Marc Myers

New York

Blogger, JazzWax at All About Jazz

Articles

Ryan Truesdell: Gil Evans and Shades of Sound

2 days ago | allaboutjazz.com | Marc Myers

I love producers and performers who fall madly in love with legacy jazz artists and go the distance to pay tribute to them. I'm thinking of what producer-director Kristian St. Clair did with his 2006 documentary and album This Is Gary McFarland and what jazz historian and album producer Gary Carner did in 2012 with baritone saxophonist Pepper Adams by compiling Joy Road: The Complete Works of Pepper Adams (Motema).
Jazz news: Backgrounder: Sal Salvador - Colors in Sound ('58)

1 week ago | allaboutjazz.com | Marc Myers

The stereo revolution began in late 1957, when Sidney Frey of Audio Fidelity Records cut the first LP with the new sonic format and played it on December 13 for an audience in the auditorium at The New York Times on West 43d St. Within months, every major label was recording orchestral jazz to show off stereo's new dynamic fidelity. Sal Salvador was among those in the stereo vanguard. Salvador is probably best known as the Stan Kenton Orchestra's guitarist from 1953 to 1955.
Perfection: Phil Urso - P.U. Stomp (1952)

1 week ago | allaboutjazz.com | Marc Myers

Man, tenor saxophonist and arranger Phil Urso could swing! And he pops up all over the place in the tastiest places. He was paired with Art Pepper on Picture of Heath (formerly known as Playboys); with Allen Eager at Birdland with Terry Gibbs in 1952; with Brew Moore in Kai Winding's Septet of 1953; with Zoot Sims in Neal Hefti's orchestra that same year; with Bob Brookmeyer in 1954; with Chet Baker in 1956 and with trumpeter Carl Saunders in 2002.
Vince Guaraldi: Two Albums With a Latin Feel

1 week ago | allaboutjazz.com | Marc Myers

Best known for his success composing and playing music for the Charlie Brown and Peanuts TV specials of the 1960s, Vince Guaraldi actually had a struggling jazz career through much of the 1950s. Born in the North Beach section of San Francisco, he started out playing with local vibraphonist Cal Tjader in 1951. His first leadership recording session for Fantasy took place in 1955, when he regularly performed at the Hungry I nightclub in North Beach.
Jazz news: Joe Diorio: A Guitarist's Guitarist

1 week ago | allaboutjazz.com | Marc Myers

I first became aware of guitarist Joe Diorio in the1970s, when I bought a pair of Sonny Stitt albums on the Argo label—Move on Over (1963) and My Main Man (1964). I was instantly struck by how tasty Diorio played behind Stitt, especially his driving rhythm figures and fills. Born in Waterbury, Ct., in 1936, Diorio was inspired to take up the guitar by his uncle and studied in the early 1950s.
Bob Costas on Sportscasting, His Babe Ruth-Signed Baseball and the Boost He Got From David Letterman

1 week ago | wsj.com | Marc Myers

The Emmy-winning sportscaster on his dad’s gambling habit, his signed Babe Ruth baseball and the boost he got from David LettermanBob Costas at a Lakers-Knicks game in Los Angeles in March ALLEN BEREZOVSKY/GETTY IMAGESBob Costas, 73, spent nearly 40 years at NBC Sports, covering most major sports, hosting a dozen Olympics and winning 29 Emmys. He is a commentator on the Major League Baseball Network. He spoke with Marc Myers.
The Airmen of Note Meets Stan Kenton

1 week ago | allaboutjazz.com | Marc Myers

Today in the U.S., it's Memorial Day, a national holiday. To honor the men and women of the military who sacrificed their lives in service of our country and those we were defending, today we're listening to the The Airmen of Note playing a set of Stan Kenton's music. Created in 1950 to continue the tradition of Major Glenn Miller’s Army Air Forces dance band, the Airmen of Note consists of 17 active-duty musicians and one vocalist.
Jazz news: Perfection: Harry James in the Late '50s/Early '60s

2 weeks ago | allaboutjazz.com | Marc Myers

Two big bands that knock me out from the late 1950s and early 1960s are the ones led by Count Basie and Harry James. Both could swing the house sideways, but both knew when enough was enough. Basie, of course, invented the concept of just enough, but James's decade-straddling band is often overlooked for the same quality.
Backgrounder: Marge Dodson - Lovely Way to Live

2 weeks ago | allaboutjazz.com | Marc Myers

Vocalist Marge Dodson recorded just three albums. Her first two for Columbia were straightforward songbook efforts: In the Still of the Night (1959) and New Voice in Town (1960). But the third, for Decca, was way more interesting and so 1960s! A Lovely Way to Live (February 1968) was swinging, brash and groovy, from the psychedelic cover art to the arrangements by Dave Blume, who also conducted and composed a few of the songs. The album was produced by Dick Jacobs.
Who Was George Adams?

2 weeks ago | allaboutjazz.com | Marc Myers

The reason you may not be familiar with George Adams or his music is that much of it was recorded in Italy. Born in Covington, Ga., in 1940, the tenor saxophonist and flutist did most of his recording as a leader or co-leader in a range of Italian studios. Adams is probably best known for his work with Charles Mingus, including his terrific solos on Changes One and Changes Two, both released in 1975.