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Meet Sweden's The Real Group
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Formed in 1984, the Real Group is a Swedish vocal harmony ensemble that specializes in jazz. The group has taken on other types of music, including Scandinavian folk and classical. And over the years, the group has seen many different members pass through its ranks. The Real Group is still going strong today, touring in Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia. If you're unfamiliar, let me share with you a bunch of videos [photo above of the Real Group today, ...
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The Impeccable Dick Farney
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Jazz pianist and singer Dick Farney (pronounced FAR-nay) had a big career in Brazil and recorded in the U.S. with bassist Slam Stewart and others, and yet he's barely known today. Farney's crooning voice was so smooth you'd think Bing Crosby had recorded pop records in Portuguese. Farney's jazz career began in the early 1940s and by the late 1940s he was in New York as a regular singer on Milton Berle's radio show on NBC. By the early 1950s, ...
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YouTubers Dig Red Garland 2
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Back in 2018, I posted on a bunch of young musicians who love pianist Red Garland and recorded themselves on YouTube playing his solos. I recently found that this wasn't a one-time deal, that others were doing this, too. Rummaging around YouTube yesterday, I found another group of Garland enthusiasts who recorded themselves this year playing his solos. Hats off to the Class of '21: Here's A Foggy Day... Here's Blues by Five... Here's Stompin' at the Savoy... Here's Almost ...
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Concert: Pat Martino Trio, 2014
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
In 2014, the Pat Martino Trio performed at the Lotos Jazz Festival in Poland. Martino's playing—backed by Pat Bianchi on organ and Carmen Intorre on drums—is spectacular. So good, in fact, that you can just let the concert play in the background while you work. Or even better, watch it. The tracks are Catch, Full House, Inside Out, Lean Years, Blue In Green, All Blues, Mac Tough and Sunny. The ever-lovely and marvelous jazz vocalist Tessa Souter sent the link ...
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Tony Bennett: If I Ruled the World
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Readers frequently ask what, in my opinion, defines a great jazz vocal. I typically reply that it's a combination of the singer empathizing with the song's lyrics, vocalizing the song in such a way that the listener feels your delivery emotionally, and knowing where to improvise to give the song your special touch. I now have a video that captures all three of these factors, requiring no additional explanation from me. All you have to do is watch, listen and ...
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Video: Herbie Hancock in 1972
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
A year and a half before keyboardist Herbie Hancock recorded his seminal Headhunters album in the fall of 1973, he was in Paris performing with his Mwandishi Sextet. Mwandishi is Swahili for composer and it's a name Hancock called himself in the late 1960s and early '70s. Members of his group followed suit: Mchezaji ("player," someone who plays a game) was for Buster Williams, Jabali ("strong as a rock") was for Billy Hart, Mganga ("doctor," whose traditional functions include exorcism, ...
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The Early Autumn Story and 10 Faves
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
In 1946, at the height of Stravinsky's and modern classical's influence on big band jazz, arranger Ralph Burns brought a three-part suite to bandleader Woody Herman called Summer Sequence, Parts 1-3. Herman recorded the three parts in September '46, when saxophonist Flip Phillips was the band's chief saxophone soloist. But in the 78 era, three parts of anything was doomed. Four sides of two records needed to be filled, so Columbia, Herman's label at the time, shelved the masters. A ...
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Colorized Video: Mingus and Dolphy
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
In April 1964, bassist Charles Mingus was on tour in Liège, Belgium, and recorded for the Belgian TV show, Jazz Pour Tous. This 30-minute broadcast was recently colorized using Deoldify. The songs performed are Farewell Eric Dolphy, Carlye Goodbye and Meditations. The group featured Mingus on bass; Dolphy on alto sax, bass clarinet and flute; Clifford Jordan on tenor saxophone; Jaki Byard on piano and Dannie Richmond on drums. Two months later, Dolphy would be dead in Germany after falling ...
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