thinking about Carmen Leggio today.....

[AllenLowe]

sweetheart of a guy, and one of the greatest saxophonists I ever heard -as nice as Sonny Stitt could play, Carmen could wipe him out any day of the week - here's a little tidbit:

[Larry Kart]

Not that representative of Leggio at his best, I think -- too fast for his melodicism to really shine though. He was a lovely swinging player.

[AllenLowe]

yeah, but he could nall those tempos - this one's a little rushed at times, but there's something very personal about his whole approach,

[JSngry]

Here his is hearing Trane (initially, anyway) but still speaking Leggio.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMDsk2nojd0

[Stereojack]

My first exposure to Leggio was on Maynard's "Frame For the Blues". Eventually I became a big fan.

[AllenLowe]

there's a very interesting Cadence interview from a while back - he just couldn't catch a break; he also mentions, interestingly enough, that in all the big bands he played in the leaders pretty much preferred the soloing of other players in the band. I never could figure out why, except that the jazz world is as inconsistent and unfair as the rest of society.

I don't remember how I met him, but back in the '90s he referred me to an excellent sax repair man in Connecticut. This guy told me how Carmen liked everything "stock" - generic mouthpiece, and an old horn that played well but was nothing special. Last time I saw him was probably the early 1990s; I was at Van Gelder's with a friend of mine, and there was some session for Venus, I think, with Bill Crow, Davey Jones (a drummer), Carmen, and I cannot remember who else. They played a very slow tune with Cherokee changes and everybody was knocked out by Carmen's solo.

[Larry Kart]

There's some beautiful late Leggio on this Eddie Bert album (though he takes even better solos there than the one on this track):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9nGBYPcf1g

[John Tapscott]

Some nice Carmen on this one, circa 2002. Never heard of drummer Donnie O'Brien before this, or since, for that matter, but this is a relaxed and tasteful date.

[.:.impossible]

These cover artists surely weren't doing anything to help sell this music.

[HolgerFreimutSchrick]

I hope he got now the biography, where all the aspects above are in now

http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carmen_Leggio

(the english version is perhaps too talkative...)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Leggio

[AllenLowe]

two great regrets in life:

1) didn't buy Polaroid at 8 and a half;

2) didn't grab Carmen and make a recording together

love that guy.

[Peter Friedman]

I recently acquired a copy of this CD.

Carmen Leggio Quartet Featuring Joe Cohn - Mighty Quinn (label)

[flat5]

In 1979 I worked next door to Intel.

Never thought of buying stock.

My grandmother told me she could have bought AT&T and Kodak stock very cheap.

She was advised to but did not. Don't know when that was.

I bought

The Westchester Jazz Workshop

Recorded in New York City, 1956

Joe Shepley (tp)

Eddie Bert (tb)

Vinnie Riccitelli (as)

Carmen Leggio (ts)

Gene Allen (bs)

Dolph Castellano (p)

Eddy Tone (b)

Joe Venuto (d)

when I was a kid and found it very interesting.

[Chuck Nessa]

I wish I still had the Progressive lp. He was a note vendor.

[king ubu]

That Eddie Bert disc that Larry mentions above is pretty fine! So is the Mighty Quinn...

Very good player from what I've heard so far - sure would love to find more!

[AllenLowe]

I have a couple of privately produced LPS that Carmen gave me; they include a terrible young woman flutist, but Carmen plays alto on these and he is on fire.

[king ubu]

I have a couple of privately produced LPS that Carmen gave me; they include a terrible young woman flutist, but Carmen plays alto on these and he is on fire.

Can't you edit the flutist (and add your own or Kenny G's solos) and release them?