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Sorting Out the Tijuana Sound
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Did you watch The Queen's Gambit, the Netflix mini-series about the female chess champ, starring Anya Taylor-Joy? Whether you did or didn't, there's a scene in episode 4 ("Middle Game") where lead character Beth Harmon and her step-mom fly down to Mexico City to a tournament. In the background was the brilliant use of Mexican Highway as background music Following the episode, I must have received two dozen emails from readers begging to know what Herb Alpert & the Tijuana ...
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Documentary: Pittsburgh Jazz
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Erroll Garner, George Benson, Earl “Fatha" Hines, Ray Brown, Kenny Clarke, Stanley Turrentine, Billy Eckstine, Billy Strayhorn, Ahmad Jamal, Joe Negri, {{Johnny Costa and Mary Lou Williams all had one thing in common—Pittsburgh, PA. They all grew up there along with other jazz greats. How did Pittsburgh come to be such a flourishing jazz center? And what caused jazz's decline in the city—twice? Here's We Knew What We Had; The Greatest Story Never Told, an excellent documentary about the rise ...
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Louis Armstrong: Denmark 1933
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Back in 1933, before the hamming and caricature roles in movies, Armstrong was in Copenhagen, Denmark, during a year-long tour of Europe. There, three songs were filmed, the first time Armstrong was captured by a movie camera. What we see and hear is Armstrong on stage at the Tivoli Concert Hall playing and singing jazz's swing foundation, which would hold for the next two decades and beyond. Listen to his vocal, how he phrases and bends notes; listen to what ...
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Documentary: Horace Parlan
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
The response to my Horace Parlan post earlier this week was enormous. Parlan really was special and should be thought of as one of the Top-10 post-war piano greats. So why not another post on Parlan. Though I posted the following documentary some years back, I thought I'd post it again for the thousands of readers who are newly minted Parlan fans. A special thanks to Ken Deifik for reminding me about it. Here's Don McGlynn's Horace Parlan By Horace ...
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Barney Wilen and Donald Byrd
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
In the summer of 1958, the Donald Byrd Quintet arrived in Paris to play at the Au Chat Qui Peche, a Left Bank jazz club. Also that summer, French saxophonist Barney Wilen was approached by film producer Sandro Bocola, who had an idea. In December 1957, Wilen had recorded with Miles Davis on the soundtrack to Elevator to the Gallows. Bocola wanted to make Jazz in Camera, an avant-garde film that would be an updating of Gjon Mili's Jammin' the ...
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Jazz Doc: Stéphane Grappelli
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
European jazz starts with Stéphane Grappelli and the Hot Club of France Quintet. The violinist along with guitarist Django Reinhardt added Louis Vola on bass and Joseph Reinhardt and Roger Chaput on guitar. The group ended its run in 1939 with the onset of World War II. Grappelli was in London when war broke out and remained there for the duration. Reinhardt was in Paris. They would reunite after the war. Grappelli is the father of the jazz violin and ...
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Miles: Ascenseur pour l'échafaud
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Known in English as Elevator to the Gallows, this 1958 French crime film is notable for three reasons: The movie, directed by Louis Malle, launched French new wave cinema. It stars Jeanne Moreau, one of France's finest actresses and a personal favorite. And best of all, Miles Davis improvises throughout. In a nutshell, the film is about two lovers who become involved in a murder plot and are foiled when an elevator's power is cut. The rest is too complicated ...
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Jazz 625: British Jazz
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Between April 1964 and August 1966, BBC2 in the U.K. aired an hour-long TV show called Jazz 625. It was broadcast on 625-lines UHF rather than the 405-lines VHF system then used by the other channels. This allowed for a better signal at home. What was particularly noteworthy about the show is that it began airing after a long-running dispute between the U.K. Musician's Union and the American Federation of Musicians was resolved. This allowed American musicians to perform in ...
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