In the 1950s, when the 12-inch album became dominant, many studios recording jazz LPs needed musicians who could record perfectly in the fewest number of takes. Such skills included top-notch sight reading, the ability to play multiple instruments flawlessly and...

JazzWax

06.09.2023

Jimmy Jones: 'The Splendid Mr. Jones' - JazzWax

Jimmy Jones is probably best known as a singer's arranger, even though his first credited orchestration on a jazz vocal session didn't come until a live Sarah Vaughan performance in 1955. His first credited jazz album was Beverly Kenney Sings...

JazzWax

05.09.2023

Dick Collins in 1954 on RCA - JazzWax

When Fresh Sound released two lost Dick Collins albums on RCA from 1954 nearly 15 years ago, the sound was satisfactory. Some of the big material seemed lost in the background, but it wasn't a huge deal. More important was...

JazzWax

04.09.2023

Hal Schaefer: Marilyn Monroe and Two Albums - JazzWax

Like Erroll Garner, Hal Schaefer had his own distinctive jazz piano style and transformd every song he played into pure magic. He could turn standards inside out with a swinging fury and, with his right hand, whip up improvised lines...

JazzWax

02.09.2023

Iliza, Quincy and Sonny - JazzWax

Last week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed stand-up comedian Iliza Shelsinger for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). She appears in the new season of HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones, and her latest Netflix stand-up...

JazzWax

01.09.2023

Backgrounder: Johnny Richards' 'Walk Softly' - JazzWax

As West Coast arrangers go, Johnny Richards was spectacular. Like Bill Holman and Shorty Rogers, he had an authentic feel for the Hollywood scene and how to blend glamor with art. To stir this mood, Richards made wonderful use of...

JazzWax

31.08.2023

Sy Oliver's Arrangements in 10 Clips - JazzWax

Yesterday's post on arranger, trumpeter and vocalist Sy Oliver (above) generated many emails from readers who have long loved his work and those who weren't familiar with him. In yesterday's post, I shared some of Oliver's classic arrangements for Tommy...

JazzWax

30.08.2023

Sy Oliver: 'Easy Walker' and 'Sentimental Sy' - JazzWax

Sy Oliver was one of the most important arrangers of the swing era. A trumpeter, singer and arranger in Jimmie Lunceford's orchestra in the 1930s, Oliver was hired by Tommy Dorsey in 1939 to give the band a more authentic...

JazzWax

29.08.2023

Interview: Gary David on The Sound of Feeling - JazzWax

In early August, I posted about Leonard Feather Presents...The Sound of Feeling and the Sound of Oliver Nelson, a unique jazz vocal and instrumental album released in 1968 on Verve. On one side were three voices backed by a quartet...

JazzWax

28.08.2023

Kent Engelhardt & Stephen Enos: Tadd Dameron x 2 - JazzWax

Tadd Dameron was one of the most prolific and influential composer-arrangers of the bebop era. The pianist also wrote many songs that became jazz standards, including Hot House, Our Delight, Good Bait, Lady Bird, Soultrane, Mating Call, Cool Breeze, The...

JazzWax

26.08.2023

Basie, Bird and Pres - JazzWax

In The Wall Street Journal last week, my monthly "Album at 50" essay for the Arts in Review section looked at the Allman Brothers Band's Brothers and Sisters LP, which was released in August 1973 (go here). When the album...

JazzWax

25.08.2023

Backgrounders: Basie With Quincy and Hefti - JazzWax

In 1958, the French Vogue label put out a double LP in Europe entitled Count Basie Plays Quincy Jones & Neal Hefti. Essentially, it was a re-issue of two previous Roulette releases—Basie One More Time: Music From the Pen of...

JazzWax

24.08.2023

Moonlighting With the Countsmen - JazzWax

Count Basie was able to hold onto players for long periods of time because the band was fun, it had enormous global prestige and the experience was like being with family. But there were other factors. So long as the...

JazzWax

23.08.2023

Documentary: 'Basie, The Kid From Redbank' - JazzWax

Three days into the week, I'm still hooked on Count Basie. What can I say. The sound, the feel, the simplicity and the prowess—no band was as influential in jazz over the decades. Duke Ellington was a towering figure with...

JazzWax

22.08.2023

12 Videos of Drummer Sonny Payne - JazzWax

By the time drummer Sonny Payne joined Count Basie in December 1954, he had played with bands led by Paul Bascomb, Hot Lips Page, Earl Bostic, Tiny Grimes and Erskine Hawkins. After he joined Basie, the band loved his novel...

JazzWax

21.08.2023

Count Basie: Copenhagen, 1962 - JazzWax

American jazz fans are often left wondering why Europeans, Scandinavians and the Japanese are so passionate about the music while listeners here don't seem to have much of an appetite for it. One reason is the vast amount of touring...

JazzWax

19.08.2023

Andrea, Uzo and Bobby - JazzWax

Over the past two weeks, I interviewed actresses Andrea Martin (above, left) and Uzo Aduba for my "House Call" columns in the Mansion section of The Wall Street Journal (go here and here). Andrea co-stars in Season 3 of Hulu's...

JazzWax

18.08.2023

Marti's Sicilian Pistachio Cream Pasta Recipe - JazzWax

Last week following my post on Marti's photos from Sicily, Stuart Fox sent along an email that was akin to several hundred I received from others: Marc, I'm drooling on my keyboard over the photos and descriptions you posted by...

JazzWax

17.08.2023

Unissued Jim Hall: 1982-1992 - JazzWax

Jim Hall remains one of the most fascinating, sophisticated and original guitarists to emerge from the 1950s. His inventive introductions, his chord voicings and jagged feel are still so fresh and ahead of their time. Which is why a recent...

JazzWax

16.08.2023

Backgrounder: Barry Galbraith - 'Guitar and the Wind' - JazzWax

Barry Galbraith was one of New York's busiest session jazz guitarists in the 1940s, '50s and '60s. Between 1941 and the late 1970s, he was on 620 recording dates, a staggering total. How many albums did he record as a...

JazzWax

15.08.2023

Judy Garland: The Man That Got Away - JazzWax

When singers kill a song, they own it. And when they own it, most other singers avoid taking it on for fear of being compared to the ultimate version. Those who do fully admit that their version is just for...

JazzWax

14.08.2023

Mosaic: Complete Sonny Clark Blue Note Sessions - JazzWax

If jazz musicians were among the most beautiful creative "flowers" ever produced by America, then heroin can be likened to a fungus that destroyed a large number of them. Today, it's hard to figure how so much heroin was able...

JazzWax

12.08.2023

Lola Albright Sings in 'Peter Gunn' - JazzWax

In the Peter Gunn TV series (1958-1961), Lola Albright played Edie Hart, the singing sultry girlfriend of Gunn, played by Craig Stevens. Lately, Youtubers have been uploading clips of her singing in the series. [Photo above of Lola Albright] So...

JazzWax

11.08.2023

'Greetings from Sicily' - JazzWax

Last week, I heard from Marti in Sicily. Marti is a JazzWax reader who moved there fulltime from the U.S. in 2008 with her husband. They live in a small town from which his grandparents emigrated to the US. in...

JazzWax

10.08.2023

Backgrounder: James Moody - Return From Overbrook - JazzWax

This James Moody CD came out in 1996 and covered two great albums by the saxophonist and flutist—Last Train From Overbrook (tracks #1-10; recorded in 1958) and Flute 'N' the Blues (tracks #11-20; recorded in 1956). Both were released on...

JazzWax

09.08.2023

Dexter Gordon and Donald Byrd, 1963 - JazzWax

For years, only two known albums featured tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon and trumpeter Donald Byrd playing together. There are the two tracks on Gordon's One Flight Up, recorded in Paris in June 1964. And there is a live recording, Lady...

JazzWax

08.08.2023

Louie Bellson: Thunderbird, 1963 - JazzWax

In July 1963, drummer Louis Bellson was in Las Vegas performing a summer residency with an eight-piece band at the Thunderbird hotel and casino on the Strip. The Thunderbird was in Winchester, about 12 minutes southwest of Las Vegas. The...

JazzWax

07.08.2023

The Sound of Feeling, 1968 - JazzWax

In November 1968, Verve Records released what today may seem like an unusual album but back then was perfectly in sync with the youth-focused times. The LP was called Leonard Feather Presents...The Sound of Feeling and the Sound of Oliver...

JazzWax

05.08.2023

Manuel, Chick and Daryl - JazzWax

Last week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed actor Manuel Garcia-Rulfo for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Manuel stars in the Netflix series The Lincoln Lawyer, now in Season 2. Born in Mexico, Manuel...

JazzWax

04.08.2023

Backgrounder: Jones/Lewis - Consummation - JazzWax

Recorded over four sessions in January 1970 and released later that year, the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra's Consummation was one of the finest big band albums of the decade. A hit album and Grammy nominee, the LP's eight tracks were...

JazzWax

03.08.2023

JazzWax Turns Sweet 16! - JazzWax

On this date 16 years ago, I put up my first JazzWax post without images. I wasn't able to do that at first. Starting my blog came at the nudging of the late arts and drama critic and dear friend...

JazzWax

02.08.2023

Malo, the San Francisco Experience - JazzWax

San Francisco is most often associated with happenings, the Grateful Dead, LSD, the free speech movement, face painting, free love, the Summer of Love, underground newspapers and comics, Janis Joplin and Big Brother and the Holding Company, Bill Graham, the...

JazzWax

01.08.2023

Terry Gibbs and Sal Nistico - JazzWax

In 1963, vibraphonist Terry Gibbs teamed with tenor saxophonist Sal Nistico to record a terrific little-known swinger for New York's Time Records known as Gibbs & Nistico. I say "known as" because the album cover, as you can see below,...

JazzWax

31.07.2023

Chuck Owen: Renderings - JazzWax

Chuck Owen may be unfamiliar to you but you'll thank me for bringing you up to speed on him. Chuck is a composer-arranger who has just released an album featuring him conducting the WDR Big Band playing his original compositions...

JazzWax

29.07.2023

Carol, Lady Gaga and Lynda - JazzWax

Last week in The Wall Street Journal, I interviewed actress Carol Kane for my "House Call" column in the Mansion section (go here). Carol started her film career in 1971 in The Last Detail with Jack Nicholson. Hester Street, Dog...

JazzWax

28.07.2023

Tony Bennett Sings for Madison Ave. - JazzWax

Like many vocal stars eager to supplement their income and remain visible, Tony Bennett did his fair share of TV and print ads for a wide range of products. Here are a bunch of TV commercials, as well as two...

JazzWax

27.07.2023

Five More Reissues From Candid - JazzWax

Between 1960 and 1961, jazz author and critic Nat Hentoff worked for Candid Records as its A&R chief and in-studio producer. During that two-year period, he recorded 34 albums. What makes the albums special is that they were without commercial...

JazzWax

26.07.2023

Hank O'Neal's Photos of Tony Bennett - JazzWax

Hank O'Neal—the author, photographer and co-founder of Chiaroscuro Records—knew Tony Bennett for more than 50 years. Yesterday, Hank sent along the following email with a photo of Tony at home. I asked if JazzWax could use it along with a...

JazzWax

25.07.2023

Backgrounder" Tony Bennett - 'Movie Song Album' - JazzWax

As we say goodbye to the late Tony Bennett, let's listen to one of his favorite Columbia albums—The Movie Song Album. Here's the song list as well as the arrangers and notable soloists: Song From "The Oscar" (Maybe September) (arr,cond...

JazzWax

24.07.2023

Tony Bennett (1926-2023) - JazzWax

For me, Tony Bennett's passing was personal. Since 2011, I interviewed the singer five different times for The Wall Street Journal, four at his art studio overlooking Central Park. Each time was a revelation, from the interview we did sitting...

home›JazzWax›Music

JazzWax - Music

Sol Schlinger, Baritone Sax Extraordinaire - JazzWax

Jimmy Jones: 'The Splendid Mr. Jones' - JazzWax

Dick Collins in 1954 on RCA - JazzWax

Hal Schaefer: Marilyn Monroe and Two Albums - JazzWax

Iliza, Quincy and Sonny - JazzWax

Backgrounder: Johnny Richards' 'Walk Softly' - JazzWax

Sy Oliver's Arrangements in 10 Clips - JazzWax

Sy Oliver: 'Easy Walker' and 'Sentimental Sy' - JazzWax

Interview: Gary David on The Sound of Feeling - JazzWax

Kent Engelhardt & Stephen Enos: Tadd Dameron x 2 - JazzWax

Basie, Bird and Pres - JazzWax

Backgrounders: Basie With Quincy and Hefti - JazzWax

Moonlighting With the Countsmen - JazzWax

Documentary: 'Basie, The Kid From Redbank' - JazzWax

12 Videos of Drummer Sonny Payne - JazzWax

Count Basie: Copenhagen, 1962 - JazzWax

Andrea, Uzo and Bobby - JazzWax

Marti's Sicilian Pistachio Cream Pasta Recipe - JazzWax

Unissued Jim Hall: 1982-1992 - JazzWax

Backgrounder: Barry Galbraith - 'Guitar and the Wind' - JazzWax

Judy Garland: The Man That Got Away - JazzWax

Mosaic: Complete Sonny Clark Blue Note Sessions - JazzWax

Lola Albright Sings in 'Peter Gunn' - JazzWax

'Greetings from Sicily' - JazzWax

Backgrounder: James Moody - Return From Overbrook - JazzWax

Dexter Gordon and Donald Byrd, 1963 - JazzWax

Louie Bellson: Thunderbird, 1963 - JazzWax

The Sound of Feeling, 1968 - JazzWax

Manuel, Chick and Daryl - JazzWax

Backgrounder: Jones/Lewis - Consummation - JazzWax

JazzWax Turns Sweet 16! - JazzWax

Malo, the San Francisco Experience - JazzWax

Terry Gibbs and Sal Nistico - JazzWax

Chuck Owen: Renderings - JazzWax

Carol, Lady Gaga and Lynda - JazzWax

Tony Bennett Sings for Madison Ave. - JazzWax

Five More Reissues From Candid - JazzWax

Hank O'Neal's Photos of Tony Bennett - JazzWax

Backgrounder" Tony Bennett - 'Movie Song Album' - JazzWax

Tony Bennett (1926-2023) - JazzWax

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