Hang in there

If I were able to write a song this sick I could die happy.

Harska who?

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Here are the 107 singers selected by critics and journalists [update: I am mistaken in this notion. In fact, most of the participants are merely hard core vocal fans, or---if you will---maniacs] in the current Jazz Critique (Japan) mag (see previous post) as being the best post-1980 jazz singers:

Karrin Allyson, Eden Atwood x 2, Patricia Barber, Emilie-Claire Barlow, Margaret Bengston, Cheryl Bentyne, Mario Biondi, Erin Bode, Jimmer Bolden, Richard Bona, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Karlie Bruce, Michael Buble, Ann Hampton Calloway, Mike Campbell, Eva Cassidy, Catia, Natalie Cole, Eric Comstock, Dee Daniels, Dena DeRose, Diana, Sally Doherty, Donald Douglass, Eliane Elias x 2, Kurt Elling x 2, Jenny Evans, Michael Feinstein, Fleurine, Laura Fygi, Danielle Gaha x 2, Roberta Gambarini x 2, Sara Gazarek, Natalie Gardiner, Siri Gjaere, Arthur H, Bruce Bruce Hamada, Jennifer Hanson, Mary Cleere Haran, Stephanie Haynes, Nicole Henry x 2, Diane Hubka x 2, Sanae Ishikawa, Jose James, Masaki Kanamaru, Stacey Kent x 2, Rebecca Kilgore, Carol Kidd, Diana Krall x 2, Carolyn Leonhart, Leslie Lewis, Josefine Lindstrand, Lisa Lombardo, Lyambiko, Katrine Madsen, Kevin Mahogany x 2, Monica Mancini, Claire Martin x 2, Carolyn Martin, Rebecca Martin, Greta Matassa x 2, MAYA x 2, Robin McKelle, Chris McNulty, Naoko Mizuki, Sophie Millman, Yvonne Monnett, Jane Monheit x 2, Yasuko Nakatani x 2, Silje Nergaard, Patricia, Sofia Pettersson, Madeleine Peyroux, John Pizzarelli, Polly Podewell, Rachel Price, John Proulx, Diane Reeves, Kurt Reichenbach, Rene Marie, Terrie Richards, Hanna Richardson, Judy Roberts, Jackie Ryan, Miranda Sage, Kozue Saito, Spider Saloff, Ann Sally, Janet Seidel, Kendra Shank, Ian Shaw, Janet Seidel, Daryl Sherman, Beverly Staunton, Zara Tellander, Asako Toki, Junko Tosaka, A Tres, Sachal Vasandani, Harska Veronika, Joan Vishkant, Roseanna Vitro, Carol Welsman, Weslia Whitfield, Hiroko Williams, Edna Zari.

In separate sections of the mag, some other newer singers also received favorable mention. They are:

Akiko, Karen Aoki, Takako Afuso, Jackie Allen, Hilde Louise Asbjornsen, Chie Ayado, Joyce Breach, Jeri Brown, Donna Byrne, Ann Hampton Callaway, Amanda Carr, Claire Chevalier, Fay Claassen, Holy Cole, Jamie Cullum, Dee Daniels, Melanie de Biasio, Lisa Ekdahl, Connie Evingson, Calabria Foti, Carol Fredette, Crystal Gayle, Rigmor Gustafsson, Kelly Harland, Joe Henry, Marika Hiraga, Yasuko Hirata, Robin Holcomb, Norah Jones, Rebecca Kilgore, Kei Kobayashi, Keiko Lee, Lovisa, Janice Mann, Kate McGarry, Robin McKelle, Olivia, Rachel Price, Leon Redbone (?), Kate Reid, Alice Ricciardi, Linda Ronstadt, Rosey, Kaori Saiki, Woong San, June Tabor, Laura Taylor, Tiffany, Asako Toki, Viktoria Tolstoy, Haresa Veronika, Cleveland Watkiss, Phillip Weiss, Cassandra Wilson, Sumiko Yoseyama, Keico Yoshida

I'LL do the math: the grand total of singers mentioned is 163 (107 + 56), nearly all of whom only showed up ONCE on the lists of these thirty-three (mostly) Japanese jazz critics and journalists. Some of the choices are dubious as to their being post-1980, most namely Leon Redbone, who surely goes back to the mid-1960s.

It's curious that the most successful young singer of the past decade, Michael Buble, received only one nod. And not much more for the high profile Diana Krall. And zip, nada for the popular U.S. singer, Tierney Sutton.

The bottom line is. . .it was a bad year for singers whose last names begin with Q & U. That's just about the only conclusion I can come to, except that all the advert hustling and PR shilling in the world is for naught when it comes to trying to mold a consensus among serious Japanese devotees of jazz singing.

I try to stay on top of things, but as I noted in my previous post, I am unfamiliar with most of the singers cited. Harska who?

Pages and Pages. . ..

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I just received this in the mail today, from my friend Larry Canova. How did I ever live without it? Almost couldn't resist taking it into the tub with me this a.m., but better sense prevailed.

The first thing that caught my eye about this 91-page (!)circa 2001 labor of love was just how many great and near-great singers Page Cavanaugh backed during his career (in addition to all the recordings where he also accompanied his own terrific singing) either on recordings or "live" / film / radio / tv. But a partial list (*'d where "live," etc. only) of those fortunate many includes the likes of:

Beryl Davis, Doris Day, DeCastro Sisters, Johnny Desmond, Michael Feinstein, Betty Garrett, Connie Haines, Jane Harvey, Dick Haymes *, Peggy Lee, Helen O'Connell, Sue Raney, Mavis Rivers, Bobby Sherwood *, Mel Torme, Frank Sinatra, Kay Starr.

Probably the only recordings missing from the discography are a few post-publication releases, including four more vocal-backing albums, by singers Mark Miller, Lauren Koval, Tony London, produced by (yes, THAT) Marsha Hunt, & (yes, THAT) Stefanie Powers. There was also the last great studio effort under his own name, "Return to Elegance."

At the time, last year, when Page's career was finally interupted by health issues, he was working on an (only partially completed and as-yet-unreleased) album with Nancy Sinatra.

Flashback: The Bestest Christmases Ever!

I've had a special request from---no names puh-leese---to re-run my last year's Christmas post, and so. . .

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The following Christmas memory is from my memoir, Early Plastic, a terrific stocking stuffer and guaranteed to freak out everyone on your Christmas list.

“Fade in; time, Christmas Eve - 1963; location, the corner of 6th Avenue and Eighth Street in New York’s Greenwich Village; place, the Women's House of Detention, an ominous dark fortress (alas, no longer there) out of the Middle Ages.

One time, I happened by the "House of D," as nearly everyone called it, and heard an inmate bellowing down to someone gazing ten stories upward: "Big Ruby is Dead." Who was this Big Ruby person anyway, I wondered? How did she die? Whacked by another prisoner in a love triangle, iced by a guard? Was she even an inmate? Exactly how large was this Big Ruby person anyway? Nearly forty years later I still want to know the answer to these and many more questions.

Anytime of the day or night you could catch prisoners, and those down below on the sidewalk, shouting messages to each other.

One Christmas Eve I remember, dozens of prisoners from various floors serenaded busy shoppers and passersby with Irving Berlin's "White Christmas." We stopped and looked up at living Capra. Until! Reaching the final stanza, they rang out:

"And may all your Christmases be. . .

"BLAAAACKKKKK."
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The warm and fuzzy mood of the crowd below quickly shifted 180 degrees. I, on the other hand, found it mildly hilarious. And almost as memorable as the time a few Christmases ago when a (I found out later) suicide gunshot down the block here in L.A. triggered our coffee table, sound-activated singing Xmas tree.

Ker-blam! “Up on the rooftop, click click click. . ..” A South Central Christmas. I turned to David and Dondi-esquely enthused:

“Goshers, this is the bestest Christmas everrrr!