Bright Moments Posted June 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 Alan Barnes with a wig? Closer than you might think! Flamin' heck ! It wasn't a serious guess. Looks like he's playing Swanage in a few weeks time. No doubt with Mr Barnes ! OK - Who's this.. Hank Jones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave James Posted June 14, 2011 Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 Stanley Crouch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted June 14, 2011 Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 Sorry I was out of town for a few days. I'd have nailed this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noj Posted June 14, 2011 Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 Sorry I was out of town for a few days. I'd have nailed this one. Excellent choice of words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nessa Posted June 14, 2011 Report Share Posted June 14, 2011 On purpose. BTW, JS knows this is true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Moments Posted June 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted June 15, 2011 Report Share Posted June 15, 2011 On purpose. BTW, JS knows this is true. Verified Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted June 15, 2011 Report Share Posted June 15, 2011 (edited) Still up for suggestions. Not Hank Jones ! Edited June 15, 2011 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 (edited) I cheated & reverse engineered the photo link, so I won't tell the answer, but one of the most spectacular tales of music industry fickledom I've ever been told involves this singer in its denouement. She was in her dressing room getting changed, clad in her undies, and the phrase "built like a brick shithouse" was used rather emphatically. I would like to hear that story. me too! Ok... This story was told to me by Chick Ramirez, one of those guys who started playing "rock and roll" in the mid-1950s when it was still called "rhythm and blues" The story takes place around 1963-65, and involves a rock and roll show band that Chick, his brother, a few other guys, and a sax player named Joe Vendemia had that was tearing it up in the DFW area. I can not do justice to the telling of it by Chick, but here are the rough details. They all decided to go out to LA to see if they could catch a break, drove out the entire way, stopping along to sit in and make waves, calling ahead to LA every time they did with a report and the sound of the crowd going wild. By the time they got to LA, a few people were curious and wanted to hear them, so a showcase was set up at the Whiskey, which they nailed. Some lady (Chick can't remember her name) signed the band on the spot to a "personal services contract" and immediately started hustling TV spots, movie dates, etc. They were IN. They were also living at the lady's house, first class everything at their disposal, convinced, perhaps rightly so, that they had found the right person at the right time in the right place. Opportunities were pouring in, rehearsals were ongoing, the show was getting supper tight, they looked fantastic, sounded even better, and the chicks were going wild for Joe Vendemia. And then Joe Vendemia wanted to go back home for a weekend to see his girlfriend. Ok ok,we understand, be back Monday though, we got an audition that afternoon. Ok, yeah, I'll be back Sunday night, promise. The only thing that came Sunday night was a phone call from Joe Vendemia saying that he was staying in Dallas to get married. No amount of begging, pleading, or threatening by the band would change his mind. Monday morning came, and the patron arrived to see a final run through before the audition. Where's Joe? Well, uh,,,Joe decided not to come back, but uh, don't worry, we got somebody just as good, maybe a little better, we just need to make him an offer and... Offer? There is no offer. The band I saw is the band I signed. The band I signed had Joe Ventemia. No Joe, no deal. Now where is Joe? Uh...Joe won't be back. Well then, I guess we won't be needing this. Out comes the contract, and up ripped gets the contract. And out walks the lady. When the band returned to the lady's house, their goods were all being packed rapidly and without a great deal of caution. The lady was not to be found, but their vehicles were, along with firm instructions to leave within the hour. A little money to get home on? Nope. By 1 PM, they were on the road. Well, the fellows went back like they came in, stopping here and there to sit in, only this time, whatever tips they could scrounge were put in the gas tank, with what ever remained used to buy some kind of food. Somewhere in Nevada, they came upon a club where Timi Yuro was playing. They stopped, went in, and tried to talk to somebody to set up another sit in. Instead of meeting the manager, they were excorted back to Ms. Yuro's dressing room, where she screaming at her band, clad only in bra and panties, "built like a brick shit-house" (Chick was very adamant about this.) Turns out the bandleader was a drunk who had been stealing money from Timi and splitting it with the band. So...she looks at our boys when they walk in and says "what the hell do you want?" Well, we're a band and we were wondering if...Do you know my songs?...yeah, we're fans, we know your songs...Get on the fucking stage and be ready in 15 minutes. $100 for all of you, cash, one set only. Then the manager was called in, the old bandleader was dispatched to locations unknown, and somebody went to work finding a band for the show after this one. Our boys played the set, took the $100, tried - and failed - to get back in Ms. Yuro's dressing room for either another set or another look at her in her undies, and finally left. They all made it home.. Most of the guys still play, the ones who are alive still, none extremely well in a contemporary "professional" sense, but none better than Chick whose skills are limited but whose groove is not, especially on a shuffle, at which he is, by now, a genuine master. Chick will tell you the Joe Ventemia story if you ask him, and he never tells it without his voice trailing off at the end for a few seconds before he snaps to with a "and THAT was my shot at the big time". Joe Ventemia, who I have met in passing more than once, did not continue to play, but did get married, and to the best of my knowledge remains happily so. He and Chick appear to be on good terms, but that story still gets told after he leaves. And Timi Yuro is always built like a brick shit-house when it is. Always. Edited June 16, 2011 by JSngry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van Basten II Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 (edited) Thanks for the story. Edited June 16, 2011 by Van Basten II Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Moments Posted June 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 great story jim! now back to the game!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 Come on, Sidewinder, who is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 OK.... Hint - A trip to the Vinyl Forum may throw some light on the question.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 (edited) OK.... Hint - A trip to the Vinyl Forum may throw some light on the question.. Ah yes! With that clue in hand I can see it's Big Miller: Someone else like to post a mystery photo? Edited June 16, 2011 by BillF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 (edited) Correct ! And I see that that pic is with Tommy Banks' band. I think I once saw Big Miller accompanied by Banks on the piano (we are talking early 1990s here. Sadly, Big Miller passed away some years ago). Well done. Next... Edited June 16, 2011 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aparxa Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 The first post I've made was a photo of young Bojan Z. Let's try a new one: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 Larry Young? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aparxa Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 Nope, not an organist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 Cecil Taylor? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aparxa Posted June 16, 2011 Report Share Posted June 16, 2011 Nope, not a pianist. They share the same birth year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillF Posted June 19, 2011 Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 Alan Barnes with a wig? Closer than you might think! Failing any further bids, I think Sidewinder must be declared winner of this round for his remarkably near miss answer. It's JOHN HALLAM. Here he is with Barnes, with and without wig Further evidence of their close association: Have never seen Hallam, but am going to his gig on Sunday. My curiosity has been sparked by a neighbour who after 25 years has "come out" to me by revealing that he used to be a jazz musician and played guitar with Hallam. I'll post a full wig report on return! Just returned from the gig and can report that everything about Hallam is genuine - including the hair! A very tasteful and professional musician who plays tenor, baritone and clarinet. Perhaps it's his fondness for Ellington tunes that brought Jimmy Hamilton to mind. As we've been discussing unusual sounds recently, I'll just mention that Hallam gave support to an unaccompanied bass solo with an off-beat produced by his wedding-ring finger against the side of the tenor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aparxa Posted June 19, 2011 Report Share Posted June 19, 2011 The first post I've made was a photo of young Bojan Z. Let's try a new one: That's Ed Blackwell (Roberto Polillo, Bologna, 1969)! Next Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 (edited) Hints: Not a musician. I met her twenty years ago and thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever met. Now I don't recognize her! Edited July 5, 2011 by GA Russell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 No guesses? OK, here's another hint: Her work is featured in the Bargain DVD Box thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Kart Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 Stephanie Zimbalist? But if that's right, I needed the hint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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