Results for "JazzWax by Marc Myers"

Interview: Sir George Martin (PT. 1)

September 11, 2012

A few weeks ago, I rented a car in London and drove two hours west to visit the Sir George Martin at his summer home for a Wall Street Journal profile. (The interview appears in today's paper, or go here.) Directions took me through horse country, along narrow roads with dense hedgerows, but I managed to ...

JazzDoc: History of Reggae

September 7, 2012

Reggae's development in Jamaica has much in common with the rise of post-war jazz, and it parallels the surge of R&B in the U.S. Under British rule until 1962, Jamaicans in the '50s were increasingly conscious of American music when large sound systems and turntables became a staple of social gatherings. In the years before Jamaica's ...

Red Garland + Oliver Nelson

September 6, 2012

Back in March 1961, saxophonist Oliver Nelson [pictured above] teamed with pianist Red Garland for the first time. Five tracks were recorded with Richard Williams on trumpet, Peck Morrison on bass and Charlie Persip on drums. The session would be the only time Nelson and Garland recorded together—an odd and unfortunate circumstance. What's even stranger is ...

Bonnie Bowden and Stevie Wonder

September 5, 2012

Singer Bonnie Bowden has an interesting background. Today she performs with jazz groups and swing bands on the West Coast. But from 1972 onward into the 1980s, she was a member of Sergio Mendes' “Brasil" groups, which specialized in uplifting, samba-soaked versions of contemporary and bossa nova hits. During this period Bonnie had some interesting studio ...

JazzDoc: Byrds to Eagles

September 3, 2012

In the mid-1960s, Los Angeles and its surroundings became a haven for emerging folk-rock musicians. New York's Greenwich Village—the heart of the '50s folk movement—had grown hostile to folk artists who embraced the electric guitar and other rock trappings. Resistance by the old guard was largely political. The generation of Depression-era folk artists who came up ...

Elvis Presley's 'Suspicious Minds'

August 31, 2012

One of the many joys about writing for the Wall Street Journal is being given the opportunity to report in depth on rock, pop and soul songs I love. One such song is Elvis Presley's Suspicious Minds. In today's edition of “Personal Journal" (or online here), I interview Mark James, the song's writer, and Chips Moman, ...

Johnny Mandel: 7 Tribute CDs

August 30, 2012

Yesterday, around 2 p.m., I became stuck on Cal Tjader's The Shining Sea, which was written by Johnny Mandel for The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming in 1966. The track features Scott Hamilton on tenor sax and is one of the most beautiful renditions of the song. Which made me realize there really aren't ...

Jane Fielding: Embers Glow

August 29, 2012

I'm convinced you can spend a lifetime listening to captivating albums by female jazz singers of the 1950s. There seems to be an endless supply. Today, the names of these vocalists are completely unknown or forgotten by most fans of the music. In many cases these women recorded one or two albums in New York or ...

Jimmy Forrest: Sit Down and Relax

August 28, 2012

On the Prestige Records' thermometer, tenor saxophonist Jimmy Forrest sat roughly halfway between Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt. Forrest had Ammons' bulldog gospel attack but he also had Stitt's glossy slipperiness. Forrest, of course, had his own distinct swinging style that sounded like the blues mounted on a roller skates. He could be both intimate and ...

Jazzdoc: Gil Evans

August 27, 2012