Results for "JazzWax by Marc Myers"

Roman Candles Across the Stars

July 4, 2012

The title of today's post is abridged from Jack Kerouac's On the Road. Here's the full passage: “I shambled after, as I've been doing all my life, after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, ...

Beach Boys + David Bowie

July 3, 2012

Last month, on the same date, EMI Music released two fascinating rock albums—one a new recording by a '60s rock band and the other a remastered classic by one of the most influential artists of the '70s. The new one is the Beach Boys' That's Why God Made the Radio, and the remastered CD is David ...

Cal Tjader: Breeze from the East

July 2, 2012

It's somewhat unfair to peg Cal Tjader's 1960s albums as “lounge" or “space-age pop." Artists who most often come to mind when these contempo-retro terms are used today are Les Baxter, Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman. Tjader's vibes and the types of albums he recorded in the '60s were more sophisticated and jazzy than the typical ...

Jazzwax a Go-Go!

June 30, 2012

I love YouTube clips of couples doing the Twist, the Swim, the Shag and other dances between Congress's Payola hearings of 1960 and the Beatles' arrival in 1964. It's not a voyeur thing. I just love the whole hip style, the obvious fun, and the agility needed to pull off these steps. I also love the ...

Sonny Stitt: Soul Shack

June 28, 2012

Sonny Stitt made dozens of records in the 1960s. Many were very good, and some were spotty—as is to be expected when an artist is that prolific. But there also were knockouts—albums on which Stitt was perfectly paced and at the very top of his game on alto and tenor saxophones. One such outing where Stitt ...

René Urtréger: Plays Bud Powell

June 27, 2012

Yesterday I posted on Claude Williamson and two albums he recorded for Capitol in 1954 and '55, making mention of his interpretations of several Bud Powell compositions. Today we swing way east to Paris, where René Urtréger recorded his own tributes to Powell seven months later in February 1955. The tracks appear on Urtréger's 10-inch album ...

Claude Williamson: Kenton Presents

June 27, 2012

In the very early 1950s, Los Angeles was awash in jazz pianists who could play with ferocious speed and delicate grace. The names that spring to mind include Russ Freeman, Marty Paich, Hampton Hawes, Dodo Marmarosa, Carl Perkins, Pete Jolly, Lorraine Geller, Victor Feldman, Sonny Clark and Jimmy Rowles. But perhaps the most overlooked member of ...

Coleman Hawkins: 1922-1947

June 25, 2012

Few figures in jazz are as historically important as tenor saxophonist Coleman Hawkins. While Louis Armstrong forged a radical new solo style in the 1920s, the trumpet giant generally stuck with his ingenious creation for much of his career. By contrast, Hawkins not only transformed jazz but also changed his own style multiple times, incorporating new ...

JazzDoc: Bossa Nova

June 22, 2012

Count Basie and Fred Astaire

June 15, 2012

In 1960, Fred Astaire hosted Astaire Time, a TV special, during which he danced in several segments to Count Basie's band. Bret Primack sent along a YouTube link to the entire show. If you're solely in the market for Basie-Astaire, however, move the space bar up to 9:49 (the band) and again to 32:08 (the band ...