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Video / DVD

Videos: Five Jazz Joes

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 26, 2018

Cruising around YouTube yesterday evening, I fixated on jazz artists whose first name is Joe. Hardly average, these Joes demonstrated exceptional talent on stage. Here are five videos by jazz artists named Joe: Here's Joe Farrell on tenor saxophone with Elvin Jones on drums and Jimmy Garrison on bass in 1968... Here's tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson with the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra... Here's Joe Newman playing Georgia on My Mind... Here's Joe Williams with the Count Basie Orchestra in 1959... ...

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Video / DVD

Don Goldie: Brilliant!

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 22, 2018

Trumpeter Don Goldie played with power and a Dixieland feel. There also were shades of Harry James in his horn. He began recording in 1959 and spent much of his early career recording with trombonist Jack Teagarden. He also recorded with Buddy Rich, Ralph Burns, Gene Krupa and others before recording a string of songbook albums under his own name for the Jazz Forum label. In June 1960, Goldie recorded Brilliant! The Trumpet of Don Goldie for Chicago's Argo label. ...

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Video / DVD

Burt, Otis and Lenny

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 20, 2018

In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed Burt Ward for my “House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). If the name doesn't ring a bell, Burt played Robin on TV's Batman series in the 1960s. Burt talked about growing up in Beverly Hills, his father's touring ice show and how Burt wound up auditioning and winning the Boy Wonder roll. The show remains one of the most intelligent sitcoms of the decade—both delightfully sophisticated and sophomoric. ...

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Video / DVD

StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Spotlight on Eddie Henderson

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
October 20, 2018

This week, StLJN's video spotlight is focused on trumpeter Eddie Henderson, who's returning to St. Louis to perform next Friday, October 26 at St. Louis University's Xavier Hall. Presented in conjunction with SLU as the first production of the revived Nu-Art Series, the concert also will feature poet and author Leah LeFlore (daughter of the late trumpeter and Black Artists Group co-founder Floyd LeFlore), pianist Ptah Williams, and trumpeter George Sams, the founder and head of Nu-Art. Henderson, who will ...

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Video / DVD

June Christy: Eight Audio Clips

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 19, 2018

No singer better captures the sound of the Los Angeles area than June Christy. Back in the early 1980s, over a summer, I recall driving down to Newport Beach. The air was muggy, the neon signs were blurry in the haze, and a breeze was coming in off the Pacific. I was in a convertible at dusk heading off to meet a friend for sushi. As I drove, I had a mix of Christy on cassette. There was something about ...

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Video / DVD

Hot Track: A Fifth for Frank

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 18, 2018

Bassist Curtis Counce recorded his first leadership album in October 1956. Counce was a major West Coast jazz talent who had assembled a muscular quintet for his premier Contemporary Records session. The album, The Curtis Counce Group, consisted of Jack Sheldon (tp), Harold Land (ts) Carl Perkins (p) Curtis Counce (b) and Frank Butler (d). All of the tracks are killer, but A Fifth for Frank stands out because of the extended drum solo by Butler. A Fifth for Frank ...

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Video / DVD

Donald Byrd: Byrd's Word

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 16, 2018

Blue Note's art direction in the early 1950s was so compelling and future forward that we often forget that Savoy also recorded a significant number of knockout albums during this period. Donald Byrd's By rd's Word is a prime example. Recorded for Savoy in September 1955 and produced by Ozzie Cadena, the album featured a killer quintet—Donald Byrd (tp), Frank Foster (ts), Hank Jones (p), Paul Chambers (b) and Kenny Clarke (d). The album was Byrd's second album as a ...

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Video / DVD

Pepper Adams Plays Mingus

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
October 15, 2018

Berry Gordy hedged his bets in 1962.Though the founder of Motown had his first #1 pop and R&B hit with the Marvelettes' Please Mr. Postman in late 1961, the following year was dry. So Gordy formed other labels—Gordy, Mel-o-dy, Divinity and Workshop— to diversify and reach different radio stations. Workshop was a jazz label that tapped into local musicians. Gordy knew the Detroit jazz market well, having run a jazz record store in the 1950s that went belly up and ...

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