A few years ago I caught a late-1940s Robert Mitchum movie on AMC called The Big Steal. Mitchum played an Army lieutenant on the run in Mexico, trying to absolve himself of a stolen payroll for which he’d been framed. His feminine foil was Jane Greer, as a woman disillusioned and exploited by her playboy lover (portrayed by Patric Knowles). Rife with crackling dialogue and great south-of-the-border scenery, the film also hooked me with an epic chase scene (in which Greer, not Mitchum, is the driver), a progressive-for-its-time treatment of the leading lady and the Mexican police officers, and an engaging chemistry…
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Listener David Berk writes:Jack was one of my favorite pianists. I first started listening to him at a small bar on La Brea off Crenshaw in L.A. in the mid to late 60s. A brilliant composer/arranger, Jack toiled in relative obscurity despite several marvlous dates for Blue Note that included Lee Morgan, etc. His Volt release, “Ramblin’ ,” was reissued by Fresh Sound and contains some benchmark recordings including an incredible take on Clare Fisher’s “Pensativa.” A great portion of his work including some sensational dates with the incomparable Sue Raney lie in the Warner…
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It just wouldn’t be a Sony/Legacy Miles Davis box-set without some strange, inexplicable delay. In the meantime, the Village Voice has a review up…
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… not to mention Dick Contino and The Platters!Yesterday I suggested listening to our previous episode The Wild One as a companion program to this weekend’s upcoming I Want to Live! show, which tells the story of the film based around jazz-lover and accused-murderess Barbara Graham (the real-life Graham was…
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No, this isn’t about Jackie McLean’s Prestige years, though one of these days we’re going to do a show on that very topic. Night Lights recently marked its third year on the air, and the third anniversary of the website’s launch is just around the corner…
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Jazz documentarian Bret Primack has made a short film about the musical relationship of tenor saxophone greats Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane that includes interviews with Rollins and Jimmy Heath, as well as footage…
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Just ahead of this weekend’s Bastille Day salute to the expatriate African-American jazz community–more video of Bud Powell in Paris:
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In lieu of the proverbial time machine that could take us back to 52nd Street circa 1950, or the Plugged Nickel circa 1968, there’s always YouTube. Recently videos of the Lennie Tristano Quintet performing Subconscious-Lee, 317 E. 32nd St., and Background Music at New York City’s Half Note club in 1964 have been posted. This was–if I’m not mistaken–one of the last times that alto saxophonist Lee Konitz performed with Tristano, and tenor great Warne Marsh was there as well.
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The very cool Jazz Icons DVD series has announced the release of seven more titles, including concerts by Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughan, Dexter Gordon, Wes Montgomery, Dave Brubeck, and Charles Mingus.
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