ValerieB

Thanks. If you appreciate it my wish is that you'll 'pay it forward' by telling a musican how important he/she is in your life. I only met John Hicks once but heard him play plenty in NY. The time I met him another musician who drinks and can be a pain in the ass introduced us in a snotty way that I felt made me look bad intentionally. Hicks picked up on this and immediately turned to me and said "My life is your life". I never forgot that and I'm glad he was as loved as he was. Seriously, man. Tell a musician you appreciate him/her. Today. This stuff is not easy and cats (and kittens) need to know their work means something even if they are underpaid (or not paid at all). mr. fasstrack: i am most appreciative of your sharing john's funeral with us. and i so strongly feel your sentiments above that they brought tears to my eyes. this is something i feel so passionate about and always try to remember to voice my support and appreciation to our precious jazz musicians. they make a profound difference in my life!

in a word, alex is phenomenal! i actually haven't heard him on cd's that much but every time i've heard him in person, mostly with the mingus band, he's amazing.

well, akanalog, i really don't have too much to say except that i was a big fan of jackie's - both musically and personally. i am grateful that i was able to hear him in person many times, starting in the '60s in nyc. i think he was incredibly special as a person and a very loyal friend to many. i didn't really know him personally even though i had met him on many occasions and many of my friends knew him well. obviously, there's a huge hole left by his absence on the jazz scene.

i also have been thinking and talking a lot about jackie. amen to everything you said, bertrand.

i've seen that child lately and he's now a gorgeous young man!

i'm planning on going to the CD release party on the 26th! Yes, me too! please say hello. you can ask bennie to point me out. thanks.

i'm planning on going to the CD release party on the 26th!

thanks for hipping me to this blog. i'll read it more thoroughly at another time but from a quick glance, i could see it was full of inaccuracies, distortions and less importantly, misspellings. i detest seeing legendary jazz people's names spelled incorrectly. c'est la guerre!

thanks very much for your post, bertrand. i agree that there is a lot of room for another book or books on wayne. MM's certainly wasn't what one would call a scholarly one but i and lots of others found it a fascinating profile.

first of all, it's "benard" and he feels very strongly about people knowing that and getting it right! LOL! IMHO, his talent has been one of the biggest wastes of all-time! he's written much, much more than "EMC" and songs that are just as incredible too! he just seems unable to do whatever is necessary to play the "entertainment game" and get himself out there. he recently returned from a few years in greece and is now living in houston (which is his original home). there are some folks that are trying to get him another record deal. the last one, many years ago with mca, he blew, big-time. and that's a thumb-nail sketch of what i know.

You are joking, right? i am absolutely not joking. please let me in on the "joke".

And how was that Shorter book? Anyone read it? i thought the book was absolutely fabulous. michelle really "got" who wayne is. he obviously cooperated quite heavily. she apparently spent a lot of time hanging out with him. the emphasis on wayne as a person i guess wouldn't be satisfying to some of his jazz fans. since i'm not a musician and have limited knowledge of the study of jazz or classical music, it suited me just fine. and because i have "known" wayne for many decades, it was apparent that michelle really understood this extremely complex genius.

unfortunately, no, since i'm 3,000 miles away and during my recent nyc visits, she sadly wasn't appearing locally. i can't wait for the opportunity to present itself!

Amen, Amen to that, Dave James!!

has anyone here seen the latest downbeat re monday? i haven't as yet but heard something about it. so glad she's getting some of the recognition she definitely deserves!

no, i don't, but knowing tillie as i used to, her number would not be identified anyway! sorry. on another topic, sngry, i've really enjoyed your recent posts on one of my favorite ladies, monday michiru! she's absolutely amazing, in every sense of the word.

ironically, tillie mcbrowne called me a couple of weeks ago for the first time in many years. we never really got the chance to talk though as she hung up on me after i said, "wow, i never thought i'd hear from you again in life." she said, "well, shame on you for believing the wrong thing" and hung up!!! it was actually not a surprising occurrence as she has always been extremelyi eccentric. she managed my ex-husband in the sixties and actually helped us relocate from nyc to l.a. in 1969. i miss lennie. he was a sweet cat. i would call tillie and ask her about that record date but she doesn't allow anyone to have her phone number! -_- p.s. tillie also managed joe henderson, randy weston, harold land and many other awesome talents, way back when!

does that mean that fasstrack is under 21?!?

boy, is that a name from the past!! and what about that the name of herbie lewis is listed as the club pro?!?

What NY Times report? that was the same wonderful article that appeared on the front page of the los angeles times about a month or more ago!

wasn't darlene chan (george wein's right arm) the founder of the berkeley jazz festival during her college days? that would probable be over 40 years ago, i think.

i am so thrilled to see a thread about monday michiru. i have been a big fan of hers for quite awhile and have her last several cd's which i'm enjoying immensely. and, for those who don't know, i'm a dyed-in-the-wool, straight-ahead jazz fan!! she is just a gorgeous (inside and out), very talented young woman.

vivid recollection of J Mac from a Hartford listener. Tom Reney I graduated from Hartt in 1982 as a music education major. My last year there I told my classical saxophone teacher that I had talked to Jackie McLean and he had accepted me as a saxophone student. I then went to Prof. McLean and told him that my classical teacher said that I should study with him. Luckily, neither of them checked with the other so I was able to work both sides of the aisle, so to speak, and I ended up studying with Mr. Jackie McLean (a direct line to every sax players hero Charlie Parker), During that year I had the opportunity to take lessons from him at his home where Mrs. McLean would often greet me and give me a glass of water to soak my reeds in. Then Prof. McLean (I always called him Professor out of great respect and admiration) would have me play long tones, scales and the like. The exercises he would give me to practice were aural. Not written down. It was his way of ear training. Jackie McLean would talk to me about the history of early African American music, jazz and growing up in Harlem, hanging out with Sonny Rollins, piano lessons from Bud Powell and of course Bird. He would allow me to tape our lessons with an old reel to reel tape recorder that my family owned (the one with the single green illuminated meter to show the intensity of the decibels being laid down on the iron oxide). I would take that thing home and slow down the speed so that I could learn the complicated, asymmetrical licks that Jackie let fly with feeling just a few hours earlier. I should have practiced those licks in all twelve keys but I ended making them part of my vernacular in the original key they were played in. Jackie would talk about phraseology and the importance of music and staying free of substances, though he would not judge you if you happened to make unwise decisions. You see, he had been there. He would introduce his students to great teachers like Jaki Byard, Walter Bishop Jr., among others. While I was in school I had a chance to play with Sue Terry, Tom Chapin (God rest his soul), and Nat Reeves. I'm currently listening to his music on "Jazz à la Mode" and if I close my eyes he's right here. Peace & Love, Michael Psutka Hartt, 1982

thank you, bertrand. my best to you, valerie

By the looks of her avatar and last name, my guess would be Pianist Walter Bishop Jr., no? wigwise, you're a genius! LOL!