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Johnny Mercer
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When people write about Johnny Mercer, they usually talk about his fabulous career, the sheer quantity of his output, the speed and ease with which he wrote, his southern charm, the hip sophistication of his lyrics. But all this misses the real point. Ask anyone who writes lyrics. Johnny Mercer was a genius. He was born John Herndon Mercer on November 18, 1909 into an old Southern family in Savannah, Georgia. His father was a wealthy attorney with a flourishing real estate business, and young John was sent to a fashionable prep school, the Woodbury Forrest School in Virginia. However, when he was 17, his father's business collapsed, and his father found himself a million dollars in debt
Peggy Lee: Too Marvelous for Words
by C. Michael Bailey
“Every musician in town wanted that gig... She got whoever she wanted, because she was so good." --pianist Lou Levy, as quoted by James Gavin in Is That All There Is?: The Strange Life of Peggy Lee (Atria Books, 2014) Born Norma Deloris Egstrom in Jamestown, North Dakota, in 1920, Peggy Lee ...
Lucy Yeghiazaryan: Hey Love!
by Katchie Cartwright
The excellent New York-based singer Lucy Yeghiazaryan and her stellar band may have you thinking back to Carmen McRae in the 1950s as you listen to Hey Love!--groups with Wendell Marshall, Kenny Clarke, and other hard bop-era musicians. On her 2026 release, Yeghiazaryan has the ubiquitous Peter Washington on bass and Kenny Washington on drums, with ...
Dida Pelled: Blues in the Night
by Ludovico Granvassu
Dida Pelled's I Wish You Would (La Reserve) is more than a love letter to the blues, a genre she returns to after the high bar she set with A Missing Shade of Blue (Red Records). It is the definitive statement of an artist whose signature lies in the irresistible contrast between the understated intimacy of ...
Russ Lorenson: A Little Travelin' Music
by Richard J Salvucci
If a singer is going to run with the Frank Sinatras and Tony Bennetts of the world, it takes determination, not to say savoir-faire. Sinatra in particular had it all: swagger, technique and, in his prime, a legato style that was the envy of musicians everywhere. Russ Lorenson may not quite equal the ranks of his ...
Cécile McLorin Salvant At Buffalo’s Art Of Jazz
by Frank Housh
Cecile McLorin Salvant with Sullivan Fortner Buffalo Akg Art Museum Art Of Jazz Buffalo April 19, 2026 Thick, bright, layered pellets of snow, raised from Lake Erie's surface and chilled in a cold, early spring wind pelted the faces of Buffalo jazz lovers as we entered Buffalo Akg Art Museum's Lipsey Auditorium for ...
Tierney Sutton and Tamir Hendelman: Spring
by Pierre Giroux
There is a quiet courage in making an album like Spring, with just two seasoned musicians sitting with the material and letting it develop. In unsettled times, it feels almost revolutionary. Tierney Sutton has long understood that the heart of a song lies in its words. Here, she treats the lyrics as truths to be uncovered. ...
Mal Waldron: Stardust & Starlight At The Jazz Showcase
by Pierre Giroux
The never-before-released Stardust & Starlight: At The Jazz Showcase captures pianist Mal Waldron in August 1979, first in solo, then in the company of bassist Steve Rodby and drummer Wilbur Campbell, then in dialogue with the ever-incisive saxophonist Sonny Stitt, and always in conversation with himself. Resonance Records issues this performance as a limited-edition 180-gram 2-LP ...
Introducing Vocalist Kate Kortum
by Sanford Josephson
Growing up in Houston, Texas, Kate Kortum shared a computer with her five siblings. “Somehow, the Ella Fitzgerald recording of 'How High the Moon' from her Live in Berlin album ended up on the computer," she recalled. “I had no idea you could sing like that. I heard that and became obsessed." Despite her ...
Mark Sherman: Bop Contest
by Pierre Giroux
Vibraphonist and composer Mark Sherman has long been recognized as one of the music's most articulate advocates for straight-ahead values, grounding his virtuosity in the clarity and craftsmanship that define the bop lineage. Bop Contest, his 2025 release, continues that tradition with poise and conviction. Surrounded by a top-tier rhythm section comprising pianist Donald ...
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