AllenLowe

personally I'd like to see more examples of human sacrifice -

he was still a consummate musician - and hearing him in person was an altogether different thing than hearing him on a record - his touch, his taste, his SOUND, were all intact still, and these came through best when one was in the same room as him -

yeah, Haig was still a terrific musician and great accompanist in the '70s, but somewhere along the line the fire sorta went out - I hesitate to say this but I think post-alcoholic syndrome may have had a little bit to do with this, as he often lost the continuity in his playing in a way I have heard other pianists lose it - and I mean pianists (and one in particular) with whom I worked and who, though sober, had lost some essential ingredient to their playing -

interesting, can't wait - should mention that Peter Muir runs an organization that deals with autistic kids who are musical, and described one as an absolute piano prodigy who can play any piece of music put in front of him - once one recognizes the symptoms of PDD/Aspergers, a lot of things become clear - Benny Goodman, for an example, who was classic in many ways, who had plenty of the characteristics - I'm always haunted, as well, by what Walter Bishop told me about Bud, that, aside from music, he needed help to do everything - Bish described him as "infantile." Think of, also, how socially inept so many creative people are - it (asperger's) is something that, as Muir told me, manifests itself in many ways both subtle and obvious - I'll probably be interviewing him for my film, so there will be lots more on the subject - realize, also, that the drug and alcohol abuse that many of these guys suffered was likely a form of self-medication - I will add that, when you have spent as much time as I have around semi-disfunctional jazz musicians (and I would say that at one point in my life I spent the majority of my time as such - and this was before I was playing very much) you really recognize the signs, even in retrospect -

I have an aspergers son who is diagnosed as having PDD - Pervasive Development Disorder, which is different than classic autism, though there are many areas in which they coincide - I have to go out and can maybe post more later, apologies (or maybe we can talk on the phone, as it gets involved) - however, it involves inability to read social cues, sensory defensiveness (add Lester Young here, who used to wear bedroom slippers to recording sessions), an ability to be extremely good at some things while having certain (sometimes very large) social deficits - an ability to concentrate amazingly on certain things while showing attentional deficits in other areas, the desire to have ONLY your own agenda and to insist everyone else cater to it - these are short hand signs, but it all adds up to very significant manifestations of aspergers - Monk's whole persona, his complete self involvement (put a mirror overhead so he could just stare at his own hands) his in and out personality - clear signs, as Muir said, that "Monk was autistic."

free for all's got it -

can't say much, but just interviewed him, and he seemed much thinner in person -

just curious, Larry, but I am wondering, if you can disclose such things, if the book tries in any way to diagnose Bud's condition? I'm thinking about this today because I just had a very interesting discussion with Peter Muir, who is not only a music scholar but a psychologist who deals with autism/aspergers, and he agreed with me (and for this I have caught some major flack on another board) that both Bud and Monk had some form of autism/aspergers - as many high functioning creative people do -

1946-54; the trio stuff from '53 or '54. Much as Haig was a friend, his later work suffered from some problems - he seemed to have lost the great continuity and density of his best bebop playing. Some of it was an attempt to be "contemporary," I think, and he may have lost some edge during his alcoholic/wandering years, sadly. I do think Barry Harris was right when he told me one night (we were discussing Haig and a few others on a car ride from NYC to Connecticut) that "I think a lot of musicians, when Bird died, lost their way, didn't know what to do next." on the other hand, as I heard him night after night, there were times when he caught that edge, and hearing him in person was much different, as he was such a great musician that certain things he did, musically, made up for other deficits; and he had one of the most beautiful and pure sounds I have ever heard on the piano. The club One Fifth (in NYC) had an amazing 9 foot Steinway and it was particulary gratifying to hear him on that instrument -

well, it was a challenge -

jeez, maybe I shouldn't have kidnapped his dog -

I never thought that was his best work -

gotta get the Finale recording - Albany said that at the end of the engagement he and Bird had a disagreement and "I told Bird to go fuck himself. That's why we never worked together again."

Harold Stassen?

geez, maybe I shouldn't have threatened his kids -

close enough -

well, I had a lot of trouble finding work when I had a group called Kill Everybody Who Doesn't Agree With Me - so we became a Christian band and did fine -

good catch, Harold - Nazi humor? you guys find NAZIS funny? well, I guess if we can laugh at the Republican party....

talked to Francis this weekend and he's working on a piece for the Voice music poll -

that was her - she used to park in front of the fire hydrant by Bradley's downtown, even though there were parking spaces everywhere - she hated the Bird movie; Barry told me Eastwood said to her, after the showing, "what did you think of it?" she looked at him and said, "Clint, it was a goss."

thanks, guys, saved me from myself -

The Latin Lebenstraum Lichee Swing Band -

The Pilfered Paintings Prolifics -

The Foreskin Travelers -

The Reichstag Revelers -