_forumlogo.png.a607ef20a6e0c299ab2aa6443aa1f32e.png)
sgcim
-
Posts
2,735 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Donations
0.00 USD
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Blogs
Posts posted by sgcim
-
-
Paul Bollenback recently told me that he played at a concert where PS was gushing over his playing the whole night, and then he met him on the street the next day and PS didn't even know who he was and ignored him!
![:shrug[1]:](https://www.organissimo.org/forum/uploads/emoticons/default_shrug%5B1%5D.gif)
-
Here's an interesting story about Joe Maneri:
My uncle used to be buddies with him back in the old days in Bushwick, when he played clarinet and sax at Greek weddings, where he specialized in compound time signatures. He remembered one time he had to pick him up in the middle of the night after one of his gigs, because his car broke down.
Anyway, my uncle collaborated with him on writing "pop tunes" of that time (maybe the late 40s?) with my unk writing the lyrics, and JM writing the music. I wish I could say I have some of those tunes, but my unk never seems to know where they are now...
-
Yeah, Gerald's was a hip club. I used to play in the big band they had there led by Ray Abrams. Bernard Purdy was the drummer.
Don Blackman sounds great on that second video in the link. I didn't know he was also an excellent vocalist.
I read that he was supposed to be the next big thing back when he released his first LP, but it didn't catch on like they thought it would. He still did very well in the fusion/R&B field, and played jazz regularly at that club I mentioned before.
According to that trumpet player who used to play a lot with him, he was the equal of any of the top guys playing today.
-
Shit. I never got to hear him, but a trumpet player I know used to sit in with him at a club in Queens, where DB was in the house band, and said that he was an incredible jazz pianist, who played in a very hip,Herbie Hancock-style bag.
A great loss for jazz in Queens. RIP, DB.
-
Yeah, he mentioned Carmen Leggio a lot. He's lived in Yonkers all his life, so he's worked and recorded with all those cats in that area; Eddie Bert, Aaron Sachs, Joe Puma, Herb Bernstein, all fine musicians I've played with on occasion.
Aaron Sachs was an important musician in the history of jazz from the 40s up to the 60s, and he's still playing beautiful solos; he must be about 90!
He was a sideman on Red Norvo's Sextet sides in the 40s, played and recorded with Earl Hines in the 50s, appeared as a sideman on most of the Terry Gibbs recordings of the 50s, and then released at least three LPs as a leader in the late 50s, one of which featured Hall Overton and Jimmy Raney. Like a lot of the hipper NY musicians back then, Aaron studied arranging with Hall Overton, and we used to play some of his charts in a big band I played with him in for many years.
He also played on the John Lewis LP for a large ensemble ("The Golden Striker"?).
Back in the 40s, he described himself as being groomed as the "Great White Hope" of early bebop, and told me he once ran into Bird on the street, and Bird said, "I know who you are, don't go thinkin' you're so cool" (OS
LT) !
-
I've done my best to document some of the best obscure jazz musicians for Organissimo, and what do i get in return? Does larry give me that gold watch and chain he promised me?
No, man- I'm lucky to get severance pay and shit,,,
Anyway, in my long and undistinguished career, I've had the fortune to work with some great musicians who will never be featured in your Down Beast magazine, cause they're not under 30, or the right color, or some shit..., but I did a gig with this cat yesterday, and he's still playing beautiful alto sax at the age of 87!!!
He's played with a lot of people in his time, but here's the only LP he recorded under his own name as leader. Enjoy!
He told me he did the arr. on it, and I asked him who he studied arr. with, and he pointed to himself!
-
Sure, Gil weren't no "Py-ano virtuoso", but his solo on the Astrud Gilberto rendition of "Look To the Rainbow" keeps playing in my mind for years now, and that's all that matters.
Any duo with Martial Solal is worth picking up- an absolute genius at the art of duo playing
-
Sounds like a string quartet doing an arrangement of some rock tune, most likely comprised of younger players who are trying to say, "Look, we can play your "Jimmy"(sic) Hendricks" (sic) and your Fred Zeppelin- we rock!
-
Just aim your mind at EC's response to Hawk's melodic genius, and you'll be zoned for hours!
I should thank you also for turning me on to Eddie Higgins, and I look forward to hearing his interactions with Hawk.
Both EC and EH epitomize EC's only printed verbal quote, "GOOD JAZZ MUST SWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Hawk seemed to seek out accompanists like them- Hank Jones, etc...Both Hawk and Clark Terry showed up at EC's Memorial Concert.
-
I've read a few things about about this phono pre-amp, but not being a UK resident, have not heard it.
What's a good used price for it? Would I be better off getting the more recent upgrades Tom Evans has created?
What amp, turntable and speakers does it work best with?
TIA
Forget about it, I bid $400 for it on ebay, and was just edged out by someone who bid $1,136!
-
I bought the "Moodsville" Hawk w/ Eddie Costa and Thad Jones on vinyl years ago, and the sound was so bad, I never listened to it again.
Just recently I heard the CD of this 1960 date, and couldn't believe how great it was!
The contrast of Thad and Hawk was fascinating, and hearing EC with Hawk was better than hearing Monk with Hawk. EC's comping for Hawk sounded so spontaneous AND matched to what Hawk was playing, that you felt like they did a vulcan mind-meld!
They even got another pianist to comp for EC when he played only vibes.
-
First Jess Franco, and now the screenwriter for Russ Meyer's "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls"?
Who's going to be left to make bad movies?
-
The best thing i ever heard at Smalls was the Eyetalian alto sax player, Luigi Grasso. Do you know if he's playing there anytime soon, regularpepsicola? I know his bro played there recently.
-
Never saw that one. thanks for the heads up!
-
Franco started out as a pianist/composer, and featured mediocre European jazz in many of his flicks of the 60s.
i just saw "The Awful Dr. Orloff"(1962) on TCM, and it featured his dubious practice of splicing in nude scenes of actresses who weren't even in the movie- right in the middle of a scene!
TCM (the last bastion of esoteric film- now that Sundance and IFC have succumbed to the ineveitable pressures of capitalism, like Bravo, A&E and all the others) recently showed Franco's "Venus In Furs" (1970), which stars James Darren as a jazz trumpet player.
Manfred Mann is featured in one party scene, and most of the music is pretty good in this one.
RIP, master of Eurosleaze.
-
Just to annoy Frisell fanboys and put things in perspective, I remember reading a review of a Frisell concert in the New York Times
where Frisell tried to play acoustic guitar, and the reviewer said he sounded like a beginner- just technically unable to play the thing.
I heard an NPR feature once on him playing with Jim Hall, and he was again featured on what sounded like an archtop guitar.
I can only concur with what the reviewer said.
Sure, I know he usually plays a Fender with lots of f/x, and he's achieved some type of Krishna-consciousness where he's able to play with no ego, and he wins all the Down Beast polls
, but that doesn't mean his music neccessarily 'speaks in a very special way' (as we were taught to say in graduate school) to me. 
-
Be forewarned, the first page has a couple of appalling errors:
At Ginny’s Supper Club across the street, a mostly black crowd of men in suits and women in heels sips and sways as a band turns out a haunting rendition of John Coltrane’s “My Favorite Things.”
But this one is much worse:
The early 1940s was a high point for jazz in Harlem, where young and brilliant musicians like Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Christian, Kenny Clarke and Coltrane jammed and experimented. At Minton’s, they created the genre known as bebop.
Even my wife knew that was wrong, Coltrane as bebop pioneer. The Times is pathetic.
Gotta agree with you there. The New York Slimes has become just as repulsive as the Daily Snooze and The Post in its own Bloomberg-butt-lickin' way. The only time they write about jazz is when Wynton writes a new ballet about cotton pickers in the South. -
First time I saw the name would have been on Billy Joel's breakthrough album. Now knowing his jazz background, was it Phil's idea to get Phil Woods to take the solo on "Just the Way You Are"? (it is Woods isn't it?).
Yeah, that was completely Phil Ramone's idea. They had the tracks recorded already, and Phil called Phil W. up and asked him to drop by the studio to play a solo on JTWYA, and Phil nailed it on the first try.
BJ never met Phil Woods or even heard of him. I think he knew Phil from Julliard, where PR was studying the violin and PW was studying the clarinet. It's sad that another recording guy who actually knew something about music has passed, but we all know some genius homeperson with a keyboard is gonna keep the shit alive.
-
As to whether RRK had ever been in a fight, Andrew Hill was working with him in Rochester at the time of the church bombings in Alabama, and RRK said some things in a club that caused the police to meet them at their hotel. Andrew recalled:
"The next thing I knew the police were there with attack dogs, trying to take us off to jail. RRK fought with them. He could handle himself anywhere. He gave them a few "bright moments" to remember... just about broke one cop's neck!
They took us all off to jail, even those of us who weren't participating. He kept sayin', ' They won't put a blind person in jail!"
The next chapter goes on to tell the story of how he was arrested at Cleveland'sHopkins International Airport for plotting to hijack an airplane! They caught him going on to an airplane with a tear gas pistol and a knife, and held him in jail for two days.
It wound up they dismissed all the charges, and gave him some hush money.
-
Speaking of celebrity death matches, there's a story in the book told to the author by a musician from the Mingus big band of 2000 (when the book was written) who wished to remain anonymous, about Mingus cursing RRK out at a rehearsal because he didn't like the way RRK played one of his charts. Mingus then walked over to him and shoved him.
RRK said, ' What's your problem? Pushing around a blind man!"
Mingus then ordered the band members to draw the shades, cut the lights and blindfold him.
Mingus then nailed RRK in the jaw, and kicked RRK's butt, blindfolded.
As far as Miles' electric shit, according to one of his bios, most of that shit was put together, Frankenstein style, by Teo Macero in the editing room.
-
I haven't finished the book yet, but:
"Undoubtebly, Kirk felt betrayed and disgusted when his labelmate at Atlantic (whom he had jammed with many times during his early days in Chicago), Eddie Harris, plugged in his saxophone.
'Man, i don't like all the electricity the cats are introducing these days- electric pianos, amps, fender bass, synthesizers. i like jazz clean and straight-ahead. I don't like to see it made too easy.
I like jazz that sweats. As far as pluggin' in my saxophone to an amplifier, that's not my cup of tea.
Most of my music is natural and acoustic. Hell, if you pull the cord out of the socket, these bands are out of business.'"
Then, RRK is quoted from the Keystone Korner telling Miles Davis;
"Miles, like y'know, why do you use all those electronics? i don't dig that stuff too much. Y'know, I like that mute. You quit usin' that mute. YOU MADE A MISTAKE, MILES!!!!"
then, whispering in an imitation of Miles' shredded larynx, he said, "Roland, everybody got to change. What do you want me to do about it? So what!"
Don't ask me to explain those last two words.; - )
-
This was obviously written by a tenor sax player trying to avenge the wounded egos of his many sax playing brothers whom RRK savaged.; - )
In one chapter RRK rips through Sonny Red (RRK sat in with him, and drove him out of his own gig leaving RRK to finish the gig!)John Stubblefield, Dexter Gordon (in Copenhagen, RRK sat in with him and wound up replacing his whole band with the Vibration Society, while Dexter went off to get high),Zoot Sims, Phineas Newborn, Freddie Hubbard (at the Paramount theater, RRK played back FH's entire solos, while playing something else at the same time with his manzello or stritch!), George Adams (at Carnegie Hall, he did the same thing that he did with FH, except Andy Statman said RRH was mocking GA), the band Stuff, Jon Hendricks, George Benson, Stan Getz (at Avery Fisher Hall, he was so annoyed that they put the two blind black men-him and Al Hibbler- in a tiny dressing room, a long distance from the elevator, while Getz got a huge room right next to the elevator, that he copied everything Getz was warming up with, and kept circular breathing when Getz stooped to take a breath), and finally, all the people who sat in with him at the Village Vanguard. He'd blow his siren on them if they went on too long, and when one woman tenor player started squeaking and honking, he reached out and ripped out her neck and mouthpiece- while she was still playing!
I think I know why no library in NY has a copy of this book- you and all your friends have probably had it banned from said libraries! ; - )
-
"Electronics have programmed the whole society.
Electronic music has brainwashed us, and if we don't come to grips with ourselves, we're gonna walk around plugged in!
The great musicians who have played the electric guitar- Django Reinhardt, Wes Montgomery, Oscar Moore, Charlie Christian and others- brought us beautiful music.
These masters controlled the electronics, made the electronics work for them.
We must not be psyched out and think the new sound is really something new.
Most musicians haven't done enough research to know that the "new age of electronics" is really something that's been going on for years.
All you have to do is trace back to European people like Edgard Varese, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Luciano Berio.
These people were writing beautiful electronic sounding music back in the 30s.
Everyone is getting on the electronic bandwagon, and consequently, pretty soon everything is going to sound alike.
When a man runs a vacuum cleaner, he can't produce his own touch on that vacuum cleaner because it's an electric thing.
It has its own built in sound.
What this electronic phase is doing is completely wiping out the identity of anyone playing creative black music (jazz).
This is a genocide of the music!"
From "Bright Moments"- a bio of Rahsaan Roland Kirk- by Jon Kruth.
-
We're currently in post-production on a sequel: "Jazz Under The Bloomberg Regime". ; - )
richie havens is dead at 72
in Artists
Posted
Very sad to hear... "Mixed Bag" was one of my fave LPs of all-time, every track a masterwork.
He was a very kind and generous human being according to my childhood BF's parents, who worked with him at a Summer Camp in upstate NY. There's nobody to replace people like this...
RIP, Richie...
"And don't mind me, cause I ain't nothin' but a dream..."