Will Friedwald

Author

Will Friedwald has written about music for The Wall Street Journal and was the jazz (and cabaret) critic for The New York Sun. He is the author of nine books, including A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers; Stardust Melodies: The Biography of Twelve of America’s Most Popular Songs; Jazz Singing: America’s Great Voices from Bessie Smith to Bebop and Beyond; Sinatra! The Song Is You; and Tony Bennett: The Good Life (with Tony Bennett). He has written liner notes for nearly five hundred compact discs, for which he has received eight Grammy nominations. He has also written for Vanity Fair, The Village Voice, Entertainment Weekly, American Heritage, and The New York Times, among other publications.

Will Friedwald appears in the following:

The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums: Songs for Swingin' Lovers

Monday, October 23, 2017

Will Friedwald, author of The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums, looks at Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle's masterpiece Songs for Swingin' Lovers

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The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums: Nina Simone and Piano

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Will Friedwald, author of The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums, discusses Nina Simone and Piano. 

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The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums: The Best of Chet Baker Sings

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Will Friedwald, author of The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums, discusses The Best of Chet Baker Sings.

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Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums: Ella Fitzgerald Live in Berlin

Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Will Friedwald, author of The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums, looks at Mack the Knife: Ella in Berlin

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Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums: Louis Armstrong Meets Oscar Peterson

Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Will Friedwald, author of The Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums, looks at the classic team up between Louis Armstrong and Oscar Peterson.

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Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums: Judy at Carnegie Hall

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Will Friedwald is exploring the finest jazz and pop vocal albums with The Jonathan Channel. This week he looks at why Judy at Carnegie Hall was so revolutionary for Judy Garland.

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Great Jazz and Pop Vocal Albums: The Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album

Tuesday, September 05, 2017

Will Friedwald is exploring the finest jazz and pop vocal albums with The Jonathan Channel. This week he looks at the meeting of two greats with the 'Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album.'

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When Basie Was Jazz' Greatest Dance Master

Thursday, August 21, 2014

For Count Basie's 110th birthday, we're revisiting his work with saxophonist Lester Young. Jazz writer Will Friedwald explores the artistry of two jazz greats. 

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American Icons: Anything Goes

Friday, May 16, 2014

Cole Porter was out of the musical theater game during the 1930s, as American mores grew looser and more risqué. But instead of getting stodgy, he wrote the classic celebration of bad...

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American Icons: Anything Goes

Friday, September 13, 2013

Cole Porter lived in Europe during the 1920s, and returned to American to write a sharp satire of this freewheeling era that has outlived the people and events it referred to. Music h...

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New Hot Jazz Is Warming Up

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Lately young jazz musicians have taken a shine to music of the turn of the century -- but not this century. They're looking back to the turn of the last century, and giving it a modern twist. Will Friedwald recently wrote about this so-called "new hot jazz" for Vanity Fair in an article called "How a Swath of 20-Somethings Have Tuned In to 1920s Pop." He joins us to discuss. Plus, we hear from one of the musicians who has been tuning into that 1920s pop and making it her own: Elizabeth Bougerol of The Hot Sardines.

The first full-scale New York Hot Jazz Festival is on August 25 at Mehanata, on the Lower East Side – The Hot Sardines will play.

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The Roaring 20-Somethings; Chris Thile Plays Bach On Mandolin; Remixing Country Music

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

In this episode: We hear about the “New Hot Jazz” movement: young musicians and singers playing the jazz of New Orleans and the 1920s.

Plus: Mandolin player Chris Thile goes back to Bach on his new album. He plays live.

And: There’s a new trend in country music: the remix. We listen to some of the results when traditional country adds a dancefloor beat.

 

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Gatsby's Original Soundtrack

Monday, May 20, 2013

Director Baz Luhrmann’s film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel "The Great Gatsby" features a Jay-Z-produced soundtrack that's packed with rap and hip hop. But, as any Fitzgerald fan could tell you, the author had some pretty specific songs in mind for his story. Wall Street Journal contributor Will Friedwald tells us about the oh-so-modern songs of the 1920s specifically referenced in Fitzgerald's works.

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Empress of the Blues

Monday, August 01, 2011

The death of Amy Winehouse stirred up discussion of other tragic and fast-living female singers. Today, we take a look at one of the most popular artists of the first half of the 20th century, Bessie Smith. Joining us are actress and singer Miche Braden, who plays Smith in the new off-Broadway production “The Devil’s Music,” and music writer Will Friedwald, author of “A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers.”

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Year to Remember: 1955

Tuesday, June 07, 2011

1955 was filled with landmark albums, classic songs – and the rise of rock ‘n’ roll. Will Friedwald, author of “A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers," joins us to talk about this "Year to Remember." 

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