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Ira Sullivan


Chuck Nessa

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Just got off the phone with Ira. I called him because I hadn't heard from him for a while and the last time was about surgery. I had been worried about his health and it turns out he is more vigorous than I. Keep on keeping on Ira. He will be 87 in a few weeks.

Edited by Chuck Nessa
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I was listening to Red Rodney's Savoy record 1957 (AKA Fiery, AKA The Red Arrow), off the back of a recent post by @Chuck Nessa of that record on the now playing thread. 

I'm struck by how advanced Sullivan's playing is on that record. It's crazy to think that it came out in 1957. What did that music sound like to an audience back then? Or to the other players, Rodney included?

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Iirc Larry Kart has written here more than once about how Ira Sullivan was one of the top tenorists in a brief time window in the mid fifties... (a sentiment that I share, but i wasn't around) Generally, i have the feeling there's this semi-lost generation of artists who did their best work in the years right before Kind of Blue and the rest of 1959... (the classical Hampton Hawes Trio comes to mind as well, e.g.)

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20 minutes ago, Niko said:

Iirc Larry Kart has written here more than once about how Ira Sullivan was one of the top tenorists in a brief time window in the mid fifties... (a sentiment that I share, but i wasn't around) Generally, i have the feeling there's this semi-lost generation of artists who did their best work in the years right before Kind of Blue and the rest of 1959... (the classical Hampton Hawes Trio comes to mind as well, e.g.)

That's an interesting point. Lots of great musicians do seem to get lost in the shuffle at precisely that point in time - Gigi Gryce is one who pops into mind.

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