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STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Remembering George Duke
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Today, we keep our usual St. Louis-centric format on pause for one more week to pay tribute to keyboardist George Duke, who died this past Monday, August 5 at age 67. Though Duke, a native Californian, had no direct personal connection to our town, he played many gigs here over the years, the last being two years ago at the Touhill with St. Louis' own David Sanborn and bassist Marcus Miller. And although it's not the usual practice here to ...
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STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Newport Jazz Festival Moments
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
With the 2013 Newport Jazz Festival happening this weekend, this edition of our video showcase pays tribute to one of jazz's longest-lived and best-known events by looking at some choice performances given there by various jazz greats over the years. The first video is actually a full-length movie: Jazz On A Summer's Day, the film about the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival by Bert Stern that generally is considered the first important jazz documentary. It features performances by Louis Armstrong, Mahalia ...
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Fred Astaire: Jazz Pianist
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
At his dancing best, Fred Astaire had the grace and cunning of a fencer. His swing-era manner, daring routines and silky steps still captivate. Less well known (or too easily forgotten) was Astaire's ability as a pianist. His keyboard moments in film are easily overlooked because his ballroom moves steal the show. Here are three clips from movies that feature brief interludes of Astaire pounding the ivories—thanks to JazzWax reader John Cooper... From Follow the Fleet (1936)... From Let's ...
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STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Jazz Film Festival Summer 2013
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
It's summer vacation time, and today we take a respite from the usual routine of previewing upcoming jazz shows in St. Louis to present our own little online jazz film festival. Up above, A Great Day in Harlem is a 1994 documentary film that tells the story behind one of the most famous photos in the history of jazz: the 1958 B&W group portrait of 57 notable jazz musicians photographed by Art Kane, a freelancer for Esquire magazine, in front ...
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Ron Isley: Who's That Lady
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
The Isley Brothers' That Lady was released 40 years ago this summer. It has always been a favoritee of mine—with its wailing hard rock guitar and Ron Isley's falsetto. It packs a funky, psychedelic punch. So when I spent time with Ron at his home in St. Louis a few weeks ago for my Wall Street Journal profile, I had an opportunity to talk to him about it: Marc Myers: Most people aren't aware that the Isley Brothers' That Lady ...
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Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis: 1985
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
A year before his death in 1986, Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis was in Copenhagen on tour with a quartet. For those unfamiliar with Lockjaw (or “Jaws"), the tenor saxophonist was a spectacular soloist dating back to the '40s, when his gruff, pushy style was admired and adopted by R&B honkers. Originally an East Coast bebopper, Lockjaw recorded many small-group albums in the '50s with organists and with saxophonist Johnny Griffin. But Jaws was always most comfortable soloing in front of a ...
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STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: Partyin' Traditional Style with Kermit Ruffins
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
This week, let's check out some video clips featuring trumpeter Kermit Ruffins, who's coming to St. Louis to play on Wednesday, July 24 and Thursday, July 25 at The Gramophone. The 48-year-old New Orleans native first gained fame for co-founding the Rebirth Brass Band while still a high-school student. He's gone on to establish a career as a solo performer and crowd-pleasing entertainer, playing weekly gigs in his hometown at Vaughan's and his own club, Kermit's Treme Speakeasy, and occasionally ...
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