Legendary jazz guitarist Joe Beck, one of the instrument’s great contemporary practitioners, died last week of lung cancer at a hospice in Danbury, CT, a few days before his 63rd birthday.

Throughout his career, Beck, who recorded frequently for the New Bedford-based WCS label, worked with some of the very biggest names in jazz and pop. In a career that spanned five decades, Beck accompanied an extraordinary range of giants: Duke Ellington and Gil Evans, Miles Davis, Paul Desmond, Stan Getz, and Brazilian genius Antonio Carlos Jobim. Beck also played in jazz orchestras led by Buddy Rich, Maynard Ferguson, and Woody Herman, and he accompanied fellow guitarists like Larry Coryell and John Abercrombie. He also performed sessions and tours with pop musicians such as Laura Nyro, Paul Simon, Richie Havens, and James Brown.

Legendary guitarist Joe Beck, pictured here with jazz guitarist Doug Proper, died in late July at age 62.

Born in Philadelphia and raised on the West Coast, Beck headed to NYC in the ’60s as a teen-versed in both rock and jazz- and quickly made a name for himself as a precocious talent.

His style, characterized by deep creativity, edgy grooves, and remarkable versatility, was one of jazz guitar’s most identifiable techniques, and a golden achievement in the genre.

“He was a really great guitar player.” John Scofield, one of Beck’s peers in the jazz world, told News Times reporter Scott Miller. “He could do anything on the guitar.”

“He could play any song in any key,” said John Abercrombie, another guitar great who toured Europe playing duets with Beck as recently as December and who released an album, Coincidence, with Beck six months ago, on WCS. “You’d ask him what key he wanted to play a song in and he’d say, ‘It doesn’t matter.’”

And it didn’t matter what realm he was working in either. Beck was an accomplished arranger who produced albums for Frank Sinatra, Esther Phillips and Gloria Gaynor. He also wrote commercial jingles. Music flowed through his veins and came out in his hands.

“I thought he was the Bill Evans of the guitar,” Abercrombie said, comparing Beck to one of the greatest of all jazz pianists.

Whaling City Sound, whose Beck catalog boasts five of his titles, including the new Coincidence, mourns, along with the entire jazz community, the passing of the this titan. “We’ll miss his wit, his wisdom and his incredible fluency on guitar,” says Whaling City Sound president Neal Weiss. “He was one of a kind and an immense talent.”

Designers Revisit Depression Era Chic
By Sarah-Louise Boyd and Joanne Bennett

As summer reaches its peak and the mercury hits new highs, those with an eye for fashion are already looking toward the cooler weather to come, questioning whether plaids or ruffles should influence their autumn style. Where do they look? Why, to bible of fashion, of course: Vogue.

Hailed an essential by fashionistas everywhere, Vogue is the guidebook for trends past, present and future. Designers know this, too, and often study the pages of previous eras to inspire their new creations. Remember the introduction of skinny jeans? That was “so 1980s”. The blast of block colors and A-line dresses in stores this past spring? It was “so 1960s”. Fashion is cyclical, darling, and for the upcoming fall/winter lines, the 1930s are what’s en vogue.

Contrary to popular belief, the Depression Era was far from depressing. In fact, this was an historic time when it came to fashion trends. During the Roaring Twenties, women had shed their constrictive corsets and hobble-skirts for more liberated looks. They opted for practicality over opulence, favoring the straight shift cut of flapper dresses and Coco Chanel’s comparatively casual style. But the looks were purposefully boyish and minimized the impact of women’s feminine wiles. During the Thirties, fashion moved back from the practical, shapeless cuts of the 1920s to ladylike outfits that emphasized the female form while still focusing on simpler designs that offered freedom of movement.

The Fall 2008 ready-to-wear line from John Galliano featured 1930s-inspired bias-cut gowns

Fall fashions from Baby Phat hearken back to the glamour of the Depression Era

To keep things modern, the romantic, girly looks may be a bit edgier for fall. Art Deco-inspired accessories, such as rhinestone jewelry and intricate lace handbags, also will be all the rage. So, keep your eye out for these 1930s styles, whether vintage or new, as the fashion industry makes new strides along the catwalk of history.

The Neiman Marcus Fall 2008 accessories preview featured 1930s-inspired designs (Fashion Wire Daily/Renata Espinosa) Click to view full-size image

Get ready to cut a rug, cats and kittens, because we’ve got some swanky sounds coming your way.

Our industrious intern is in the process of re-uploading four years’ worth of music reviews into our newly renovated Website. And, of course, we’ll be adding new tunes, soon.

What’s in store? From Rockabilly to Big Band, and from Exotica to the Blues, we’ve got the whole retro spectrum covered!

• So, stay tuned, and we’ll be rockin’ your socks off in no time!

GI Film Festival Celebrates its Second Year

The Second Annual GI Film Festival will be held over Armed Forces Weekend, May 14-18, 2008, in Washington, DC. The mission of the festival is to honor the American Armed Forces through the medium of film.
The festival will feature numerous movie screenings, presented by world-famous actors, entertainers and directors, including Gary Sinise (Forrest Gump), James Franco (Fly Boys, The Great Raid, Annapolis), Academy Award-winner John Voight, and Captain Dale Dye (Saving Private Ryan, The Great Raid). The event will also feature documentaries, VIP receptions, musical performances, military exhibits, and several special guest appearances. This is the second year of the GI Film Festival, which was recently chosen to receive the George Washington Honor Medal from the Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge.
The GI Film Festival is unique among the thousands of film festivals held each year, because it focuses specifically on honoring the American Armed Forces. Each of the films screened will in some way express the courage and selflessness of American troops and the value of their important work. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit the GI Film Festival Website.
Those who will not be able to personally attend the festival, or who simply want to lend their support, can donate online at GIfilmfestival.com/donate08.html.

The High-Flying Life of Howard Hughes
By Leslie J. Thompson

Hughes (DiCaprio) is taken with the fiesty Kate Hepburn (Blanchett).

Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner

Hughes (DiCaprio) holds a press conference in front of the infamous Grey Goose

Ironically, one of the film’s few shortcomings is the prevalence of glaringly bad edits,the kind where someone is holding a spoon and then they’re not and then the spoon is back again, all within a few seconds as the camera angle shifts during a conversation. One of the most obvious such gaffes comes about halfway through the film, as Hughes sets out to break the air speed record in a new prototype plane. The close-up shots show DiCaprio in the cockpit with the glass canopy wide open, but the wide angle shots show the canopy closed (which would make sense, as this would reduce drag on the plane). Such observable flaws are especially disheartening in a movie that centers in large part around moviemaking, spearheaded by a skilled director, like Scorsese.

Still, it’s easy to forgive the few minor technical blunders when measured against the overall enjoyment of this Technicolor thrill ride. The vivid and immaculately tailored costumes alone are worth the ticket price. More than a glimpse into Hollywood history, however, The Aviator offers an intriguing look into the mind of a man who shaped much of how we experience our world today, and unveils the human foibles of a near mythological figure who, for many, remains larger than life.

Stepford Holds Up a Mirror to Modern Society
By Leslie J. Thompson

The gentleman in the white tuxedo jacket offers his hand to the woman at his side. She takes it demurely, and they step onto the dance floor. As the first notes of a waltz rise into the air, he twirls her around so that the buttery yellow skirt of her ball gown spreads into a full circle. The fitted bodice of her dress shows off her delicate waistline, and she throws her head back in delight, her smile beaming toward the heavens. She is every inch a lady.

But it’s not real. It can’t be. And if you want to live this way, there is something terribly, terribly wrong with you.

So preaches The Stepford Wives, director Frank Oz’s dark comedy remake of the 1975 cult horror classic, based on the novel by Ira Levin. Such beauty, civility and class simply don’t exist anymore, we are told. Prettiness and courtesy are bad, selfishness and cynicism are good. Sure, the message is delivered tongue-in-cheek. But even in poking fun at ladder-climbing career women and the nebbishes who love them, The Stepford Wives promotes a pernicious agenda: Status is the ultimate measure of success, so grab everything you can and squash those who stand in your way.

Matthew Broderick, Christopher Walken and Jon Lovitz in The Stepford Wives

Of course, lurking beneath the polished exterior, the town holds an ugly secret: The women have all been “programmed,” turned into vapid robots by quirky mad scientist Mike Wellington (Christopher Walken) with the consent of their spouses. The evil dweebs must be stopped, and the women set free from their boring Betty Crocker lives! (Instead, we should aspire to be like Martha Stewart, charged with insider trading as we build a lucrative home economics empire.)

The good old days are gone, the movie tells us. If people actually live by traditional gender roles or seem genuinely happy, they must be brainwashed. Everybody knows that real women don’t wear beautiful, tailored dresses and prepare healthful lunches for their children. There are no more town picnics, no more bake sales. Instead, we live in a world of two-career households in which parents spend an average of 17.5 hours per week with their children, according to a national survey. We have kids who buy their lunches from vending machines and suffer from morbid obesity before they hit puberty. We have teenagers raised on video games committing homicide in school halls.

Stressed out corporate gamer Joanna Eberhard (Kidman) tries to play nice.