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243
Book Review

Portrait Of Johnny: The Life Of John Herndon Mercer

Read "Portrait Of Johnny: The Life Of John Herndon Mercer" reviewed by David Rickert


Gene Lees Portrait Of Johnny: The Life Of John Herndon Mercer Pantheon Books ISBN: 0-634-09929-9 384 pages 2004

When it comes to songwriting, lyricists don't get much credit. While many people may know, for instance, that Henry Mancini wrote the music for “Moon River, many fewer are likely to know that Johnny Mercer wrote the lyrics. Great lyrics can make a song, but lyric writing is an art that's largely ...

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34

Opinion

Missing Gene Lees

Missing Gene Lees

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

Gene Lees died two years ago this month, on April 22. That day I wrote, “We lost a writer unsurpassed at illuminating music and the world that musicians inhabit. I lost a cherished colleague whose work inspired me, a dear friend whose companionship brightened my existence.” The Portland, Oregon, broadcaster, poet and visual essayist Lynn Darroch was another of Gene’s friends and admirers, although, he said in a message, “It wasn’t a smooth ride.” There were no smooth rides with ...

75

Recording

Listening Tip: Gene Lees

Listening Tip: Gene Lees

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

Bill Kirchner writes:

Recently, I taped my next one-hour show for the “Jazz From The Archives" series. Presented by the Institute of Jazz Studies, the series runs every Sunday on WBGO-FM (88.3).

Gene Lees (1928-2010) was one of jazz's foremost essayists and biographers. And he wrote liner notes for a number of classic jazz albums: John Coltrane's Ballads, Bill Evans' Conversations With Myself and At The Montreux Jazz Festival, The Individualism of Gil Evans, and Getz/Gilberto, among others. ...

134

Interview

Gene Lees on Waltz for Debby

Gene Lees on Waltz for Debby

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Last week, while writing about the late a CD that Gene had sent me back in the 1990s: Yesterday I Heard the Rain: Gene Lees Sings Gene Lees, which he produced. The album features 12 songs--9 with lyrics by Gene.

When I pulled out my copy last week, out tumbled a sheet of paper folded into a square. Puzzled, I opened the square and there was a printout of an email Gene had sent me dated September 15, 1997.

Gene ...

123

Interview

Jeff Sultanof on Gene Lees

Jeff Sultanof on Gene Lees

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

Since the Rifftides entry about Gene Lees' death on April 22, we have received a flood of comments. They are posted in the comments section at the end of that piece. A couple of days later, Gene's friend Jeff Sultanof sent me a message that he intended as a private communique. I was moved by it and persuaded Jeff to revise it as a guest column. My intention was to post it four days ago, but the malware Darth Vader ...

123

Obituary

Gene Lees, Jazz Critic and Historian, Dies at 82

Gene Lees, Jazz Critic and Historian, Dies at 82

Source: Michael Ricci

Gene Lees, a prolific jazz critic and historian who approached his subject with a journalist's rigor and an insider's understanding, died on Thursday at his home in Ojai, Calif. He was 82. The apparent cause was a stroke, said Leslie A. Westbrook, a family spokeswoman. The author of numerous books, Mr. Lees was not just an observer of the music scene, he was also a participant. He was an accomplished lyricist whose credits included “Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars," the ...

95

Obituary

Gene Lees Jazz Historian and Critic Dies

Gene Lees  Jazz Historian and Critic Dies

Source: Michael Ricci

A Canadian by birth who moved to Ojai more than 30 years ago, he wrote highly personal essays and biographies of such jazz greats as Oscar Peterson, Woody Herman and Johnny Mercer.

Gene Lees, a jazz historian and critic known for his pugnacious, highly personal essays and biographies of such jazz greats as Oscar Peterson, Woody Herman and Johnny Mercer, died Thursday at his home in Ojai. He was 82. Lees had struggled for many years with heart disease, said ...

384

Obituary

Gene Lees, 1928-2010

Gene Lees, 1928-2010

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

Gene Lees died today. We lost a writer unsurpassed at illuminating music and the world that musicians inhabit. I lost a cherished colleague whose work inspired me, a dear friend whose companionship brightened my existence. For a formal biography, see his entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia. My remarks are more personal.

Gene's books about Oscar Peterson, Woody Herman, Henry Mancini, Johnny Mercer and Lerner and Lowe are among the finest biographies of our time, regardless of category. He was completing ...

221

Book / Magazine

New Johnny Mercer Biography By Gene Lees

New Johnny Mercer Biography By Gene Lees

Source: All About Jazz

PORTRAIT OF JOHNNY: The Life of John Herndon Mercer By Gene Lees

“...the best writer on the topic of jazz in the world today" ~Toronto Sun

Best known as one of the foremost lyricists of the golden age of American popular song--writer of standards including “One for My Baby," “That Old Black Magic," and “Moon River"--Johnny Mercer was also a singer, record-company executive (he founded Capitol Records), and occasional composer. A popular radio personality with a happy-go-lucky persona, ...

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