Those Jazz Guys Always Are Changing Their Tunes
He hates Jay … he hates him not?
Branford Marsalis, who took an “indefinite leave of absence” as Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show” bandleader in January, was quoted in Wednesday’s Indianapolis Star and News as saying: “The job of musical director I found out later was just to kiss the (behind) of the host.”
Asked if he actually hated Leno, he replied: “Oh, I despised him.”
But he didn’t really mean it, Marsalis insisted later, saying through a spokesperson it was a “ludicrous comment which (was) made with a great deal of sarcasm, in response to what was a ridiculous question.”
Replied the reporter who wrote the story, Marc Allan: “I don’t hear anything, going back and listening to the tape, that makes me think he was being sarcastic … This is silly. He was quoted accurately.”
Loose talk
Singer Natalie Merchant, late of 10,000 Maniacs, on her career plans: “I can easily see myself retreating from the world and raising plants. Soon.” He has to fear where his Angels are treading
Gene Autry turns 88 today.
She especially wants to save the sex kittens
Former French film temptress Brigitte Bardot, whose 1956 film “And God Created Woman” drew disdain from the Vatican, met Wednesday with Pope John Paul II to seek his help with her animal rights activities. “I have come to see the pope because he is one of the great world personalities and I hope he can play a role in our battle,” Bardot said.
Jim probably has a few ideas of his own
After making three movies in her spare time, Lauren Holly (“Picket Fences”) is ready for some R&R - as in flying to Fiji with boyfriend Jim Carrey for two weeks. “It’s the big ‘S’ trip,” says Holly: “Sleep, sun, sleep, sail, play in the sand and sleep.”
But Arch was already used to those big tubs
Country singer Wynonna Judd has dropped a whopping 100 pounds in preparation for her upcoming wedding to her child’s father, boat salesman Arch Kelly III. One source said she “wants to wear a designer gown that didn’t come from Nashville Tent & Awning.”
We’re willing to bet it’s a boy - a bad boy
John McEnroe and his rocker girlfriend Patty Smyth are about to become parents - at least, according to a Smyth bandmate who told a New Jersey concert crowd, “This song is for the woman who’s pregnant with John McEnroe’s baby.”
Actors often admire each other’s deliveries
Alec Baldwin, whose wife Kim Basinger is expecting, is envious of the childbearing abilities of Demi Moore, his co-star in the upcoming “Heaven’s Prisoners.” Said Baldwin: “You know Demi: She’s pregnant, she runs into the back yard, squats in the bushes, and then she’s on the Lifecycle five minutes later.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 color photos
The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Compiled by staff writer Rick Bonino