen Sondheim recorded in 2019, and her newest, Petite Fleur (Storyville), recorded with Adonis Rose and the ...

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Interview

Interview: Joe La Barbera on Bill Evans

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
November 12, 2021

There's much to say about the final Bill Evans Trio. Formed in early 1979, with Marc Johnson on bass and Joe La Barbera on drums, the trio was at times stormy, brooding and always deeply passionate. Many of their live recordings were strong and revealing, particularly performances in Buenos Aires and Paris and at Iowa's Maintenance Shop and New York's Village Vanguard. As Evans sailed slowly and purposefully toward his final days in September 1980, Marc and Joe were in ...

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Interview

Interview: 'Ronnie Singer Was My Brother'

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 18, 2021

At the end of September, I posted on guitarist Jimmy Gourley. In that post I wrote about Gourley's friend, a Chicago guitarist named Ronnie Singer. According to those who heard Singer, he was on par with Jimmy Raney. Whether that's true or not is beside the point. Let's just say Singer was exceptional. Born June 9, 1928, Singer played bebop in Chicago in the late-1940s. Singer, like a significant number of jazz musicians at the time, was addicted to heroin. ...

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Interview

The Beatles: Let It Be

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 15, 2021

In May 1970, the Beatles released Let It Be a month after they disbanded. I remember hearing it for the first time at age 13 on the driveway of my next-door neighbor in the suburbs. The neighbor was on his bike, I was on my green Schwinn Sting-Ray and two other friends were on theirs. His older sister was in her room with her boyfriend and they were blasting Get Back. The four of us listened and exchanged glances until one ...

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Interview

Brigitte Berman on Bix Beiderbecke

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 7, 2021

Yesterday, I provided you with a link and password to watch Oscar-winning director Brigitte Berman's newly restored documentary, Bix: Ain't None of Them Play Like Him Yet (1981) for free. Brigitte generously made this possible. To recap, you can watch by going here and typing in this password: Solnicki. Don't forget to clear the existing password that's there now before typing in or pasting in the password provided. This password is good only until Friday at 10 p.m. (ET), so ...

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Interview

Lady Gaga on Tony Bennett

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 4, 2021

At the end of September, I interviewed Lady Gaga for a half hour by phone for The Wall Street Journal. We talked about Love for Sale—her new duet album with Tony Bennett—as well as a range of other subjects. My resulting piece went up online on Friday and the print version is in the paper's arts section today. The last time I interviewed Lady was in 2014, just before her first album with Tony, Cheek to Cheek, was released. A ...

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