Michael Fitzgerald

Gee whiz, Allen - Artie Shaw only wrote a few books........

Allen - This was covered in a NYT op ed piece a while back (September 28, 2002), on the subject of books. Joseph Epstein was the author: Think You Have A Book In You? Think Again. According to a recent survey, 81 percent of Americans feel they have a book in them -- and that they should write it. As the author of 14 books, with a 15th to be published next spring, I'd like to use this space to do what I can to discourage them. Before I had first done so, writing a book seemed a fine, even grand thing. And so it still seems -- except, truth to tell, it is a lot better to have written a book than to actually be writing one. Without attempting to overdo the drama of the difficulty of writing, to be in the middle of composing a book is almost always to feel oneself in a state of confusion, doubt and mental imprisonment, with an accompanying intense wish that one worked instead at bricklaying. Why should so many people think they can write a book, especially at a time when so many people who actually do write books turn out not really to have a book in them -- or at least not one that many other people can be made to care about? Something on the order of 80,000 books get published in America every year, most of them not needed, not wanted, not in any way remotely necessary. I wonder if the reason so many people think they can write a book is that so many third-rate books are published nowadays that, at least viewed from the middle distance, it makes writing a book look fairly easy. After all, how many times has one thought, after finishing a bad novel, ''I can do at least as well as that''? And the sad truth is that it may well be that one can. But why add to the schlock pile? Beyond the obvious motivation for wanting to write a book -- hoping to win fame or fortune -- my guess is that many people who feel they have a book ''in them'' doubtless see writing it as a way of establishing their own significance. ''There lurks, perhaps, in every human heart,'' wrote Samuel Johnson, ''a desire of distinction, which inclines every man to hope, and then to believe, that nature has given himself something peculiar to himself.'' What better way to put that distinction on display than in a book? The search for personal significance was once nicely taken care of by the drama that religion supplied. This drama, which lived in every human breast, no matter what one's social class, was that of salvation: Would one achieve heaven or not? Now that it is gone from so many lives, in place of salvation we have the search for significance, a much trickier business. If only oblivion awaits, how does one leave behind evidence that one lived? How will one's distant progeny know that one once walked the earth? A book, the balmy thought must be: I shall write a book. Forgive me if I suggest that this isn't the most felicitous way to do battle against oblivion. Writing a book is likely, through the quickness and completeness with which one's book will die, to make the notion of oblivion all the more vivid. There is something very American in the notion that almost everyone has a book in him or her. (In the survey of 1,006 Americans, sponsored by a small Michigan publisher, almost equal numbers of people said they wanted to write a novel, a nonfiction work, a self-help book or a cookbook.) Certainly, it is a democratic notion, suggesting that everybody is as good as everybody else -- and, by extension, one person's story or wisdom is as interesting as the next's. Then there is the equally false notion of creativity that has been instilled in students for too many years. It was Paul Valery who said that the word ''creation'' has been so overused that even God must be embarrassed to have it attributed to him. Misjudging one's ability to knock out a book can only be a serious and time-consuming mistake. Save the typing, save the trees, save the high tax on your own vanity. Don't write that book, my advice is, don't even think about it. Keep it inside you, where it belongs. --------------- Predictably, there were numerous responses. Mike

Alan - If that's really the case, I have some ideas for genetic engineering. Mike

The partially obscured bassist is some guy named Mingus.

Dunno - the alternative to independent publishing didn't do so well for musicians. And large conglomerates weren't the only ones - it was the small labels too (Savoy, Dial, Prestige, etc.) Gigi Gryce may have lost the battle, but he won the war - the recently discussed Wayne Shorter bio has this: "The first person who hipped me to the procedure of getting your own publishing was Horace Silver," Wayne said. "I put my stuff in Horace's publishing, and Horace has sent it back to me since then; he reassigned about thirteen songs back to me." Publishing was one area where Wayne definitely didn't want to follow in the footsteps of bebop idols like Lester Young, who died almost penniless. Silver was one of the first to take care of the publishing side of business, which made him a baron among musicians. When hip-hop artists started sampling riffs from his Blue Note recordings, Silver claimed that the first royalty statement he received for this usage was more than he made on all his Blue Note records combined. ---- And Horace learned it from Gigi. Mike

Lord 5.0 indicates that the two albums are the same - LM 82025 mono, LS 86031 stereo. But Goldmine guide by Neely lists LM 82025 and LS 86025 and LM 82031 and LS 86031. http://users.rcn.com/bobfreed/www/lesdisco/a21.html Seems to say that all four exist and they're all the same. Mike

Good - Bertrand caught just about all the problems I have with that sentence (the others would be that the correct name is Slugs' - with the apostrophe - and whether "mistress" is the appropriate term for More - I've also heard "common-law wife" - which seems quite different). BTW, for those who weren't aware, organissimo member Marty Milgrim WAS there that evening, but left Slugs' just before the shooting. Grachan Moncur is mentioned on 2 pages. Here are the quotes: With this conviction, Wayne decided to pick up the tenor saxophone. He soon joined an orchestra led by Jackie Bland, which included his brother, Alan, and, at various times, trombonist Grachan Moncur III and pianist Walter Davis, or "Humphrey" - Wayne would later play with Walter in a professional setting. (p.32) ----- [in the Nat Phipps band] Wayne was surrounded by talent: There was Nat's brother, Bill Phipps, who went on to play with Dizzy Gillespie; trombonist Grachan Moncur III, who recorded with Tony Williams and Jackie McLean in the early sixties; trombonist Tom McIntosh, who wrote for Dizzy, composing the musicians' favorite "Cup Bearers," and was a longtime associate of James Moody, himself raised in Newark. (p.44) ----- McLean appears in the index on only one page - 232 - which means the above was missed. The later pages refers to the 1991 Miles concert - At this concert, Miles did something that was rare for him: He looked back. The retrospective show included "Dig," a tune he'd recorded with Jackie McLean forty years before. (p.232) ------ While reading, I kept a running list of interview subjects (would have been nice if the book included one already). Here's what I came up with: Amiri Baraka Walter Becker Brian Blade Maria Booker Terri Lyne Carrington Ron Carter Joe Chambers Jodie Christian Chick Corea Jack DeJohnette Dave Douglas Peter Erskine Curtis Fuller Rob Griffin (engineer) Gigi Hancock Herbie Hancock Dave Holland Freddie Hubbard Alphonso Johnson Wynton Marsalis Hal Miller (journalist) Marcus Miller Joni Mitchell Airto Moreira Milton Nascimento John Patitucci Danilo Perez Nat Phipps Sonny Rollins Carlos Santana Eddy Strickler (roadie - not in index) Bobby Thomas Tina Turner Rudy Van Gelder Cedar Walton McCoy Tyner Miroslav Vitous Joe Zawinul The task wasn't so easy because there are quotes that are uncredited - like those of Ana Maria Shorter, who couldn't have been interviewed by Mercer because she had died in 1996. The notes say: "Between 2003 and 2004, I conducted more than seventy-five interviews with various sources, and had at least that many discussions with Wayne Shorter himself." The acknowledgments begin with "All the interviewees, especially those who are not directly quoted in the book but who so richly informed my perspective." Mike

Eric Kloss - from the liner notes to his 1980 album "Celebration" on Muse: The eighties have gotten off to an auspicious start for him; shortly after 'Celebration' was recorded, he moved from his native Pittsburgh, where he was something of a local legend but from where he had never travelled in this country enough to establish a national reputation, to New Jersey. Being close to New York City has obvious advantages for any young jazz musician; Eric sees it as an opportunity to 'be in contact with a lot of inspiring players' who are helping him to 'broaden my scope as a player and a composer. I have a very simple goal,' he says. 'I just want to play the best possible music with the best possible players under the best possible conditions.' (notes by Peter Keepnews) He played just last night in Pittsburgh. http://www.postgazette.com/pg/04365/434433.stm Kloss has not had an easy time of things. http://www.erickloss.givengain.org/ But judging by the records I have, he's a wonderful creative player. Wish he had been in the center of music in the 1980s. He'd probably have done a better job than those who were. Mike

OK Larry - I've finished the book now. I've mined it for new facts for my chronology (just a few). It's going on the shelf. I think it does a good job of dealing with Wayne's personality. The interviews with others - and there were many, and with the "right" people - may have helped with this, but I'm disappointed that better quotes weren't used. Mercer talked to over 75 people about Wayne and the quotes included are crap, almost all of them. There are a number of quotes from other sources that are NOT listed in the endnotes. I can't find any logic to explain what is and isn't in the endnotes. Sloppy editing, I guess. Again, a decent editor would have caught what I found to be a striking repetition - page 25 introduces the film The Red Shoes, which is important in Wayne's life. But every single subsequent time it is mentioned it is referred to as: his favorite movie, The Red Shoes; his favorite movie, The Red Shoes; Wayne's favorite movie, The Red Shoes; Wayne's favorite movie, The Red Shoes. I look forward to hearing the views of other readers. Mike

Speaking of Lee and women, here's a quote from p. 107: "Slugs remained an unofficial after-hours musicians' hang until Lee Morgan was shot to death onstage by his mistress there in 1972." Discuss... Mike

I assume the tears comment comes from this, included in the Blakey chronology: "We've played a lot of countries, but never has the whole band been in tears when we left. My wife cried all the way to Hawaii." - Art Blakey, quoted by Don DeMicheal in Down Beat, May 11, 1961, p.15. Mike

I stand corrected - the Art Blakey chronology *is* credited in the bibliography. It's filed under S for Steve Schwartz, my initial collaborator. Mike

The speaker was just mentioned within a couple of days in the "white altos" thread. Mike

Someone help me out with this one - page 87: The youthful performances of Wayne and Lee stirred up a special fever of excitement among Japanese girls, which must have struck a deep chord in the musicians: Both soon married Japanese-American women. The entire band left the country in tears. On July 28, 1961, Wayne married Irene Nakagami, a Japanese-American woman born in Chicago. [...] "We met, and before I knew it I was married; it was the fast lane." They had a daughter, Miyako, on August 8, 1961. ----------- OK, now I know this is the fast lane, but babies still take nine months, right? So, from Japanese tour - last known concert is January 11, 1961 - to birth of Miyako is less than seven months. Which would mean that Shorter would have had to have met Irene *before* the Japanese tour. Which means that this "fever of excitement" and "deep chord" is all a lot of unsubstantiated - nay, clearly false - nonsense. Or am I overlooking something? This book (and I don't mean to imply it's the only one) could have used a competent editor. Another gaffe - anyone who's been to Newark, NJ knows route 21 is *McCarter* Highway, not "MacArthur Highway" as the book has it more than once. Mike

Pastorius is very present on Footprints, in fact he solos at the end of the track just before the final melody. He is not credited on the LP. Mike

Here's the Down Beat review (7/82 p.56-57) by A. James Liska: ================== An all-star lineup of some of America's best known and most proficient jazzmen was assembled for this unique concert. The concert, created by San Francisco jazz writer Conrad Silvert, was to help Silvert defray some expenses incurred as the result of a recent illness. The artist roster, impressive from any viewpoint, was composer of pianists Herbie Hancock, Toshiko Akiyoshi, and Denny Zeitlin; bassists Jaco Pastorius and Charlie Haden; saxophonists Lew Tabackin, Sonny Rollins, and Wayne Shorter; trumpeter Wynton Marsalis; guitarist Pat Metheny; vibist Bobby Hutcherson; and drummer Tony Williams. Unannounced instrumentalists included guitarist Carlos Devadip Santana and saxophonist Kermit Scott. The idea was for a variety of instrumental ensembles to be created from the stable of skillful players. No musician would be permitted to play with his regular outfit. As is so often the case, things looked better on paper than they came off. During the course of the marathon concert - just shy of five hours - the audience learned why many of the artists don't keep regular musical company with each other. The flip side of the coin, however, showed musical moments so magical that one wonders why that company isn't kept more often. Herbie Hancock, who acted as emcee and provided the primary impetus of the evening's events, made his first introduction of pianist/psychiatrist Denny Zeitlin. Unaccompanied on the acoustic grand, Zeitlin offered a delicate Cascade before being joined by bassist Charlie Haden in a quietly moving lethargy of secret title. In retrospect, the duet was a concert highlight, though anticipation of what might come lessened the effect. The duo was expanded to a quartet with the addition of Metheny and Williams, and a bop standard, All The Things You Are, became a workable vehicle for the rather mismatched foursome. The economy of Haden was in stark contrast to the superfluous style of Metheny, as Zeitlin and Williams were left to hold down the fort. A faltering quartet moment created a magnificent rhythmic oneness from the drummer and pianist Next up was the duo of Toshiko Akiyoshi and Lew Tabackin. Though a duo in the broadest sense, as a twosome their sound is a rarity. Akiyoshi's solo outing was a pleasant reminder of her pianistic abilities, which are often overlooked by those most interested in her compositions Tabackin joined in for a flute venture which offered more evidence of his reigning predominance on that instrument. A closing A Bit Byas'd revealed bebop roots and modern vision, with Tabackin showing himself a powerful tenor saxophonist. During the Akiyoshi/Tabackin set, Haden, Metheny, and Williams changed musical hats. Their re-entrance was as a harmolodic trio with Ornette Coleman's music as stylistic common ground. Though deafening volume obscured much of their music, the short set was an appropriate deviation from the mainstream norm. Inappropriate, however, was the addition of Jaco Pastorius who, as seems the case of late, dominated with his stylized electric bass. More alluring was the re-appearance of Hancock with vibist Bobby Hutcherson. Though the two have recorded together, their strictly duet performance was a brand new bag. The delightful musical exchanges on Hutcherson's Little B's Poem and Hancock's Maiden Voyage were the most magical moments of the first half of the concert. Act One of the evening ended with a 12-minute a capella venture by tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins. Though his sound was powerful and distinct, the same could not be said for his material. The self-indulgent foray was chops-busting, but ultimately unsatisfying. The second half began with Hancock and Zeitlin's two-piano venture into Thelonious Monk's thematic material. Bits and pieces of Straight, No Chaser fell oddly into place before their quasi-prepared rendition of 'Round Midnight surfaced. Next up, an impressive grouping of Wynton Marsalis, Wayne Shorter, Hancock, Hutcherson, Williams, Pastorius, and Haden played Shorter's Footprints, and the 3/4-time riff-based tune provided several successful moments. The composer, on tenor sax, was in brilliant form, dishing out healthy helpings of inspired improvisation with Marsalis following suit. Unfortunately, much of the young trumpeter's work was stepped on by Pastorius' cliched rumblings. The basic quintet of Shorter, Marsalis, Hancock, Haden, and Williams was subsequently joined by the other players for a variety of musical outings. Particularly memorable were Williams' Sister Cheryl and Shorter's Silence. Bebop was furiously attacked with the changes from I Got Rhythm. Shorter's Paraphernalia, reminiscent of Miles Davis Nefertiti era, was a quote-laden piece with Metheny lending guitar definition. Pastorius' Twins was the intended closer. Missing only Akiyoshi and Rollins from the roster, the jam session to end all jam sessions stumbled its way through an embarassingly immature r&b tune that sounded more like a break song than a finale. Pastorius' singing was both pointless and ridiculous, as were most of the instrumental offerings. Kermit Scott, a local tenor player who wandered onto the stage, at least provided an honest r&b feel. At the audience's insistence, more music was delivered by Shorter and Hancock in an understated encore of ‘Round Midnight. The whole concert was taped by CBS and should be released in the spring, sans Rollins who is under contract elsewhere. =========== Mike P.S. - while I'm in nit-picking mode (as if I'm ever not....), Silence is not by Wayne Shorter, but rather by Charlie Haden.

Do tell! It's my understanding that Jaco wasn't allowed to play (or was it just to be on the record) because having him and Wayne together would be a breach of a Weather Report contract stipulation. I don't recall ever hearing anything of a private tape of this circulating, which is a little surprising given the incredible line-up and the fairly late date. Mike

I think this book will only be worth anything because of the interviews that Mercer did. Quite a few things will receive some attention that never got any before. The problem is that if Mercer can't get the basic things correct (names, dates, tunes, etc.) that *have* been known, will the reader feel confident about the new information that is being presented? As I said, those basic things should be a *given*. I certainly don't want that to be the point at which the book stops. I never said that I did. I want all the wonderful insights into Wayne's mind and spirit, I want informed musical analysis of his compositions and improvisations. Unfortunately, the musical analysis which is supposed to be included (the dustjacket says "Filled with musical analysis by Mercer" and the notes say "My musical analysis is based on study of Wayne's original scores whenever possible"), won't be found here. Then there is the thorough coverage of a very significant chunk of a career with this (p.105): During their break from Miles's quintet, his sidemen recorded some of their finest work for Blue Note: There was Herbie's Maiden Voyage and Tony's Spring, on which Wayne served as a sideman. Wayne also played on his former Messengers' bandmate Lee Morgan's The Gigolo. And between March and October 1965, Wayne made three records of his own as a leader, The Soothsayer, Etcetera, and The All Seeing Eye, which brought his total Blue Note output to six records in eighteen months. ----- A little follows on Alan Shorter, some quotes from Freddie Hubbard (saying that he had to practice Wayne's music) and Joe Chambers (discussing how Duke Pearson acted as a buffer between Lion and Wolff and the musicians and mentioning how Adam's Apple was somewhat commercial sounding), then a paraphrase of the Nat Hentoff/Shorter liner notes from All Seeing Eye. Night Dreamer and JuJu are both glossed over in the space of a single page (p. 93). So, that's six albums - seven, because Speak No Evil is NEVER discussed, just mentioned in passing (once in the Hubbard quote, where it along with All Seeing Eye are called 'some of his best records') and once related to a 1973 section (p. 154) dealing with "cause and effect" and philosophy. Eight albums, because Schizophrenia is NEVER even mentioned at all. The entirety of the Moto Grosso Feio album reference is as "Wayne's Blue Note recording from 1970 that also was released in 1974." Odyssey Of Iska gets half a page (p.139). Super Nova does get some coverage (pp. 131-133, 140, 164, 253). But come on, this is a book ON WAYNE SHORTER - is it too much to expect discussion of the records that got him his status as a great musician? Hubbard says those records are some of his [Wayne's] best records - WHY are they his best? What's good about them? There isn't a discography, not even a list of his albums included in the book. Eric Dolphy get this solitary mention: "Of course, there was a lot of experimental music around; artists like Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, and Eric Dolphy were reshaping jazz into entirely new forms." (p. 111) That's it. I was hoping to find discussion (at least *mention*) of the Freddie Hubbard album that Wayne wrote the arrangements for in 1963 - where he used a big band, a string orchestra, and a septet (Dolphy is in all three ensembles), but nope, nothing. I wasn't really counting on any discussion of the other time Shorter and Dolphy recorded together (the Benny Golson: Jazz + Pop thing). And no, Bertrand, there is NOTHING on Blakey's Golden Boy album, since I know you were wondering. Sorry folks, this is an appallingly shallow book. It may be of use to a serious biographer who can find some quotes from the original interviews. Mike P.S. - I'm gonna SCREAM! The photos (16 pages, most very nice) include the sleeve from the "Jazz At The Opera House" LP on Columbia. Here's the caption: "At critic Conrad Silvert's farewell fiesta concert in 1982, recorded as Jazz at the Opera House. Pictured (left to right) are Charlie Haden (between two unidentified men), Tony Williams, Wynton Marsalis, Conrad Silvert, Lew Tabackin, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Pat Metheny, Carlos Santana, Bobby Hutcherson, Wayne, and Herbie Hancock. The painting behind the group was collectively created by the musicians after the show." Jesus Christ - firstly, Lew Tabackin is the first of the "unidentified men" - the other is Jaco Pastorius - then the man incorrectly identified as Tabackin is pianist Denny Zeitlin. How hard can this be?!? Here's what you do: you get the damn record (CBS 38430) and you pull out the sleeve, you look at the exact same photo and you then look at the bottom of the sleeve where it correctly identifies EVERYONE and talks about the painting. BTW, there's no discussion of this concert or album, not even the mention that this "farewell fiesta" was produced by Silvert as a going-away present to/from himself because he was dying of cancer (he died about three weeks after). There's even a WONDERFUL Shorter description of the concert, from an interview when he compares it with a 1991 meeting with Miles Davis towards the end of Miles's life (which actually is mentioned at the very start of the book): From http://www.lebjazz.net/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=244 I had once experienced something similar before. There was a writer I knew, he gave a big party for himself because he knew he only had about a month to live: he had cancer. His name was Conrad Silvert and he was a very sensitive art and music critic and he died at the age of 34. He gave a big sort of "bash" and invited musicians like Sonny Rollins, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Lew Tabackin, Wynton Marsalis, Herbie Hancock, myself, Tony Williams and Sheila was there with her father and uncle. There were a lot of people there at the Opera House in San Francisco. Also some people walked on the stage when we were playing. Carlos Santana walked in and played. And this gentleman, Conrad Silvert, had a similar type of glow which came from within. After that -- I will call it like a "fiesta" he gave for himself and the others. Maybe about three weeks later he died. ========== Could have been included in the book, but alas, the opportunity was missed.

The kinds of mistakes I pointed out are things that stick out - because they're black or white. Not gray. Getting those things right is the bare minimum. If you can't be bothered to do that, I have doubts about the bigger things. If someone is going to the effort to write a book on Wayne Shorter and only Wayne Shorter, that book should be unimpeachable in terms of facts of his life. If someone wants to know when Wayne did something, that book should supply the answer. This book fails on that. The album "Africaine" (which issued Shorter's first session with Blakey) is treated as if it had been issued at the time (1959). In fact, the album didn't come out for two decades. There is no composition index. The endnotes, such as they are, only deal with quoted material, not with the sources of factual information. The index is pathetic, listing some mentioned tunes, not listing others which are mentioned in the text. Larry Kart does get a mention! But nowhere does it tell us that Mama G is the same tune as Nellie Bly, even though "both" tunes are mentioned in the text. There is some info on Alan Shorter. Haven't yet determined how much. Certainly more than in any other book. Yes, Zawinul made that comment, but how it's placed and the importance it's given is the responsibility of the author. Some context needs to be given. Describing Gulda only as "the obscure twentieth-century Viennese composer" is quite innacurate and it gives ME the impression that the author doesn't know enough about Gulda. Mike

Got the biography today. Just paging through it, my impression is that this is not a serious heavy-duty researched book. For example: Joe [Zawinul] and Wayne did manage to speak the international language of music. For Joe, their friendship was sealed when he discovered Wayne's comprehensive familiarity with classical music, even the obscure twentieth-century Viennese composer Friedrich Gulda. "Wayne and I talked about Schubert, and he could sing the lines," Joe said. "I was amazed. And then all of a sudden I began to talk about Gulda and Wayne knew about Gulda, and Wayne is younger than me! I thought, Damn, man, this guy really knows!" (p.61) ---- OK - so, I'm just not getting this. Gulda was not particularly old - he was born in 1930. So was Zawinul. Wayne was born in 1933. He wasn't particularly obscure, particularly considering that we're dealing with the jazz field, in which Gulda was dabbling - he recorded a live album at Birdland in 1956 and was quite well publicized in the jazz press. The period of time being discussed is 1958-59. What's the point here? Does the author not know about Gulda? Dates don't seem to be a priority - Shorter worked with Horace Silver in 1957, not 1958. Typos - "Benny Golsen" and errors - photo of "pianist Jymie Merritt". I believe that my Art Blakey chronology was consulted for some things - but I find no mention in the acknowledgments nor the bibliography. In other areas, it *wasn't* consulted, so we have Lee Morgan rejoining the Messengers in "late April 1964" when this happened in mid-March at the latest. BTW, if you were expecting ANY mention of Shorter-Blakey activity in 1962 or 1963, you're out of luck. We go straight from October 1961 (Mosaic) to April 1964 (Indestructible). A disappointment so far. I'm hoping it doesn't get much worse, but I remain skeptical. Shorter's involvement is certainly valuable, but I think I'm going to wish that a qualified historian were involved with this project. Mike

OK, so I'm late to the party on this, but I got it today. It's as good as everyone has said. Who's the fourth trumpeter? Credits only list Beener, Burrows, Guilbeau. Mike

I'm puzzled as to why Frank Morgan has not been mentioned in this thread. 30 years in and out of the joint. Here's an interesting bit from the back of his second Contemporary album (1986): "Last summer, after recording Easy Living with pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Tony Dumas, and drummer Billy Higgins, Morgan turned himself in to serve four months for parole violation so that he would be on the straight and narrow by its November release date." The notes also have: "In the early '60s, he was a member of the all-star San Quentin band that also included alto saxophonist Art Pepper and trumpeter Dupree Bolton. Known as the 'warden's band,' they were allowed to practice every day and, on Saturday nights, a thousand guests from the outside world would come to the maximum-security institution to see them, wearing tuxedos, perform in concert." Mike

I have the original magazines if the need arises. Mike

Yes - there are things missing because I don't own them and others haven't yet supplied the details. If it's not listed and you've got it, please do jump in. The Dodgion title is listed as No Trumps in the BMI database, apparently recorded under that title first with Marian McPartland (1979). I'll adjust it but I will want to ask him. OK - the Moore from December 1985 (Round Trip) was an Uptown, but what about the Ponomarev from April 1985 (Means Of Identification)? The Peter Leitch from November 1985 (Red Zone)? When was the great divide - 1987? Latest draft now online. Many thanks! Mike

I'll leave it to Larry Kart to address that since he was writing under DM's editorship - I'm looking now at a 3-page piece on "Notes And Memories Of The New Music" from the Music '69 Yearbook. It's also reprinted as the opening selection in Larry's own book. In my view, down beat had excellent coverage of the avant garde. Reviews, interviews, profiles, etc. A lot were written by people *other* than DM and I think that there's nothing wrong with that. Morgenstern's book has his own reviews of Ornette - one ends with this phrase: "What is perhaps more important is that the music of Ornette Coleman is often beautiful. It is a pity that some ears remain closed to that." (1961 - true, before he was editor of db) and there's also the review of the "Titans Of The Tenor Sax" show with Coltrane, Ayler, Rollins, Lateef, Pharoah, Zoot, Hawkins - which is not positive at all. (1966, again pre-editor). I think the bigger issue during his period as db editor might be the introduction of rock into the down beat world. Here's a response to that: Well, what kind of reaction to Newport's rock groups do you expect when you send Ira Gitler and Dan Morgenstern, Down Beat's Dixieland and Duke Ellington aficionados, to cover them? I wasn't there to draw my own conclusions, but I received no idea whatever from their typically myopic viewpoint. It became obvious from the first attack on amplifiers and from the inevitable jazz guitarist who could 'give the rockers a lesson' that neither was capable of giving an objective opinion because neither enjoyed rock for its own sake. They both tried to disguise this fact, however, with tokenism: Gitler thought that John Mayall, a commercialized tripe vendor, was 'quite pleasant,' and Morgenstern liked the Mothers of Invention, not because they were music but because they were 'satire.' Your reporters' attitude was summed up perfectly when they referred to the attending rock fans as 'human litter.' 'Leave rock where it belongs: in the circus or the kindergarten.' This is the kind of garbage that nostalgia-oriented music critics have been producing for centuries, and those of us that want to live in the present have no time for it. I hate to see an excellent music magazine blemish itself with articles such as this and Gitler's insulting review of Monterey Pop. If Down Beat is going to have anything to do with rock, it should choose its participating personnel more intelligently, or else admit that this is not its bag and pull out. Gary Milliken San Jose, Calif. -- I've been called many things, but never before a 'Dixieland Aficianado.' Ira Gitler digs Ellington, to be sure, but anyone who knows him knows that bebop is his true love. Yet we both try to be objective though we can't live up to reader Milliken's standards of objective opinion, exemplified by the lovely phrase 'commercialized tripe vendor.' If that's objective, I *am* a Dixieland nut. As for 'human litter,' I applied that non-objective opinion not to 'attending rock fans' but to the non-attending, non-anything fans milling about outside the festival, destroying property, preventing ticket-holders from access to the field, and in general making a bloody mess of things. (They succeeded, of course, in having rock barred from Newport - something Ira's and my own mild criticism could never have accomplished. With such 'fans', all no doubt, living in the present, rock needs no enemies.) And what I said about the Mothers was '*musical* satire.' We shall continue to call the shots as we hear them. - Ed. [DM] Mike