Chuck Nessa

I think it was "worse than tasteless" for Chris to post that photo of his ex. HB anyway guys!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for the report Jim. Ann and I have been wondering how it went. We hoped is wasn't a disaster.

"Flinch City" for guys. Not sure females have the same reaction. Rachel, nothing "sharp" in sight.

Larks were for smoking. Show me your Lark!

Town Hall is terrific and Croydon (aka London and An Evening With Ornette Coleman) was on cd in Japan.

Does he play Hello Dolly and Wonderful World on this set? How many tracks is Ella on? Why the big price tag?

Hello Michael. Post regularly and argue with (insult) some of the people here. Soon it will feel like home.

Ross made all kinds of promises to me............ I developed a real affection for the guy, but nothing "real" developed. The Schoenberg letters are revealing (for both parties).

Since she's not a real collector, get the Seven Steps box. Fewest alternates.

Great stuff. Hated having to sell the lps but I did make a tape first and have had to be content with that.

I would say "No thanks".

It's the Munch/BSO version of the Berlioz. I have it on order along with the Rubinstein/Reiner Brahms 1st concerto. Neither of these was in the previous Living Stereo series.

Here are the questions and my answers. > 1) When was the Nessa label originally founded? What was the earliest > vision for the label? What did you hope to achieve that Delmark and > other labels hadn't at the time? After I quit at Delmark, Roscoe Mitchell suggested I start my own label. No grandiose plans, just make a record. This was the summer of 1967. > > 2) Free jazz has always been admittedly difficult to market to the > general public. What did you personally find so appealing about such > freely improvised music that you risked creating your own label > devoted to it? No consideration of risk. I just felt a record needed to be made. That is the way all my recordings evolved. > > 3) What's your perception of the AACM's impact on music in Chicago and > elsewhere in the world? Do you feel that they lived up to their > initial promise? How different do you think today's jazz scene would > be if the AACM's early efforts had not been documented so well? The main musical contribution, beyond some extraordinary players, was offering different ways of organizing recent musical techniques. On a nonmusical front, they gave musicians everywhere the concept of creating their own playing situations. Musician produced concerts and the loft scene was a result. > > 4) What role did you play in Delmark's early free-jazz concentration? > In hindsight, do you think your own label spin-off caused any > difficulties for Delmark at the time, or was the market so small that > it didn't really matter? I went to work as manager of the Jazz Record Mart, with a promise from Koester that I could sign 3 musicians to contracts, and record them. I spent all my spare time going to clubs and concerts to hear as many musicians as I could. I decided on Roscoe Mitchell for the first signing, and he suggested Muhal and Joseph. After hearing them, I agreed. Koester gave me amazing latitude, and I am grateful. I always felt that more AACM recordings helped sell the others. If someone discovered a Muhal record on Delmark, that could lead them to a Lester Bowie record on Nessa, and the reverse was true as well. The "market" only existed in Chicago (not enough to support a record) and had to be created everywhere else. It was wide open. > > 5) What sort of mistakes, if any, have you learned from since the > Nessa label was founded? What would you do differently now? I would do nothing different with the label. The label never supported me or itself. I always had a "day job" to take care of that. I did make a couple of mistakes there, which impacted the label adversely. For example, because of a job decision, I was not able to get cds of my catalog issued when the change over occurred. > > 6) Who were some of the first free artists you dealt with for the > Nessa label? Were you initially approached by the artists about > recording their music, or did you go to them first? Did the artists > have any input as to the label's early establishment and direction? Part of this is answered above. I approached all the musicians except for Charles Tyler and Hal Russell. They both gave me audition tapes, etc. > > 7) What were some of the criteria that helped you select artists > and/or recordings for the label? Was the label directly responsible > for recording all of the sessions you issued, or did some artists > bring you sessions that were already recorded in the hope of having > them released? How often did you choose to not issue recordings once > they were "in the can"? While in France, the Art Ensemble recorded 2 lps for EMI. The guys arranged for EMI to contact me about releasing them in the States, so ultimately I licensed these from EMI. I licensed recordings by Ben Webster and Lucky Thompson from Ensayo, a Spanish label. I purchased 2 lps by Bobby Bradford and John Stevens from Black Lion/Freedom, an English company. Both Charles Tyler and Fred Anderson sold me tapes for their recordings. I both cases, they were unmixed, unedited session tapes, and we got them ready for release. If memory serves everything else originated with the label. > > 8) Was the label financed solely by album sales, or did you also > receive assistance from foundations, the government, or other outside > sources? How about now? Answered above. No grants, etc. > > 9) Cadence Magazine, which has become the monthly bible for this genre > of music, only has a monthly worldwide circulation of about 10,000. > That's pretty indicative of the small market share for this music. How > many copies of the average Nessa release could you reasonably expect > to sell in, say, 1968? And how many new releases and/or reissues can > you move per year today? Back then when the music was new, 1 or 2 thousand was probably about it. Then maybe 500 the 2nd year, 300 the third, etc. By the mid/late '70s when the label (and the music) were more established, you could see a range of 2000 to 5000 for a new release. Today is a totally different animal. The glut of cds, and the competition for the "leisure dollar" (video, computers, etc.) makes it very difficult. > > 10) What are your current and future plans for the label? What would > you like to do that you have not yet accomplished, if anything? I still need to get my complete catalog in print before I can start making new recordings. If I win the lottery, you will see lots of activity.

Not a story, but an apology. I was going to start a new thread about this. Around the first of the year Todd Jenkins emailed me. He had discovered this thread and said he did interview me via email. I checked my files and discovered a series of ten questions he posed and I answered. This was in December of 2001 and I did not remember it at the time. Concerning the book itself, I have only examined the samples on the publisher's page. I do have some issues with details in what I've seen but obviously this is an important book and will order a copy. Once again, sorry for my error.

Same?

Yes.

I can not provide details at the moment but I used to have the record. No friggin' duet and don't think this is from the same gig at all.

Buddy DeFranco.

I have 80-90 minutes of this stuff.

But that Stix is good. hey deus62, go run around that tree.

Maybe I should let this pass..............wtf, the set does not include all the master takes.

Private tape. I'll be curious about the amount of material you get.

The sound is not very good. Haven't listened to it in a couple of years though.

As long as they are considering a title change, I wonder if it will re released as a Pete Sims date. B-)

So, I guess Silver N' Brass is your favorite of the bunch.