JPF

I love this - from two of the most frequent offenders. Welcome to Hypocrisy.com. A couple of years ago, I think it was, I decided to stop participating in this forum because of all the hate expressed on it. Not just, "I disagree with your opinion, because...", but outright pathological hatred toward anyone who expressed an opinion contrary to the prevailing popular one. Plus, flagrant lies being posted, unchallenged by anyone. I was away for a couple of years and recently thought I'd try it again. Bad move. The same assholes are doing 90% of the posting, egged on by their sycophantic handful of "fans." This recent Stan Getz thread was the final straw. Larry Kart and Allen Lowe, if you were men, you'd issue a profound apology to Bev Getz, but for obvious reasons that's not going to happen. To the hatemongers, who appear to have nothing better to do than write hundreds of offensive posts per year, think about getting some professional help before it's too late. To Bev Getz: Don't waste your time here - read Doug Ramsey's Rifftides, or Marc Myers' JazzWax, or Ted Gioia's Jazz.com. Enough; once again (not that anyone cares), I'm outta here.

I always thought he was one of the most underrated, and undeservedly neglected pianists in modern jazz. When I used to buy LPs, if I saw his name on one, I knew it would be worth buying. I've got him on several CDs - with Mingus, Fruscella, and others. In fact, isn't that his voice asking Tony Fruscella for a cigarette on the Open Door sessions? It leads to a back-and-forth between them that never fails to crack me up. As part of a comment a couple of years ago on Doug Ramsey's Rifftides, I asked if anyone knew whatever happened to him; I never did get a response from anybody. Please pass along to his daughter, and him if possible, that many of us still remember him and treasure his recordings.

it's years ago that i read it... gave it to a friend two weeks ago and what he said matched very well my own memories: it's mainly about sex and (with few exceptions) it ends somewhere in the early fifties... it's a good book but there's room left for other mingus biographies... Let's just say this one should be filed under "Fiction" in the library.

The last time I upgraded iTunes, from 6 to 7, I thought it would just overwrite the application with the new "improvements" and leave everything else the way I had it set up. No such luck. It completely destroyed the playlists and other categories I had set up. It didn't lose any of the music; just randomly scattered my music throughout the computer. It took me a couple of weeks of painstaking work to reconstruct everything and it's still not exactly the way it was before. Now I'm afraid to upgrade to 8; is this going to happen again?

Actually, it'll be much later, since Chambers' book has been out for several months; it's very good. I got mine through Amazon.

Steve has an interesting sense of humor. At a trio gig at the Regattabar in Cambridge, MA, a few years ago, he announced he was going to play his tune "The Zoo," and would sing some lyrics he had written for it. He warned us it wouldn't be very good singing. He played the tune, sang his whimsical lyrics (he was right, the singing wasn't very good, but it was enjoyable) and then played his solo. At the end of his solo, he segued into a two-chord vamp that sounded really familiar to me; after a few seconds, I realized it was the figure that McCoy Tyner played behind Coltrane as Coltrane chanted, "a love supreme, a love supreme..." He continued to play it for about 30 seconds and then started chanting, "I love the Supremes, I love the Supremes." I cracked up and when I looked around, just about no one had gotten it. There were just a lot of puzzled looks. So much for those musically sophisticated Boston audiences.

Dave's memorial service was held yesterday. This is from today's Boston Globe: By Matt Negrin, Globe Correspondent | December 8, 2008 WOONSOCKET, R.I. - For the musicians swinging to jazz at the front of the church, something was missing. They had for years tuned their instruments and their ears to Dave McKenna's piano. Now, he is gone. But in a way he was still with them at St. Ann Arts & Cultural Center yesterday, amid the fluttering brass notes, the thumping bass, and the light chatter of the drums as some of his oldest friends paid tribute to the legendary New England pianist. "Dave was so supportive. Whenever we were playing solos, we would just become enhanced," said George Masso, a trombonist who had played with McKenna for nearly 50 years, along with trumpeter Lou Columbo and clarinetist Dick Johnson. "He was one of the greatest jazz pianists in the world." McKenna, who was 78 when he died Oct. 18, became one of the most internationally admired jazz pianists. Noted for his solo flair, he had filled bars and lounges in New England and New York for nearly four decades. He grew up in Woonsocket with a father who drummed, a mother who played violin, and musical siblings. By the time he was a teenager he was accompanying bands, and would go on to play with Woody Herman and Charlie Ventura. He moved to New York, and then to Cape Cod in 1966. During the 1980s, he could often be heard at the Copley Plaza Hotel, where he was the chief pianist. Performing with McKenna could be euphoric, his bandmates said. "It was like partially singing with an orchestra and floating on air at the same time, because he was buoyant," said Daryl Sherman, who had sung with the pianist since the 1980s, including at his final performance in the Oak Room in New York City's Algonquin Hotel. She called McKenna the "Woonsocket hero." Watching the piano man's friends play and laugh from the front row of the church, his wife, Frankie, was moved. "I think he would be delighted to see so many friends in such a surrounding," she said, beaming. Although, she said, referring to the 500 people who came to the memorial, "Dave didn't like a whole lot of fuss." McKenna was a humble man, whether on the piano bench or with friends and family. Columbo, the trumpeter, joked of a recording session 25 years ago when McKenna asked him to lay some tracks for his album, and their roles were quickly reversed. "He said, 'Lou, if you don't want me to play too much, I won't,' " he recalled. "It was his album." Standing at stage right while guitarist Gray Sargent filled the cavernous fresco-lined church with deep melodies, the three brass men laughed as they shared old stories about McKenna. Remember the time he ate nearly an entire ham? Or when Red Sox slugger Ted Williams stopped by to hear him play at the Plaza? "Ted Williams loved Dave," Columbo said. Jean O'Donnell, McKenna's sister, sang the slow-jazz classic "My Ship." Before she took the mike, though, she thought of what her brother would do if he were there. "He might like to be up there," she said, "playing with his friends."

Amazon.com has notified me that my copy was shipped on Nov. 23, at a price of $13.57. At last!!

It's available for pre-order from Amazon, to be released in October-------they say.

Couldn't have said it better myself. You're right on the money as far as the tune, Miles' version, and especially the thoughts in your last two paragraphs.

Jaki Byard recorded on piano and tenor sax, and I've heard him play both in person. His father, John Byard, Sr. told me once that Jaki also played trumpet and other brass instruments, bass, drums, vibes and even violin.

Actually, he's left the UK and is now a resident of Florence, Italy. I'm sure he, for one, would be offended to be referred to as "Zoot Sims lite" and I find it mildly annoying, too. But, if that's all you hear.............

Just out of curiosity, is this Fresh Sound version in stereo or mono? Stereo. Thank you. Tony always seemed to be able to put together interesting, eclectic groups of sidemen. I remember seeing him one time in the 60's at the Dom in NYC. I forget who was on bass, but he had Jaki Byard on piano and Rashied Ali on drums!

Just out of curiosity, is this Fresh Sound version in stereo or mono?

Bird was on tour with the Kenton band from January 28, 1954, until February 28th. I was fortunate enough to see them on February 9th in Worcester, MA. The concert also featured Dizzy Gillespie, June Christy, Lee Konitz, the Erroll Garner Trio, and Candido. Apparently they couldn't get any big names to come along.

I was fortunate enough to see the entire "The Subject Is Jazz" series when it was first broadcast in 1958. Other than possibly Father Norman O'Connor's jazz series on Boston public TV, it was the best jazz series ever. Certainly the most scholarly. As I've written elsewhere, one show featured an analysis, led by Tony Scott, of Charlie Parker's famous Night In Tunisia stop-time break - for the whole half hour! Try finding something like that on TV today. There are also a couple of clips from the series used in the Lee Konitz video, "Live At The Village Vanguard." They feature Konitz and I think Warne Marsh with the house band (haven't watched it in a while). Yes, you're right, Jazzshrink, it was a different time and frankly, a better one.

Two I always enjoyed from the renowned wit, Zoot Sims: Zoot was known for his ability to drink prodigious amounts and still play fabulously. A friend asked him, "Zoot, how can you play so well when you're loaded?" Zoot said, "I practice when I'm loaded." Someone once asked Zoot his opinion of Stan Getz, known for his tendency to fly into a rage in an instant for no particular reason. Zoot said, "Getz? Nice bunch of guys."

Everyone should look again at the beautiful picture of Frank in post #19 above. That's the way we should remember him - his alto in his hands, that beatific smile on his face. That's the way I'll remember him. He was the leader on one of the greatest gigs I've ever had the good fortune to hear. It was some years ago at the Regattabar in Boston; not just a very good night, not just an excellent night, but a jaw-dropping, head-shaking, stunningly great night. The group was Frank, James Williams on piano, John Lockwood on bass, and Alan Dawson on drums. And now they're all gone but John Lockwood - take care of yourself, John.

Recently released on the Dynaflow label: "Stan Kenton in True '52 Stereo," recorded at the Blue Note in Chicago in September, 1952. The sound is quite acceptable and the music is excellent. The liner notes have 3 pages on how the recording was made, and the history of early stereo recording. The stereo portion of the CD is only about half an hour long; the rest is filled with unreleased airchecks which are in mono.

And for those who can't afford to buy all these, Netflix now has all of Series Two, as well as Series One.

Do you know if the additional film footage still exists? Did Reichman preserve the negative and the original audio tape? Aside from it's importance for the Mingus discography/videography, this is an important entry for John Gilmore as well. I don't know if it exists but I intend to find out. Tom Reichman was a graduate student when he made that film in about '67, so that means he's probably in his 60's now, if he's still around. I can't imagine why he would get rid of it, although stranger things have happened. I'm going to try Googling him. Actually, I should probably just get in touch with Sue Mingus; I bet she knows where it is. And yes, I was surprised that day when I walked into Lennie's and saw that John Gilmore was on tenor and Walter Bishop was on piano. At that time, I hadn't ever heard of them playing with Mingus. The music that day was outstanding, as you can tell from the excerpts in the film. I'd buy that in a second if it ever comes out as the complete day's gig (it was a Sunday afternoon, as I recall).

I have that Dolphy DVD, which I bought mainly for the Mingus half, so I hesitated to buy the Jazz Icons Mingus - but did it anyway. The new Mingus has much better video and audio than the earlier version. Plus, having the other two concerts on there makes it essential, IMO. You won't find any better Mingus on video anywhere - so far, anyway. Now if I can only persuade them to put out a DVD of all the film shot by Tom Reichman at Lennie's On The Turnpike of Mingus, only a small percentage of which was used in the documentary, "Mingus." I know there's a lot more, because I was there that day.

I saw this years ago in the most unlikely place for it, Berkeley, CA: "If we're not supposed to eat animals, how come they're made of meat?"

Finally, from the Boston Globe: Creative musician's sweet notes cherished Jazz trumpet player Herb Pomeroy dies By Bryan Marquard, Globe Staff | August 14, 2007 Raising trumpet to lips, Herb Pomeroy would play improvised solos so thoughtful and textured it was if the notes danced gracefully in his ear and mind long before they slipped out the bell of his horn. "He was one of the most skillful and clever of improvisers," said the vibraphonist Gary Burton. "A lot of improvisers, when they soloed, played familiar jazz licks, as we say. Herb was one of the players where you could really see his mind at work. When he played solos, you could see him telling stories, developing themes, creating serious content." During a career that became a hefty chapter in the history of jazz, Mr. Pomeroy played with bebop luminaries such as Charlie Parker, put together seminal ensembles in Boston, and helped create the field of jazz education as a teacher at Berklee College of Music, MIT, and New England Conservatory. He died of cancer Saturday afternoon while lying in a bed on the sun porch of his house on Rust Island in Gloucester, surrounded by windows and views he had held dear since his childhood in the North Shore community. Mr. Pomeroy, who was 77, had been a pivotal figure in Boston's jazz scene for decades. "In this history of Boston jazz, his is the number one name that I think would come up on any musician's list," Burton said. "Instead of six degrees of separation, you could always connect everybody through Herb Pomeroy," said Bob Blumenthal, a former Globe jazz critic. "He was just the center of it all." Musicians who sat in with a Pomeroy ensemble, played in his bands, or attended his classes were only one degree away from a who's who of jazz royalty. Along with Burton and Parker, Mr. Pomeroy played at various times with Ornette Coleman, Stan Getz, Lionel Hampton, Coleman Hawkins, Stan Kenton, Gerry Mulligan, Max Roach, and Sonny Rollins. During four decades at Berklee, 22 years at MIT, and a stint at New England Conservatory, Mr. Pomeroy taught hundreds of students. His bands played at festivals alongside the orchestras of Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman and backed singers including Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. "I think it's fair to say, without hyperbole, that there's no single figure in the New England jazz scene who has done more to influence not only jazz performance, but also jazz education," said Fred Harris, director of wind ensembles at MIT, where Mr. Pomeroy founded the Festival Jazz Ensemble. A passion for teaching and the desire for a reliable income to support his family prompted Mr. Pomeroy to tour less than most performers of his caliber. Nonetheless, musicians say, he left a lasting mark with his trumpet. "There's just a sound -- the way he holds a tone, the distribution of notes -- and you hear living history," said Ran Blake, a pianist and teacher at New England Conservatory who performed with Mr. Pomeroy. "He was an extremely warm, concise man, and so his solos tended to be warm and poetic and audacious, I would say," said Anthony Weller of Gloucester, a guitarist who performed in small ensembles with Mr. Pomeroy in recent years. "He surprised us constantly. There was never a sense of, 'Oh, I've heard him play that before.' " For Mr. Pomeroy, performance always trumped recorded music. Burton, a student of Mr. Pomeroy's at Berklee who later became a teaching colleague, said he wished his friend had recorded more to leave a "permanent record of his talent and contributions." "I don't really believe in recorded music," Mr. Pomeroy told the Globe in 1995, when he retired from Berklee, from which he received an honorary doctorate. "I think music is such a special thing that it should be just for those who create it and listeners willing to take the trouble to come and hear it." Born in Gloucester, Irving Herbert Pomeroy III began playing professionally as a teenager. He spent a year at Harvard, then left to become a full-time musician. At 23, he played with Parker, the saxophonist who helped found bebop. After playing in bands led by Hampton and Kenton, he formed the Herb Pomeroy Big Band, which performed often at the fabled Stables jazz club in Copley Square. Mr. Pomeroy had studied music at Schillinger House, which preceded Berklee, and was a regular at Stables when the college's founder, Larry Berk, asked him to join the faculty. "I had been working at the Stables, which was good, but it paid $60 per week, which wasn't much when you had a wife and two kids," Mr. Pomeroy told the Globe in 1995. "So I accepted the job for economic reasons." His courses, including one on Ellington, became legendary. "I came to Berklee as a student when I was 17 years old," Burton said. "Herb was, even at that point, the most charismatic and important teacher at the school." That warmth carried over into his work with ensembles, where he was known as much for his patience and encouragement as for his exacting standards. "He was a class act, and he also had this integrity and honesty," said his wife, Dodie Gibbons. "I loved that about him." Along with his wife, Mr. Pomeroy leaves a daughter, Perry of Hamilton; a son, Eden of Lake Worth, Fla., two sisters, Paula Pomeroy Rix of Ormond Beach, Fla., and Paige Pomeroy Marto of Cookeville, Tenn.; two stepdaughters, Colleen Gibbons of Buffalo and Bridget Gibbons of Bronxville, N.Y.; two stepsons, Kevin Gibbons of West Hartford, Conn., and Daniel Gibbons of San Francisco; 11 grandchildren; and one great-grandson. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. on Sept. 9 in Emmanuel Church on Newbury Street in Boston. © Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company

Thanks for the heads-up, Stereojack. Your post was the first I heard of this because the Boston Globe, for reasons known only to them, hasn't even posted an obit, never mind the front page article this deserves. There is an obit in the Gloucester paper, however: I first heard Herb's big band in person at the Stable in Boston, back in the late 50's. He had Jaki Byard in the band then, playing tenor. I was privileged to hear the band many times over the years and to get to meet him during the band's longtime Monday night residency at the late lamented El Morocco in Worcester, MA. I heard the band for the last time back in 1994 at Chan's in Woonsocket, RI, and they were as good as ever - maybe better. As I've written elsewhere, to watch Herb conduct was to watch a master in action. If I were an arranger or composer, I would have been honored to have Herb conduct a chart of mine - and I'll bet many writers were. And as a trumpeter, he was extremely underrated. Listen to him on John Lewis' "Wonderful World of Jazz" as an example. He was without a doubt the dean of the Boston jazz scene, and will be missed by many. I hope all those whose careers he helped start at Berklee and the New England Conservatory will honor him in their own ways in the upcoming days and weeks. He deserves it.