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Interview: Helen Merrill (Part 4)
Female jazz artists have always faced a greater challenge balancing their social and professional lives than their male counterparts. In addition to fending off unwanted advances, many have had to carve out time to date, marry, have and raise children, and pay attention to spouses--all while giving jazz the enormous emotional commitment and concentration it demands. ...
Interview: Helen Merrill (Part 3)
With the advent of the 12-inch LP in 1956, record companies quickly recognized the value of turning young female jazz vocalists into commercial pop singers. Bigger record covers meant glossier photos and increased sales. In the months after her 10-inch record with Clifford Brown, Helen Merrill was nudged by EmArcy Records toward minks-and-drinks album concepts: She ...
Interview: Helen Merrill (Part 2)
By 1953, singer Helen Merrill had become a favorite of major jazz musicians in New York. There was something endearing about the young fearless woman with the pretty face and honest voice. She had a smoldering intensity on ballads and took chances vocally on swingers. What's more, Helen was introspective and simpatico with musicians' emotional intensity. ...
Interview: Helen Merrill (Part 1)
Jazz greats are more sensitive than the rest of us. They have to be to produce honest art. While their angst and emotional unease may not always be evident, a deep sorrow and regret often rests just beneath the surface, coloring their creative mood and expression. Jazz artists who reach for their scars when they record ...
Joe Mooney: Sauter-Finegan
The other day I posted on singer-pianist Joe Mooney and his two fabulous albums for Columbia in 1963. To shed light on Mooney and these vital recordings, I spoke with guitarist Mundell Lowe, who wrote the arrangements for both LPs. Today, I'm focusing on Mooney's five brief recordings with the Sauter-Finegan Orchestra in 1952 and 1953. ...
Joe Mooney: Greatness and Happiness
If you dig jazz with a swinging pop feel, you need to know about Joe Mooney. The singer, who had four different recording careers (one in the 1930s, 1940s, 1950s and 1960s) isn't well known today. But Mooney remains an inspiration and favorite of jazz legends who have made a career out of good taste. Just ...
Jazz at Massey Hall: Eyewitness
As readers of this blog know, JazzWax is read daily by jazz fans worldwide. For a humble writer like me, it's exhilarating to know that without paper, ink, a printing press, postage, a fulfillment department, marketers or postal workers, I can connect with so many of you online in the U.S., Spain, Portugal, France, Costa Rica, ...
Clifton Anderson: Decade
I have a weakness for the trombone. To me, it's the vocalist of the brass section. Trombonists Benny Powell and Eddie Bert said as much when I interviewed them, and it's no wonder that Frank Sinatra learned as much as he did about singing from Tommy Dorsey. Same goes for vocalist David Allyn during his time ...
Conte Candoli: Best from the West
Some of the finest West Coast jazz combo playing of late 1954 appears on Best From the West: Modern Sounds from California (Vols. 1 and 2). These albums were issued by Blue Note as a pair of 10-inch LPs. Frankly, there isn't a drop of filler here, and the playing and compositions, many of which are ...
Billie Holiday: Lady in Satin
I've always had mixed feelings about Billie Holiday's Lady in Satin. I love the February 1958 recording, but I have to be in a certain mood to hear it. Billie is in the twilight of her career, and while her voice isn't quite as shattered as it would be on her final studio recording in March ...
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