Results for "JazzWax by Marc Myers"

Bossa Nova, with Feeling

June 10, 2014

Bill Russo: 'School of Rebellion'

June 9, 2014

Bill Russo is best known to jazz fans as one of Stan Kenton's top arrangers in the early 1950s. But from time to time, Russo led his own orchestras on recording sessions. His first leadership date came in 1947, and from 1947 to 1950 he led a rehearsal band known as Experiment in Jazz. Russo's arrangements ...

Video: Teddy Edwards, 1962

June 5, 2014

In the tenor sax pantheon, there's Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. But then there are dozens of smaller giants who were solid, fluid, soulful players, including Wardell Gray, Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, Harold Land, Hank Mobley, Eddie “Lockjaw" Davis, Frank Wess and Sonny Stitt. Often forgotten today is Teddy Edwards, ...

Mundell Lowe: 'Souvenirs'

June 4, 2014

Every great jazz musician has a handful of albums that stand out even above their vast catalog of superb works. I call these “sweet spot" recordings, which feed right into what you love best about the artist. Guitarist Mundell Lowe is no exception. According to Tom Lord's Jazz Discography, he has recorded on more than 360 ...

Videos: Bossa Nova

June 3, 2014

I love everything about bossa nova—the sound, the rhythm, the melody, the harmony, the feel and the enthusiasm by artists and fans, especially those in Rio. Like the blues, the bossa nova can wrap itself around virtually anything if it's applied tastefully. In celebration of warmer weather, here are five favorite bossa nova clips... Here's João Gilberto ...

Six CD Discoveries of the Week

June 2, 2014

This week, my favorites cover a wide range of styles—jazz piano, soul-jazz, country-soul, pop-rock and what used to be known as “hillbilly"... Leslie Pintchik—In the Nature of Things (Pintch Hard). There's a Bill Evans quality about Pintchik's jazz piano. She listens to herself, she embraces space and keeps things spare except for the beauty of her ...

John Coltrane: 'A Love Supreme'

May 29, 2014

John Coltrane's A Love Supreme is one of jazz's most majestic and expressive albums. Recorded in December 1964 for Impulse, the four-part suite is a manifesto that's part spiritual and part protest against the indignities of racism and segregation. The album was performed live by Coltrane only once—in July 1965, at the Antibes Jazz Festival. Only ...

Howard McGhee: West Coast, '45-'47

May 28, 2014

In early 1945, Coleman Hawkins asked trumpeter Howard McGhee if he wanted to join him for a month-long gig in Los Angeles at club due to open. The offer came in Buffalo, N.Y., where both musicians were playing and winter had set in hard, McGhee didn't need to be asked twice. Heading West on the road ...

Nelson Riddle: 'Changing Colors'

May 27, 2014

Nelson Riddle slowed down a bit in the 1970s. After spending the two previous decades arranging dozens of albums credited to him and probably dozens more for  lucrative ghost projects, Riddle worked on just one or two albums a year in the '70s before his comeback with Linda Ronstadt's three hit Songbook albums starting in 1983. ...

Video: Shirley Scott, 1996

May 26, 2014

Sadly, video of organist Shirley Scott is rare. I found this clip yesterday and thought I'd share. It features Scott in San Francisco in November 1996 with saxophonist Scott Petersen and drummer Eddie Marshall. The first song is On Green Dolphin Street and then the video is badly edited, morphing into another tune. Scott, who died ...