randissimo

Speaking of Woody Herman, my dad has a lot of funny stories. One particularly funny story happened during a Norman Granz tour with Woody's band and the Oscar Peterson Trio. The Herman bus had just gotten on the highway on their way to the next town and concert venue. The guys on the left side of the bus noticed a black Cadillac limo, the car the trio traveled in approaching the bus in the passing lane. And to the astonishment of the Herman band there was a BIG BLACK ASS hanging out of the window on the passenger side... And it was O P MOONING THE WOODY HERMAN BAND!

Another funny and true story from the "Benny Carew-Teddy Weatherford Chronicles" came from guitarist Bryce Roberson.. Benny Carew had a house gig in a hotel in Kalamazoo with Teddy and Claude Black, a Detroit piano player who plays a little like Barry Harris. Onstage Teddy had set up on the other end of the grand piano so he wouldn't have to listen to Benny ragging on him, and because the lid was up on the piano Benny couldn't see Teddy and only knew Teddy was done soloing because Teddy would always pick up his bass and step out in front to solo and would stop playing for a couple of bars and resume playing time at which point Benny would always say, "Yes,, yes,, yes,,, it's that happy thang".. This particular night Teddy had on tux slacks with a faulty zipper and catch.. Teddy takes a big step forward to solo and his pants are falling down around his ankles! So when Ted bends over the bass to pull his pants up his rug falls off! Now he's trying to pull up his pants and pick up his rug off the floor and hears Benny say, " hey,, hey,, hey,, it's that happy thang, Teddy Weatherford on the bass".. Still struggling to get his pants up and his rug back on Teddy barks back at Benny, "AIN'T NO HAPPY THANG YOU "JIVE SNAKE" They don't make 'em like these guyz anymore.. Every night was hoot and they could swing!

Another funny and true story from the "Benny Carew-Teddy Weatherford Chronicles" came from guitarist Bryce Roberson.. Benny Carew had a house gig in a hotel in Kalamazoo with Teddy and Claude Black, a Detroit piano player who plays a little like Barry Harris. Onstage Teddy had set up on the other end of the grand piano so he wouldn't have to listen to Benny ragging on him, and because the lid was up on the piano Benny couldn't see Teddy and only knew Teddy was done soloing because Teddy would always pick up his bass and step out in front to solo and would stop playing for a couple of bars and resume playing time at which point Benny would always say, "Yes,, yes,, yes,,, it's that happy thang".. This particular night Teddy had on tux slacks with a faulty zipper and catch.. Teddy takes a big step forward to solo and his pants are falling down around his ankles! So when Ted bends over the bass to pull his pants up his rug falls off! Now he's trying to pull up his pants and pick up his rug off the floor and hears Benny say, " hey,, hey,, hey,, it's that happy thang, Teddy Weatherford on the bass".. Still struggling to get his pants up and his rug back on Teddy barks back at Benny, "AIN'T NO HAPPY THANG YOU 'JIVE SNAKE"

This story came from pianist Eddie Russ; There was an old drummer-singer named Benny Carew, a smug old timer always telling young drummers not to forget the one and had expressions like' "Hey, hey, hey, what'd I say" and when a musician would enter the room he'd say " There's Randy Marsh, a great musician in his own rite', and of course his signature saying, "Some of the greatest people in the world walk through that door and you're one of them".. Benny was a control freak, constantly badgering his bassist Teddy Weatherford, a real character, a good bass player, and a man who loved his booze and reefer, and Teddy wore a rug that often was not positioned quite right on his head, often creating the image of an old black man with a Davey Crockett cap on... They were working the winter season at a ski resort in northern Michigan and Benny mind you, is making periodic trips throughout the day to Teddy's room to make sure he remains sober enough to make the gig (which only annoys Ted and causes him to drink and smoke even more just to spite Benny), and when on the bandstand Benny is telling Ted to "lock it up and play the roots and listen to Eddie's changes" and this routine has been going on for over a week now and Friday night Teddy finally has had enough and snaps onstage where he is just to the right of Benny's drums and loudly barks, "I'M PLAYIN' THE GOD DAMNED CHANGES! .. Bb, C, F, Eb, Ab,"etc. Now there's lots of BIG MONEY types from Chicago & Grosse Point, and this older woman with a fortune in jewelry around her neck is on the dance floor with her husband and becomes indignant with Teddy's display and walks over to the bandstand and says, "Please,, do you really have to be so loud and vulgar??" .. Teddy looks at her and says, "SHUT UP BITCH, THIS DON'T CONCERN YOU" and goes on barking the changes he's playing at Benny, and Benny is saying under his breath, "Ok Ted, Lock it up Ted, we'll continue this matter on the break" and Eddie Russ looks like Bill Evans with his head bent down almost touching the keyboard and afraid to look over at the scene that Teddy is making..

I'll be back with a story or two later.... Bill Crow's books,"Jazz Anecdotes" is treasure of hilarious jazz stories. If you haven't read his books get them!

Love that video!

Back in the early 60's my mother joined the Columbia Record Club so she could get her jazz lps at an affordable discount. When this album was first posted in the record catalogue my mom was very excited and had to have it! She loved Carmen McRae! I know every tune and every solo on this record and still in fact have the lp that my mom purchased and wore out on a 1959 Webcor stereo you could stack records on and with hinged speakers that could be detached.. Lockjaw was one of a kind and was also a good friend of my dad's.. When Jaws was around Vegas (where he lived in the later years of his life) there was a tenor book called the 'Tenor Bag' arranged for 4 tenors and they (the tenors) would book a session at one of the lounges that still had jazz.

Did you get to know Sonny Simmons there/then too? Neither met or even heard of him. Was he a drummer? I arrived in Oakland 12/85 and Smiley was one of the first drummers I heard. The other Bay Area drummers of note at the time were Eddie Marshall, Vince Lateano, Bud Spangler, Eddie Moore, and Gaylord Birch. All great players and nice people.. Right about now I miss the Bay Area and the redwwods.. Too damned much snow here in west Mich.. Sonny's an altoist who played w/Smiley in the early 70s. Great player, in the cracks between bebop & free, totally naturally so. My understanding of his bio is that he was in the Bay Area at this time as sort of a "street player", but cats like Smiley would have known him, unless there was some "bad blood" or something, which is always possible. But yeah, Smiley. I jsut checked out this thing: http://www.dustygroove.com/item.php?id=yy5...p%3Bincl_cs%3D1 The poetry - of contemporary vintage - may or may not work for you, but the Smiley-led band behind it (from the early 1970s & including Simmons & Barbara Donald )is hot! Thanks Jim.. I'll ask my cousin, bassist Scott Steed if he knew Sonny.. Scott was active on the BA scene from '81 - '96 and worked with everybody in the BA and is currently living near Portland Or and is music director for Diane Schuur.

Did you get to know Sonny Simmons there/then too? Neither met or even heard of him. Was he a drummer? I arrived in Oakland 12/85 and Smiley was one of the first drummers I heard. The other Bay Area drummers of note at the time were Eddie Marshall, Vince Lateano, Bud Spangler, Eddie Moore, and Gaylord Birch. All great players and nice people.. Right about now I miss the Bay Area and the redwwods.. Too damned much snow here in west Mich..

Smiley Winters was a cookin' drummer and a nice cat... Had a chance to get to know him when I lived in the Bay Area in the mid-late 80's .. I guess I will always be in the OP camp.. I just love his trio records with Ray Brown & Ed Thigpen and I admit partly for sentimental reasons; Particularly the London House sessions. Anybody read OP's autobiography? Fascinating read with lots of stories and insights into well known musicians, vocalists, as well as particularly colorful luminaries like Norman Granz, Hawk, and many more ..

According to the majority of the posts in this thread, you're still in that minority, Randy.

Amen... Oscar Peterson (and of course my jazz lovin' mom) was a great inspiration and cornerstone of my deep love of jazz and decision to become a musician. When I was a little kid my mom often had Oscar Peterson on the record player. Her favorite lp was the live recording of the trio in Chicago in the early 60's on Verve with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen. I really loved that album! I knew every solo on that record. I remember loving that record so much I brought it to my sixth grade teacher who had encouraged us to bring our music to "Music Appreciation Hour" for the rest of the class to listen to. I brought the record to school and was so excited I could barely wait for the music appreciation hour to begin.. When the time finally arrived I proudly put the needle at the start of the record; And to my dismay and disappointment only one classmate liked the record, a girl who's father owned a bar with a jumpin' juke box and had jazz on all the time in their home; everyone else, only into the top 40 hits of the day booed and wanted the record taken off.. That was my first realization that I was sadly but PROUDLY in a cultural minority much like Maynard G. Krebbs, the beatnik character I enjoyed and related to on the Dobie Gillis show. My fellow classmates were obviously not educated nor sophisticated enough when it came to music appreciation. At the time I just couldn't understand why they couldn't hear and feel the deepness in Oscar Peterson and the trio's soulful and swinging renderings of "I've never Been In Love Before", "Sometimes I'm Happy", "Whisper Not", "Billy Boy', or the sweet and melancholy ballads like "In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning" and 'The Night We Called It A Day", nor could they appreciate drummer Ed Thigpen's effortless and tasteful rhythmic mastery of the drums and brushes particularly on "Billy Boy", or the warm and soulful harmonic pulse and groovin' solos of bazz wizard Ray Brown, let alone the absolute depth and brilliance of Oscar Peterson's artistry and the awesome chemistry of the trio. Right on, Randissimo! Beautiful post. By the way I still have that very record with my mom's signature of ownership in the upper right hand corner of the inner jacket above the liner notes. When she passed away I ended up with her record collection.

Amen... Oscar Peterson (and of course my jazz lovin' mom) was a great inspiration and cornerstone of my deep love of jazz and decision to become a musician. When I was a little kid my mom often had Oscar Peterson on the record player. Her favorite lp was the live recording of the trio in Chicago in the early 60's on Verve with Ray Brown and Ed Thigpen. I really loved that album! I knew every solo on that record. I remember loving that record so much I brought it to my sixth grade teacher who had encouraged us to bring our music to "Music Appreciation Hour" for the rest of the class to listen to. I brought the record to school and was so excited I could barely wait for the music appreciation hour to begin.. When the time finally arrived I proudly put the needle at the start of the record; And to my dismay and disappointment only one classmate liked the record, a girl who's father owned a bar with a jumpin' juke box and had jazz on all the time in their home; everyone else, only into the top 40 hits of the day booed and wanted the record taken off.. That was my first realization that I was sadly but PROUDLY in a cultural minority much like Maynard G. Krebbs, the beatnik character I enjoyed and related to on the Dobie Gillis show. My fellow classmates were obviously not educated nor sophisticated enough when it came to music appreciation. At the time I just couldn't understand why they couldn't hear and feel the deepness in Oscar Peterson and the trio's soulful and swinging renderings of "I've never Been In Love Before", "Sometimes I'm Happy", "Whisper Not", "Billy Boy', or the sweet and melancholy ballads like "In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning" and 'The Night We Called It A Day", nor could they appreciate drummer Ed Thigpen's effortless and tasteful rhythmic mastery of the drums and brushes particularly on "Billy Boy", or the warm and soulful harmonic pulse and groovin' solos of bazz wizard Ray Brown, let alone the absolute depth and brilliance of Oscar Peterson's artistry and the awesome chemistry of the trio.

Carl Lockett is a great guitar player! I used to work with him in the Bay Area back in the late 80's.. He's the guy who put the soul in Mangione's music in the late 70's..

You must be relieved that he doesn't want a drum set!

Nose plugs? nose plugs unplugged..... I get it now... I've always loved the smell you're talking about.. Used to work in a record shop in the late 70's...

The weather here in w. Michigan has been crappy.. Instead of nice powdery snow we've been getting freezing rain, sleet, and icy roads.. I feel trapped inside my house and bummed because I'm an outdoor person and really miss riding my bikes and kayaking.. Got my road bike on a trainer stand but haven't yet been able to motivate myself to work out on it

Nose plugs?

Wow! We had 322 users on this site as of 12:21 pm... The old record was set back in June of '05

Now we'll certainly see that one millionth post and we're getting closer!

This is really blowing me away too!

='jazzypaul' date=' I get all my drum gear comfortably in a 2000 Saturn wagon. I get 30 mpg average driving and around 34 mpg if I'm driving at 65 mph on the freeway.. For those who cannot afford a hybrid and have to have cargo space for music gear the Saturn LW200 or the SW2 wagons are great cars and still pretty easy to find online though they both have been dicontinued by Saturn. If you check out the LW2, LW200, or LW300 wagons you definitely want a 4 cyl and not the 6 cyl.

I've got a double today. A hit from 6 - 8 and another hit from 8:30 - 11:30.. I can deal with snow, but this 'storm from hell' is predicted to turn into freezing rain and sleet that could accumulate up to an inch of ice! This kind of weather is the worst and often costs me a gig or two and being caught in the middle of it terrifies me.. You have absolutely no control of a vehicle on ice.