Fats Navarro biography

[BeBop]

As you can imagine, this is exciting news for a guy who calls himself "BeBop".

But it should be exciting news for you too.

---------------

http://www.scarecrowpress.com/Catalog/Sing...data=0810867214

The Music and Life of Theodore "Fats" Navarro

Infatuation

Series: Studies in Jazz #59

Leif Bo Petersen & Theo Rehak

List Price: $55.00

ISBN: 0-8108-6721-4

ISBN-13: 978-0-8108-6721-5

Pub Date: Jul 28, 2009

384 pages

Binding: Cloth

Availability: Not Yet Published

DESCRIPTION

The Music and Life of Theodore "Fats" Navarro: Infatuation is the first comprehensive study of the jazz trumpeter Theodore "Fats" Navarro. It provides biographical and discographical information on this talented musician, whose premature death from tuberculosis at 26 robbed the jazz world of his brilliance. Through an analysis of his recorded legacy, this book offers new perspectives on Navarro's role in the history and emergence of Bebop.

Through years of study and collecting ephemera, some of which is reprinted here, Leif Bo Petersen and Theo Rehak depict an inclusive history of Navarro and his music. Their information is based on interviews with musicians and people in the music business, contemporary newspaper and magazine articles, and the music itself, which has not been commonly known or described until now. The book features images, musical examples, and depictions of Navarro's recordings, and it provides several appendixes, including explanations of contemporary recording techniques and discographical terms, lists of Navarro's recordings and compositions, and a chronological overview of Navarro's performances, recording sessions, and engagements. Complete with a comprehensive list of sources and a full index, this volume presents a host of new and useful information for anyone interested in jazz and its history.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Leif Bo Petersen is a trumpeter and jazz researcher, who has studied Fats Navarro for over 10 years.

Theo Rehak has collected and maintained a collection of images and ephemera called L'Archive Navarro since 1966.

Edited August 29, 2009 by BeBop

[jlhoots]

I don't know the writers, but I suspect it'll be good.

Those Scarecrow Press books sure aren't getting any less expensive though.

[AllenLowe]

this is another bone-frying event -

[BeBop]

this is another bone-frying event -

The thing I love about you, Allen, is that I never know whether you're calling me a moron or not. But no worry: I don't much care.

(The preceding message is written 100% light-heartedly. I respect Mr. Lowe's opinions; terms like "bone-frying" reveal my poor command of the English language...or whichever language it is he speaks. As an aside, I was a small contributor to the addition of a new marker for Navarro's grave. I don't think that his bones were fried/creamated.)

[T.D.]

This is very exciting news! I gasped when I scrolled down to the price, however.

[Larry Kart]

this is another bone-frying event -

The thing I love about you, Allen, is that I never know whether you're calling me a moron or not. But no worry: I don't much care.

(The preceding message is written 100% light-heartedly. I respect Mr. Lowe's opinions; terms like "bone-frying" reveal my poor command of the English language...or whichever language it is he speaks. As an aside, I was a small contributor to the addition of a new marker for Navarro's grave. I don't think that his bones were fried/creamated.)

Allen's elliptical remark was a reference to this recent thread:

http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=51128

which I started. Just to be clear, when Bob Zieff said the words that Jack Chambers understood to be "I wasn't a bone-fried bopster," what Zieff actually said was "I wasn't a bona-fide bopster."

[Larry Kart]

I believe that Leif Bo Peterson is a serious scholar. Also, the price of the Navarro biography, hefty though it may be, seems to be in line with those of other Scarecrow Press titles and those of would-be substantial books on music from academic presses.

[Lazaro Vega]

I wonder if they'll have any transcriptions.

Fats is easily one of my all time favorites, though I tend to his small band recordings with Tadd Dameron on Savoy and Blue Note as the center piece for listening. Need to delve further into the Royal Roost broadcasts with Dameron. "Only" have the two-fer on Milestone. There must be much more live material, just haven't found it yet. Yes, his playing with Eckstine is fine, both lead and solo; and that version of "Move" he made with Max Roach and Linton Garner is something else. But "Nostalgia" and "Ice Freezes Red" and "Lady Bird" are the ones that I've gone back to time and again.

B flat major seven is how Hod O'Brien described Dameron's music to me once in a casual comment. And it was Fats who took that sound into improvisational beauty.

[oneofanotherkind]

The central lineage of jazz trumpet flows through Fats , not Dizzy.

[BeBop]

I do expect that this will be an accomplished bit of scholarship. I learned about the book (actually some time ago, but help off on making even this informal announcement until things were fairly solid) from my friend and keeper of the definitive Navarro website, Stuart Varden (http://csis.pace.edu/~varden/navarro/navarro.html)

I'm not certain what Stuart's contribution to the book was; I haven't yet asked. But it seems clear to me that he has been involved.

Check out the publisher's other jazz-related books.

[ghost of miles]

I do expect that this will be an accomplished bit of scholarship. I learned about the book (actually some time ago, but help off on making even this informal announcement until things were fairly solid) from my friend and keeper of the definitive Navarro website, Stuart Varden (http://csis.pace.edu/~varden/navarro/navarro.html)

I'm not certain what Stuart's contribution to the book was; I haven't yet asked. But it seems clear to me that he has been involved.

Check out the publisher's other jazz-related books.

Stuart came to mind as well when I saw this thread, Bebop--I hope that he was involved, as you say seems to quite possibly be the case. Wonderful gentleman, hope I get to see him again sometime.

[AllenLowe]

bebop, see my PM, name calling is not my style - Fats is one of my (and Lennie Tristano's) favorites, if I recall correctly, though I am weary of jazz bios which, like the bios I've read lately in the pop/blues fields (Little Walter/Jimmy Reed/Muddy Waters/Jimi Hendrix), never really seem like bios but more like an extended series of badly-edited anecdotes -

price also means I'll have to lift it from my local Borders - and it's such a pain getting that little metal tag outta there; might just be easier to shoot the security guard and tell Kleck I'm defending myself -

Edited April 8, 2009 by AllenLowe

[Quasimado]

The central lineage of jazz trumpet flows through Fats , not Dizzy.

Fats is the man - I just hope they spend serious time looking at that Birdland session from May 17, 1950. I can't believe that is Fats fucking up on "Conception" - Fats never fucked up.

Q

[AllenLowe]

well, Dan Morgenstern, somewhere, does say that Fats was in very bad physical shape by that time -

[Quasimado]

well, Dan Morgenstern, somewhere, does say that Fats was in very bad physical shape by that time -

I've read that too, but the Ornithology session (Bird, Bud, Fats) is supposedly the same date, and that is arguably about the greatest Fats there is on disc/ tape ...

Q

[Lazaro Vega]

That's the one with Art Blakey? I have that as double album on Columbia called "One Night At Birdland." No Conception on that one. Morgenstern does go into it. He dates it as June 30, 1950, but Fats dies on July 7th, so he's really doubtful. He quotes Ira Gitler as having seen Fats and Birdland in 1950 and saying he's in bad shape.

[AllenLowe]

this is by the pianist Kenny Frederickson from the Jazz Inst. of Chicago site:

"Tragedy struck Birdland when Fats Navarro died suddenly one night. He blew clear up to the end. His eyes—I'll never forget how they reminded me of two violet spotlights lighting up the room. He didn't weigh much when he died. The junk killed him. His tone and sound were awesome—it was like he was trying to tell us all something important. He blew full speed ahead right up to the end. He died that night and his wife quickly took up a collection for burial expenses."

this supports the evidence of his appearance - (italics mine)

[BeBop]

Today, I can only wonder why it took me so long to appreciate Fats and Bud. Bird came quickly.

Diz, well, I'm still not sure I'm ready to place him alongside Bird, Bud and Fats. Nice cat, though. And an inspiration.

[Chuck Nessa]

Today, I can only wonder why it took me so long to appreciate Fats and Bud. Bird came quickly.

Diz, well, I'm still not sure I'm ready to place him alongside Bird, Bud and Fats. Nice cat, though. And an inspiration.

Diz was in a world of his own, like Monk. Monk made music out of his career and Diz made a career out of his music.

[mikeweil]

Diz was in a world of his own, like Monk. Monk made music out of his career and Diz made a career out of his music.

That'll be the quote of the week for me!

[fasstrack]

I don't know the writers, but I suspect it'll be good.

Those Scarecrow Press books sure aren't getting any less expensive though.

The Warne Marsh biog, An Unsung Cat, is Scarecrow, right? It's around $40 (and worth every penny, IMO). I guess they sell so few they have to make up costs some kind of way.

[AllenLowe]

I think Diz gets less appreciation because he lived so long and he was everywhere and very accessible - if he'd died in the '50s we would probably think he was a genius like Bird -

[Big Beat Steve]

I don't know the writers, but I suspect it'll be good.

Those Scarecrow Press books sure aren't getting any less expensive though.

The Warne Marsh biog, An Unsung Cat, is Scarecrow, right? It's around $40 (and worth every penny, IMO). I guess they sell so few they have to make up costs some kind of way.

So far I have two Scarecrow books only: Terry Gibbs' autobio "Good Vibes" which wasn't THAT cheap either (over 30 euros even at favorable Amazon rates which equal U.S. prices about 1:1) but is definitely worth every penny, and "Bob Inman's Swing Era Scrapbook" which basically is worth the money too beacuse its contents ARE a labor of love (but it suffers from abominable photo printing quality which IMHO is impoardonable in a book like this and by today's printing standards).

So will the Fats Navarro bio with its annouced 300-some pages be 300 pages like Terry Gibbs' autobio or 300 of the size of Bob Inman's scrapbook, I wonder? The latter really would be sumpin', but I'll be looking forward to its publication anyway.

Edited April 9, 2009 by Big Beat Steve

[Niko]

keeper of the definitive Navarro website, Stuart Varden (http://csis.pace.edu/~varden/navarro/navarro.html)

what a great website, thanks for the link!

[Quasimado]

this is by the pianist Kenny Frederickson from the Jazz Inst. of Chicago site:

"Tragedy struck Birdland when Fats Navarro died suddenly one night. He blew clear up to the end. this supports the evidence of his appearance - (italics mine)

The dates are disputed, there is no doubt about that. For the "Conception" session, The Bird Box Vol. 5 has the date as a Birdland jam session from "probably" June 17, 1950, and dates the Bird/ Bud/ Fats/ session as June 30, 1950 (as does Giddins for the Columbia). Bird's Eyes Vol. 51 has the "entire" Bird/ Bud/ Fats session, including "Conception" (not released on the Columbia) dated as May 15/16, 1950... The rhythm section would seem to be the same throughout.

But apart from the dates, which are obviously incorrect, if you have it, please listen to the long "Conception" track. On most releases, the trumpets are listed as Miles then Fats. Miles is obvious. The second trumpet sounds something like Fats, but is hopelessly lost in the changes ... which to my knowledge, Fats never was. So, either Fats "blew clear up to the end" (as exemplified by the fantastic blowing on the Columbia), or, the 2nd trumpet on "Conception" is not Fats.

Or?

Q