Best jazz performance you never saw ...

[mikeweil]

When I went to see the Herbie Mann Quintet in 1971 or so, the opening act was to be the Quartet Focus '65 from Bulgaria, with Simeon Shterev on flute and Milcho Leview on piano, one of the hottest jazz groups in Europe at the time, but they were denied their visa and couldn't make the tour.

Then, a few years before his death, Philly Joe Jones - he had tp cancel due to to health problems.

And: Charles Mingus, probably the quintet with George Adams. I was late, club was packed, tickets all sold out and the smoke coming up the stairs from the cellar was as thick as one cannot believe ...

[JSngry]

Was in the Houston area in the summer of '73. Ellington was in town, doing a week at a hotel, but we were visiting relatives, time was tight, so was money, and my Dad wouldn't let me drive in Houston by myself. Less that a year later...

Migus played Dallas, at SMU, in the fall of 1974, ny freshman yeat at NTSU. No publicity. NONE. Found out about it the day after from the (sadly) late Jim Lacefield, who just happened to be in Dallas the prior afternoon and overheard somebody mention it. He went straight over to SMU, and was one of, he said, about 50 people in the auditorium.

Pretty sickening (in several ways) news to get at 8 A.M. in a beginners piano class, I tell you...

Edited January 15, 2004 by JSngry

[JohnS]

Missed John Coltrane in London in the early 60s. I saw a poster for the concert the day after it took place.

I also regret not getting to see Gerry Mulligan.

[medjuck]

Spring 1962 (I think) Bill Evans giving one of his first concerts after the death of Scot laFaro in a small hall at Mcgill University. I stayed home to study for an exam. My room mate went and said it was great. I learned my lesson Two years later I went to see Duke Ellington even though I had an exam the next day.

Sometimes in the '70s I was in London and didn't go see a double bill of Joan Armatrading and Cecil Taylor (how weird is that?) at Ronnie Scott's because it cost 10 pounds. Finally saw Taylor a couple of times in Toronto.

Had tickets to see Gerry Mulligan with his revival of the Birth of the Cool band at a small concert hall in LA. Af riend chose that day to get married. (At least I'd seen Mulligan years before with Bob Brookmeyer in a quartet.)

[mgraham333]

I missed all the best jazz performances. I was born in 1972.

[danasgoodstuff]

was planning to attend schedualled gigs by both Art Pepper and Art Blakey that they died before (bad schedualling I calls it). Last week Charles Gayle was in town but I didn't know about it til afterwards. Don't know if he wore his clown suit.

[kh1958]

Was in the Houston area in the summer of '73. Ellington was in town, doing a week at a hotel, but we were visiting relatives, time was tight, so was money, and my Dad wouldn't let me drive in Houston by myself. Less that a year later...

Migus played Dallas, at SMU, in the fall of 1974, ny freshman yeat at NTSU. No publicity. NONE. Found out about it the day after from the (sadly) late Jim Lacefield, who just happened to be in Dallas the prior afternoon and overheard somebody mention it. He went straight over to SMU, and was one of, he said, about 50 people in the auditorium.

Pretty sickening (in several ways) news to get at 8 A.M. in a beginners piano class, I tell you...

I was at that Mingus concert at SMU. Actually there were two concerts, but I didn't drive yet so I was dependent on a ride from a couple of friends and wasn't able to stay for the second concert, which I've always regretted. There couldn't have been more than 20 people at the first concert, and I got to sit in the second row and be blown away.

[kh1958]

Also in 1974, Cannonball Adderley played in Dallas and I wasn't able to manage to attend.

[Jim Alfredson]

Stanley Turrentine was scheduled to appear at the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival on September 19th. I was pysched to go see him and knew the guy running sound so I could get back stage.

He died on the 12th... a week before the gig.

[brownie]

Three I missed.

- The Miles Davis quintet concert at the Olympia theater in Paris March 21, 1960. The one where part of the audience went hostile to John Coltrane's new music.

I had been in the French Army for three weeks when the concert was to be held. I was stationed west of Paris and had made elaborate arrangements to attend the concert even if young draftees were not authorised to leave the army barracks at night. I was about to make a long ride to Paris when my unit was ordered to assemble for a night march. Had to wait four years before catching on Coltrane live.

- September 1967 in New York. Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson were starting their Jazz Communicators band. A friend at Atlantic Records made arrangements for me to attend a debut concert by the group at a benefit for Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam. The benefit was at the Apollo in Harlem. Went there and made my way inside the theater until I was stopped by tough-looking attendants. There was a long, animated talk. Was told very firmly that there was NO way I could enter the concert hall.

When I walked out, found myself in a commotion while Muhammad Ali made his way inside (that was at the time Ali made national headlines when he refused to be fight the War in Vietnam). Ali looked great!

Never got to hear the band which unfortunately never made a record.

- September 1980 in New York, again! On the eve of my flight back to Paris, I went to Fat Tuesday's where Bill Evans was scheduled to play. When I arrived, there was a note at the club entrance announcing Bill Evans would not play that night. Back in Paris, I learned Bill Evans had just died

[Rooster_Ties]

- September 1967 in New York. Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson were starting their Jazz Communicators band. A friend at Atlantic Records made arrangements for me to attend a debut concert by the group at a benefit for Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam. The benefit was at the Apollo in Harlem. Went there and made my way inside the theater until I was stopped by tough-looking attendants. There was a long, animated talk. Was told very firmly that there was NO way I could enter the concert hall.

When I walked out, found myself in a commotion while Muhammad Ali made his way inside (that was at the time Ali made national headlines when he refused to be fight the War in Vietnam). Ali looked great!

Never got to hear the band which unfortunately never made a record.

And the reason for them not letting you enter, was...

Your race?? Were you dressed in uniform?? Both?? Neither - but some other reason??

I'm not understanding.

[brownie]

And the reason for them not letting you enter, was...

Your race?? Were you dressed in uniform?? Both?? Neither - but some other reason??

I'm not understanding.

Rooster, I was the only non-black person in the vicinity.

And I was dressed casual. All the men were dressed in black uniforms. All the women were in veils (my memory is that most of them were in white).

Hope the3y all dug the Jazz Communicators.

I was not given a reason for not being allowed in but I would say race was definitely a reason.

[JSngry]

Also in 1974, Cannonball Adderley played in Dallas and I wasn't able to manage to attend.

THAT one I caught. Couldn't tell you the venue, though. It was an old movie theatre that had been converted into a nightclub. My & my buddies sat in the balcony - great sightline and perfect sound. It was Ball, Nat, George Duke, Walter Booker, & Roy McCurdy, if I remember correctly. Program was a perfect mix of styles, something for everybody, all of it played with grit and sincerity, and all of it complimented by Cannon's inimitable M.C.-ing. Consummate professionalism, and "entertainment" in nothing but the very best sense of the word.

Unforgettable image of the evening - Cannonball literally smoking through an insanely fast "Autumn Leaves", playing a no-holds-barred solo (I think a lot of people are still asleep on how far "out" the guy often played in his later years) with a lit cigarette between the first and second fingers of his right hand. That's the kind of cool (or possibly, Kool...) that you don't see any more, for better and for worse, I suppose...

[couw]

I think kh1958 feels a lot better now about missing that show...

[JSngry]

I was not given a reason for not being allowed in but I would say race was definitely a reason.

Most likely THE reason. NOI was extremely hardcore back in those days. When I went to a few similar events in the 70s, I got in, but only after intervention from friends.

It's a rather serious scene even today, but not quite as "absolute" as it once was.

[Alexander]

I was hoping to see Cassandra Wilson at the Egg here in Albany back in November. The day I planned to call for a ticket, my wife informed me that we were attending her best friend's birthday party. That was the end of that!

On various occasions I've planned to travel to either Boston or New York (the two major cities that are closest to me) to see people, only to have something come up to prevent me. Can't tell you how many times that's happened.

Ahmad Jamal will be in Albany in March, though, so hopefully I'll get to see him!

[AmirBagachelles]

I had it mind to go hear Gunther Schuller's presentation of Mingus' Epitaph outdoors and for free at Lincoln Ctr in 1989, but I never made it uptown. Did anybody get to that concert?

[JSngry]

I think kh1958 feels a lot better now about missing that show...

Well hell, he got to see the Mingus gig I missed.

Lacefield talked about this incredble tenor player whose eyes rolled back in his head when he played. George Adams wasn't quite on our radar screen yet, but defintitely was when CHANGES 1 & 2 came out soon afterwards.

Cannonball playing w/a lit cigarette vs George Adams' eyes rolling back in his head. I'd say we're even!

[kh1958]

I think kh1958 feels a lot better now about missing that show... 

Well hell, he got to see the Mingus gig I missed.

Lacefield talked about this incredble tenor player whose eyes rolled back in his head when he played. George Adams wasn't quite on our radar screen yet, but defintitely was when CHANGES 1 & 2 came out soon afterwards.

Cannonball playing w/a lit cigarette vs George Adams' eyes rolling back in his head. I'd say we're even!

Yes indeed, George Adams' eyes did roll back into his head, so that looking at him all you could see was white. He was amazing, but I never got to see him again.

I went to see the Mingus Big Band in New York, when it first started, having read that Adams played in the band, and asked a woman working there (I think Mingus' step daughter) if he would be playing that evening and she said they took him out on a stretcher the week before. I think he died soon thereafter.

In similar fashion, I was really excited about heading to New York when Don Pullen and his Afro Brazilian Connection was playing at Sweet Basil; on the plane, I read that he had just died.

[mikeweil]

Yes indeed, George Adams' eyes did roll back into his head, so that looking at him all you could see was white.

I remember seeing plenty of the white in his eyes when he was in Frankfurt with a down-sized Gil Evans Orchestra. He and bassist Donald Pate were late for the gig, Peter Levin downtuned his synth to play bass until they arrived. Gil sat happily hammering chords as the band rocked through his tunes, with his back to the band - there was no way to turn the piano around on that small club stage - and Lew Soloff and Terumasa Hino were almost playing as many jokes as they were playing notes, while Gerry Niewood played his heart and soul out. Robert Crowder handled the drums. A mildly weird gig! Very unorthodox!

Edited January 17, 2004 by mikeweil

[paul secor]

When I was in college, Sonny Rollins played a club with Grant Green on guitar. Never heard them, and that probably would have been one to hear.

[chris]

He died on the 12th... a week before the gig.

I bet Stanley was a little mad about it too....

[medjuck]

.

Unforgettable image of the evening - Cannonball literally smoking through an insanely fast "Autumn Leaves", playing a no-holds-barred solo (I think a lot of people are still asleep on how far "out" the guy often played in his later years) with a lit cigarette between the first and second fingers of his right hand.

[medjuck]

Yes indeed, George Adams' eyes did roll back into his head, so that looking at him all you could see was white.

I remember seeing plenty of the white in his eyes when he was in Frankfurt with a down-sized Gil Evans Orchestra. He and bassist Donald Pate were late for the gig, Peter Levin downtuned his synth to play bass until they arrived. Gil sat happily hammering chords as the band rocked through his tunes, with his back to the band - there was no way to turn the piano around on that small club stage - and Lew Soloff and Terumasa Hino were almost playing as many jokes as they were playing notes, while Gerry Niewood played his heart and soul out. Robert Crowder handled the drums. A mildly weird gig! Very unorthodox!

Ws that in 1978? I've just been listening to a cd called "Little Wing" recorded in "GermanY, 1978" with that same personel. This is the 3rd version I've bought: each one has one more number added. And Niewood is great on it. Who the hell is/was he? BTW really loved your description of the gig. Reminds me of a couple of times when i got to see the Evans band.

[mikeweil]

It was on October 12, 1978, in Frankfurt at the old Sinkkasten, nice but smoky cellar club, a legend of this region. (I used to keep records about the concerts I attended at the time, and luckily I still have them securely filed away ...) Forgot to mention tubist Bob Stewart, I can still visualize him taking VERY DEEP breaths before uttering low register glissandos sounding like satisfied moans of a gigantic elephant. I think I have to get me that CD: what is the issue with the most tunes on it, please?

Gerry Niewood ... I was surprised to see him with Evans. I still have a nice LP of his, on A&M Horizon (Gerry Niewood & Timepiece), with David Samuels among the sidemen, recorded in 1976, that doesn't tell much about him. His biography on AMG says it all. Better player than his career might suggest.

Edited January 18, 2004 by mikeweil