David Lee: The Battle of the Five Spot, Ornette Coleman...

[Lazaro Vega]

Please join Blue Lake Public Radio this Sunday evening at 7 p.m. for recordings by Dave Brubeck, Miles Davis and John Coltrane setting up the year 1959, followed by several interview segments with author/musician David Lee as he discusses his book "The Battle of the Five Spot, Ornette Coleman and the New York Jazz Field." Ornette Coleman's quartet will be heard from "The Shape of Jazz to Come" and "This is Our Music." In the 9 p.m. hour we'll hear recordings made live at the Five Spot by Thelonious Monk, Kenny Burrell, Randy Weston and Eric Dolphy.

For more information on David Lee please see: http://www.themercurypress.ca/?q=books/battle_five_spot

To listen live from 7 to 10 p.m. this Sunday:

www.bluelake.org/radio

or

http://bluelake.ncats.net/

And please join us Sunday evening at 10 p.m. for Nightlights with David Brent Johnson as he explores the mid-century jazz scene on Central Avenue in Los Angeles.

Lazaro Vega

Jazz Director

Blue Lake Public Radio

Edited November 6, 2009 by Lazaro Vega

[AllenLowe]

how is that book? Haven't heard of it before.

[ghost of miles]

Sounds fantastic, Lazaro!

Thanks for the plug of the Central Avenue show as well.

[Lazaro Vega]

Allen,

I enjoyed the book. It was enlightening, though I'm also using the new Monk book and John Litwiler's "Ornette Coleman: A Harmolodic Life" to fill in chronology more carefully, as well as the liners to Coleman's complete Atlantic recordings on Rhino. Lee's book looks at Ornette's time at the Five Spot through the lens of the French philosopher and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu as much as it does a musical breakdown (a pivotal moment in jazz). Lee uses Bourdieu to check out the scene from "positions and position-takings" and the influence of "consecrating figures." There's a lot to that (95 plus pages worth, anyway).

See: http://www.svirchev.com/features/l/lee-5spot.html

Thanks for checking it out, Ghost. We had a very nice sized on-line audience for last weekend's Shipton/McHugh marathon. Did you catch any of that? LV

Edited November 6, 2009 by Lazaro Vega

[JSngry]

This isn't the drummer David Lee, is it? The drummer David Lee?

[John Tapscott]

This isn't the drummer David Lee, is it? The drummer David Lee?

No, this is the Canadian David Lee. I believe he plays bass.

[Lazaro Vega]

Yes, he's a bassist who played in the Bill Smith Ensemble on recordings with Joe McPhee and Leo Smith on Sackville. Lee wrote a biography of Paul Bley and in the course of working on it was struck by something Bley said. That the writers and critics surrounding Ornette at the Five Spot did a yeoman's service to the public and other musicians by explaining the music. This book came out of that comment, as well as Lee's academic work.

[Lazaro Vega]

Up for now.

[Nate Dorward]

I've read the book. It contains no new material, IIRC, simply a brief review of the tale of Ornette's NY debut via newspaper clippings, published interviews &c, & a summary of Bourdieu. It derives from Lee's grad-school thesis of a few years prior.

Actually, I found it basically uninteresting except for its account of Ornette's RECENT concert performance in Toronto. Surprisingly for a book written by a musician, it contains no musical analysis of note, it's more of a social-studies thing.

YMMV, but I wouldn't go searching the book out if you're already familiar with the tale via Litweiler et al.

[Lazaro Vega]

Lee listened to the broadcast Sunday. His only comment was about how great all that music was. Had a nice note from a listener in Colorado, too, who said he learned a lot about the scene surrounding that music history.

That said, Nate, for the program I did end up quoting from Litweiler, especially on chronology of events in Coleman's musical life from early 59 to 61, as well as Kelley's Monk bio about the 5 Spot before Coleman, and Monk.

Have sat on this interview since 2007 -- the conversation was more than an hour long. But the idea of 'positions, position takers' and 'consecrators' is very interesting re: the white power figures having to be seen and have their opinions heard around Ornette at the Five Spot. One very interesting thing about the book is how talking about how Ornette was able to sort of get around the traditional methods of breaking in to New York (thank you John Lewis, Gunther Schuller and the Terminis) which Cecil had to try and make and was set back a decade in getting his music heard on a regular basis.

The idea that Norman Mailer proclaimed Taylor to be "it" and Monk passe, according to the new Monk bio apparently cost Taylor his gig at the Five Spot as the Temini's were still in love with Monk (he was working for them at the time at their Jazz Gallery). That's the type of thing Lee's looking at -- the audience and their reaction. Probably not essential but an interesting look at one of the most critical club engagements of the 1950's (after Monk at the Five Spot).

[Nate Dorward]

Oh, I don't mean to be hard on it really. I guess my point is directed at the serious scholars of jazz history on this board (like Allen): just to say there's no point in obtaining the book if you're looking for lots of new material, since it's entirely drawn from previous sources (& entirely the obvious ones). Since it's from a smallish Canadian literary press it might not be easy to obtain in the States or overseas & I just wanted to indicate it's probably not worth the trouble.

On the other hand, Mark Miller's many books on jazz for the same press are well worth obtaining, & there is also a book on Braxton by the estimable Stuart Broomer due from them this month. I haven't read the Dick Twardzik bio they put out (discussed elsewhere in this forum).

[Lazaro Vega]

Have you read Paul Bley's autobiography that Lee helped with?