duaneiac

Watched a wide variety this weekend: A really well made low-budget film, from back in the days when special effects were done in the real world, not by computers. I can't even begin to imagine how difficult the filming of this movie must have been, even after listening to the commentary track featuring Mr. Herzog. Typical Hollywood bio-pic rubbish, I suppose, but made watchable by good performances. The last one was a charming little domestic comedy about the goings on amongst different families in a little neighborhood. One of the central story lines has two boys refusing to talk any more because their parents won't buy a TV set. I don't know his name, but the little guy below is one of the best child actors I've ever seen.

I found an excellent looking copy of this vinyl album for $1 at the library's sale today: I don't think I've ever seen it on CD.

! I took a chance on buying this disc last year without knowing anything about it. I was quite pleased by Mr. Murphy's performance, by the quality of the group backing him and by the audio quality Recent listening: One of her last recordings, this disc found her revisiting standards, but in a smaller musical setting than those used her albums with Nelson Riddle. Here, Alan Broadbent supplied the arrangements, and on some tracks the piano accompaniment as well. She does tend to "oversell" some of the songs, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. I borrowed it from the library. Glad I didn't spend any money on it. Ella was in fine voice here and the arrangements by Marty Paich are good, but the material itself is not always the best. "Dites-Moi" is certainly not the most interesting selection from South Pacific and "Steam Heat" isn't even much of a song (it's a dance production number). She does seem to have had fun with "Whatever Lola Wants".

Lola Albirght, perhaps best known as Peter Gunn's night club singer girlfriend Edie Hart has passed away at age 92. http://www.ohio.com/entertainment/movies/akron-native-lola-albright-glamorous-hollywood-actress-dies-at-age-92-1.755852

I have not seen I Live In Fear. I'll have to look into it. Yes, that opening wedding sequence was fascinating. A lot of exposition going on, but it is done so well that even though there is not a lot of action going on and new characters are being introduced every few minutes, the viewer is glued to the proceedings. And Toshiro Mifune, the star of the film, doesn't even get to say a word for the whole sequence. Fallen Angel was interesting from a visual standpoint; the story itself was kind of absurd. Otto Preminger was certainly good at moving the camera both to keep the story moving and keep the film visually interesting. I'm not a big Dana Andrews fan, but he did what the role called for here very well. Last watched: It started out fairly interesting, but the movie had worn out its welcome for me well before it concluded.

The debut album by Johnnie Ray, which had no official title, just the performer's name. (Lucky Thompson is listed as playing on 3 tracks.)

Nothing I have heard by Melody Gardot before or since this (her second album) has risen to the level of beauty and brilliance this CD achieves. I generally only listen to the first 10 tracks which make for a very rewarding listen. The last 2 tracks, a cover of "Over The Rainbow" and an orchestral version of "If The Stars Were Mine", are less interesting to me. Part of the great musical success of this album is certainly the marvelous string arrangements of Vince Mendoza which serve to musically support and emotionally enhance Ms. Gardot's songs. An album I listen to frequently and really, really love.

Dee Dee Bridgewater is a vocalist I have never quite warmed up to, but this tribute to Horace Silver is probably the best thing I have heard by her. HS himself guested on two tracks and Jimmy Smith showed up for another two. Anything by Maxine Sullivan is A-OK in my book and this album is no exception. It benefits by the inclusion of some lesser known tunes such as "Have Feet Will Dance" and "Poor You". Includes guests such as David Murray, David Sanchez, Randy Brecker, Joe Locke and Don Alias. A mixed bag.

It kind of struck me just how relatively "young" rock music is, given that 4 of the music's most influential "founding fathers" were still with us: Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino. They may have been eclipsed by subsequent developments in rock, but they were huge figures in their time and helped put rock into the ears of millions of listeners in the early days. The fact that they were still with us as sort of living national monuments was kind of comforting. Now the first of them has passed. Roll over Beethoven, Chuck Berry is on his way. May he Rest in Peace.

This 2007 CD is a rare showcase for the pianist. Her younger brother Willie does pop up on the opening and closing tracks to sing a pair of his songs.

The sultry, swinging sounds of Darlene Edwards brought much joy to my heart today, so I thought I would share a bit --

That Piano Jazz episode with Amina Claudine Myers is the only recording I have by her and really, I have not heard much about her for the past 25 years or so. What has she been up to? Now playing:

Fred MacMurray sure must have been a Pushover as far as blondes were concerned. First Barbara Stanwyck and now Kim Novack managed to turn his head and get him shot full of lead. Mr. MacM plays a police detective assigned to get close to a young woman who is believed to be the girlfriend of a wanted bank robber in hopes that the police can find out the whereabouts of that robber and the $200,000 he recently stole. As these things will, it goes from being just a job for him into something much more personal as he falls in love with the woman. She learns he is a cop and manages to convince him that he should kill her bankrobbing boyfriend when he returns to town and then the two of them can skeedaddle with the loot. Though there are some questionable plot contrivances/cliches (including the one cop who is just looking forward to collecting his pension soon -- we all know what is going to happen to that fellow, and it does!), the movie does a pretty good job of incrementally amping up the tension with added complications. The main problem for me is the casting. By the time this movie was made in 1954, Mr. MacM was in his mid-40s and literally old enough to be Kim Novack's father. The thought that the first time she laid eyes upon him her loins burned with lust is hard to believe. And watching the beautiful young Ms. Novack have to kiss his jowlly mug is certainly unsettling.

An appropriate St. Patty's Day album from an Irish lassie. It even concludes with "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral". She was backed by Nat Pierce, Jake Hanna, Monty Budwig, Scott Hamilton and Cal Collins on this 1978 album.

"The stuff that dreams are made of . . ."

I like Sue Raney's voice and I'm one who should generally have been receptive to this album, but it did nothing for me. In fact, the sheer vapidity of it as really off-putting to me. Now playing: I also like Ms. Ver Planck's voice, but the difference is this album works for me because i get a sense of "her" within her performances here. I got nothing of that from the Sue Raney album I felt I might as well have been listening to Connie Stevens. Anyway, on this 199 album, in addition to her performances with the mentioned special guests, the piano trio which accompanied Ms. Ver Planck on most of the tracks here included Hank Jones, with whom the liner notes state, she recorded for Savoy back in 1955.