Results for "JazzWax by Marc Myers"

Fun Roundup of Holiday Videos

December 23, 2016

Window shopping at YouTube yesterday, I came across nine fun seasonal clips that I thought I'd share with you. Have a wonderful holiday weekend one and all... Here's a clever mash of the James Bond Theme and Carol of the Bells... Here's the first film depiction of Santa in a silent movie from 1898... Here's Lou ...

5 Albums That Cast a Spell

December 22, 2016

There are jazz albums I can't stop listening to once I put them on. It's an emotional thing. My soul won't let me do it. The quality of the art is so overwhelmingly beautiful that removing the album would shatter the mood the artists are spinning. These albums include Bill Evans at Town Hall, Erroll Garner: ...

Dean Martin's Holiday Show

December 21, 2016

The Dean Martin Show first aired on NBC in 1965 and lasted nine seasons, until 1974. Martin's rugged good looks, enveloping manner, swinging vocals and self-deprecating sense of humor tapped into the psyche of the American adult viewer in the late 1960s and early '70s who was shunted aside by the youth market and left clinging ...

Savoy Bop Sessions 1945-49

December 20, 2016

During the two decades that followed the end of World War II in 1945, independent record labels flourished. Many of these micro labels succeeded by specializing in specific types of music that the more bland-minded giants—RCA, Columbia and Decca—largely ignored. In the process, these small labels wound up establishing beachheads for new music genres and cornering ...

Bob Porter on Soul-Jazz

December 19, 2016

Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when I was in my early teens and just starting to listen to jazz, the soul-jazz albums I dug most were on Prestige and produced by Bob Porter (above). These included Leon Spencer Jr.'s Louisiana Slim, Sonny Stitt and Gene Ammons' You Talk That Talk and Sonny Stitt ...

Video: Count, Duke and Harry

December 16, 2016

David Allyn: Radio Interview

December 15, 2016

One of the finest pure-jazz male vocalists in the LP era was David Allyn. He easily was among the hippest up-tempo singers and one of the most heartbreaking balladeers. It's hard not to snap your fingers when David launches into swingers on albums or tear up when he works a vulnerable torch song. David had amazing ...

Ella Fitzgerald: Swinging Xmas

December 14, 2016

Each December since 2008, I've selected a different album for the JazzWax Vintage Holiday Album Hall of Fame. I established this modest institution largely out of frustration. I love holiday music, but so few albums are perfect. For an album to resonate from start to finish, it has to have swing, smart song arrangements and warm ...

French Twist: Art Pepper + 11

December 13, 2016

Like most Art Pepper fans, I love the alto saxophonist's 1960 album Art Pepper + Eleven, featuring arrangements by Marty Paich. So imagine my surprise when I came across a video on YouTube of French jazz saxophonist Michael Cheret and his band recreating the entire album at a French club a few years ago. Give a ...

Count Basie: Europe, 1972

December 9, 2016

In the spring of 1972, the Count Basie Orchestra was touring in Europe. Two concerts were filmed, possibly for TV, and are up as one at YouTube. The first took place in Denmark. As best I can tell, the band featured Paul Cohen, Sonny Cohn, George Minger and Waymon Reed (tp); Al Grey, Mel Wanzo, Bill ...