Michael Fitzgerald

But the facts (or those that are known) go against this theory- Morgan was absent from the scene for nigh on a year starting at the end of 1962. He was back around September for a Sunday gig (jam session?) at the Take 3 in NYC. The March 1963 db review happened at the exact worst time - at that point basically no one had heard from Lee in about four months and no one would be hearing from Lee for another six! Mike

I don't know that I believe in the 'feminine' sound, but I do believe in Schneider's personality, which I'm coming to learn after these 10 years of listening. In my view, she has a strong vision that is about searching, exploring, presenting new things. BTW, I met her once and found her very unassuming, friendly and down-to-earth. Your point about quick shifts is true - and one thing I find so rewarding is that when I hear the start of a piece by MS I have absolutely no idea where it will end up. Which is quite different from the majority of jazz tracks. One could extract a five-minute snippet and it would be one thing, but placed back in context it becomes something else entirely. Your mention of grace sent me back to the previous CD: Allegresse. The brief notes are quite instructive (and in my view, apply to more than just that specific CD) - -- For this recording I wanted to create music that conveys beauty. I searched for softer hues and more intricate textures. The first piece to be written was the dance piece Dissolution. And so it followed that the rest of the pieces were also largely influenced by my love of dance and movement. Hang Gliding is entirely about movement, an impression of my experience of hang gliding in Rio de Janeiro: the suspension, grace, lift and acceleration accompanied by the rush of apprehension and exhilaration. If this music not only fills your ears, but also stirs your body, I will feel truly rewarded. -- Yep. Works for me. Mike

Take Twelve was reviewed in the March 14, 1963 issue of db. Unfortunately, Jazzland/Riverside wasn't advertising in db at that point. You might be helped by knowing the delay from back when they did - in the 12/6/62 issue Riverside was pushing: Go, Mongo! (rec. July 1962); Big Bags (rec. June-July 1962); Jawbreakers (rec. April 1962). Jawbreakers was reviewed in the very same 12/6/62 issue. Here is some Jazzland data to digest: 963 - Jazz Soul Of Hollywood - rec. October 1961, December 1961, January 1962 964 - reissue 965 - reissue 966 - Heavyweights - rec. December 20, 1961 967 - Nice And Easy - rec. January 29, 1962 968 - reissue 969 - Bearcat - rec. December 28, 1961 & January 10, 1962 970 - March Of The Siamese Children - rec. March 28, 1962 971 - Low Flame - rec. April 4, 1962 972 - reissue 973 - Solar - rec. January 30, 1962 974 - Images - rec. July 1962 975 - In The Bag - rec. May 1962 976 - Tough Tenor Favorites - rec. February 5, 1962 977 - Happy Time - rec. July 18, 1962 978 - Something Big - rec. 1962 979 - reissue 980 - Take Twelve - rec. January 24, 1962 981 - Moon Child - rec. July 5, 1962 982 - reissue 983 - reissue 984 - Recuerdo - rec. July 31, 1962 985 - reissue 986 - reissue 987 - Red's Good Groove - rec. March 22, 1962 988 - reissue 992 - reissue 993 - reissue 996 - reissue 997 - reissue? 1001 - reissue What does this all mean? Dunno - but while 980 Take Twelve was a late issue, so were 976 and 987, so 980 wasn't the *only* one like that. Mike

Oh man - this is a great one. Track 2 so far - some wonderful reminders of the Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra arrangements that Carla Bley did on Ballad Of The Fallen and Dream Keeper (I listened to a lot of those recently while working on my Ken McIntyre discography). The feel, the Spanish harmonies and some of the basic orchestration ideas are similar to Bley's writing, but there is a lot of difference in the concept of the bands (this one has sections - trombones, etc.) and the style of writing is more intricate and the performance is more polished. Great builds and fades, as always. Clarence Penn does nice work. Slightly bummed that Scott Robinson gets no features on this CD but.... To be continued. Mike Halfway through the last track - damn! No one has ever done some of things in here - certainly not in the jazz world. The execution is breathtaking - these players are tighter than anything and subtle, in tune, they are as one - as MS says of them in the notes: I'm astounded by you! I've heard people talk about Schneider's music as "cold" - completely unfathomable as this draws so much emotion from me. There are some similarities to areas that Pat Metheny has investigated. The "real instrument" aspect of the MS band is a bit more appealing - there's so much more challenge to getting parts tight and in tune when you're dealing with nearly 20 human beings. Man, are those trumpets in tune. Another thing to consider is that the personnel of the band has remained so consistent now - what - 12 years? later. OK, an hour later - time to do it all again. Mike

Because correcting your "host" on a public bandstand, let alone a public broadcast, might be considered less than tactful? Don't know if racial considerations would come into play, but certainly personality would. Mike

Hey, I can play devil's advocate all day - define "early" - what about Paul Whiteman, George Gershwin, hell, what about Gottschalk? What about the Kenton Innovations band? Hall Overton, Teddy Charles, Teo Macero, Alec Wilder, and on. Even Gunther Schuller acknowledges that although the term came in 1957, in reality, third stream had been going for quite some time. I don't go in for absolutes. Then, of course, this is the thread titled "Most Underrated in Jazz History" - so definitive seems to be the order of the day...... Is MJS a great record that more people should know about? No question! Mike

Sure, lots of Evans, but there's also the Brookmeyer influence. A lot of serious development going on in the writing, no being locked into chorus structure, letting the piece evolve in its own way, etc. For me, I got no problem with the way the band swings - and it does swing, to me, meaning that my body has a physical reaction, a movement, to it. The later Gil stuff had its own sloppy groove, which is OK, but this is quite different. The influence of non-traditional jazz things brings out a different style. There's a lot of dance (and not your typical jitterbug and lindy), and more Brazilian and Spanish influences. I think this *is* concert music - and I don't think that is any kind of put-down at all, not one bit. Schneider has drawn from the well of Thad/Mel and added so much. Every new record brings something new. I don't see her as settled in any way. It's still growing in so many directions. Just found mine in the mail. More anon. Mike

Predictably, the Lord discography confuses Buddy Christian (drums recorded 1939-1980) with Buddy Christian (banjo recorded from 1922-1927) but gives the added info that the drummer recorded with Red Norvo, Joe Marsala, and Charlie Waldo ("probably 1970s"). BTW, all but the Waldo are in the Bruyninckx too. Mike

There was a big article in yesterday's New York Times as well. See below. As soon as I heard that she was setting up with this new distribution method, I signed up. She is one artist that I will buy on faith. Everything she's done has been magnificent and if there's some way that I can support her continuing to do this work, I'm there. I was disappointed to read in the NYT just how bad things were for her in terms of getting money from selling records. I'm quite interested to know how this new plan works out. Now if only she could figure out how to send plain email without the code showing: Dear Michael, =0D=0A I am so happy to announce that your new CD =27= Concert in the Garden=27 is on its way to your door=2E I truly hope you = will enjoy this project=2E It would not have been possible without the a= mazing musicianship of the band, the many people who helped with the reco= rding process, those who helped with the website, and you-the ones who ha= d enough faith in this project to take part in it =27in process=2E=27 We= all did this one together and I thank you from the bottom of my heart=2E= Sincerely, Maria Schneider ============================== D.I.Y. Meets N.R.L. (No Record Label) July 4, 2004 By FRED KAPLAN IN the last decade, Maria Schneider, who regularly wins prizes for best composer and best big-band arranger in jazz, has made three albums on the Enja record label. Each sold about 20,000 copies - very good numbers for jazz. She didn't make a dime off any of them. On two of them, she lost money. So recently, she went off the grid. She became the first musician to sign with a company called ArtistShare. Rather than go through labels, distributors and retailers, ArtistShare sells discs over the Web and turns over all the proceeds (minus a small fee) to the artist. Her new CD, "Concert in the Garden," went on sale last Thursday exclusively through www.mariaschneider.com. If it sells one-quarter as many copies as any of her previous discs, she will do better than break even. If it sells half as many, she will earn tens of thousands of dollars. "Making an album takes lots of time and effort," Ms. Schneider said in her apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. "It takes me two or three years to write the music. Then there are the rehearsals, the studio time, the mixing and mastering. It would be nice to get something back for it. The thought that I could actually make a profit off my records - that's unbelievable, really." To make this new album, Ms. Schneider put up $87,000 of her own money, which she had earned from commissions, music clinics and guest conducting. Almost $40,000 went to pay her musicians for four days' work in the studio. By the eve of the disc's release, online orders had brought in $33,700, strictly through word of mouth. Record labels are still vital for many musicians. They get the CD in the bins; they advertise it; they put up the money to produce it in the first place. But for those who already have a following and some capital, the new way has appeal. "The guy who's doing this is on to something," said Michael Cuscuna, a veteran producer for the Blue Note jazz label. "For a lot of artists, it makes sense to take control of their future." That guy is Brian Camelio, a 38-year-old musician and computer programmer, who started ArtistShare after he heard stories from too many friends - one of them Ms. Schneider - about frustrating experiences with record labels. His roster is growing. Recently, he persuaded the jazz-guitar giant Jim Hall to sign up and record a trio album. That CD will be available on www.jimhallmusic.com in September. It cost $18,600 to make. Pre-orders have already brought in $11,042. Going this route was a strange step for Mr. Hall, who is 73. "I'm still in the kerosene age, I don't know how to use a typewriter," he said. "But I've known Brian for a few years. He was so enthusiastic about this. So I thought I'd give it a try." Other friends-turned-clients include the jazz bassist Todd Coolman, the pianist Danilo Perez, the keyboardist Rachel Z and Trey Anastasio, the leader of the rock band Phish, which recently announced that it would break up after its summer tour. Rock musicians have been recording live concerts and selling them over the Internet, as CD's or MP3 downloads, for years. But Mr. Camelio's twist is new in two ways. First, he sees the Internet not as a supplement to labels and record stores but as an alternative. Second, he's marketing more than music. On Ms. Schneider's Web site, fans can order her CD for $16.95. For an additional $35 to $95, they also gain access to printed scores, rehearsal sessions, interviews, post-concert question-and-answer sessions and commentaries, including a two-hour audio stream of Ms. Schneider analyzing several of her arrangements. On Mr. Hall's site, for $60, fans can watch him give a guitar lesson. "The key thing was when I realized that anyone could download music for free," Mr. Camelio said. "I got to thinking: what's the one thing you can't download, the one thing that the artist can hold on to? The answer: the creative process. That's the product I'm offering: the creative process." To a surprising degree, these special features are also turning out to be the most lucrative part of the package. As of last week, Ms. Schneider's online customers were spending an average of $53, nearly three times the price of the CD. It may be that few people beyond her fans will even learn about her new record. Ms. Schneider mentions her Web site at her concerts, and she's hired a publicist for press and radio promotion. Then again, she noted, "jazz is so siphoned off from the rest of the culture, I'm not sure people who aren't fans of mine find their way to my music anyhow." Ms. Schneider recorded her first big-band album, "Evanescence," in 1993. It was swooningly romantic music, stacked with lush harmonies yet propelled by a muscular swing. She produced it at her own expense for $35,000; sold it to Enja for $10,000; and never recouped her initial investment. Still, Enja made enough money off it that, two years later, the label paid the full cost of producing her second album, "Coming About." It also sold well, but not well enough to earn her any money. In 2000, she split the cost of her third album, "Allegresse," but again earned no return on her share. "I can't really complain about Enja," she said. "They put my name on the map. But there are so many pieces of the pie to slice up - for the record company, the distributor, the record stores - that there's nothing left for the person who did all the work: me." "My point is not that the record companies are bad," she added. "They have to make a living. They're risking their money. They absorb the losses from artists who don't sell. But I needed to find a business model where, at minimum, I made my money back." Ms. Schneider's situation was hardly unique. Most instrumental jazz albums sell just a few thousand copies. One that sells 10,000 is doing well. To sell 50,000 is almost unheard of. Record labels typically offer musicians a royalty of 10 percent to 12 percent of the retail price for each album sold. But musicians are not paid any royalty until after the label makes back the production costs. Those costs include studio rental (in New York, about $200 an hour), equipment rental ($1,000 or more) and the engineer's fee (up to $100 an hour). Many labels also insist on making back the costs of packaging and pressing the CD's ($4,000 to $20,000, depending on the quality of the printing and graphics). If the album includes original compositions, as Ms. Schneider's do, some labels also demand the music's publishing royalties. (Ms. Schneider gave Enja a 50 percent share, though she has since acquired not only the full rights but also the master tapes and is selling the older albums on her Web site, too.) Under the traditional system, then, it's no surprise that artists rarely see any royalties. Musicians with ArtistShare pay upfront for an album's production costs. They also pay Mr. Camelio a fee to create and maintain the Web site (about $5,000) as well as 15 percent of the gross proceeds. Other than that, they receive all revenue. "Who knows," Ms. Schneider said. "I may even get to the point of making a living entirely off my recordings." Fred Kaplan is a columnist for Slate and jazz critic for The Absolute Sound. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/04/arts/mus...fffbbe6d192e0fd ==================== Mike

Subsequent to the CD issue, even more material - I forget whether rehearsal or not - has been discovered. Maybe we can look forward to a future issue that includes this added stuff. But based on Verve's policy of late, it seems unlikely. And we certainly can debate whether this was the "first" third-stream set. Mike

Likewise, WKCR celebrates on both July 4 and August 4. They've been doing this for over 3 decades. In July 1980 they had their Louis Armstrong Festival, playing every recording. In July 2000 they did seven days straight, with additional broadcasts on August 4. Mike

Of course - he's an alto saxophonist of the Tristano school. Works with Connie Crothers et al. http://www.inch.com/~rctabnik/ He was a fairly regular contributor to rec.music.bluenote and I found him to be knowledgeable and willing to share. Mike

Ack! No answers here - this is just muddying the waters further. There are simple errors (Chris Taylor plays flute, never flugelhorn; Mayer definitely plays harpsichord on the Suite; Paigankar is the correct spelling; Keshav is the correct spelling) and the first entry is simply the Atlantic licensed issue listing, which I tend to believe is incorrect. (Read the entire thread.) The second entry does not make distinction between the Fusions 1 and Fusions 2 issues - of those two albums, Keane and Ganley are only on #1 and Wheeler and Dougan are only on #2. I strongly suspect that Mayer does not play viola, but rather violin, but I can't check that just now. And he still plays harpsichord. Mike

I have this on a 1992 Bluebird CD called "Alternatives" - four tunes in dual takes (Four; St. Thomas; I Remember Clifford; 52nd Street Theme) plus Bluesongo and Jungoso. The alternative takes first came out in the early 1980s on a French 2-LP set. This CD puts the master takes together with the alternatives. Other than the Complete RCA boxed set of Rollins, I don't know how this material has been subsequently issued. Mike

Several of the artists I mentioned are bassoon specialists, at least as much as Rabinowitz, who has also recorded occasionally on bass clarinet. Mike

The instrument is a bitch to play. It's also very expensive and delicate and it's not easy to hear in a typical jazz setup. That's probably why you don't find more. Ray Pizzi Mike Rabinowitz Garvin Bushell Illinois Jacquet Frank Tiberi Flip Phillips Makanda Ken McIntyre Yusef Lateef Karen Borca James Jacson from the Sun Ra band Daniel Smith Paul Hanson Hanson runs this site: http://www.jazzbassoon.com/ A search for bassoon jazz on groups.google.com will give you much to go on. Mike

The non-robotic, almost lyrical approach that Coltrane takes on one of the Giant Steps versions in the Atlantic box was a revelation after being thoroughly familiar with both the master take and the one alternative take which came out in the 1970s. Who knew? Mike

Exactly - my point was only that his position on "equal time for opposing views" has flip-flopped. Or at least it's a matter of grand hypocrisy. "When I do it, that's one thing, but when YOU do it, that's another." Mike

The stripes are indeed the same in several photos but NOT the one in question. Those are wider. The hand position thing can vary. Certainly when playing above high C# and using the palm keys, you get that turn of the wrist, but what I was seeing was also the shape of the hand. Wouldn't hold up in a court of law. Regarding the UK: if not there then where? A black alto player leader with an all-white group would have been highly unusual in the US. But I can easily imagine it in the UK, supported by discographical evidence of the groups led by Harriott, Dizzy Reece, and others. Another possibility would be a visiting alto player as a single, working with a house band or a pickup band. But I'd still think UK based on the white guys. The tent stripes have definitely been in UK festival photos from the 1960s - but have also been at US ones like Randall's Island. I'll ask some of my UK contacts. Mike

That last one is the Val Wilmer shot I mentioned before. See that left hand? Mike

The recent thread here: http://www.organissimo.org/forum/index.php...topic=11241&hl= got me thinking about Joe Harriott, and in examining the Indo-Jazz Suite album, I find there is contradictory information in various sources. My Koch CD (8512) gives personnel as: Joe Harriott (as); Kenny Wheeler (t); Pat Smythe (p); Coleridge Goode (b); Allan Ganley (d) and John Mayer (vn); Chris Taylor (f); Diwan Motihar (sit); Chandrahas Paigankar (tmb); Keshav Sathe (tbl) [actually they misspell a couple of names, but you get the idea] Both the Lord and Bruyninckx CD-ROMs give this personnel: Joe Harriott (as); Eddie Blair (t, fh); Pat Smythe (p); Rick Laird (b); Allan Ganley (d) and John Mayer (vn, hps); Chris Taylor (f); Diwan Motihar (sit); Chandrahas Paigankar (tmb); Keshav Sathe (tbl) Bruyninckx notes that Atlantic issue has wrong date of March 14, 1966 and gives date as October 10, 1965. Lord notes the other date but doesn't pass any judgement. Neither discography mentions the personnel discrepancy. Various other sources seem to vary depending on what issue was their source. Seems like the Atlantic issue is the source for the info on the CD. Does someone own the UK issue on Columbia? At least one thing is certain: there is definitely harpsichord present on the album. This is mentioned in the liner notes as being played by Mayer (who actually only plays violin for one passage on the final track). None of the contradictory musicians are mentioned. The discographies list Goode as playing on the second and third Indo-Jazz records, and Wheeler as playing on the third. So it's possible that someone at Atlantic confused those with this first album. Anyone have any info that might help clear up the confusion? I don't know Eddie Blair's playing at all, but it could be seen as odd that he would be on this as almost all of his other recorded output is big band stuff. I don't recognize the sound of later period Kenny Wheeler here, but I'm not so familiar with his earlier stuff. But that's all idle speculation. http://www.indojazz.f9.co.uk/mayer2.htm seems to go with Blair/Laird and it looks like that site is somehow sanctioned by Mayer (who died 3/9/04). Mike

Hmmm - is this the same mayor who unceremoniously booted people who were about to vote against one of his plans? The idea of squelching dissent and punishing non-team-players seems to be right in line with his approach. Mike

Disagree - unless it's a clarinet deceiving my eyes, isn't that a soprano in the background? In which case I'd say 1960s. Someone with keener fashion history sense than I can address the jacket length and buttons and the trouser tightness(!). Is the drummer wearing a turtleneck? The racial makeup of the band does bring Britain to mind and is another strike against the 1940s. The Val Wilmer photo of Joe Harriott on p.89 of The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Jazz by Brian Case & Stan Britt shows a similar left hand, both in physical shape and position. The tent makes me think festival as do the unused instruments onstage. Mike

I completely agree, so I do not visit AAJ, but I thought the reason that you don't hear talk (positive or negative) about this board over there was because they banned mentioning any other bulletin board. I guess that's one way to be "the only" one - just declare it unilaterally. Mike

I'm thinking it's a device to mute the strings to avoid the C&W twang on open strings. Mike Yes, it's a damper - here's more than you ever wanted to know on the subject: http://www.scottymoore.net/dampers.html