Results for "JazzWax by Marc Myers"

Mose Allison: Thinkin' + Feelin'

July 13, 2016

Yesterday while writing, I had a terrible craving for Mose Allison. If you know Mose Allison's music, you know the feeling. There's a warm-weather quality about Mose's piano playing that combines happy-as-a-lark optimism with sage simplicity, sly humor and sophisticated note choices, rhythms and lyrics. Mose grew up in Mississippi, so he has the Delta in ...

Art Van Damme with Flutes

July 12, 2016

Between now and the end of 2017, the entire MPS jazz catalog of 500 albums will be reissued digitally as downloads. The German record label known for its sterling sound was founded in 1968 and lasted until 1983, when the rights were sold to Polygram. MPS stood for Musik Produktion Schwarzwald—or Music Production Black Forest, where ...

Denny Zeitlin: Early Wayne

July 11, 2016

One of my favorite jazz piano albums of the year so far is Denny Zeitlin's new album, Early Wayne—featuring Denny's solo impressions of Wayne Shorter's compositions. Denny's approach is tremendously exciting and free-spirited. He covers the keyboard with a range of churning attacks and with glimmering sensitivity. In Denny's hands, Shorter's music comes rushing in at ...

Eric Dolphy: Last Date

July 8, 2016

Manhattan Jazz Septette

July 7, 2016

In 1956, jazz and pop record labels began to issue 12-inch albums. The format was an upgrade from the 10-inch LP and would remain a staple until the saturation of the marketplace by CDs 40 years later. The new 12-inch LP meant up to 25 minutes of music on each side, allowing for six songs per ...

Lucky Thompson on MPS

July 5, 2016

In 1968, saxophonist Lucky Thompson moved back to Europe with his family after a five-year stay in the States. He settled in Lausanne, Switzerland, which allowed him to tour in European cities where he found the most work. A year later, in March 1969, he recorded A Lucky Songbook in Europe for MPS, one of the ...

Don Friedman (1935-2016)

July 2, 2016

Don Friedman, a jazz pianist with enormous sensitivity and avant-garde curiosity who shared an introspective style similar to Bill Evans but tended to be more experimental and jagged with shades of Bud Powell in the trio and solo formats, died June 30. He was 81. Don grew up in San Francisco and studied formally starting at ...

Sinatra: Strangers in the Night 2

July 1, 2016

Yesterday, I posted about Frank Sinatra's single, Strangers in the Night, which went to No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart this week in 1966. I also included a link to my Wall Street Journal essay on the song and album. Included in yesterday's post was my complete interview with Jimmy Bowen, who produced the single ...

Sinatra: Strangers in the Night

June 30, 2016

In the Wall Street Journal today, I write on Frank Sinatra's Strangers in the Night—the single and the album (go here). Fifty years ago this week, the single went to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the album soon a chart topper in July, resulting in four Grammys the following year. For the article, ...

West Coast Jazz: Early Sounds

June 29, 2016

West Coast jazz has no real beginning and no specific founder. It's a sound that evolved from a range of influences, including Lester Young's relaxed sound on the tenor saxophone, Count Basie's swing and classical counterpoint. But West Coast jazz is also a product of experiences, including the beach breezes, the vastness and tranquilizing effect of ...