William N. Law Blog: Charlotte, Bill and Lars

This week, I had the honor of interviewing film actress Charlotte Rampling for The Wall Street Journal (go here). The Swinging London icon was lovely and a pure delight. Many of you may remember her in Georgy Girl (1966), The Night Porter (1974), Farewell My Lovely (1975) and Stardust Memories (1980). Charlotte talked about growing up in the U.K. and France, and the haunting memory of her sister Sarah. [Photo above courtesy of Charlotte Rampling]

Here's Charlotte as Meredith in a pivotal scene from Georgy Girl, with Lynn Redgrave and Alan Bates...

For my monthly "Anatomy of a Song" column this week, I spoke to all four surviving members of Deep Purple for a deep drill-down on Smoke on the Water (go here). Guitarist Ritchie Blackmore explained exactly what he's playing on his Stratocaster and how he got that great sound on the song's iconic opener. Here's the 1973 hit...

My weekly "Playlist" interview this week was with W. Kamau Bell, host of the CNN docu-comedy series United Shades of America (go here). He also is the author of The Awkward Thoughts of W. Kamau Bell (Dutton). Kamau chose Living Colour's hard rock song Pride...

Congrats!! Bill Evans' Some Other Time: The Lost Session from the Black Forest—a glorious 1968 recording released last year by Resonance Records for which I wrote the liner notes—won the Jazz Journalists Association award for Best Historical Record of the Year. Congrats to Zev Feldman and the gang at Resonance. It's available here. Here's a mini-doc on the album...

Lars Gullin. Following my post this past week on Swedish baritone saxophonist Lars Gullin, I heard from many readers from Scandanavia, Europe and the States. Here's a bunch:

From Bertil Strandberg, a Swedish trombonist...

For a time, I lived in the U.S. where, among other things, I played the lead chair for three years in the Artie Shaw Orchestra after he restarted his band in 1983. I liked that you picked up the similarity of Gullin and Lee Konitz. I have always been surprised that so few writers and musicians have missed that link. It's quite obvious I think.

I played on Lars Gullin's last two records, and have listened a lot to him over the years. Once, by mistake, I played him on double speed on my tape recorder and was amazed by the fact that it sounded just like Lee Konitz playing fast. Konitz had quite a big influence on Swedish jazz, as you wrote.

A close friend of mine, Jan Allan, a trumpeter, also has been influenced by Konitz. He did several tours in Sweden with Konitz. Like Gullin, he is a true giant. They played a lot together. Jan also played piano with Gullin for a time.

I also was a close friend of trumpeter Al Porcino, who lived in Germany. He often taked about jan as ”that Swedish trumpet virtuoso”. But what really stands out with Jan´s playing is his unique sound and soulful approach. On Spotify, you can hear it on the album Jan Allan 70. You can find one of my recordings on Spotify. Roads Traveled.

I also want to tell how much I like JazzWax. I have followed it almost from the beginning and have told many of my friends about it. Greetings and appreciation.

From Guy Jones in Stockholm. Guy manages pianist Jan Lundgren's fabulous Friends of Jan Lundgren site...

Here's Finland's Haapa-Aho soloing with Dizzy Gillespie (in Finland) from 1982 (move the time bar to 3:48 for his solo):

Here's Jack Bowers...

Thanks for the wonderful column on my favorite baritone saxophonist, Sweden's legendary Lars Gullin. Not many people may know that Lars had a son, Peter, who also played the baritone sax and sounded at times more like Lars than Lars did. Peter's trio album, Tenderness, was a jazz album of the year in Sweden (it was released in 1992). Sadly, Peter died of cancer in 2003 at the young age of 44, having released, I believe, only two albums as a leader. As for the Dragon recordings you listed, I also have all 11 in the series. I also would recommend to those who simply can't get enough of Lars (I'm one of them) a few more. They include Fine Together: The Artistry of Lars Gullin (Sonnet) and a pair of 4-CD sets, Lars Gullin: Portrait of the Legendary Baritone Saxophonist, Vols. 1 (1951-55) and 2 (1956-60) on Fresh Sound. There may be more volumes in that series but I haven't seen them.

From Alan Matheson...

Thank you so much for the great article on Lars Gullin and for shining a spotlight on this great musician. I’ve done a couple of Gullin tribute concerts here in Vancouver with my octet, and the music is just as fresh now as it was then.
I liked your idea the Lee Konitz might have brought some Birth of the Cool 78s with him to Sweden. Actually, Capitol Records had very good distribution in Scandinavia, and I’ve seen all kinds of postwar Capitol 78s in Helsinki, including the Miles recordings and the famous Lennie Tristano sides. Digelius Records in Helsinki bought a large collection of 78s from a Swedish collector in 2015, and it was my happy duty to sort them for the store owner, Emu Lehtinen, while I was on vacation. I have some of the Dragon albums you cited and they are, as you wrote, uniformly excellent. You may want to see the 1976 movie Sven Klang’s Kvintett, which is loosely based on Gullin’s life. An excellent film.

And finally, from Joe Lang...

Fresh Sound has two Lars Gullin box sets that I believe have much of the same material (here and here). They also have those wonderful Fresh Sound booklets.

Billie Holiday. The poster above for the Nov. 19, 1956 Carnegie Hall concert was sent along by Joe Lang from Jerry Kline. Here's the setlist.

British jazz. Last week, following my post on alto saxophonist Joe Harriott, I received the following email from Phil Andrews in the U.K....

Around the same time Joe Harriott was in London in the 1960s, another great alto saxophonist was on the scene named Bruce Turner. Bruce played alto and clarinet in styles ranging from Dixieland to Mainstream, and he sometimes knocked on bop's door. I think you and JazzWax readers would enjoy his playing. Here's a YouTube clip from his John Kirby-esqe Jump Band...

More on Joe Harriott. I also received this informative email from Roger Cotterrell in London...

Many thanks for posting on Joe Harriott (and on Bogey Gaynair). You may be unaware of a Harriott biography by Alan Robertson (Joe Harriott: Fire in His Soul) now in its second edition. A truly tragic tale, but with great, belatedly recognized achievements. Also there is an autobiography of Harriott’s Jamaican bassist Coleridge Goode, co-written with me (Bass Lines: A Life in Jazz). The book fills in further detail of that period of jazz in Britain and has much to say about Harriott’s position in the U.K jazz scene and his relation to Ornette. It was good to hear the audio clips you provided.

On a personal note, your blog is invaluable in drawing attention to musicians in danger of being forgotten because they have been overshadowed or were in the wrong place at the wrong time to get proper recognition. And your attention to often underrated female jazz instrumentalists of the past is excellent. Plus, one of the most attractive features of JazzWax for me is that you offer a seriously international perspective. I much appreciated your recent coverage of Henri Renaud and Belgian jazz. I look forward to reading more about Swedish jazz at JazzWax.

Big Jay McNeely, the tenor saxophonist and one of rock 'n' roll's forefathers, turned 90 last week. He was honored last week on May 17 by the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. I spoke with Big Jay last week (his latest album, above, is here). To read my WSJ article on Big Jay, go here. For a swell new article on him, go here. And here's Big Jay's Just Crazy (1952)...

Frank Sinatra. Two more Frank Sinatra DVD sets have just been released by Eagle Vision that cover all four Timex-sponsored TV shows hosted by the singer on ABC. The first DVD set includes The Frank Sinatra Timex Show and An Afternoon With Frank Sinatra. The first show was broadcast by ABC in October 1959, while the second aired two months later. The second DVD set features To the Ladies, broadcast in February 1960, while the other, Welcome Home Elvis, was broadcast in May 1960. You'll find these new DVD sets (and more information about who was on the shows) here and here.

Jimmy Heath. Bret Primack (above), director of the documentary Passing the Torch, featuring jazz tenor saxophonist Jimmy Heath mentoring students a the Tucson Jazz Institute, tells me that the film is available on Amazon here.

What the heck. Here are the Trammps in 1976 singing That's Where the Happy People Go. Recordings by this muscular, driving Philadelphia group was a powerful force at discos in the late 1970s. Their big hit, Disco Inferno, was the least of their great repertoire...