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Four Videos: Elek Bacsik
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Elek Bacsik was a Hungarian Gypsy jazz guitarist who today is virtually unknown. The cousin of Django Reinhardt, Bacsik was born in 1926 and began playing the violin at age 4. After studying at the Budapest Conservatory in the '40s, he taught himself the guitar, playing Gypsy and classical music. In the post-war 1940s, he left Hungary for Vienna and then Switzerland. In Bern, he played in light-music groups fashionable at the time in cafes, returning to Hungary to record ...
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Danish Radio Big Band Box
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
In the years preceding the mid-1940s, the powerful American Federation of Musicians prohibited records from being played on sizable radio stations. The union had no problem with records being sold in stores to consumers or being played on jukeboxes. Consumers paid for the right to play them at home as often as they wished, and jukebox companies collected nickles each time records were played. The union collected a piece of that action. The reason radio airplay was problematic had everything ...
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Harry James in 10 Clips
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Harry James is one of the most underappreciated bandleaders of the late 1940s, '50s and early '60s. While plenty has been written about bands led by Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Les Brown and Maynard Ferguson during this same period, James has received little or no praise or recognition. Maybe it's because his band sounded so much like Basie, thanks to his passion for Ernie Wilkins's arrangements. Or perhaps it's because he clung to his stodgy 1940s hits far longer than ...
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Jackie DeShannon: Capitol Album
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
You probably know Jackie DeShannon best for her song, Put a Little Love in Your Heart, a #4 Billboard hit in 1969. Or her hit rendition of Hal David and Burt Bacharach's What the World Needs Now Is Love Sweet Love. What you may not be aware of is that Jackie is one of the first female singer-songwriters in the pop-rock era and among the most prolific composers. She was born and raised in Kentucky, and she left her Illinois ...
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Night Bird Song: The Incandescent Life Of Thomas Chapin On iTunes, Special DVD
Source:
Stephanie Castillo
Night Bird Song: The Incandescent Life Of Thomas Chapin An acclaimed music-filled documentary Now available In U.S./Canada, Worldwide Film distributor Random Media and 'Olena Productions proudly announce the DVD, digital and VOD debut of the acclaimed documentary Night Bird Song: The Incandescent Life Of Thomas Chapin. A celebrated film in theatrical appearances at the prestigious Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Monterey Jazz Festival, and winner of awards including “Best Story Award" from the Nice (France) ...
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Audio Clips: Play Ball!
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
There's something about early spring that takes me out to the ballgame. I haven't been to a ballpark in years, but when I recall going to games at Yankee Stadium when I was a kid, I recall the overwhelming fragrance of hot dogs, the sticky taste of Cracker Jack and the sound of the organ playing something swift and skippy. Naturally, I still love the sound of ballpark keyboards, provided they swing. Too many organists today play rock hits, but ...
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StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Abdullah Ibrahim & Ekaya
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week, let's check out some videos featuring pianist Abdullah Ibrahim, who will be appearing with his band Ekaya in a concert next Saturday, April 14 at the Sheldon Concert Hall. Born in 1934 in Cape Town, South Africa, Ibrahim grew up under his country's apartheid system of segregation, which was in place from 1948 to 1993. After briefly studying music at the University of Cape Town, in 1959 he formed the Jazz Epistles, a septet that featured the young ...
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The future of jazz is in good hands
Source:
Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
Miami-area pianist Brandon Goldberg has soaked up jazz like a sponge takes on water. And he’s been doing so for more than half of his 12 years. He’s a normal kid, polite, poised and eager to learn at every opportunity. Those traits serve him well. That he found his way to jazz – and loves it – is something quite remarkable given the wide variety of musical genres bombarding his peer group. He started playing piano at age 3, and ...
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