Gheorghe

Well this must have been better times. I caught a week night , booze is the answer...., when he left he even would have forgot his horn, we had to yell at him to take his horn...

@soulpope @HutchFan and all who would like to read my story . It´s on board now "Mike´s Blues" or: Remembering the jazz club scene in the 70´s - Miscellaneous Music - organissimo forums

Hello Friends ! After reading the „George Wein Allstars“ line up with Jimmy Woode on bass, and remembering Jimmy Woode, I decided to write a little story about the „scene“ back then. I think every fan or musician of my generation has great memories about certain jazz clubs they frequented, to listen to music or play or spend the evening discussing with other musicians and check out the scene and possible gigs or jamsessions... In my case it was the legendary „Jazz by Freddy“, run by it´s owner, the DJ and ocasionally bassist Alfred Kobler. There was a lot of live music, not only locals, but also international stars like Johnny Griffin, Hannibal Marvin Peterson, most time with the great trio of Fritz Pauer (piano), Jimmy Woode (bass) and Tony Inzalaco (drums) and also a great chance for youngsters to get on stage and do their first gigs in public. On nights when there was no live music, Freddy was the DJ and we listened to all them great records. Usually the records that were more interesting for me, were spinned maybe until 1 o clock. Later, in the small hours he spinned more „danceable stuff“ at a quite loud volume, it was things like „Hamp´s Boogie“ or some „JATP“ and a lot of people of the night came in and danced and shouted. Ironically somewhere was written „Tanzen verboten“. But it seems that the purpose was swing- and boogie dancing. I must admit, during that period, at the beginning maybe I was still underage but „covered“ my youth with really long hair, leather jacked and maybe the first growing of a „moustage“ , and dancing was not my thing, and it was quite strange characters around. People you wouldn´t see during daylight. I remember one of them, maybe the most dominant of them was an almost white-blonde guy in his 40´s, always dressed in black and a bit lookin´like a pimp. Some said he is a cab driver. Anyway, his nick was „Mike“. And one evening when the great Fritz Pauer was playing with his trio or other soloists added, he announced he will play a new composition, dedicated to „Mike“, and it´s titled „Mike´s Blues“. This was a swingin´ very danceable blues in Db. Mike shouted with enthusiasm, but naive as I was, I had thought that a tune „Mike´s Blues“ allready existed and that Fritz might have stolen the title (not the tune), because around that time there were cheap LPs (maybe Bootlegs) from Italy, seria „Kings of Jazz“ , and I had one red Miles Davis album from that series „Here is Miles Davis at his rare of all rarest performances“, with no liner notes. Actually it was the 1951 Birdland Gig with Jay Jay Johnson, Sonny Rollins, Kenny Drew, Tommy Potter and Art Blakey and the second tune was mistitled „Mike´s Blues“, while the correct title is „Down“. But we kids liked the tune and knew it as „Mike´s Blues“ and hummed it always and among us, that album was just called „The Red Miles Davis album“. So I really believed, that Fritz might have stolen the title „Mike´s Blues“. Once, the famous Viennese songwriter, pianist, acordeonist and Radio/Television moderator Karl Hodina came to the club while Fritz Pauer played „Mike´s Blues“. Pauer shouted to Hodina to come on stage and take over at the piano chair, but Hodina refused, but Pauer insisted and finally he modulated the Db key into F, so it might be easier to play, and Hodina sat in and played a second solo, just in F. I remember I was a bit pissed off since I, still a „kid“ could play Db like any other key but was too shy to prove it. The greatest thing is, that „Jazz Freddy“ (Alfred Kobler) trusted us youngsters and helped us a lot: He said during day time we can rehearse at the club, we just had to ask for the key at a near coffee house and in we went and rehearsed ! The piano was there, a set of drums was there, s But few weeks after that I had the courage to talk to Fritz Pauer during intermission and I told him about me learing all them bop tunes and playing them with fellow youngsters, and really, once when there was really fast company, Allen Praskin on alto and Karl Ratzer on guitar, Fritz Pauer asked me to sit in for the first tune of the 2nd set. Oh Boy, Heaven on Earth…… And many many years later, „Jazz Freddie“, who was also a part time bass player, asked me to play with him and a bunch of guys on a special occasion, it was the opening evening for a new Newspaper. I don´t remember what we played, but it was a big party with lot of champagne and we had to be neatly dressed for the event. Anyway, this was no extraordinary gig, but the best paid gig I ever had…... I´m glad I had such a great time during the high school years, school was okay, many nights I hung around the clubs and got to know name musicians and got the occasion to learn and play some music…. Photos: The legendary „Red Miles Davis Album“, and the great Fritz Pauer Trio with Jimmy Woode and Tony Inzalaco.

It seems that over here, or from the generation I´m from or having learned „my stuff“ mostly from playing musicians, it seems that George Shearing as a player was less mentioned. The only „touch“ I ever had was, when I was browsing through Wes Montgomery albums, since from the older style of guitar I loved and still love Wes and Kenny Burrell. So I bought this one, without knowing who is George Shearing. I think I sold it shortly afterwards, since it didn´t exite me the same way "So Much Guitar" or "The Incredible Guitar for Wes Montgomery" exited me. My constant "touch" with Shearing is two of his compositions: "Conception" and "Lullaby of Birdland". I did "Conception" in the changed form Miles Davis wrote, with that pedal point in it, in the key of C, if I played it with horns, or in the AABA form in Db if I played it trio or solo. Nice tune, nice changes, easy to play. Or "Lullaby" as a set closer, or in f minor with horns or singer, or in a minor in trio....

After two days of hard work that let me tired, when I listened to some easy listenig stuff (Dizzy Reece "Soundin´ Off", Jackie McLean "Swing Swang Swingin" and Archie Shepp "Bird Fire", I really wanted to dig some more demanding music and one of my all time favourites is Cecil Taylor´s "Unit Structures". Such a wealth of music, so much power and beauty. Jimmy Lions is one of the greatest voices on alto, his imagination, his sound..... This is an album I really can listen to very intensly, enjoying every aspect of it. You have those powerful passages and then some really soft sounding stuff. Andrew Cyrille´s drums, the addition of Ken McIntyre, the two basses with their different roles, the omnipresence of Master Cecil Taylor, and the new and interesting voice of young Eddie Gale Steven. And then that beautiful quiet ending with Tales-8 Wishes. By the way: I somewhere heard or read (maybe memories by Eddie Gale Steven, that shortly before this session, he got a lot of verbal help and encoragement by the late Bud Powell. Bud lived on 37 Kingston Avenue, and Eddie Gale Steven just around the corner and even if Bud was fatally ill at that point, he still had the power to "hear" something in that young trumpeter, giving him such kind of encouragement. Gene Santoro would have written as he did hundreds of times in his Mingus Book "he was closing circles everywhere...." About the liner notes: Though I understand the music and enjoy every note, every beat, all the modulations it has, if I try to read the liner notes, since I tried years ago, I understand only "Bahnhof" (as we say in Austria if we don´t understand nothing). There is only one phrase torwards the end: "Where is Bud?", without any context to the other heavy and for me un-understandable written stuff...., but yeah. Bud and Cecil met on several occasions, that´s for sure. Anyway, though Bud wouldn´t change his style, he had much contact to leading free jazz artists in his last two years: Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, and discovering Eddie Gale Steven....., maybe it was through Bernard Stollman...

I mentioned it on the thread about the death of Lee Morgan 50 years ago. As I said, if I want to hear a Lee Morgan album from the 50´s, "Cooker" is my choice. Others I purchase once and spinned them one, two times, but the Cooker is the one I have listened to more often.

The last time I saw him, which was also the best Baker I ever heard in my live, was with Graillier, Nicola Stilo (flute and guitar), and our great Austrian bass player Hans Strasser . It was at a strange place named "Fritz". But Baker was very articulate, didn´t show up late, was on time, announced a short intermission of 15 minutes and was back exactly after those 15 minutes. On too many other ocasions he was late or didn´t show up or disappeard during intermission..... The music was wonderful, Night Bird was on schedule, some new stuff that I think was titled "black and white", a kind of slow bossa...., Stella by Starlight played in G (that´s the key I like to play or hear Stella, not the too often played Bb)......., I think this was only a handful of months before he died....

I don´t know Jean Genet, but to see Mingus always was fantastic. I was too young to see him in the 60´s , but had two occasions in the late 70´s . When did you see him ? I have some of his 50´s leader dates, but if I want to listen to one 50´s Morgan as a leader, I always listen to "The Cooker" with Pepper Adams, Philly J.J, that fantastic version of Tunisia and Lover Man.... The earlier dates are not so inspiring for me. I have them as cardboard mini LP editions, but I´m not sure which is which, some have Lee as the leaders, others have Mobley as the leader, one is a ballad album (I think "Candy")....., but really my favourite from that period is "Cooker".

Yes, Mingus would yell at fellow musicians, or at the audience "No flashbulbs allowed !!!!" , at least when I saw them.... But I think the band was very dynamic, maybe Mingus sometimes had a more vacant look, but he played great solos on almost each tune (usually Three or Four Shades of Blues, Cumbia, For Harry Carney , Noddin ´ya head blues. Really, it´s a shame that this band still has not appeared as some issues. There might be tons of material, and many many folks in USA, South America, Europe and even North Africa saw it and shouted with enthusiasm, so I don´t know why it is somehow neglected by potential plans of post hum releases.....

I saw her perform in 1985 at Hollabrunn Festival. On the first day the first show was Miles Davis, and the second show was Astrid Gilberto with her band which had a trombone player also......., and most of the members of the Miles Davis group stayed to listen to Astrud......really nice. About Getz: I don´t know much about his personality, he didn´t perform so often in Austria. I saw him in 1981 and as much as I remember, Lou Levy was on piano, don´t remember who was on bass and drums, but they played with Art Pepper also. Maybe Getz and Pepper had similar personalities due to drug abuse. Maybe Getz didn´t pay Gilberto, because that was the junkie shit. Even Bird sometimes didn´t pay his fellow musicians or told them he would pay later..... On the other hand, I saw Getz in an interview on TV in the 70 and he smiled and was very very nice and said interesting things about how so called Cool Jazz was the next thing after bop, it was a TV Series about the History of Jazz...., with interviews with surviving musicinas from the 40´s early 50´s, as Diz, Dex, Mingus, Getz, Kenton and so on....

Time flies. When I first heard Lee Morgan (in my case it was Coltrane´s Blue Trane and Griffin´s Blowin Session), 1972 was the nearest past, so I though wow if he still lived he still would be a young man in his 30´s. Great photo of Lee with Hank Mobley....

Thank you for this very informative analysis. Maybe if I would have read that before the concert I saw, I would have understood it a bit more. Well I don´t spend so many hours or even weeks just listening to a single artist. It might be some of my favourite Wayne like "All Seeing Eye", those really ferocious bands with the great Joe Chambers or above all with Elvin Jones, or the VSOP live dates with Tony Williams, and maybe on the other day I have a hard day and want to listen to some easy listening music like Jackie McLean´s "Swing Swang Swinging" which I did friday on late afternoon. So maybe the vibrations were not right for me on that certain night in 2004 or 2005. Don´t misunderstand me, I´m not the guy of just easy listening straight ahead hardbop, modal, neobop. I love open forms too, but weather "swing" or "free" it has to have some heavy pulsations and interaction between horns and drummer. That new style of Shorter at least then didn´t really reach me. But really, at some point I heard a glimpse of an old theme, and I heard some great sound on soprano too.

Must spin it again, have not listened to it for long time. There are also great live versions of Dex with Woody Shaw and Slide Hampton on the mega proiect "CBS All Stars live at Montreux". Especially Woody´s "Moontrane" and Dexters "Fried Bananas"....

Oh, I didn´t notice this. Sure Mingus announced the band members, but he always had that quite slurred speech, not easy to understand for a European kid who has the english knowledge mostly from reading record covers.... It was also hard for me to understand the Mingus rap on Cumbia, now I know it "Who said mama´s little baby likes Shortnin ´bread ? and then it goes on with truffles, caviar, diamonds in the nose, diamonds on the toes, african gold mines...." Really, something of that band must appear on record....., I think I remember the last thing was a drum solo by Danny. When I saw the George Adams-Don Pullen Quartet after Mingus´ death, it was the same: Danny played the last solo... Do you remember more Bob Neloms stories about Mingus ? Oh yeah, I think he announced him as "Bob Nellums" , but I thought that was not with intention, it was just Mingus´slurred speaking....., he had a very hoarse voice, almost like Miles Davis....

another one I really like is "4 Quartets" , especially those with Hub, Hutch and Athur Blythe. The set with Abercrombie is more difficult for me to listen and the electric mandoline sounds a bit strange. Thanks for sharing. Really great. And I see the back cover with the set list. Really great. Round Midnight: When I saw the Bridgewater-Harper-Workman Unit in the late 70´s one of the highlits of a very very strong version of Round Midnight. And the day before Art Farmer played at the Club Jazzland and Max Roach came to visit, but didn´t sit in, sure for contractual reasons. And on the next day, when Max played at "Kongresshaus", Farmer was in the audience and Max greeted him. Wonderful time, when Musicians met each other like this.

Oh, I never could have guessed that. That means possibly , that Bud sat in with the band or with some of the band members. Too bad that this was not recorded, it would have been of great interest. In Francis Paudras´ book written in French, there is a photo of Bud and Stan Kenton, both smiling. Maybe they got along well, even or because of their different music styles.

I remember the Max Roach of the late 70´s - early 80´s very well. After hearing them with Billy Harper and Reggie Workman, after first hearing them with Odeon Pope and Calvin Hill , I was a bit disapointed. Reggie Workman hat a warmer sound on the bass, and I had to get used to the stranger tenor sound of Pope, sounding more like a bassoon. I think Chattahoochee was not very much time around....those CBS records quickly run OOP. Then there was much recordings for Soul Note. And then there was the double quartet with strings.... McCoy Tyner on Columbia ? Didn´t know that. All the Tyners were on Milestone. During that time there was Horizon the latest one. New York Jazz Quartet sounds good as a name of a group, but who was it ?

It´s strange that Vol. 3 , decades ago was really hard to find. Eventually I got the LP as Japan Import , and later the CD with Mini-LP Sleeve also Japan Import. I mostly bought it for Side B with Curtis Fuller, that´s the really fantastic part of the album. I always said that the best Powell is on occasions when he played with horn players, like with Navarro and Rollins on Vol. 1, with Sonny Stitt on the Prestige album, with Bird and Fats at Birdland, with Bird and Diz at Massey, with Donald Byrd and Phil Woods at Birdland, with Hawk in Germany, with Dexter or Don Byas in Paris..... The first side is not so interesting or it would have been fantastic if it also had Curtis Fuller. The slow blues "Some Soul"...... Slow Blues was not Bud´s strongest point, he is much better on "Dry Soul" on Vol. 4. "Blue Pearl" sounds like a Duke Jordan Composition. This should be played with horns, as a typical hard bop tune. "Frantic Fancies" is based on "Strike Up The Band", but it is no theme, only improvisation from the start on. How great would it have been with Curtis Fuller playing the theme and a solo and then Bud....because his solo is really fine. The weakest point is when the great Chambers would start a solo and Bud always get´s into it. That´s not the way you support a bassist. You even can hear when Paul gets unsure to continue his solo or just walk on. I don´t know why Bud did that to Paul. I think it would have been a fantastic album, if 1) they would have recorded the whole album with Fuller with the exception of the Bach Piece as a solo, and if Bud would lay out or just gently support Paul Chambers when he is soloing. P.S.: About the cover: Bud and a Bari player. Who might it have been and too pity there is no recording of it. That would have been another great thing, maybe with Cecil Payne, or Pepper Adams. By the way, around the same time Curtis Fuller did "Bone and Bari" ......and.....I got it signed from Mr. Curtis Fuller, with a dedication.......!!!!!!

Same here ! My favourite Cliff Jordan of the 70´s are those with Cedar Walton´s Magic Triangle, mostly the live recordings. That fantastic version of "St. Thomas" "I Should Care" etc... I have the GBG in the Mosaic Box of the Strata East material. Somehow, the late 60´s tracks with different musicians like Cecil Payne, Wynton Kelly, Kenny Dorham, Wilbur Ware let me think about some difficult periods for former bop and hardbop musicians who sure had seen better times in their lives. I mostly bought it for the "Rhythm X " since I heard this at a friends place when I was a teenager and it took me time until the Mosaic Release to get it for myself. So I bought it mostly for that album and the percussion stuff with Ed Blackwell.

During my time of learning the music, most of the folks knew Wayne from Weather Report. And besides that I really loved the recordings of Miles´ second great quintet, with all those great Wayne Shorter compositions. So, lookin for a Shorter album in a record store I picked up this one and since then, it is one of my favourite Shorter albums, more than that, one of the favourite albums from the old BN days. Fantastic group with James Spaulding, Herbie, Ron, and Joe Chambers (about whom we have a thread in the "Artists" category. The first tune "Tom Thumb" is really catchy, what a great start. The title tune, that great uptempo stuff I also found on "All Seeing Eye", really fast and fantastic drumming. About James Spaulding, I love his sound and his playing and compositions. I really wonder why he didn´t get a contract at BN. The got contracts for quite a few musicians, who remained quite obscure , they should have given Spaulding the chance, it would have been some of the greatests, like Jackie McLean and so on. Miyako is such a wonderful ballad, a slow waltz, and you just close your eyes and enjoy every aspect of it. A very interesting stuff also, is the last tune "Playground". Such great drumming, and those fantastic contributions by Wayne, Spee and Herbie with the great Joe Chambers. Until now it never ceised to amaze me. I´m very open for that kind of stuff and saw Wayne again in 2005 I think. Joe Zawinul made a speach before the concert and introduced the band. But I was quite astonished I didn´t hear much of what I expected. It seemed to be mostly free lines. I mean I´m not too conservative and if it would have been open things like you have on the more advanced Wayne albums from BN, it would have been great, but it sounded otherwise, maybe more in an ECM kind of style......who knows, maybe I just didn´t have the right day or mood for what was presented.....

I have planned to write a story (a topic) about how it was there, but don´t know where (Miscellanious Music ? )

This is the album I mentioned before: Charly (Karl) Ratzer had formed the band in 1977: With Jeremy Steig, Eddie Gomez, Joe Chambers and Ray Mantilla, that means "Fast company", really . ...

Milestone was a fantastic label. But it is possible I don´t have much of the earlier albums from the 60´s. Milestone was our entrance into a lot of musicians we saw live, I mean first we saw them and then we bought their current album or so (McCoy, Sonny Rollins etc ) . The Thad Jones-Mel Lewis Big Band I saw also live, but I don´t know with whom they were under recording contract then. They sold an LP at the Concert Hall, which was recorded in Polonia and had the same personnel like on the date I saw them (Steve Coleman was on alto).... I never saw Pepper Adams live, maybe he did not so much touring to Europe then.....

Did you see him too (Jazz by Freddy at Schottenfeldgasse) ? With Fritz Pauer Trio, and in April 78 Fritz Pauer Trio with Johnny Griffin ?

Those were the days. Though I might say at that time though I sure listened to RTF it was more because another class-colleage who was a RTF-fanatic brought them albums in. For contemporanous jazz I was more into Miles with Dave Liebman, Al Foster and Mtume, or Herbie´s Headhunters.... But for Chrismas my wife surprised me with a new RTF (Mothership returns feat. Jean Luc Ponty) and it´s fantastic, so I dug back in those good old days when there was so much good live music and kids comin together to listen to records at home or in clubs....