AllenLowe

he's no Daniel Johnston -

did I violate the bump etiquette?

gonna bump, as I hold a grudge -

it's a little more complicated than that - when I was living in New Haven I did some work for Litchfield Performing Arts, whose director was very interested in jazz - I discussed with the director the idea of putting together a festival - we spoke about it for some time; I was running a large festival myself at the time. She told me it wouldn't work - and than basially put together the festival as I suggested it (combining concerts, educational workshops, etc; she basically pumped me for ideas and logistics) - as a working musician myself I was interested in participating, and she had also dangled, very specifically, the promise of my involvement - basically I gave her the idea and told how it should be set up - she used my ideas and than would not even return my calls once it began - I don't know if the issue was ego or jealousy or credit, but you can imagine that I was (and continue to be) a bit miffed. The other thing that happened was that she began to hire some musicians from the Hartford area who resented me for critcizing them (they had basically strangled the Hartford jazz scene by hogging bookings, keeping non-friends out, and thus killing off the whole thing; when I pointed this out once at a public jazz symposium I became persona non-grata). One in particular (intials M.P) continuously bad-mouthed me as a second-rate musician (this after I had recorded with some rather heavy people) and I'm sure this helped justify, in the director's mind, my exclusion -

It's a nice fest - however, I was the one who suggested they do it, many years ago, and put the idea into the head of the current director - who than took the idea and refused to acknowledge me or to permit me to participate -

"I was playing 'All the Things You Are' one night with Hawkins, and he played some phrase, and I realized that maybe I had idolized musicians like Bud Powell and Charlie Parker too much; because here was a musician (Hawkins) who just kept playing and learning and playing new things." -Barry Harris (ca. 1978)

did that price include shipping?

Book For Sale: Jazz Away from Home, Chris Goddard's study of Eurio jazz from the beginning. Excellent history of jazz overseas. Good interviews, nice pictures. Rare and out of print. Book is in excellent shape with a small tear on the cover. $35 shipped conus. Paypal preferred. Email me at alowe@maine.rr.com Because of my new work schedule I will return all emails after 5PM in the evening -

"his jazz hero is American composer Thelonious Monk." yes and no I would say, unless he has changed his mind in the last 40 or so years - in an old interview with Martin Williams and Dick Katz, Solal is a bit stand-offish about Monk's playing, though he admires his composing, and only acknowledges how creative a pianist Monk is at Katz's prompting ("even while he is soloing he is composing" Solal says) - but one can tell from Solal's tone in the interview that he is not really certain that Monk is a "good' pianist -

well I'd take a picture - but I'd need one of those large format cameras - or one with a wide angle lens -

well, next time he should use his hands on the steering wheel - or on whatever else caused the accident -

and he had a very large package -

Chuck was a great guy, but the records he put out didn't really sell that well -

Elvis was great, but he was no Katherine Harris -

that's an interesting crew - Rose Marie has got to have the worst face-lift I have ever seen - and yes, that sounds like Carmen, strange and hostile (and I could still use that $50) -

or Matha Raye... Chris - yes, Carmen Lundy is the one - she was highly praised in NYC in the late 1970s and seemed a real up-and-comer, and on the right night was quite a great performer - could sing standards, had good time, nice looking, but what a pain - difficult is not the word - I spent weeks on the phone to the Willard Alexander Agency, Carmen was excited about it, and I finally got her the audition, which she decided not to go to at the last minute, without telling me or anyone else, just did not show up - I remember telling Bob Neloms about this and he almost fell on the floor, saying that a gig with that band would have made a career, would have got her on the circuit, with bookings, agents, festivals, etc - oy veh -

thanks, Brownie - I can contact you off-line for this, but do you have contact info for him, or do you know him personally? thanks!

actually, I WAS wondering - is Solal Jewish?

actually I think he changed his name to Ernestine Anderson -

yeah, singers are a pain - as Al Haig said "they all want to be actresses." I used to do some booking for one who is somewhat well-known now (ititials C.L.) and she still owes me $50 from about 1978 - it was a frustrating experience; at one point I got her an audition with the Basie Band (someone at the Willard Alexander Agency had heard and liked her) and at the last minute she decided she didn't want to do it -

well, he DOES shit in the woods -

is the Pope Catholic?

is Solal Jewish?

Bob Neloms, who played piano on a lot of the early Motown recordings, told me that he felt one of the secrets of the Motown musical formula was that they used congas buried in the mix - he felt that this was a subliminal element that gave the Motown sides an extra kick - it's been a long time since I really listend to Motown, but I found this interesting, sort of like musical brainwashing -

that is one of those recordings that, in my opinion, sounds like everyone (except Grffin) is off their game, including Baker, who seems to fall back on stock phrases; even Haig, who plays some nice solos, loses continuity more than once - I remember thinking, "what's wrong with this record" and I always had a feeling it was a bunch of junkies - and an alcoholic - having a bad day -