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Video / DVD

Videos: Al Green Live in Concert

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 15, 2022

When it comes to stage performers who could really get an audience going, names such as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Tina Turner, David Bowie, Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis come to mind. Al Green should be on that list, too. In his prime and even years after his hit records, the Reverend Green could whip up any size audience and leave them wanting more. I've seen him in concert and I had the good fortune in 2012 to interview ...

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Video / DVD

Videos: Peggy Lee in Action

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 13, 2022

Yesterday I didn't get done nearly as much as I needed to and it's Peggy Lee's fault. I watched one of her YouTube videos, and then one thing led to the next and today I have to work twice as hard. The good news for you is that my distraction resulted in today's post. Enjoy these clips of the powdery, irrepressibly upbeat, fiercely savvy and shrewdly swinging Miss fPeggy Lee: Here's Lee in 1950 with then husband, guitarist Dave Barbour... ...

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Video / DVD

Herb Geller: Gypsy, 1959

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 12, 2022

Of all the musicals that were hits on Broadway, songs from Gypsy were among the most covered by top jazz musicians. I'm sure West Side Story, My Fair Lady and South Pacific were up there, too, but they weren't quite as naturally jazzy as Gypsy. That's because Styne came up in the jazz age as a pianist and band leader. Artists who put a jazz spin on Gypsy's songs include Tony Scott, Annie Ross, Teddy Wilson, the Hi-Lo's, Eddie Heywood, ...

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Video / DVD

Backgrounder: Zoot Sims Plays Bossa Nova

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 8, 2022

Tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims recorded two bossa nova albums for the Colpix label—New Beat Bossa Nova in August 1962 and New Beat Bossa Nova Vol. 2 in November of that year. They were nearly every bit as swinging as Stan Getz's Jazz Samba album recorded in February '62, just not as widely distributed and without the marketing and radio muscle of Verve. Here are both Zoot Sims albums without ads. Put it on and enjoy while you work, answer emails ...

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Video / DVD

Color Videos: Horace Silver Quintet

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
April 7, 2022

While writing yesterday, I fell into a Horace Silver groove. Funk meets hard bop, with a twist of Silver's spectacular rhythmic counterpoint and chord voicings. Which sent me onto YouTube to see what was new with Horace. There, I found a bunch of videos that had been colorized. Now you can see and hear them, too. Here are seven Horace Silver color videos: Here's Nutville and Song for My Father, colorized on the Danish TV show Jazz Omkring Midnat, in ...

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Video / DVD

Sweden Meets the Beatles, 1963

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 24, 2022

On October 13, 1963, Beatlemania—the youthful hysteria over appearances by the impossibly charismatic Fab Four—began in London after their afternoon rehearsal at the London Palladium. Suburban teens rushed the Fab Four as they headed to their limo and newspapers picked up on the mania the next day. Ten days later, on October 23, the Beatles flew to Stockholm for their first real tour outside the U.K. On October 30, they went on Swedish television, following a series of local pop ...

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Video / DVD

Backgrounder: Bossa Nova for Swinging Lovers

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 23, 2022

Today, I start an intermittent series I call “Backgrounder," featuring great, rare albums that are probably unknown to you. My intent is to provide you with superb music while you work or read that I'm listening to as well. So we'll be listening to the exact same music at the exact same time. Cool, right? Hopefully, you'll love the music as much as I do. My first offering is The Ipanema Pop Orchestra's Bossa Nova for Swinging Lovers, an instrumental ...

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Video / DVD

Frank Foster: The Basie Touch

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
March 22, 2022

Shortly after being discharged from military service in 1953, tenor saxophonist Frank Foster joined Count Basie's band. By then, Basie's so-called New Testament band was in place and had been recording for a year. The orchestra was known as the New Testament band to differentiate it from the swing-era band that started in 1935 and lasted until late 1949. Vocalist Billy Eckstine was the first to urge Basie to give up the small groups Basie led from 1950 to 1952, ...

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