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Dior and the Birth of the Cool
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
In 1945, at the end of World War II, the center of Western art, music and architecture shifted to New York. With Europe and Asia in shambles, new schools of creative thought took hold in America that emphasized individualism, minimalism and color. By the late 1940s, this could be seen and heard in Manhattan in the designs for glass skyscrapers such as the U.N. Headquarters and Lever House, in jazz, and in the art of abstract expressionist painters such as ...
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Marty Napoleon Centennial
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
You'd think that a guy who played piano as impressively as the late Marty Napoleon would be an aloof character. After all, Marty was the guy who replaced Earl “Fatha" Hines in Louis Armstrong's All Stars in 1952. That alone would have earned him the right to be a cool, reserved cat. But that wasn't Marty. He was an outgoing keyboardist who shared Armstrong's passion for affability and musical exceptionalism. Marty came from a loving jazz family and was blessed ...
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Miles Davis in Milan in Color, 1964
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
This clip will likely be familiar to you, but chances are you saw it in black and white. A couple of weeks ago, the footage was uploaded colorized. The concert featured the Miles Davis Quintet at the Teatro dell'Arte in Milan, Italy, on October 11th, 1964. When I saw it, thanks to Gilles D'Elia in Paris, a funny thing happened. The music became more interesting and gripping. Mind you, I tend to despise colorized films, but a clip of historic ...
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Ruud Jacobs Superjam, 2004
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Ruud Jacobs was a Dutch bassist who recorded prolifically in Europe in the 1950s and beyond. His brother, Pim Jacobs, was equally busy. In April 2004, Ruud Jacobs brought together some of Holland's finest jazz musicians for a Superjam performance at The Otter Restaurant in Loosdrecht, the Netherlands. The artists were Ferdinand Povel (ts), Sjoerd Dijkhuizen (ts), Paul Poulussen (fl hrn), Hans Vroomans (p), Ruud Jacobs (b) and Gijs Dijkhuizen (d). Ruud Jacobs died in 2019. A special thanks to ...
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Thelonious Monk Quartet: Jazz 625
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
My favorite Thelonious Monk quartet featured Charlie Rouse on tenor saxophone, Monk on piano, Larry Gales on bass and Ben Riley on drums. The group was recorded extensively on tour and in the studio from 1964 to 1968. On March 14,1965, they were at the Marquee Club in London before a live audience for the BBC2's Jazz 625. The TV show's title refers to the BBC2's broadcast on 625-lines UHF rather than the 405-lines VHF system used by the other ...
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Elis Regina: Little Pepper
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Elis Regina was one of Brazil's most beloved singers. Born in Porto Alegre, a major port city in the southern part of the country, Regina was a child singing star on local radio. In her teens she moved to Rio de Janeiro to record her first album. When she was 20, she competed in her first festival singing contest, where she sang an impassioned rendition of Arrastão by Edu Lobo and Vinícius de Moraes. Because the 1965 festival was broadcast ...
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Eliana Pittman: Brazilian Treasure
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Last week I posted on Nara Leão, hipping you to one of Brazil's best kept vocal secrets. This week, I want to share with you Eliana Pittman, also a Brazilian treasure who today still tours moderately and acts on TV. Pittman is a singing star who started recording in 1962, when she teamed with her stepfather, Booker Pittman, the grandson of Booker T. Washington and a clarinetist who moved to Brazil in 1937. Richly photogenic with a vocal ease and ...
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