Results for "JazzWax by Marc Myers"

Video: Trudy Pitts

December 7, 2018

Trudy Pitts was not as well known as Shirley Scott or as thoroughly recorded, but the organist was just as potent. In fact, it's fair to say she was scantily recorded. She recorded just seven leadership albums compared with Scotts' several dozen. A special thanks to Andrew J. Sordoni III, who sent along a link to ...

Hot Track: Punjab

December 6, 2018

On Joe Henderson's 1965 album In 'n Out, the listener enjoyed five giants for the print of one. The tenor saxophonist and trumpeter Kenny Dorham were joined by powerful cookers: pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Elvin Jones were two-thirds of John Coltrane's rhythm section, while bassist Richard Davis had recorded with Eric Dolphy on Out to ...

Joe Mooney: It's Mutual

December 5, 2018

Following my post on Joe Mooney's Wait Till You See Her a week ago, I received a high level of emails from readers who didn't know much about Mooney but loved what they heard. The same was true at Facebook, where there was quite a lot of traffic in favor of the lounge singer-organist-accordionist. [Photo above ...

Video: 6 x Hammond Organ

November 30, 2018

Complete Cuban Jam Sessions

November 28, 2018

Just as American jazz musicians of the 1950s headed off to jam sessions following their last sets at clubs, Cuban musicians did the same in Havana. Between 1956 and 1964, musicians who dressed in guarachera shirts to play for tourists in hotels slipped into button-down shirts and slacks after at 3 a.m. and headed off to ...

Shirley Scott: Like Cozy

November 27, 2018

Shirley Scott was an extraordinary organist. Whether in a trio setting or teamed with tenor saxophone giants Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis or Stanley Turrentine, her most frequent partners, Scott could rock. She was masterful at unleashing soulful chords and getting under your skin with swinging lines. She also could match her male partners note for note and ...

Frank Sinatra: Only the Lonely

November 26, 2018

Some things are distinctly American: a black leather motorcycle jacket, a Zippo lighter, a surf board, a Corvette and and iPhone. Add to the list Frank Sinatra's “Hey" that opens Angel Eyes on Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely. Recorded in May and June 1958, the album of saloon-y torch songs was recently reissued in ...

Audio Clips: By the Fireside

November 22, 2018

The same English songwriter and bandleader who gave us Cherokee, The Touch of Your Lips and The Very Thought of You, among others, wrote By the Fireside with Jimmy Campbell and Reg Connelly. Composed in London in 1931, the song was published in the U.S. that same year by Robbins Music. Noble was first to record ...

Sonny Rollins: Norway, 1971

November 16, 2018

Between 1969 and 1971, Sonny Rollins went on a sabbatical, first to Jamaica and then to India where he studied yoga, meditation and Eastern philosophy. When he returned to playing publicly, one of his first gigs in June 1971 was performing in Kongsberg, Norway. The other members of his quartet that evening were Bobo Stenson (p), ...

Hot Track: Venus De Milo

November 15, 2018

In 1949, Gerry Mulligan arranged a song he wrote called Venus de Milo for the Miles Davis Nonet, better known now as the Birth of the Cool Band. The group recorded the song in April of that year. Eight years later, the song was recorded again in early December of 1957 by an octet. The album ...