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The Concept Album Is Alive and Well in Jazz

Lyricist David Hajdu was so moved by the history of a Manhattan address that he spent four years writing and producing an eight-song ‘cycle’ about it, and then recruited eight composers to bring them to life.

Christopher Drukker
David Hajdu, left, Theo Bleckmann, Alicia Olatuja, and Dan Tepfer. Christopher Drukker
WILL FRIEDWALD
WILL FRIEDWALD

‘The Parsonage’
(Sunnyside Records)

Even people who never watched the TV show “Naked City” remember its famous line, “There are eight million stories in the naked city, this has been one of them.” The crime drama’s memorable phrase was heard each week the show ran between 1958 and 1963. 

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WILL FRIEDWALD
WILL FRIEDWALD

Mr. Friedwald writes about music and popular culture for The New York Sun and other publications. The host of the radio show ‘Sing! Sing! Sing!’ on San Diego KSDS on Saturday mornings, he also is the author of 10 books. He has written more than 600 liner notes for compact discs, received 11 Grammy nominations, and appears frequently on television and in documentaries.

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