Classic movies + jazz standards
Recently one of my favorite NY cinemas, the Film Forum, was running a new 35 mm restoration of Otto Preminger’s “Laura” from 1944. I went to see it on New Year’s Eve (they actually offered a complimentary glass of sparkling wine, how nice was that) – really charming. I’ve always loved the tune (the melody is pretty clever and mysteriously catchy…), so it’s great to know where it actually comes from…
Laura in Amazon Instant Video
Anyway. That made me look up for more classic movies with great jazz standards in them.
So far I’ve also liked:
“Days of Wine and Roses” (1962) by Blake Edwards. Music by Henry Mancini. Drew out a pretty dramatic story of alcoholism and love. At some point it was a bit cornily moralizing but actually, also really effective (I’ve been actually trying to drink less after seeing it).
“One Touch of Venus” (1948) by William A. Seiter, starring Robert Walker and Ava Gardner.With Kurt Weill’s Speak Low in it (much slower version than how most people play the tune nowadays). Beautiful!
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“The Americanization of Emily” (1964) by Arthur Hiller, starring Julie Andrews and James Garner. That one has Johnny Mandel’s “Emily” in it as the title tune (nowadays most often associated with Bill Evans’s version of it, I guess) and some really great thought-provoking anti-war dialogues there.
The Americanization of Emily in Amazon Instant Video
And then some movies starring the great Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire:
“Top Hat” (1935) by Mark Sandrich. Music by Irving Berlin (With Cheek To Cheek and more).
I noticed a hilarious quote there, Mrs. Madge Hardwick, sharing some of her mature wisdom
with ms. Gale Tremont (Ginger Rogers), who was a bit perplexed about how impassionately she tolerated her husband’s affairs: “My dear, when you’re as old as I am you take your men as you find them. If you can find them.” Maybe I’m wrong but I think nowadays people take expectations on perfection so seriously that they don’t even joke about things like that? And also interestingly, despite the emphasis on girl power, it’s rare nowadays to come across characters with such striking charm and charisma as seen in these movies… And the sensuality of it (strange how that actually does not necessarily require nudity)…
With US billing address, it’s really easy to watch them on Amazon Instant video, for example. (BTW, I support paying for copyright! BTW2: I’ve added some affiliate links here – it’s my first time trying it, but I should actually earn a few cents if you watch it through my links…)
I’ve been having such a great time discovering those movies lately. Hollywood movies actually used to be quite a bit more chic and witty…?
The Clayton Brothers @ Dizzy’s
John Clayton (bass), Jeff Clayton (alto), Gerald Clayton (piano), Obed Calvaire (drums), Terrell Stafford (trumpet). I caught the early set @ 7.30. It was completely sold out! Some of it might have been in relation to the NEA Jazz Masters 2012 ceremony (many of the jazz masters and guests seemed to have dinner and listen to the music there).
The Clayton Brothers‘ band sounded great. Stylistically, it was especially refreshing as a contrast to Winter Jazzfest’s musical offering. They played tunes from their latest album The New Song And Dance and the previous one Brother To Brother.
Great musicians… How John’s and Terrell’s sounds blended on the melodies was just beautiful (to feature some of those sound qualities, John Clayton had even specifically wrote the tune Terrell’s Song). Gerald Clayton’s piano comping and musical inventiveness was pretty impressive. Also, his father John Clayton displayed spectacular skill in using the bow when performing Where is Love (tune from the musical Oliver). I think very few bass players sound that good with the bow…
To hear this kind of music, in such a faboulous setting overlooking the New York skyline for $10 (with student discount) was almost a bargain :D. The only thing that bothered me was that people were walking around incessantly (with all the plates, full and empty, going back and forth…).
Related articles
- Picks of the Week: Jan 10 – 15 (irom.wordpress.com)
- Jazz Listings for Jan. 6-12 (nytimes.com)
- The Gerald Clayton Trio LIVE at the Vanguard… (jazznpop.wordpress.com)
Ralph Alessi with Drew Gress, Jason Moran and Nasheet Waits @ Cornelia Street Cafe
Ralph Alessi (trumpet and compositions), Drew Gress (bass), Nasheet Waits (drums) and Jason Moran (piano). I heard Thursday 10:30 set. It was quite packed (many seemed to be students or musicians). As a listener I felt this music didn’t speak to me that much – maybe one has to be Ralph Alessi’s composition student to grasp the ideas? I also wished he had introduced the songs just a little bit… Maybe that would have built some kind of connection. I thought Drew Gress played great, and naturally it was a pleasure to hear Nasheet Waits, but I guess it was just one of those night when the magic didn’t happen with the actual music.
Theo Bleckmann @ Lincoln Center – The Music of Kate Bush
A free concert (as part of Target Free Thursdays) @ David Rubenstein Atrium: Theo Bleckmann’s project Hello Earth! The Music of Kate Bush. I got there early (about 1h 20 minutes before show) and there actually weren’t that many unreserved seats left. The public was, on the average, a bit older (maybe some of them actually had heard Kate Bush perform some of those songs back in the day, on that one and only Life tour in Britain in 1979?)). Theo Bleckmann (voice and electronic voice processing), Henry Hey (keyboards, voice), Chris Tarry (electric bass), Caleb Burhans (electric five string violin, electric guitar, voice), John Hollenbeck (drums).
They performed some amazing Kate Bush tunes: it made me really want to check out Kate Bush’s music more (I don’t know if it just me, or my generation hasn’t really been that exposed to it…?). They played: Running Up That Hill, Wuthering Heights, And Dream Of Sheep, Under Ice, Army Dreamers, All The Love, Hello Earth, Love And Anger. As a listener I was really grateful how well Theo Bleckmann also introduced the songs: it added a lot to my growing fascination with the wonder of Kate Bush. For example, he mentioned how Bush wrote the hit tune Wuthering Heights without never having read the book (just having watched the TV show)?? It’s actually really great to hear the story behind the tunes, I wish artists would share things like that more often, it can be a huge added value to hearing the music.
Some of the tunes sounded magical (my favorite was Under Ice), but on some moments I still couldn’t help feeling that something was lacking from the full experience: I felt that Bleckmann’s voice didn’t possess, albeit the outstanding musicality, the same supple charm that Kate Bush has in her own music? The sound in the David Rubinstein Atrium might not have contributed that much for this occasion either (too much echo, lower frequencies got quite opaque). But the music itself, the tunes, were so great! I’m really glad to have seen the show. I definitely got a deep respect for Kate Bush’s music from hearing this.
Tuesday at The Fifth Estate
The Fifth Estate’s jazz Tuesdays seem to be quite a worthy tradition in the Brooklyn jazz scene. For a couple of months now they’ve also had the early set from 7-9:30, by Kyle Nasser Group. I did some pre-listening in their Myspace and thought they’d be worth checking out as well.
So I heard the second set, consisting of: Speak Low, a fresh sounding original tune (by the guitar player in the group, unfortunately I didn’t catch his name), then a tune that I didn’t recognize, a version of Nefertiti with some really beautiful moments, and I Remember You.
Some of the tunes had a nice fresh energy in them, which I really enjoyed. The guitar player in the group seemed also interesting, played with a lot of energy (which I think is actually quite rare…) although he was relying on Kurt Rosenwinkel’s influence quite a bit which I think is not such an original thing to copy nowadays. I wish I’d find someone successfully copying Grant Green from somewhere…
Afterwards we heard the set by Diego Voglino (drums) with Donny McCaslin (tenor) , Linda Oh (bass), John Chin (keyboard). They played Milestones (the older one by Miles Davis), Billy Strayhorn’s Isfahan, John Coltrane’s Crescent and Like Sonny and two compositions by John Chin. I really enjoyed Donny McCaslin’s top quality saxophone playing 🙂 Pretty amazing, on this crispy cold New York Tuesday night, in a bar in Brooklyn, to hear such people… It was actually also my first time hearing Linda Oh: I thought she is great, very nice musician, and actually still rather underrated, in my opinion.
Besides the consistently good jazz at Fifth Estate, they also have Southampton beer on tap! I like! 🙂