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Double Bass " Johnny Staccato, Television's Jazz Detective"

B

Bruce Calin

Supporting Member
Oct 15, 2002
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3,043
#1
My wife found a complete set of this tv series on dvd in a thrift store. It's from 1959 and stars John Cassavetes in the title role. This is really kind of a fun show- black and white, very noire with a lot of hipsters and cool cats and kittens. The best thing is the band featured in the nightclub scenes. It's an all-star west coast lineup with Red Mitchell on bass playing gut strings and a bass still tuned in fourths as far as I can tell.The club is called"Waldo's" and is supposed to be in Greenwich Village- a lot of NY street scenes. Somehow the west coast group ends up in NY. Anyway, I'm enjoying the whole thing- jazz and tv at their coolest! One of the things I like the best is it shows real musicians really playing live with quite good recording and camera work.
 
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#5
Your're right,Ed. The dvd cover says it's Shelly Manne and the others with "Johnny Williams" on piano when Johnny S. isn't "tickling the ivories". Do you agree that Red M. is playing guts in fourths? There are a total of 27 episodes.
 
#6
I'm calling anachronism on myself. I don't think steel strings were used, especially by jazz players, in 1959 and so Red wouldn't have been in fifths yet anyway. I like to find bass mistakes on screen- adjusters in the '40's, steel strings in old Dixie bands, stuff like that. Cheap entertainment.
 
#9
Hey, Bruce, not really sure they're playing live, at least not all the time in episode one. In the opening sequence there are several spots where you can see Red Mitchell resting his right hand across the end of the fingerboard, effectively muting the strings, while the soundtrack has him walking 4. I'll have to check more closely on some of the other clips up, it may be when they're playing background while Cassavetes has dialogue that they're actually being recorded at the same time...
 
#11
Hi, Ed,
I'm sure you're right. I was so carried away by all the coolness that I wasn't watching closely enough. I'll have to look closer- try to see if there any mikes visible or anything like that. At least they are real players.
 
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#13
I remember that showing on English TV in 59. The theme tune by Elmer Bernstein was played a lot. Reached No 4 in the charts but evidently did not a lot in US. We recognise class over here :-)

And no, i don’t recall steel strings in 59. When mine broke - as they did quite regularly - I used to knot mine. You couldn’t do that with steels.
 
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#15
I have watched a few more episodes of "Johnny Staccato"- still cool. The original group hasn't been featured as much but there have been some coffeehouse scenes featuring Mr. Bongos and his group with an unnamed bassist that I don't recognize. Johnny is of course still his emotionally tortured but always cool and hip self. He even talked a guy out of jumping off a roof in a very cool way :)
 
#18
Johnny is edgier than Peter Gunn and is supposed to be a frustrated classical pianist who has turned to jazz for consolation but there are definite similarities. More work for some of the same players including "Johnny Williams" it seems.
 

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