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Julie London's Holiday Album (2024)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
It's Christmas Day and once again it's time for the Julie London Christmas album that never was. I started this tradition 10 years ago because, for whatever reason, the jazz vocalist never recorded an LP of holiday favorites. All we have is the B-side of a Liberty 45 released in 1957—I'd Like You for Christmas, written by her soon-to-be husband, Bobby Troup. Why she'd release a single side but not a full-blown LP remains puzzling, to say the least. [Publicity ...
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Paul Desmond and the Modern Jazz Quartet
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Paul Desmond and the Modern Jazz Quartet appeared together on stage only once, on the evening of Christmas Day in 1971. What's remarkable is that the concert was taped and the second half released on vinyl in 1981. The combined sound together was heavenly. Michael O'Daniel turned me on to the album, since I wasn't aware of it previously. He also sent along more information about the concert, since he was the one who presented it. At the end of ...
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Stan Kenton: 1950-1951
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
For many fans of Stan Kenton, his New Concept of Artistry in Rhythm album (recorded in 1952) is their listening starting point. More intensive fans like to dip into his 1940s discography, which includes Eager Beaver, Tampico, Intermission Riff and Southern Scandal, allowing them to fully appreciate the evolution of Kenton's wall-of-sound approach. As for the years 1950 and 1951, they are generally ignored. [Publicity still above of Stan Kenton] The primary reason for this Kenton listening gap are three ...
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Perfection: Gerry Mulligan - Westwood Walk (1953)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Every celebrity I've interviewed who lives in the Westwood section of Los Angeles has said the reason they live there is you don't have to take a car to get around the village. You can walk. I'm not sure if that was the meaning behind Gerry Mulligan's song title, but it would certainly make sense. Or he originally entitled the song Westward Walk, in tribute to his trip made by hitchhiking from New York to Los Angeles in 1951. Mulligan ...
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Perfection: Bill Harris Herd - Blackstrap (1952)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
There were New York big bands in the early 1950s and then there was the Bill Harris Herd in 1952—a pack of ex-Hermanites, or former members of Woody Herman's band. If you're hip to your New York studio guys, then the following personnel should blow your mind: Charles Frankhauser, Bernie Glow, Neal Hefti, Al Porcino and Nick Travis (tp); Bill Harris, Eddie Bert, Vern Friley and Bart Varsalona (tb); Sam Marowitz and Hal McKusick (as); George Berg and Pete Mondello ...
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Five Recently Uploaded Concert Videos
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Today, five concert videos that recently went up on YouTube featuring exceptional jazz artists I've been thinking about lately... Here's Eliane Elias with Marc Johnson (b), Graham Dechter (g) and Rafael Barata (d), at Jazz à Vienne, France, in 2014... Here's the McCoy Tyner Quintet in 1990, with Freddie Hubbard (tp, fl-h), Ralph Moore (ts, ss), McCoy Tyner (p), Avery Sharpe (b) and Aaron Scott (dr), recorded live in Stuttgart, Germany, at the festival Jazzgipfel Stuttgart 1990)... Here's Joe Henderson ...
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Backgrounder: Bossa Session (1964)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Happy Thanksgiving to my readers in the U.S. and abroad! To provide you with an after-dinner musical digestivo, I've chosen a wonderful bossa nova album on Elenco. Elenco was one of the most influential Brazilian record labels. Founded by producer Aloysio de Oliveira (above) in 1963, the label was instrumental in widening the popularity of the bossa nova and samba worldwide. Today, many of the label's releases are considered masterpieces. The cover graphics also are terrific. One of Elenco's finest ...
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Perfection: Frank Sinatra - There's a Small Hotel
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Readers often ask me for my favorite Frank Sinatra track and arrangement from the singer's Capitol years (1953-1962). While I can't tell you which is No. 1 on my list—there are simply too many great ones—I can tell you which recording is in my top 3: There's a Small Hotel. For the film Pal Joey (1957), which starred Rita Hayworth, Kim Novak and Sinatra, Nelson Riddle arranged the Rodgers and Hart songs—The Lady Is a Tramp, I Didn't Know What ...
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