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They Didn't Believe Me
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Just before the outbreak of World War I in 1914, Herbert Reynolds and Jerome Kern wrote the words and music, respectively, to a most enduring song—They Didn't Believe Me. Composed for the Broadway musical, The Girl From Utah, the song was one of five that were added to the show when it came over from Britain. Producer Charles Frohman felt the musical needed a catchy lift to survive in New York. Over time, the song has became a pop and ...
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Chet Baker: Cold Trumpet
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
In 1959, trumpeter Chet Baker was in Europe touring and recording. An addict since the early 1950s, Baker found scoring drugs abroad relatively easy. When his connections in Italy dried up, he began visiting doctors, complaining of headaches and leaving with charitable prescriptions. From May through July 1960, Baker filled 23 prescriptions for Palfium—a narcotic three times more powerful than morphine but shorter-lasting—from a single doctor in Lucca, to be dosed through a syringe. In the summer of '60, Baker ...
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StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Alfredo Rodriguez and Pedrito Martinez
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St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week, StLJN's video spotlight shines on pianist Alfredo Rodriguez and percussionist and singer Pedrito Martinez, who are coming to St. Louis for a series of duo performances starting Wednesday, February 1 through Saturday, February 4 at Jazz at the Bistro. Both Martinez, 43, and Rodriguez, who's 31, are originally from Cuba, and came to the United States to pursue their musical careers in 1998 and 2009, respectively. Martinez settled in New York City, and was part of the group ...
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Doc: Charles Mingus 1968
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
By 1966, touring slowed considerably for bassist and leader Charles Mingus. He hadn't recorded a studio album since 1963 (Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus for Impulse), and live dates had begun to dry up in 1965. Unable to pay the rent on his Bowery loft in 1966, he was evicted along with his furnishings, music and bass and arrested. The loft Mingus and Caroline, his five-year-old daughter, occupied was supposed to be a music school he had planned to start ...
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Tony Bennett: Pennies in '58
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
On Sunday, June 29, 1958, Tony Bennett appeared on the Steve Allen Show to sing two songs. The first, Young and Warm and Wonderful, had been released weeks earlier by Tony on Columbia and reached #23 on the Billboard pop chart. The second song is the one of much greater interest. Buried at 1:50 on the following video clip, Tony sings Pennies from Heaven—out on the street with kids (see below). Bob Waldman sent along the link several weeks ago ...
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StLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Remembering Charles "Bobo" Shaw
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St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Today, let's take a break from previewing upcoming performances here in St. Louis to look at some videos of the late drummer Charles “Bobo" Shaw. Shaw, who died Monday in a St. Louis nursing care facility at age 69, was a founder of the Black Artists Group and played with many well-known jazz and creative musicians of the past 50 years. He had a varied career in music that was sufficiently important that, in addition to his obituary here on ...
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Boy! What a Girl!: 1947
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
By 1946, African-American casts were making musical films geared for theater distribution nationwide, not just movie houses in African-American communities. In 1947, one independent production company, Herald Pictures, hired Arthur Leonard to direct an hour-long film called Boy! What a Girl!, starring bassist Slam Stewart, drummer Big Sid Catlett, the Brown Dots vocal group, singer Beryl Booker and others. The film was shot at New York's Fox Movietone Studio on 10th Ave. and 54th St. At some point, Gene Krupa ...
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Martin Luther King + Jazz
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Today in the States, it's Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national holiday since 1986 but not observed by all states until 2000. I thought it would be fitting to hear seven jazz tributes to the civil rights leader and the movement. Each of the jazz pieces that follows is a heartfelt work rooted in the church and King's spirit: Here's John Coltrane playing Alabama on Ralph Gleason's Jazz Casual TV show in San Francisco. The song uses the cadence ...
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