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Carol Sloane: My 10 Favorite Tracks
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Yesterday, I posted my full 2009 interview with the late Carol Sloane, which Matt Schudel quote for in Washington Post obit. Today, I thought I'd provide 10 of my favorite recordings by Carol: Here's Angel Eyes from After Hours, a demo tape recorded in 1959... Here's Prelude to a Kiss from Out of the Blue, with arrangements by Bill Finegan, in 1961... Here's Taking a Chance on Love from Carol Sloane Live at 30th Street in 1962... Here's When Your ...
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Thelonious Monk in Paris, 1969
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
On December 15, 1969, pianist Thelonious Monk was in Paris on tour with Charlie Rouse (ts) Nate Hygelund (b) and Austin “Paris" Wright (d), with Philly Joe Jones (d) playing on Nutty and Blue Monk. Hygelund was still a student at the Berklee School of Music in Boston. And Wright was only 17. Monk had asked his father, bassist Herman Wright, if he could take his son along on the road. Nine months ago, the complete broadcast of the quartet ...
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A Tribute to Paul Desmond and Jim Hall
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Between 1959 and 1965, alto saxophonist Paul Desmond and guitarist Jim Hall (both above) recorded six quartet albums together that are still among jazz's most elegant small-group recordings. These albums are First Place Again (recorded in 1959), Easy Living (1963-'65), Take Ten (1963), Glad to Be Unhappy (1964), Bossa Antigua (1964) and Desmond Blue (1962), which featured Desmond and Hall framed by a larger group. Their first album was on Warner Bros., produced by Bob Prince, and the rest were ...
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John Coltrane: Like Sonny
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
John Coltrane first recorded his composition Like Sonny during his initial recording session for Giant Steps, his debut LP for Atlantic, on March 26, 1959. The personnel on the first attempt: John Coltrane (ts), Cedar Walton (p), Paul Chambers (b) and Lex Humphries (d). But the song wasn't used on Giant Steps, which came out in February 1960. [Photo above of John Coltrane by Francis Wolff (c)Mosaic Images] Instead, Like Sonny was recorded again on December 2, 1959 with John ...
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Eight New Stan Getz Video Clips
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
When Stan Getz plays his tenor saxophone, he awakens in you the same feeling of relaxation you get from a tropical breeze or a hot shower. His high, smooth tone instantly soothes your soul and clears your head. A stark and forever-puzzling contrast with Getz's erratic and sometimes cruel personality that left most musicians and singers shocked and disgusted. It's hard to understand how the two personalities could exist in one artist, but they did. [Photo above of Stan Getz, ...
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MLK Day: Eight for Freedom
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Today in the U.S., it's Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national holiday since 1986 to honor the slain civil rights leader and a holiday recognized by all 50 states since 1999. To remember Dr. King, I chose seven great jazz albums that express what King was fighting for. Let freedom ring: Here's Sonny Rollins's Freedom Suite (1958), the album's first track... Here's Max Roach's We Insist: Freedom Now Suite (1960)... Here's Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers's Freedom Rider (1961)... ...
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Video: Ella Fitzgerald at the BBC, 1965
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
On May 8, 1965, the BBC broadcast a taped TV concert that Ella Fitzgerald had recorded earlier that year in front of a studio audience. She was joined on songs by her trio—Tommy Flanagan on piano, Keter Betts on bass and Ed Thigpen on drums. There were no musician solos, other than during the intro and outro. It's all Ella. She also sang songs backed by the Johnnie Spence Orchestra, a roaring British big band. The arrangements? They were by ...
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Julie London's Holiday Album, 2022
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Once again, it's time for Julie London's Christmas album that never was. I started this tradition eight years ago because, for whatever reason, the singer never recorded an album of holiday favorites, just one side of a Liberty 45 in 1957. Why she'd release a single side but not a full-blown LP remains puzzling, to say the least. So in 2014, I assembled all of her seasonal tracks for a faux streaming release of my own. As JazzWax readers know, ...
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