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Gino Paoli: 'Senza Fine,' 1961
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Italian pop between the late 1950s and early '60s was unbeatable. Aimed at romantic single adults, many of the new love songs were composed with passion, sung with vulnerability and backed by large orchestration. One can only assume that Chet Baker's voice played a role in inspiring a wave of pale, aching voices and lyrical music. With the rise of this movement, there were numerous Italian singers who did well on the Italian charts and became superstars on Italian TV ...
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10 Tracks by Pianist Ross Tompkins
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Yesterday I posted on Solo, a 1963 album by trombonist Kai Winding for Verve. Accompanying Winding on the three days of recording was pianist Ross Tompkins. Who was he? Tompkins was probably best known as the pianist on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson from 1971 to 1992, when the show folded. Born in Detroit in 1938, Tompkins studied at Boston's New England Conservatory of Music. He then moved to New York and worked as a sideman with Kai Winding ...
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Eddie Wasserman: The Small Groups
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Eddie Wasserman wasn't a star but he could have been. He never was a leader on his own session. Instead, he spent the bulk of his career playing woodwinds in top big bands. His first recording session was with Benny Goodman in December 1948 and remained there into 1948. Going forward, he was a favorite of many bandleaders through the years. But who was Wasserman and what did he sound like? To find out, I did some archive research, and ...
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Perfection: Gene Krupa - Mulligan Stew
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
On October 20, 21 and 22 of 1958, drummer Gene Krupa assembled a crack New York big band to record Gene Krupa Plays Gerry Mulligan Arrangements for Verve. The idea was brilliant. One of the most interesting songs out of the 12 recorded was Mulligan Stew, a sexy bop chart. The material is terrific—from the song's opening and solos by Phil Woods, Urbie Green and Frank Sokolow to the call and response by the different sections and sassy swing. Mulligan ...
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Coleman Hawkins Meets the Big Sax Section
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
An interesting Coleman Hawkins album that's unavailable and virtually unknown today is Coleman Hawkins Meets the Big Sax Section. Originally entitled The Saxophone Section, Featuring Coleman Hawkins, it was recorded in April 1958 for the World Wide label. When Savoy re-issued the album, the label changed the title. The LP featured 4/5 of Count Basie's sax section plus pianist Nat Pierce (one of the best Basie imitators), Basie's guitarist Freddie Green, Basie's bassist Eddy Jones, and drummer Bobby Donaldson. who ...
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Perfection: Miles Davis - A Gal in Calico
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
On June 7, 1955, Miles Davis recorded Musings of Miles for Prestige. One of the tracks for the album was “A Gal in Calico," composed by Arthur Schwartz. It was introduced in the 1946 film The Time, the Place and the Girl. Musings of Miles was the trumpeter's first 12-inch LP (earlier ones were 10 inches). The musicians were Miles Davis (tp), Red Garland (p), Oscar Pettiford (b) and Philly Joe Jones (d). Garland and Jones would go on to ...
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Backgrounder: The Complete Chet Baker Sings
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
The first songs trumpeter Chet Baker recorded on which he sang were I Fall in Love Too Easily and The Thrill is Gone in October 1953. What struck listeners then and now was his vulnerable articulation, the humid romanticism and relaxed androgyny of his voice. Previously, no male singer had approached vocalizing this way. What made many of these vocal tracks especially precious was his tender trumpet or flugelhorn that followed his vocal. After listening, one realizes that his approach ...
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Eight New Joan Chamorro Videos From Spain
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
This holiday weekend, a special treat. Instead of my usual post of WSJ links and rounds-ups, I have a wonderful surprise that I'll tell you about momentarily. We'll return to the usual weekend format next week. Nearly a month ago, Jordi Pujol, owner of Fresh Sound Records, shared with me eight videos he made when he saw Joan Chamorro and the Sant Andreu Jazz Band on June 11 at the Jamboree jazz club, one of Barcelona's oldest jazz clubs, dating ...
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