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Jimmy Gourley: Cool Guitar
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
I most recently posted about guitarist Jimmy Gourley last year. As I noted at the time, Gourley was an American born in St. Louis who moved to Paris in 1951 and died in France in 2008. Enamored of Jimmy Raney's playing style, a combination of several picking techniques, Gourley gigged and recorded with French jazz artists in Paris as well as touring Americans. Why move to Paris in the first place? Apparently, Chicago was too depressing for Gourley given the ...
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Erroll Garner: Boston, 1959
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
In 1959, Erroll Garner was in the middle of a personal storm. The previous year, his label, Columbia, released earlier Garner recordings without his approval. Martha Glaser, his manager, hit the roof and said the label had breached Garner’s contract by releasing inferior recordings without his permission. She had Garner stop recording for Columbia. Disputes over the contract and a demand for higher fees for Garner led to a lawsuit in 1960 by Glaser and a countersuit by Columbia. The ...
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September in the Rain
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
In 1937, a forgettable movie with a forgettable operatic vocalist introduced a song that was quite unforgettable. The movie was Melody for Two, and the song, by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, was September in the Rain. Over the years, the pop song originally sung earnestly became an early-autumn pop classic and then a jazz standard. Here are 10 of my favorite versions with a bonus clip: Here's Red Garland with Paul Chambers and Art Taylor in 1956.... Here's the ...
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Count Basie: Three for the Blues
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Thursday is as good a day as any for a Count Basie break. Here are three video clips that went up at YouTube in the past bunch of months: Here's Basie on Chicago's WGN-TV in 1964. Dig Sonny Payne on Corner Pocket and that stick toss... Here's Basie with Sarah Vaughan in 1975... And here's Joe Williams with Basie on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1959... Bonus: Here's Jerry Lewis acting out every Basie fan's fantasy—to conduct the Basie band ...
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Bud Powell: 1962 Copenhagen
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
In 1959, pianist Bud Powell moved from New York to Paris. The exact reason for the relocation isn't clear, though the likely explanations include the ability to play more frequently in a city of adoring fans and boost his income, a chance to relax and seek medical help for his depression and diagnosed schizophrenia, the ability to avoid physical run-ins with the police over his odd behavior, and to escape the crush of American racism. By early 1962, Powell was ...
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Rosa Passos: The Bossa Whisperer
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
If João Gilberto is the male bossa-nova whisperer, Rosa Passos is certainly the female equivalent. There is little biographical material about her online other than she was born in 1952 in the Brazilian state of Bahia and, at 13, she was inspired to drop the piano for the guitar and a singing career after hearing Gilberto and the music of Dorival Caymmi. Still active today, Passos has recorded with jazz artists such as Kenny Baron and Ron Carter, and she ...
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5 Videos: Dave Brubeck Quartet
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
After my post on Alan Broadbent's new album, Broadbent Plays Brubeck, I spent a chunk of time yesterday listening to the Dave Brubeck Quartet. I also slid onto YouTube for a bit. Here's what came up in my net: Here's the Dave Brubeck Quartet playing Lover on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1955... Here's the Dave Brubeck Quartet playing I'm in a Dancing Mood on Ed Sullivan in 1960... Here's the Dave Brubeck Quartet at the Juan-les-Pins Jazz Festival in ...
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Ronnell Bright: 10 Clips
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Ronnell Bright's passing last week was so sad. Even in my business, where I'm interviewing top artists each week, Ronnell was special. Today, I want to share Ronnell's playing with you in 10 clips: Here's Ronnell on piano accompanying Nancy Wilson on What Kind of Fool Am I, from TV's Burke's Law in 1965... Here's Ronnell accompanying Sarah Vaughan in Amsterdam in 1958 on Over the Rainbow, They All Laughed, Lover Man, Cherokee and Sometimes I’m Happy... Here's Ronnell and ...
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