"Teddy Charles: the Early Avant-Garde"

[ghost of miles]

 

This week on Night Lights it's Teddy Charles: The Early Avant-Garde (with thanks to garthsj and Late). In the early 1950s vibraphonist Teddy Charles made a series of records with Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Giuffre, and others, that still escape easy definition today--were they Third Stream? Were they West Coast? Were they cool jazz? We'll hear selections from his albums New Directions and Collaboration: West, as well as his 1956 Atlantic LP The Tentet, and appearances as a sideman with Wardell Gray and Miles Davis. For more information about Teddy Charles, see Noal Cohen's Coda article. The program airs Saturday night at 11:05 p.m. (9:05 California time, 12:05 NYC time) on WFIU; you can listen live, or wait until Monday afternoon, when the program will be posted in the Night Lights archives.

 

Next week: "Late Lee." The late & last recordings of Lee Morgan.

Edited November 9, 2020 by ghost of miles

[kinuta]

Great to see Teddy Charles getting some well deserved attention. I'm a big fan and am always puzzled over why he is ignored.

[ghost of miles]

Kinuta,

Some earlier discussion here. To a large extent it inspired the show--Late's suggestion plus garthsj's term. There are a lot of talented, interesting artists like Charles from the 1945-1990 era (the era that Night Lights covers, for the most part) that seem to have gone almost unnoticed. Playing their music is one of the reasons why I started the show--trying to be a Mosaic-like radio program, I guess, in some ways.

The article by Noal Cohen (Mike Fitzgerald's co-author on the Gigi Gryce biography) is well worth checking out.

Edited July 23, 2005 by ghost of miles

[sidewinder]

Great - I'll look forward to this one and the Lee Morgan show. Just up my street.

[.:.impossible]

I'm really looking forward to this show David. I've been finding out over the past year that Teddy Charles was a great part of a scene that I did not even know existed. A lot of this music is really connecting with me.

Thanks for the heads up!

[ghost of miles]

"Teddy Charles: the Early Avant-Garde" is now archived.

Edited November 9, 2020 by ghost of miles

[ghost of miles]

Upping this in memory of Mr. Charles and for any board visitors who want to check out his 1950s recordings:

Teddy Charles: The Early Avant-Garde

Edited November 9, 2020 by ghost of miles

[sidewinder]

Thanks for the reminder. I'm certainly keen to check this out.

[AllenLowe]

I actually wrote an entire book about this - if it ever sees the light of day. But this is incredibly important music.

[fasstrack]

This week on Night Lights it's "Teddy Charles: the Early Avant-Garde" (with thanks to garthsj and Late). In the early 1950s vibraphonist Teddy Charles made a series of records with Shorty Rogers, Jimmy Giuffre, and others, that still escape easy definition today--were they Third Stream? Were they West Coast? Were they cool jazz? We'll hear selections from his albums New Directions and Collaboration: West, as well as his 1956 Atlantic LP The Tentet, and appearances as a sideman... For more information about Teddy Charles, see Noal Cohen's Coda...

Good, good, good! I hope I get a chance to meet Noal Cohen sometime. He does great work and goes way back w/my great friend Ben Salzano (tenor and Russian studies specialist, late of Rochester, NY). I'm happy to say I did get to make friends and play w/TC-around his 'renaissance': 2008-9. What a guy

[AllenLowe]

let us not forget Hall Overton and John LaPorta.

[fasstrack]

Jimmy Raney loved Hall and always talked about him. I never heard HIS music, just his orchestrations for Monk, which were tremendous and insightful, and some comping for Jimmy on 'A' that I frankly thought a little weak. He must've recorded his orchestral music. Is it available? While we're at it can I vote for John Carisi, and the great Bill Finegan and Eddie Sauter, perhaps the genius of geniuses? Billy Strayhorn (still under-appreciated), Oliver Nelson, Benny Carter, the forgotten Jimmy Jones? And a giant still among us creating and breathing fire while hardly noticing jazz-and ya gotta love it-Stephen Sondheim. Benny Golson.

[Rooster_Ties]

Greatly enjoying this show as I’m typing this.

A Word From Bird is all I have by (or with) Teddy Charles, and  I really do need to track down more. I’ve been listening to a bunch of Tristano/Konitz/Marsh lately, and Teddy Charles is definitely pushing a lot of those same buttons for me.

[mjazzg]

Me too now.  Thanks for bumping it Rooster Ties. 

I find Charles's music, and his crowd, endlessly fascinating and listenable 

[ghost of miles]

Man--I did this show so long ago that I truly think I'd forgotten about putting it together.  Glad you guys are enjoying it!  I contemplated a sequel but never got around to doing one.

[HutchFan]

11 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

A Word From Bird is all I have by (or with) Teddy Charles, and  I really do need to track down more. I’ve been listening to a bunch of Tristano/Konitz/Marsh lately, and Teddy Charles is definitely pushing a lot of those same buttons for me.

Rooster,

You can't go wrong with Teddy Charles Tentet (Atlantic, 1956).  The album features some excellent Mal Waldron piano work.  Waldron also composed the LP's opening cut, "Vibrations."