sgcim

One of the funniest parts of the book is when they talk about Peter Gunz and Lord Tariq using Joe Sample's intro to Black Cow for Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)their independent release. They signed a million dollar record deal with Sony to re-release Deja Vu on Sony, but they had to clear the Black Cow sample with Fagen and Becker, who were willing to authorize their use of it- in exchange for 100% of the publishing royalties, sole writing credit, and $115,000 in cash. Tariq and Gunz agreed to SD's terms, figuring that this would be mere bump at the beginning of a long career. 20 years later, there was Gunz on VladTV talking about how he and Tariq handed over all the rights to what would end up being the only hit song from their one and only album. Meanwhile there's a video on you tube of Becker in his home studio, hanging out, grinning and showing off a plaque he was awarded for the impressive sales of "his" song, Deja Vu (Uptown Baby)". Fagen jokingly referred to it as l'affaire Gunz in the the Classic albums documentary on Aja.

LOL! Burroughs is not my cup of tea, either. I go with Gaddis and Pynchon. I'll have to check that out. Love Deodato.

Alright, leave Jim alone, too. I know what you mean, I don't listen to them much anymore, but when you find out what some of their lyrics were saying after reading this book I think I might start listening again. We used to play poker and listen to stuff like "Everyone's Gone To the Movies" and think it was about a guy and a girl being alone to do their thing together. DF had a completely different story line in mind... I played Gaucho for my HS class, and one of the kids asked me what the lyrics were about. I had no idea, and just told the kid, "It's about these Latin American cowboys called Gauchos". He said, "Oh". One time I didn't feel like teaching, because I had a late night gig the night before, and got no sleep, so I just put on "Do it Again" , and it felt like the classroom was levitating...

I went into the JRC once, and the owner was playing Tal Farlow's Fuerst Set album, and I went up to the guy and said to him, "Y'know that Eddie Costa solo on Yesterdays is probably the greatest solo in the history of jazz". He agreed with me and said it was his favorite record. I felt I really bonded with the guy over EC. That's why I was surprised when a year or so later when I went in there without having bathed or shaved in a few days, he practically threw me out of the place!

You look eerily like Walter Becker in your avatar. Are you sure you're not here to haunt Organissimo for not taking SD that seriously? If so, haunt all the other members; felser and I always took you guys seriously!

I managed to obtain a copy of this book, which is completely out of stock from the publishers, and there are some great Donald Fagen quotes about Bird and Jazz in it. He goes to sleep every night listening to Bird played at a low volume. It was written by Alex Pappademus. He curses the music's present day detractors and desecrators. He tees off on Fred Armisen for making fun of jazz on a stand-up special ("I'll never watch him again. I never want to see that guy again. Y'know why? Cause he's an idiot...I now despise the guy.") and Damian Chazelle ("F-ck that Mother f-cker") for "making it seem like white people invented jazz" in La La Land and "confusing stage band student jazz" for the real thing in Whiplash ("He doesn't even know what it is, and yet he's making movies about it? It's disgusting. He must be really dumb"). It's an exhaustive study of their songs, and the author quotes people like Ralph Ellison, Thomas Pynchon, Terry Southern and many others to examine the forty+ year history of this very unusual band.

How go you follow Tatum?

That's weird, man. That Charles Bell record was one of the first jazz records I listened to. My father used to buy any jazz record that had a guitar player on it, and that had a guy named Bill Smith playing guitar on it. When I was listening to it once, a kid named Bill Smith called me up for guitar lessons. I told him I was just listening to him playing with Charles Bell. He studied with me anyway. They were talking about Jimmy Giuffre playing at some concert overseas on another website, and Charles Bell was there too. Someone wanted to know who the guitar player was with Giuffre, because it wasn't Jim Hall. Maybe it was the mysterious Bill Smith? That's weird, man. That Charles Bell record was one of the first jazz records I listened to. My father used to buy any jazz record that had a guitar player on it, and that had a guy named Bill Smith playing guitar on it. When I was listening to it once, a kid named Bill Smith called me up for guitar lessons. I told him I was just listening to him playing with Charles Bell. He studied with me anyway. They were talking about Jimmy Giuffre playing at some concert overseas on another website, and Charles Bell was there too. Someone wanted to know who the guitar player was with Giuffre, because it wasn't Jim Hall. Maybe it was the mysterious Bill Smith?

Yeah, Bob Cooper Tenor Monte Budwig Bass, and Chuck Flores Drums.

I saw Arthur Lee live at Town Hall perform the entire FC album His band, Baby Lemonade, did a superb job, and they were augmented by a string trio and trumpet player. David Angel was hired by Elektra to do the arrangements for FG, and he had an amazing career as a jazz saxophonist, ghost arranger for Woody Herman, Art Pepper and others, wrote music for TV shows, and led his own big band that played his own pieces. He worked with AL every day for a few weeks at the piano for FC, and said that AL was a genius, and could've become a great composer if he learned how write music.

A friend of mine won Prix de Rome in the early 60s and wound up gigging with him all over Europe.

Sorry to hear about Pye, I'll notify Kim Novak about it.

I've been listening to the way Herbie Hancock comped for Wes Montgomery on one of Wes' albums, and the combination of Herbie's imaginative comping ideas, and Wes' straight ahead melodic genius was probably one of the greatest groups in jazz. Add Ron Carter's rock solid bass, and Grady Tate's tasteful groove, and you've got a perfectly balanced group.

Never heard that version. Sounds better than TR's, but where's the trombone solo?

Yeah, it's wild, isn't it?

My brother said he came across it only when applying for a CUNY teaching job as part of their affirmative action program.

The female lead in The Hustler has passed at the age of 91. She also played the mother of Sissy Spacechick in the film "Carrie", where she exemplified the proper way to bring up a daughter in the 1970s....😁

Confession is good for the soul...😁

My brother found this out when he applied for a job teaching at a CUNY school. I'll ask him where it's written down the next time I see him.

Back then there was a lot of prejudice against Italians. They were even lynched in New Orleans. In NYC, they're still listed as an oppressed group, legally. My father changed his professional last name to Carter, and his best friend, who was responsible for the New Yorker hotel designs on the headstock of D'Angelico New Yorker guitars, changed his name to Duke Martin. His real name was Hugo Ciamarelli, a very talented guitarist and jeweler, No one likes to discuss this: https://www.history.com/news/the-grisly-story-of-americas-largest-lynching

RIP.

You and me both!

Weird. I always wanted to buy that record because Phil Woods was supposed to be on it. Now I find out that according to this thread, Hal McKusick was the alto player! Thank you for revealing that fact. I would have had a violent reaction to hearing HM instead of PW. You probably saved many innocent lives.💀

Anything that isn't available on previous releases? There's no one else worth copying other than Wes.

Mitch Miller has been literally accused of destroying American Popular Music, in a book I read about APM in the 50s. As head of A&R at Mercury and Columbia, he ignored the sophisticated pop songs written by songwriters such as Alec Wilder,Tommy Wolfe and Fran Landesman, and others of that ilk, and championed gimmicky crap like, "How Much is That Doggy in the Window?" To quote music historian Will Friedwald: "Miller exemplified the worst in American pop. He first aroused the ire of intelligent listeners by trying to turn—and darn near succeeding in turning—great artists like Sinatra, Clooney, and Tony Bennett into hacks. Miller chose the worst songs and put together the worst backings imaginable—not with the hit-or-miss attitude that bad musicians traditionally used, but with insight, forethought, careful planning, and perverted brilliance.[12] It's no wonder kids turned to Elvis.