Great Book -- Three Wishes

[Michael Weiss]

Here's a link to thumbnails of about 100 pics taken at the Hermes reception:

http://www.patrickmcmullen.com/website/pmc...?event_id=12983

[Bright Moments]

I attended the gallery opening reception at Hermes last night. Barry Harris had a trio with Ray Drummond and Leroy Williams. Ira Gitler and Gary Giddins were there but I didn't see any other musicians. The original polaroids were framed and there were several pictures that didn't make it into the book including one of Cecil Taylor. It was quite a spiffy affair - champagne, fois gras, caviar.... Nica kept all her notes in an Hermes leather-bound book. It also helped that some Hermes directors are jazz fans.

is barry harris still living at the cathouse?

[Michael Weiss]

is barry harris still living at the cathouse?

yes

[AllenLowe]

I gotta admit that when I used to speak to Barry frequently (back in the 1970s) I always got a kick when the Baronness answered the phone - she had a great and unusual accent - as a matter of fact I still have that old phone number in my book - next to Al Haig - ahh, those were different days -

[Bright Moments]

well i finally got around to getting this and i must say - the photos are AMAZING!!!!!

i finished the book today - wonderful!

but........ i am totally surprised that there were no photos, zero, of charlie parker - nor a quote of his "three wishes" - i am sure that this was not unintentional, but i wonder why.....

[medjuck]

well i finally got around to getting this and i must say - the photos are AMAZING!!!!!

i finished the book today - wonderful!

but........ i am totally surprised that there were no photos, zero, of charlie parker - nor a quote of his "three wishes" - i am sure that this was not unintentional, but i wonder why.....

I think she started the book after he died.

[Larry Kart]

Got this from the library today, and it looks fascinating. But reading through Gary Giddins's foreword, I found this:

"A handful of respondents [to Nica's question of what your three wishes are] are little remembered. Al Doctor once played alto saxophone with Ted Curson; Jothan Callins played trumpet with Sun Ra,... etc. But who were Sonny Nevious, Lynn Holiday, Paul Wheaton, etc.....?"

As John Litweiler might say -- Jeebus!

Lin Halliday (1936-2000) certainly was not the most famous of jazz musicians:

http://www.jazzhouse.org/gone/lastpost2.php3?edit=949493038

but he did make four albums for Delmark with the likes of Ira Sullivan and Jodie Christian, all of which are still in print.

Halliday had only one wish: "I'd be satisfied with a steady gig with Miles!" IIRC he did work with Miles briefly, after either Coltrane's first or second departure. Halliday also took Wayne Shorter's place on Maynard Ferguson's band when Wayne left to join the Jazz Messengers.

[Michael Weiss]

Got this from the library today, and it looks fascinating. But reading through Gary Giddins's foreword, I found this:

"A handful of respondents [to Nica's question of what your three wishes are] are little remembered. Al Doctor once played alto saxophone with Ted Curson; Jothan Callins played trumpet with Sun Ra,... etc. But who were Sonny Nevious, Lynn Holiday, Paul Wheaton, etc.....?"

As John Litweiler might say -- Jeebus!

Lin Halliday (1936-2000) certainly was not the most famous of jazz musicians:

http://www.jazzhouse.org/gone/lastpost2.php3?edit=949493038

but he did make four albums for Delmark with the likes of Ira Sullivan and Jodie Christian, all of which are still in print.

Halliday had only one wish: "I'd be satisfied with a steady gig with Miles!" IIRC he did work with Miles briefly, after either Coltrane's first or second departure. Halliday also took Wayne Shorter's place on Maynard Ferguson's band when Wayne left to join the Jazz Messengers.

Sweet cat. I used to play with him at the Get Me High Lounge when I was in town with Griff.

[Chuck Nessa]

Sweet but weird cat. Interacted with him on a number of times. He would never hurt a fly. Remember sitting in a studio for hours waiting for him (the leader) to show. The band finally went ahead and did the date leaving spaces for Lin to drop in his solos. He did that a few months later. By coincidence I was in the studio one day when he was doing this and he kept calling for another and another. He was never satisfied with his playing. God bless Bob Koester for putting up with all this to make some recordings 18 people bought.

Edit to say: A band including Lin, Carl Leukaufe and Jack Noren would have been a "shrink's jackpot". Every nook and cranny of "white, junkie, jazz, musician' combined in a perfect storm. Only the master of the genre, Ira Sullivan, could tame this beast. AND Ira's another story.......

Edited December 12, 2008 by Chuck Nessa

[Big Beat Steve]

Yet there are a few other names in that name list at the end of the book that do leave the average (and above-average) fan puzzled. So that statement in the intro isn't all tha tout of place.

Got my own copy from Amazon not long ago. I can only agree with the praise that's been heaped on the book here, and at the going Amazon rate of some 12 or 13 euros the English-language edition is a steal. Good that I hesitated picking up the (earlier published) French edition this spring while in Paris. It would have set me back some 35 euros then. That would have been a bit hefty ...

[sidewinder]

Just picked up a copy - and wrapped it up for Xmas ! Looks fabulous.

It was £9.99 here from a bookshop and the US price on the back is $19.95. Nice to see the old exchange rates linger on here at least.. Worth every penny - lots of great photos (in fine colour reproduction), immaculately presented, well bound.

Edited December 12, 2008 by sidewinder

[Larry Kart]

Sweet but weird cat. Interacted with him on a number of times. He would never hurt a fly. Remember sitting in a studio for hours waiting for him (the leader) to show. The band finally went ahead and did the date leaving spaces for Lin to drop in his solos. He did that a few months later. By coincidence I was in the studio one day when he was doing this and he kept calling for another and another. He was never satisfied with his playing. God bless Bob Koester for putting up with all this to make some recordings 18 people bought.

Edit to say: A band including Lin, Carl Leukaufe and Jack Noren would have been a "shrink's jackpot". Every nook and cranny of "white, junkie, jazz, musician' combined in a perfect storm. Only the master of the genre, Ira Sullivan, could tame this beast. AND Ira's another story.......

I've run into Leukaufe's wife a few times over the years at pottery sales -- very nice person who clearly had borne a good deal of weight on her shoulders over the years. She remembered a review I'd written of a group with Carl and Tommy Ponce in maybe 1979. probably because that was one of the few times Carl had been written about. At about the same time I also wrote something justifiably enthusiastic about Jack Noren's bebop Baby Dodds-ish work with a quintet led by trombonist Bill Porter. Guess I was catching them, and Lin too, on some good nights -- there were other nights.

[Larry Kart]

Leafing through the book, the photo at the bottom of p. 26 identified as of "Kenny Clarke and Art Taylor" is on p. 116 correctly identified as of Taylor and bassist Henri Texier.

[Larry Kart]

My favorite set of wishes so far is John Ore's:

1) To be able to play -- play well.

2) To be all over the world, in good health.

3) To have a time-machine.

Also, on p. 133, "Julian Yuell" should be Julian Euell.

[Big Beat Steve]

What's amazing is the wide range of musicians who seem to have come and visited Nica.

Not all young hard boppers, angry young rebels and young turks for modern jazz.

Benny Winestone (p.273), for example, must be THE Benny Winestone who played in various British dance and swing bands in the 30s (see Albert McCarthy's "The Dance Band Era", p. 115) and who by the 60s must have been rather beyond his most active period.

[marcello]

I love that there are a few photos of Sonny Clark included.

Here's Monk:

Edited December 13, 2008 by marcello

[AllenLowe]

speaking of strange people, is John Ore still alive? I knew him a little bit in NYC in the 1970s -

[Larry Kart]

speaking of strange people, is John Ore still alive? I knew him a little bit in NYC in the 1970s -

If he got his hands on that time-machine, who knows for sure?