Results for "Mel Torme"

Mel Torme

Mel Torme was among the most enduring singers from the big-band era, maligned by some as the epitome of lounge singer, acclaimed by many more as one of a talented and serious vocalist. Legend has it that Torme began singing for his supper a Chicago restaurant when he was four and was working the vaudeville circuit soon after. He worked as a child actor on radio, and began writing songs in his early teens. In the early 1940s, he quit high school to became a boy singer (and drummer and part-time arranger) with Chico Marx's band. His first fame coincided with Frank Sinatra's, and the two appeared together in their first film, "Higher and Higher." He wanted to be a jazz singer, "but I got sidetracked," he said

Take Five with Alex Bird

By ALEX BIRD

Meet Alex Bird Alex Bird is a singer/songwriter and actor in jny: Toronto, ON. With a swinging style and an indescribable charm, Alex and his “Jazz Mavericks" are currently working on an entirely new chapter in the Great American Songbook, with their soon to be released, all original debut album, “Whisky Kisses" (Summer 2020). “The Way ...

Chuck Redd: 40 Years On the Road

By MARK ROBBINS

Chuck Redd is a busy, busy man. This interview took place after one of his many sets during the North Carolina Jazz Festival, which celebrated its fortieth anniversary at the beginning of 2020. Coincidently, Redd is also celebrating his 40th anniversary of being on the road as one of the most versatile and in-demand drummers and ...

Vic Juris: Tension and Release

By VICTOR L. SCHERMER

This article was first published at All About Jazz on July 28, 2009. Vic Juris is one of the premier jazz guitarists in the business today. Perhaps less known than some of his peers, he is nevertheless admired by all of them and has accumulated, since his emergence on the scene in the 1970s, ...

Michael Zilber: East West / Music for Big Bands

By JACK BOWERS

On East West, his first-ever big-band enterprise, Canadian-born saxophonist Michael Zilber leads world-class ensembles in New York City and San Francisco, which speaks volumes about his artistry and gravitas. Zilber not only plays saxophone on both bands, he composed eight of the fourteen numbers on this handsome two-CD set and arranged all of them.

Douye: Live at LACMA

By JIM WORSLEY

No doubt, LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) wanted to finish their jazz music series with a flourish. Reaching out to the enchantingly superb jazz vocalist Douye proved to be the right call. Jazz at LACMA is presented on Friday nights from April through November. In the past they have had performances from artists such ...

Allegra Levy: Looking at the Moon

By ANGELO LEONARDI

L'hanno già fatto Frank Sinatra e Mel Tormè ma non è vietato riprovarci, deve aver pensato Allegra Levy. Giunta al terzo disco, la giovane cantante statunitense esplora un repertorio di canzoni che si riferiscono alla luna, nel titolo e/o nel testo. Sono trascorsi più di cinquant'anni da Moonlingt Sinatra e Swingin' On The Moon (quest'ultimo ne ...

Meet Andrew Rothman

By TESSA SOUTER AND ANDREA WOLPER

Lawyer, audiophile, lifelong arts enthusiast, our newest Super Fan's life plan was to be a classical pianist, until college took him in another direction. But it was two “major epiphanies" (the first time he heard Miles Davis and, later, Bill Evans) that turned him into a jazz Super Fan--such a Super Fan, in fact, that he ...

La nicchia del canto jazz maschile

By ANGELO LEONARDI

A eccezione di pochi nomi--in particolare Kurt Elling, Gregory Porter, Bobby McFerrin e il veterano Tony Bennett--il canto jazz maschile è nettamente sottoesposto rispetto a quello femminile. Esempi eclatanti di questo sono stati Jon Hendricks e Mark Murphy, scomparsi di recente senza aver avuto la considerazione che meritavano. Allan Harris e Fred Farell ...