In The Wall Street Journal this week, I interviewed Nile Rodgers on Chic's "Good Times" (1979) for my "Anatomy of a Song" column (go here). My conversation with Nile looks at the song's development but also how it wound up on the Sugar Hill Gang's Rapper's Delight later that year. It turns out Debbie Harry of Blondie was tuned into the early hip-hop scene in 1979 and took Nile to Queens and Brooklyn to hear what was going on.
Also in the WSJ, I interviewed Phil Simms, former quarterback of the New York Giants, for my "House Call" column on growing up with seven siblings on a family farm in Kentucky (go here). Phil's father was tough. From an early age, Phil had to work jobs to pay for everything he wanted, including clothes and school supplies. It was part of his father's scorched-earth approach to parenting.
And finally, my "Playlist" column with Margot Lee Shetterly, author of Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race (go here). The book has just been made into a movie. Margot talks about the impact of Nina Simone's To Be Young, Gifted and Black (1969) while she wrote the book.
Bossa Nova in New York. New York's Birdland will host two bossa nova legends on Feb. 7-11—keyboardist and singer-songwriter Marcos Valle (Summer Samba, The Face I Love and so many more) and guitarist and singer-songwriter Celso Fonseca (Slow Motion Bossa Nova and others). Produced by Pat Philips, the showcase brings to New York the authentic sound of the legendary music by the artists who play it best. Also joining the legendary pair will be vocalist Patricia Alvi, famed Brazilian drummer Renato Massa, the amazing Itaiguara Brandao on bass and exciting trumpeter Jesse Sadoc, all from Brazil. I'll be there. For more information, go here. Here's a taste, from Enno Roosink in the Netherlands...
Charles Mingus 1. Following my post on the documentary, Charles Mingus, 1968, I received the following email from jazz writer, author and critic Bob Blumenthal...
"I paid my first visit to Lennie's on the Turnpike (Route 1, Peabody, Mass.) the night before Mingus's band was filmed there in November 1966 by Thomas Reichman for his documentary. The complete personnel on stage was Lonnie Hilyer, trumpet; Charles McPherson, alto sax; John Gilmore, tenor sax; Walter Bishop, Jr., piano; Mingus, bass; and Dannie Richmond, drums.
"Lennie's was about 20 miles from Cambridge, so I had to borrow a friend's car to get there. After one of the most memorable evenings of live music in my life, I asked Mingus if he would appear on my weekday afternoon radio show on WHRB-FM (where jazz is still programmed, but no longer in the afternoons). Mingus said he couldn't come to Cambridge, because a film crew was arriving the next night, but if I could return to Peabody with a tape recorder, we could do the interview at the club.
"Alas, my friend's car was not available, so the interview didn't happen. If it had, I could have claimed the trifecta of Art Blakey, Horace Silver and Mingus as guests on my show that fall. This was more than two years before my first written piece on jazz.
"Reichman's documentary always brings back memories of the sets I caught at Lennie's, the surprise of finding Gilmore and Bishop in the Mingus group (which had no second sax but had Paul Bley on piano when I first saw them in New York the previous year), and the evolution of a piece Mingus taught to the band over the course of the evening."
Charles Mingus 2. Following my post on the bassist last week, drummer Jimmy Wormwood sent along the poster above as well as the image below that he took in Detroit in 1960. It features, from left, pianist Horace Parlan, alto saxophonist Lou Donaldson and drummer Al Harewood. Jimmy said, "It was taken outside of La Touraine, an all-black segregated hotel. I had just left Lou's band to play with Lambert, Hendricks and Ross. Horace, Lou and Al just happened to be in Detroit at the same time."
Charles Mingus 3. Jazz author Todd Selbert sent along the following on the director of the Mingus documentary:
"I met Tom Reichman in the late 1960s playing softball on the Great Lawn in Central Park. As we talked, we discovered that we shared another interest—jazz. At the time, he was working on the Mingus film. Some of the guys we played with lived in a welfare hotel—The Endicott on Columbus Ave. These players had formed an Endicott team, and Tom and I decided to join them. After a season or two, the Endicott went condo or something and the team dissolved. It was back to pick-up. Tom was probably 6-foot 2 and lanky, with red hair and moustache. He was a terrifically nice guy and a good softball player. We hung-out at the baseball diamonds of the Great Lawn for years, and I was shocked when I learned he had committed suicide."
Trumpets in Anaheim. Last week, Dan Friberg sent this along the photo above and the following email:
"I thought you might enjoy this photo of trumpeters Bobby Shew and Blue Mitchell. I took this at Disneyland many years ago. When I saw Bobby next, I asked him what he was thinking. He said, “I was trying to figure out what the heck he was doing!” This was with the Louie Belllson band. Notice Louie’s head in the foreground!"
Capitol Records. Before the cylindrical tower, before the state-of-the-art recording studios and before the 12-inch album era, Capitol Records was located above Wallich's Music City, on the corner of Sunset and Vine in Hollywood. That's because Glen Wallichs was a co-founder of the label with Johnny Mercer and Buddy DeSylva. But by the time the following film was made in the early 1950s, DeSylva had died, Mercer was bought out and Wallichs was running himself. By 1953, he was shopping the company to EMI in London. Here's the film, sent along by historian Alan Warner...
Free West Side Story. Sixty years after its debut on Broadway, the score to West Side Story will be interpreted by the Manhattan School of Music Afro-Cuban Jazz Orchestra conducted by Bobby Sanabria. The Latin-jazz treatment of this timeless masterwork will be performed on Feb. 24 for free at the Manhattan School of Music at 122nd St. and Broadway at 7:30 p.m.
Brazil. Kurt Werren in Switzerland sent along the following email and clip:
"I know you love Brazilian music. I wanted to introduce your readers to Carminho (who is a Portuguese fado singer and a big star in her country and beyond). Her new album is Carminho canta Tom Jobim...
Jack Kleinsinger. On Thursday, Feb. 9, jazz impresario Jack Kleinsinger will kick off his new season of Highlights In Jazz, New York’s longest-running jazz concert series. He's been at it for the past 45 years. To learn more about the concert schedule, go here.
What the heck. Margy Bloom sent along this quirky Brazilian-themed Disney clip in saturated color wtih Ethel Smith on the organ from 1948...
Oddball album cover of the week.
I've seen album covers from the late 1950s aimed at lovers, the lonely, women doing housecleaning, couples painting living rooms, tenants hoping to get evicted, and even those cooking on brand new gas-top ranges. But just when I assumed every market niche was covered by the recording industry, it appears MGM found a new one to targeted: the hopelessly shy.
from JazzWax http://ift.tt/2kyNKJa
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