Home » Search Center » Results: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Results for "JazzWax by Marc Myers"

News: Interview

Interview: Burt Bacharach (Part 3)

November 30, 2011

As long-time readers of this blog know, one of my favorite songs is Alfie. I love the rising and falling melody, the challenging lyrics and the song's big build. I've posted on the song in the past here and here. I'm sort of torn between Cilla Black's version and the one Dionne Warwick recorded. Black's has that ...

News: Interview

Interview: Burt Bacharach (Part 2)

November 29, 2011

Pulling into Burt Bacharach's driveway a few weeks ago in Los Angeles, I looked in the open garage. There, parked neatly, was a relatively new white Jaguar XJ12—exactly the kind of car I had imaged Burt would drive: Sporty, comfortable, powerful and, once upon a time, English-made. Entering his ranch-style home, I waited in his music room ...

News: Interview

Interview: Burt Bacharach (Part 1)

November 28, 2011

What lingers most after you have spent quality time with songwriter Burt Bacharach is the sound of his voice. In my Wall Street Journal profile last week, I describe it as shearling-soft. Burt's voice still has traces of Queens, N.Y., but it's plenty soothing and assuring. And the way he releases words in a sentence is ...

News: Interview

Interview: Kat Anderson

November 25, 2011

The week of December 11 will mark a special day in Motown history. Fifty years ago, the two-year-old label had its first No. 1 Billboard pop hit. Earlier in 1961, Smokey Robinson had the label's first No. 1 hit on the R&B chart. But a No. 1 pop hit was a big deal, showing that Motown ...

145

News: Recording

Jazzwax List: 10 for Thanksgiving

November 24, 2011

Last year I served Thanksgiving dinner for song-minded readers. This year the JazzWax audience has expanded, so I was up early shopping and preparing a larger musical feast. Remember, no grabbing, no reaching across plates, and be sure to use the right fork. To all my JazzWax readers worldwide, Happy Thanksgiving. Dig in! Roast Turkey Stomp—Benny ...

News: Music Industry

The Way to San Jose

November 22, 2011

A few weeks ago I was sitting next to Burt Bacharach on an overstuffed sofa in his living room at his home in Pacific Palisades, Calif. We were the only ones in the house, and it was a gloriously warm early autumn afternoon, with the ocean fog just starting to roll in. I was there to ...

News: Obituary

Russ Garcia (1916-2011)

November 21, 2011

Russ Garcia, an early West Coast jazz-classical theorist, composer, arranger and teacher whose trombone-centric big band scores in the 1950s could swing with pixie delight and jack-hammer power, died on Nov. 19. He was 95. I interviewed Russ in 2008 about his life as well as his assertion that he had been mistakenly overlooked by the ...

News: Recording

Seattle's Lost Funk Scene

November 18, 2011

Seattle has always been a cultural cul-de-sac. Geographically, the city sits on the edge of a state in the country's far Northwest reaches. Zoom in on the city and you'll notice that Seattle rests on an isthmus, with large bodies of water on either side. And if you happened to be a black resident between 1937 ...

News: Interview

Interview: Dick Hafer (Part 3)

November 17, 2011

After tenor saxophonist Dick Hafer left Woody Herman's band in 1955, he spent eight years recording top-shelf albums as a sideman on other musicians' dates. From 1964 on, Dick played in the orchestras of Broadway musicals and television shows. What's interesting about his 1956-63 period is that all of the albums all terrific. Not a dud among ...

News: Interview

Interview: Dick Hafer (Part 2)

November 16, 2011

When you speak with tenor saxophonist Dick Hafer, you notice that his voice is as cool and easy-going as his horn. It's a gentle voice, a voice that has a mellifluous sound that makes you want to keep him talking just to hear it. Because his voice putsyou at ease. Like many tenor saxophonists who came ...