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Ukrainian Jazz: Freedom Rings
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
If your heart aches watching what is going on in Ukraine in real time, spend time today listening to Ukrainian jazz to understand what freedom and liberty means to the people of that country. And if you're reading this in Ukraine, please know that JazzWax readers worldwide are thinking of you. Here's a 2018 tribute to Charlie Parker's Bird with Strings... Here's pianist Igor Khoma... Here's a 47-minute Ukrainian compilation. Just let this one play... Here's an hour of Ukrainian ...
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Louis Prima: King of the Swingers
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Born in New Orleans, trumpeter, singer and entertainer Louis Prima grew up in the city's Italian-American community. He was influenced not only by New Orleans's Black jazz and folk culture but also the tradition of commedia dell'arte that dates back to 16th-century Italy. Comedy's earliest form of improv, this form of street theater poked fun at neighborhood characters and customs, and gave us the buffoon, the harlequin and, later, the clown and circus. Prima's combination of jazz and humor was ...
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Chicago: The Terry Kath Experience
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
The band Chicago was one of the most successful jazz-rock bands of the 1970s and '80s. They recorded 36 albums and had 20 Top-10 singles on the Billboard pop chart, including three #1 hits. Seventeen of its first 20 albums were certified platinum (at least 1 million units sold) by the R.I.A.A. Songs like 25 or 6 to 4 and Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? remain a joyous fusion of horns, captivating melodies, rock guitar and vocals. ...
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More Shorty Rogers, in 1953
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Yesterday, I received an enormous number of emails from readers who either love Shorty Rogers's Chances Are It Swings or were unfamiliar with the West Coast jazz masterpiece and were happy to be turned on to it. So today, I figured I'd provide clips of Shorty Rogers's transition into a leadership role for RCA in 1953. While Rogers had just three recording sessions as a leader that year, he played on and arranged for a sizable number of other musicians' ...
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Prez Day in the USA
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Today in the U.S., it's Presidents' Day, a federal holiday. First established in 1885 to pay tribute to America's first president, George Washington, the holiday became more inclusive in 1971, when the day celebrate all presidents. The shift was a result of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established more three-day weekends for workers. Here at JazzWax, it's a tradition to celebrated each Presidents' Day by showcasing Lester Young, whom Billie Holiday affectionately called “Prez" or “Pres"—short for president of ...
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YouTubers Dig Eumir Deodato
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Eumir Deodato remains one of the most successful and prolific Brazilian arranger-composers of the post-bossa era. He came to the U.S. in late 1960s to arrange several of Astrud Gilberto's post-Stan Getz bossa nova albums. Deodato has arranged more than 500 records, a portion under his own name and numerous albums and songs for American singers and pop acts including Aretha Franklin, Frank Sinatra, Roberta Flack and Kool & the Gang's hits Celebration, Ladies' Night and Too Hot. He also ...
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Larry Coryell and Ralph Towner: First Videos
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Late yesterday afternoon, I heard from Kristian St. Clair, a filmmaker whose work includes This Is Gary McFarland, a superb documentary on the composer-arranger (more here and here). Kristian tells me he is busy on a new film project about Seattle jazz multi-instrumentalist Chuck Mahaffay. In the process, he said, he came across what he says are likely the earliest known videos and first gigs of guitarists Larry Coryell and Ralph Towner in the early 1960s. Given the hacking cough ...
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Hawk at the Metropol in Oslo, 1963
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
On January 26, 1963, Coleman Hawkins arrived in Norway on a Scandinavian tour. He had first visited Norway, Sweden and Denmark in the mid-1930s when he was met by huge crowds. In 1963, he was in Norway to play two concerts celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Oslo's Big Chief Jazz Club. The nightclub was founded by Eivind Solberg, a New Orleans-style trumpeter who started the Big Chief Jazz Band in 1951. He had been friends with Louis Armstrong and operated ...
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