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Jazz for the Fireplace
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
With Thanksgiving coming next Thursday and the December holidays just around the corner, you'll likely find yourself in front of a fireplace or cooking for friends in the coming weeks. Or simply unwinding by yourself. To make those evenings extra cozy, here are 10 jazz albums that are hip and remarkably soothing. Here are album titles and sample tracks: Bill Evans — From Left to Right (Verve) here... Paul Desmond and Jim Hall — Bossa Antigua (RCA) here... Tommy Flanagan ...
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Jack McDuff: Moon Rappin'
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
As years go, 1969 was a doozy. The country had just come off of two horrible assassinations in 1968 along with news of the Mai Lai Massacre. The following year began with President Nixon's inauguration in January. Any hope that Teddy Kennedy would replace his slain brother in Shakespearean fashion was dashed with the Chappaquiddick incident in July. The Manson “Family" slaughtered seven people in August in L.A. Woodstock was held later that month in New York, followed by Altamont ...
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Don Ellis: Shock Treatment
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
One of the most fascinating and overlooked jazz orchestral leaders, arrangers and composers of the 1960s and '70s was Don Ellis. His scores were so ferociously busy and avant-garde, it's amazing he could find anyone who could play them. But he did, and those who signed on with him became ardent devotees. Nearly all of Ellis's leadership albums are worthy of a listen, and there were many of them—more than 20 in just over two decades. Ellis was often ahead ...
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The Kids Dig Barry Galbraith
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Barry Galbraith was a superb and tasteful jazz guitarist who played on dozens of albums behind big bands and combos. While he regretfully recorded just one album as a leader (Gone With the Wind, Decca, 1958), he wrote many jazz guitar books on comping, soloing, fingering, daily exercises and more. They are considered a must for jazz guitar studies and to grasp the jazz feel. As soon as my writing workload slows down, I'm going to spring for a guitar ...
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Ana Mazzotti: Sao Paulo Sound
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Brazil in the 1974 was a country of joy and pain. The military had taken control in a coup 10 years earlier and would rule with harsh anti-communist rule until 1985. Strangely, the dictatorship reached the height of its popularity in the 1970s with sizable economic growth known as the “Brazilian Miracle." But prosperity came with a price. The regime limited freedom of speech, curbed the media and exiled or tortured dissidents. During these years of social constraints and torment, ...
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Bill De Arango on EmArcy
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Speed set Bill De Arango apart. When he arrived in New York from Cleveland in 1944, he fit in almost immediately on 52nd Street. In 1945, when World War II ended and bebop began nudging swing aside, De Arango was perfectly positioned. A terrifyingly fast player, he was among the few guitarists at the time who could keep up with horn players and pianists playing the new music. Influenced by the staccato attack of trumpeter Roy Eldridge and guitarists Django ...
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Six New YouTube Videos
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
The other day I was combing YouTube in search of a couple of videos when I came across these delightful new jazz clips uploaded in recent weeks and months: Here's Sarah Vaughan singing East of the Sun in 1981, with Andy Simpkins on bass... Here's Stan Getz playing Soul Eyes... Here's pianist McCoy Tyner with Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson playing Just Feeling... Here's Sonny Rollins playing Don't Stop the Carnival in Copenhagen in 1985... Here's a lovely guitarist playing ...
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Video: Bill Evans in Paris, 1972
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
In the winter of 1972, pianist Bill Evans was on tour in Europe. During a publicity stop at a Paris TV studio prior to his concert at the Maison de la Radio on February 6, Evans, bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Marty Morell performed Cole Porter's I Love You. Interestingly, Evans's discography shows he hadn't recorded the standard since a Village Vanguard gig in 1966 with Gomez and drummer Arnie Wise. The program was a weekly sports show on French ...
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