Home » Search Center » Results: JazzWax by Marc Myers
Results for "JazzWax by Marc Myers"
August '58: Great Day in Harlem
In the early 1960s, I grew up in New York's Washington Heights with photographer Art Kane's son Jonathan. I was pretty young then, but I still recall Jonathan's dad as a hip, relaxed guy in a photographer's vest, longish hair and large glasses. Art Kane, of course, took the famous “A Great Day in Harlem" photo ...
Ella Fitzgerald and Bill Doggett
By the fall of 1961, Ella Fitzgerald's recordings were sounding a bit processed and predictable. Throughout the late 1950s and into the very early '60s, the singer's studio sessions were becoming cookie-cutter—a Los Angeles studio and arrangements by Hollywood stalwarts Nelson Riddle, Billy May and Frank De Vol. But then in January 1962, Fitzgerald recorded one ...
Jimmy Wisner: Time and Space
One of the hot new trends by record companies is going back into label vaults to find superb albums that have been completely forgotten or overlooked. Real Gone Music has been doing a terrific job at mining vinyl—particularly with country, folk and pop recordings from the late '60s and early '70s. Another company busy combing the ...
Jazz Soul Seven: Curtis Mayfield
Singer-songwriter and guitarist Curtis Mayfield (1942-1999) isn't nearly as well known today as he should be. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mayfield, like Sly Stone, leveraged the assertive music and messages of James Brown—whose Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud in 1968 launched a socially conscious soul music revolution. After leaving the ...
Hal Blaine on Karen Carpenter
Maybe it's because I came of age in the early '70s. Or because my parents had a “burnt orange" car. Or that I had an apple-green Schwinn Stingray. Or that our home was painted redwood. Whatever the reason, the Carpenters always take me back to a time when everything was changing, and not always for the ...
Zoot Sims: September Song
In November 1966, tenor saxophonist Zoot Sims recorded an unusual album for Impulse. The Waiting Game featured a full orchestra with strings, reeds and harp that was arranged by Gary McFarland and conducted by Jack Parnell. What made this date special, in addition to McFarland's unorthodox charts, was that Sims sang and played on one track—September ...
Interview: Van Alexander (Part 2)
As noted yesterday, Van Alexander, 97, arranged Ella Fitzgerald's A-Tisket A-Tasket, recorded by Fitzgerald with Chick Webb's orchestra on May 2, 1938. Though the song may seem a bit of a novelty number now, the single was a runaway hit in late June 1938. By the then, the country was growing increasingly worried: Germany had invaded ...
Interview: Van Alexander (Part 1)
Today is Van Alexander's birthday (Happy Birthday Van!). He's 97 years old. Van is probably best known for arranging Ella Fitzgerald's career-launching hit A-Tisket, A-Tasket, which she recorded with Chick Webb's band in 1938—on this very day, in fact, 74 years ago. Van wrote the words, including her interchange with the band, and Ella tweaked them ...
Sacha Distel: Guitarist-Singer
French and Belgian jazz musicians from the 1950s aren't given nearly as much credit in the U.S. as they deserve. The same is true for British jazz musicians. Ask most Americans to name their favorite European jazz artists from the period and they'll likely run dry after a handful—usually Toots Thielemans, Tubby Hayes, Bobby Jaspar, Martial ...
Artie Shaw: The Money Band
In 1949, Artie Shaw needed money. He would later claim the cash infusion was sought to help settle back taxes owed. But alimony payments to novelist Kathleen Winsor, whom he had just divorced, were certainly a financial drain. Just a year earlier, Shaw had vowed never again to front a dance band, carping about having to ...
Album Showcase
Trending
In Tribute To...
John Coltrane At 100: A Global Perspective
Jazz Raconteurs
Julius Hemphill: Marty Ehrlich and Tim Berne Remember a...
History of Jazz
John Coltrane in Detroit: A Brief History
Live Review
Detroit Jazz Festival 2026: A Gathering in a Great Jazz City
Profile
Sequoia Snyder: Growing in the Light of the Masters
Interview
Jasur Khalilov: From Falak to Fusion
Profile
The Discreet Charm of Tete Montoliu
VOTE!
