"Your Name in Lights"

[Aggie87]

I was just browsing through an Oct 99 issue of Down Beat, and noticed a letter to the editor from our very own Dan Gould, responding to their most recent critics awards:

From Down Beat:  The Critics have finally recognized Horace Silver, one of the greatest composers jazz has ever known, as a Talent Deserving Wider Recognition (August '99).  Thanks for the heads up.  Who else should be brought to my attention?  Ray Brown, perhaps?

Daniel Gould

Fort Lauderdale, Fla

I enjoyed this quote, as it takes a valid jab at the DB critics, in classic Dan style. (actually I'm assuming there isn't another jazz fan named Dan Gould from Florida, and that this is actually the Gene Harris Fanatic himself).

Anyone else here had published letters (or articles) in any of the jazz mags, or elsewhere? I'm not really thinking of the industry-types, like Chuck or Chris A. (though they're welcome to play along as well), but just us regular folk.

Edited June 4, 2003 by Aggie87

[Dan Gould]

Yup, that be me!

I can't believe you found that and figured out it was me! (Nice to know I have a recognizable writing style though

It would take some digging, but if I can find them I'll post them, I did have another Downbeat letter published, this time criticizing them for some non-jazz artist they put on the cover.

I also had one published in Jazztimes, not a critique but rather a response to an article about Scott Hamilton and his troubles with reeds. I had seen Scott right around that time and shared a story about it.

[Alexander]

I never had a letter printed in a jazz publication, but I did get one in Time Magazine. It's particularly obnoxious and deliberately provocative. Here it is:

Veil of Artifice

Larry Sirinsky's comments concerning Dutch, Edmund Morris' biography of Ronald Reagan, reflect a common confusion about the nature of fact vs. fiction [Oct. 25]. As a student of history, I have long pondered the line between fact and fiction. And as a writer of fiction, I have crossed that line innumerable times. Sirinsky says, "The interweaving of fact and fiction has no place in a biography." That's fine if you imagine that biographies are by and large truthful. They are not. As anyone who has ever attempted to write a "true" account of an event knows, the very act of putting pen to paper creates a veil of artifice that is drawn over the subject in question. If anything, Morris' technique strikes me as honest. He views his subject through the veil of fiction. It is a false trust in objective truth that has no place in a biography. History is a consensual lie.

ALEXANDER M. STERN

Rochester, N.Y.

I also got one printed in American Scholar, the journal for the Phi Beta Kappa Society, but sadly they are not on-line. I still have the issue, though!

[jazzbo]

I've had some luck. Had letters published in Rolling Stone, "Conan the Barbarian" Marvel Comic, a "Doctor Strange" Marvel too I think, and in the National Lampoon (as T. S. Eliot though!)

I've had a few articles published in the e-zine "doobop" which is no more, and one was an interview with Michael Cuscuna which has been moved to the All About Jazz website. It came to me as a surpise that my interview was referrenced twice in Michael Cook's "Blue Note Records: The Biography."

Also, some comments that I have made about the RVG series appeared in Jazziz magazine about a year ago. That one was also a surprise.

A nice little beginning!

[Jazzmoose]

I've had some luck. Had letters published in Rolling Stone, "Conan the Barbarian" Marvel Comic, a "Doctor Strange" Marvel too I think, and in the National Lampoon (as T. S. Eliot though!)

Now wait just a darned minute...you're telling me those letters in NatLamp were real??

[jazzbo]

Yeah there were some that were I think. I wrote that T. S. Eliot one and they published it. (It's in the issue with the humongously obese Elvis on the cover.) And I wrote an even better one as if it were from William Faulkner, that I don't think they DID publish, but I quit reading the mag around the period they may have published it and am not sure. . . . It was a doozy, he was bemoaning the fact he was facing jail time for tax evasion for the taxes of the entire fictitious county he had created. . . . Well, I and my dad at least thought it was pretty darned funny!

[robviti]

I remember being thrilled to have a question published and answered in Guitar Player magazine when I was a teenager. I probably brought it to school, showing it to anyone who cared (and quite a few who probably didn't).

On a side note, Horace Silver won the Down Beat critics New Star award in 1954. In 1999, he released Jazz Has a Sense of Humor, the fifth in a series of successful recordings. Other than a few titles issued by his own Silveto label, he hadn't recorded for a major label since Blue Note's Silver 'n Strings... in 1978. I see nothing wrong with making the public aware Silver's more recent efforts. IMO, Silver continues to be a talent deserving of wider recognition.

[JSngry]

Only wrote one letter to a jazz mag, in December of 1971, and it was published: Down Beat, March 2, 1972, in response to a "damning with faint praise" review by Bill Cole of the first Music Inc. Big Band record. Was sneaking a read of the magazine during sophomore biology when I saw the letter and gasped out loud, causing the teacher to, uh, "redirect" his attention my way. He threatened to seize the issue (other issues WERE in fact seized due to a recurring L.P. ad with a breast-baring model, but were always returned. Eventually...) but upon seeing what had caused my disruptive behavior and reading the letter to himself, he then read it aloud to the class and said, "Mr. Sangrey stands up for his convictions", like that was going to be a GOOD thing to the average high school sophomore...

I'd like to say that all the jocks gave me a pat on the back after class for defending Tolliver and crew, and that all the babes were clogging my phone line begging me to give it to them Strata-East style, but that would be a lie, and lying is wrong.

[Big Wheel]

I had my picture splashed across half of the front page of the Miami Herald about seven years ago--it was a very slow news day, evidently. Think I'll just let you all find that ugly mug for yourselves, though, if you're so inclined.

Edited June 4, 2003 by Big Wheel

[BeBop]

I have letters published in Stereophile every few months (every letter I send). They all make fun of the industry and reviewers, so they're easy to spot, even under pseudonyms. I usually get a ROTFLMAO reply from the editor when I send them in, then crackpot messages from readers.

[jazzbo]

Yeah, I forgot Stereophile. . . sent a few letters in there that were published, and I was quoted in one of the columns, talking about a Mingus Big Band cd.

That magazine really went downhill though and I haven't read it in about three years! (Heck it may be fantastic now, but it had become just a lot of fluff and a lot of ads for some time.)

[Dan Gould]

On a side note, Horace Silver won the Down Beat critics New Star award in 1954. In 1999, he released Jazz Has a Sense of Humor, the fifth in a series of successful recordings. Other than a few titles issued by his own Silveto label, he hadn't recorded for a major label since Blue Note's Silver 'n Strings... in 1978. I see nothing wrong with making the public aware Silver's more recent efforts. IMO, Silver continues to be a talent deserving of wider recognition.

Well, one can say that in this age of Britney, *all* jazz artists are "Talents Deserving Wider Recognition." But the fact is that Horace Silver

certainly he made his reputation in the fifteen years following his 1954 DB New Star award. Many of his albums have been reissued in the CD age and as you say, he had just finished a series of 5 albums for a major label. Being touted as "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" in 1999 was asinine.

***************************

Well, I did some digging and while I haven't found the first DB letter, I did find this, published by Jazztimes in June 1999 (guess I was writing a lot back then!)

I can personally attest to Scott Hamilton's troubles with reeds.  At a gig several years ago in New York City (Sweet Basil's, I think) Scott's band started the set with an uptempo blues.  I was fascinated to hear such wonderful sounds come out of Hamilton's sax, while at the same time he punctuated the end of each phrase by grimacing or glaring at his recalcitrant reed.

I was amazed that such thrilling music could be created by someone who seemed so disturbed by the tools of his artistry.  Finally, when pianist John Bunch took over, Hamilton deftly switched reeds, and the wonderful music resumed, this time sans grimaces.

Daniel Gould

Fort Lauderdale, FL

Always thought I turned some nice phrases in that letter myself, if I do say so

Edited June 4, 2003 by Dan Gould

[danasgoodstuff]

I had a letter published in the WIRE back when it was more of a jazz rag (1990?) instead of whatever the hell it is now. It was in response to an article that I felt unfairly pigeon-holed Blue Note as a one genre label....Also had a poem about Hank Mobley using his song titles published in a Brit lit. mag (FIRE I think it's called) more recently. Maybe I should move to the UK since they seem to appreciate me more over there?! Other than that it's been record reviews and such in local rags in Portland, Saskatoon and the Twin Cities off and on but not much lately.

[connoisseur series500]

I never had a letter printed in a jazz publication, but I did get one in Time Magazine. It's particularly obnoxious and deliberately provocative. Here it is:

Veil of Artifice

Larry Sirinsky's comments concerning Dutch, Edmund Morris' biography of Ronald Reagan, reflect a common confusion about the nature of fact vs. fiction [Oct. 25]. As a student of history, I have long pondered the line between fact and fiction. And as a writer of fiction, I have crossed that line innumerable times. Sirinsky says, "The interweaving of fact and fiction has no place in a biography." That's fine if you imagine that biographies are by and large truthful. They are not. As anyone who has ever attempted to write a "true" account of an event knows, the very act of putting pen to paper creates a veil of artifice that is drawn over the subject in question. If anything, Morris' technique strikes me as honest. He views his subject through the veil of fiction. It is a false trust in objective truth that has no place in a biography. History is a consensual lie.

ALEXANDER M. STERN

Rochester, N.Y.

I also got one printed in American Scholar, the journal for the Phi Beta Kappa Society, but sadly they are not on-line. I still have the issue, though!

Not a bad letter, Alex.

Why don't you write like that on this board?

No, really, I think it's a good letter and I can see why it was published.

[paul secor]

I once had a letter published in the sports section of the New York Times. Unfortunately for me, someone there edited it and changed the order of sentences so that it appeared that I had written something saying the exact opposite of what I actually had written. I wrote a second letter protesting what they had done, but I never received any response. Since then, I've never had much faith in anything I've read in the Times.

[brownie]

I used to write articles in French jazz magazines decades ago before I got started

into a real journalism career.

I was at the G8 summit in Evian earlier this week and a local tv station came by

the area of the US organisation I work for. Since I was the only French-speaking

in the area, I was asked to answer questions and give impressions on the summit preparations for the station's evening news cast. I happened to

mention I had covered the very first summit (G7 at the time) in Fontainebleau

near Paris in 1975. And quite a number of G7/G8 summits since. That day,

I had no time to watch the evening news. But obviously a lot of people did and

mentioned seeing me on TV. And the national France 3 people came the next day

to ask if I could grant them an interview but I was too busy with other things by then.

So much for my latest moment of glory.

I may also mention that my son was impressed when he did a Yahoo/Google search

recently and found a couple of dozen entries (a mix of jazz and journalism) under

my family name.